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contents
converge 04 |Nov-Dec 2011 Christian Info Society 2nd floor 107 E 3rd Ave Vancouver, BC. V5T 1C7 t: 604.638.6007 1.888.899.3777
6 EDITOR'S LETTER 9 FROM YOU
Editor Shara Lee shara@convergemagazine.com
10 REFLECTIONS 12 SNIPPITS Games, Tech and more! 14 CHRISTMAS GUIDE Proceed with humourous caution 18 LIFE Gravyard for Silos
Accounting Sarah Cui
20 ART Jim LePage's Bible designs 22 SOCIAL JUSTICE SPECIAL 32 WHAT DIVORCE TAUGHT ME 34 REALITY TV A closer look at unscripted TV 36 UNDEREMPLOYMENT 40 JAYESSLEE Interview with YouTube sensations 44 HAVE YOU READ One Thousand Gifts 45 HAVE YOU HEARD Album reviews 46 HAVE YOU SEEN Like Crazy 48 LAST WORD
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editor's letter
FAITH AND WORKS "For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.” — James 2:26
T
he book of James has always been controversial because of its emphasis on good works. Martin Luther went so far as to call it the “epistle of straw” (implying that it was baseless) and wanted it removed from the Bible. Luther believed that faith alone had the power to save while James boldly declared that a simple belief in God was not sufficient for, “even the demons believe — and tremble!” The truth is that James was not saying that works combined with faith would be a sure formula for salvation; he was merely trying to express that genuine faith would produce good works as natural byproducts. In this issue we wanted to tackle the very issue James was so passionate about: social justice. While putting together this edition it was great to meet so many individuals and organizations that not only have faith, but also put it into action. Tara Teng, who won the title of Miss Canada, exemplifies exactly what James was talking about when he said that works should support faith. Teng has been involved in the antitrafficking movement for over a year now and this summer, led a
caravan across Canada to raise awareness on this issue. Joining the trek was 15-year-old Anna Demian, a young lady who also shared Teng’s heart for the oppressed. Together they spoke in cities across the nation, educating and tightening the network of anti-trafficking NGOs in Canada. You will also hear from four students that believe that social justice is an intrinsically Christian responsibility. They tell us that social justice is more than just the latest buzz word in the church. After all, Jesus himself showed care for the poor and forgotten. In the edition you’ll read about the AIDS crisis, the child sponsorship phenomenon, and the explosion of free trade. It is my hope after reading these articles you will not only be educated but also inspired to help. It can be easy feel helpless because of the enormity of the world’s problems, but when we remember that our God is bigger, we need not get overwhelmed. A simple step in the right direction can have a bigger positive impact than you might think.
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TheDrewcast: Heres an interview that Chad & I did 4 a Canadian zine that my bro Jeremy works on. Nicely done jer & @ CONVERGE_mag http://j. mp/qou2RK D
you said...
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I can't remember the last time - if ever! that I read a magazine cover to cover within 24 hours of receiving it. The topics in this issue were intriguing. Keep it up!
MissTaraTeng: Had a great interview today with @shara_lee of @ CONVERGE_mag! Thanks for continuing to help spread awareness about #humantrafficking.
— Linda Smythe Vancouver, BC
The last issue sure looked good!
— Scott Bayley
I received my copy of the most recent issue of Converge this past week, and was thoroughly impressed. It’s the first time I’ve seen the magazine and I was blown away by its professionalism and quality. Well done.
— Emily W. Converge is a great magazine. Keep up the amazing work!
andrewzo: @charrcharm looking forward to the new issue! @ CONVERGE_mag 347: @CONVERGE_mag definitely think you guys are doing a great thing there, blessings on you! Jim_LePage: Thanks to @shara_lee at @CONVERGE_mag for interviewing me! I may make an appearance in an Upcoming issue. http://bit.ly/ ok5SzF Jedidiahusa: Just had a great interview with @CONVERGE_mag and @IrvineN! Thank you for being interested in embedded generosity!
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reflections
m at t he w
8
“As you have believed, so let it be done for you”
J
esus’ disciples barely weathered a potentially life threatening storm as Jesus slept soundly. In panic, they woke Jesus and he pacified the storm around them with a word. As the storm within them calmed, Jesus perplexedly asked where their faith (confident expectation) was. The disciples had great faith in their impending doom, but Jesus needed them to have faith in the giver of life. Jesus healed again and again throughout this chapter. He demonstrated his power over real and threatening circumstances. Sovereign over nature, he stilled a storm; sovereign over the spirit realm, he cast out demons; and sovereign over life itself, he raised the dead. All of this he did with a word. We are tempted to put our faith in many things and at times may question our ability to stay afloat. Instead, we are to place our faith in God’s ability. Incredibly, God is more real than anything we can experience. He is not limited by our dimensions.
This revelation will revolutionize one’s mind-set. With God, all things are possible. A pivotal story in Matthew 8 is that of the Roman centurion. Approaching Jesus, he declared his faith in Jesus’ authority to heal his sick servant. Jesus proclaimed that the centurion revered God more than many of the “sons and daughters of the kingdom.” The centurion knew his own authority, including its limits, and realized the authority of God. Jesus' response to this man was, “Go your way, and as you have believed, let it be done for you.” To the centurion it was an affirmation that his request is granted. Whatever we believe can come to pass. Cease speaking negative prophecies over your life, and instead, seek to align your mindset with God. You will see life if you confidently expect to receive it from its giver. Focus your faith not on the potency of your problems but on the greatness of God. — Craig Ketchum
TECH TOYS
INDOOR COZY FUN
By AJ Pau | @Kardboard
By Anna Li | @KardboardGF
WHAT EVERYONE WILL HAVE IN THE FUTURE HOW TO: HOST A BOARD GAME NIGHT
E-INK READERS
As the leaves change colours, we’re indoors more and more. Rather than texting each other from adjacent rooms or sitting in front of a screen, host a board game night for a fun, inexpensive, and interactive time with friends.
1. Pick a place. Living rooms, dining rooms or dorm lounges are great places for playing board games.
Paper doesn’t require electricity, but also it can’t change what is printed on it. Whiteout is cheating. On the other hand, E-ink displays look suspiciously like paper — and use hardly any power. Presently, E-ink readers are strictly black and white, low quality affairs that can’t handle rapidly changing images. That may be a thing of the past soon as Samsung has already demonstrated flexible, high-resolution colour E-ink displays. Paper products surely are facing E-ink-xtinction.
2. Find a few friends. Whether it is rekindling connections with old
friends or getting to know new ones, games bring people together! Most games are best played with four to six people. 3. Prepare a few snacks. Finger foods such as chips, teddy
grahams, and brownies are great snacks for munching on in between turns. Avoid messy foods that take up board space or are obstructions to the game. 4. Choose a board game. In choosing a game, be thoughtful of how
much time you want to spend on a board game and how competitive your friends are. a. Set a time. Choose a game based on how much time you have to complete it. Games that are too short leave you unsatisfied, but you don’t want to drag out the evening either. b. Determine how competitive your friends are. If you are highly stressed at work or school, a strategic game may strain the brain. However, if your friends like a challenge, there are games to suit them as well. 5. Hit the play button. Have some background music on to spice up the atmosphere throughout.
EASY GOING
TEAM GAMES
PULL-YOURHAIR-OUT FUN
4-7+
6+
4-6
TIME REQUIRED
< 30 minutes
1-2 hours
> 2 hours
LEVEL OF STRATEGY
Low
Medium
High
Gestures Catchphrase Apples to Apples Blurt Last Word Bonanaza Uno
Cranium Taboo Battle of the Sexes
Citadels Dominion Agricola Settlers of Catan Power Grid
# OF PEOPLE
GAME
12 | CONVERGE.
november-december
2011
MULTITOUCH EVERYTHING Go ahead, eat on your iPad. Soon, your table, your fridge, and your windows will be multitouch capable. The Surface is a multitouch table that not only acts as a giant iPad, but also knows what you put on it. Using various sensors, it can dynamically react to what’s on its surface. Screen protector and cleaning cloth manufacturers will be rolling in money.
MIDAFTERNOON STRETCH
Try these stretches after a long day to release tension in your shoulders and back.
NANO TEXTILES Never wash your clothes again. The cloth of the future simply won’t get dirty. By working on a molecular level, scientists have been able to create textiles that are extremely stain resistant. One day, the hope is to create tougher, cheaper clothing that would last in a variety of settings. Go paint balling in your power suit. You’ll still be able to wear it to work the next day, as it won’t require ironing either. In addition, there are great implications for the developing world.
1
SHOULDER BLADE STRETCH: difficulty: With one arm stretched over your shoulder and the other arm under your other shoulder, touch hands. Repeat with other side.
2
SUPERMAN STRETCH: difficulty: Begin laying flat on your stomach with your arms reaching out. Slowly lift both and hold for 10 seconds. Repeat.
RECIPE CARD Healthy Winter Soup RFID EVERYWHERE Radio Frequency Identification (RFID)-proof wallets aside, this technology is gaining more and more popularity. Essentially, they can be used as wireless barcodes. Shopping in the future (or at Metro AG in Germany) would just mean walking out with what you want. Scanners at the door will automatically tally and charge you based on the RFID tags on each product in an instant. When you get home, your multitouch-E-ink super refrigerator would be able to detect what new groceries you put in it and suggest dishes for dinner.
AUGMENTED REALITY Fighter pilots have long had headsup displays in their aircraft, overlaying information over what they see. Now, tie that up with the Internet and your mobile phone’s camera. Augmented reality is basically your phone detecting what its camera is capturing real-time. Nokia’s Live View app uses this, and when pointing it down the street, it’ll put links and information over the stores. Car manufacturers have been toying with heads-up displays for a long time, but with the addition of the Internet, widespread adoption may come sooner than later. That being said, I’d rather see the road ahead of me than some ad about the Burger King I’m passing.
Ingredients 1 large carton + 1 regular-sized can of chicken, beef, or vegetable broth 2 medium sized boneless, skinless chicken thighs, sliced into bite sized pieces (optional) 2 handfuls of small sized pasta (ie macaroni) 2 medium onions, peeled and diced 2 potatoes, diced 2 cans small white beans 2 cans diced tomatoes 2 tsp whole peppercorns Pinch of dried herbs (basil, oregano) 2 bay leaves 3 handfuls of spinach, chopped Preparation Instructions Cook pasta, and strain. Combine all ingredients except for the spinach and pasta in a large pot. Bring ingredients to a boil and simmer on med-low until potatoes are cooked (about 35-45 minutes). When potatoes are tender, add chopped spinach and pasta and stir until spinach is just tender. Ladle into bowls and drizzle some olive oil on top. Serve. Adapted from Rebecca Thorman convergemagazine.com
| 13
NON-DENOMINATIONAL POLITICALLY CORRECT WINTER HOLIDAY MANUAL
CHRISTMAS GUIDE* *Some things in this guide are strictly for humourous purposes. To save yourselves from getting odd looks from your mother-in-law or old uncle Greg, please use this guide wisely.
Soon it will be time to trim the tree. This year, why not shake the boughs a little bit and try something, say, alternative?
all joking aside, christmas is a time that we come together to celebrate the birth of Christ our Savior. Although there is nothing wrong with participating in activities such as tree decorating, gift giving, and snow playing, we should keep in mind that Christmas is above all else a time when we remember the miracle that was brought into this world through the birth of Jesus. Angels proclaimed him as the Messiah, shepherds came to adore him, and three wise men brought him expensive gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. A baby was born as the physical embodiment of God. He was sent to the world to save us from our sins and open the door for the salvation of the world. The birth of Jesus is the start of the most incredible true story ever to be told. This season have some fun but also take some time to think about why this holiday is sacred for us as Christians.
PRETTY PRINCESS
SPACE BATTLES
Bring out the inner princess with this gag-me-now pink tree. Yes, they do sell fake pink trees. Bonus points if you find the fibre optic revolving ones. Extra extra points if it sings.
This could have been topped with a Darth Vader helmet, but who wants to get deathstared down while opening gifts? If only the light sabers worked, they would have been handy for the over-taped gifts.
CANADIAN SNOWY PLAYGROUND
ECO CORNER: I'M DREAMING OF A GREEN CHRISTMAS
by Jeremy Postal despite everything that meteorologists tell us about weather and seasons and such, Canada doesn’t really have four seasons. Why anyone would believe this, I don’t know. In fact, Canada only has three seasons; Winter, Hockey, and Bug Seasons. The Bug Season is typically hot, humid, and thankfully only lasts during the month of Summer. Winter, on the other hand, is the Canadian season filled with frozen engine blocks and long, long lineups at the drive-through. Of course the hockey season, which overlaps both winter and bug seasons, is beloved by all. Without hockey season, I doubt very much that Canadians would have much to talk about or hope for and I feel especially bad for cities like Toronto and Edmonton that used to have NHL teams (technically they do, but the point of the game is to win a few). That said, there are alternatives to Hockey Night in Canada. Here are a few suggestions: SNOWBOARDING or SKIING: As a snowboarder I hesitate to recommend you try skiing except that if I didn’t the editor of this fine publication would get angry letters from disgruntled skiers and she is too nice to let that happen. So, this winter instead of trying out a snowboard, head to your local ski area and test your two-planking skills. The basic rule of thumb is that if you can ice-skate you can ski, and I know that you can skate; after all, you’re Canadian. TOBOGGANING: Cheap and tons of fun, if you can’t find a GT Snowracer or a crazy-carpet, a cafeteria tray will do. Note: in Saskatchewan and Manitoba, you’ll need a skidoo to make this possible.
POND HOCKEY: Still hockey, yes, but too good not to mention. Grab a thermos, a stick, a few extra pucks, and make sure the ice is thick enough or the water shallow enough to play safe. Game on!
BONFIRES: In its purest form, a winter bonfire is accompanied by a sleigh ride with Clydesdale horses and a CBC backdrop of Christmas carols. But really, all you need are stolen pallets, diesel, and a match. Works best in a field.
SNOWSHOEING: Gone are the days of giant wooden snowshoes that made users bowlegged and grizzled. Light-weight, inexpensive, and with no skills required, almost anyone can snowshoe nowadays. It’s a great work out while easy and fun to do with groups. Bring a camera, water, and your lunch.
CURLING: As much as a shuffle-board as it looks, curling is actually a lot of fun. It is a sport that requires almost nothing of you physically but has many code-words that will confuse a beginner. For example, “bonspiel” is curling-speak for polyester and whiskey. In spite of the bonspiel, curling still should be on your tick list of things to do this winter.
If all else fails, pull on a toque, lace up your Sorrels and head to your local church; the sidewalk needs shoveling and you have nothing better to do. Happy hockey season!
Photo: Jen Griffiths
It goes without saying that Christmas is the season of giving. Your family, friends and other loved ones all receive gifts as symbols of care and appreciation. But what about our environment? We give it heaps of glossy wrapping papers, plastic mountains from unwanted toys, and packaging. This season exercise some creation care and show the environment some love. DECORATIONS:
GIFTS:
•Light up your home with LED lights and candles. •Decorate your home with strings of old Christmas cards. It also lets your family know that you don't throw out everything they give you. •Use objects found in nature. Red fruits, pinecones, fir tree boughs, and branches kick it extra old school. If you want a little more sparkle, dust pine cones and branches with a little craft glitter.
•Do not be a afraid to regift! (See our guide on page 16, but use with grain of salt) •Make your own gifts. Recipes for candles and soaps can be found on the Internet. •Try thrifting or perusing flea markets for the right gift. •It never hurts to donate money to a charity in a family member's or friend's name. •Bake goods to give away.
GIFT WRAP: CARDS: •Send e-cards or make your own from recycled paper! Cut out Christmas shapes like trees and bells from used cards and gift wrap to make a collage.
FOOD: ECO FOOD Adorned by popcorn string and other edible ornaments, this is probably the only sensible tree on this list. Well, that's if you have the will power to not eat everything off its branches.
TROPICAL PARADISE If you're longing for that tropical winter getaway, get a palm tree and lightly jazz it up with streamers. Set up the luau music, kick back, and relax with some piña colada's.
•Try to buy local (if possible). •Stretch that Christmas turkey into the new year! Pack yourself 10 turkey sandwiches (with gravy instead of mayo). Use the bones for soup stock. •Compost any unusable food.
•Begin saving your gift wrap this year to use next year. In the meanwhile you can wrap gifts in newsprint or recycled paper. If you're feeling artsy, paint your own designs on it! •Cut up old cards and use them as gift tags.
TREE: •If you decide on a real tree, make sure it is potted so you can replant it. •If you buy an artificial tree, keep it forever. Pass it down from parent to child to grandchild to great-grandchild. convergemagazine.com
| 15
TOP 10 CAST OF
THE GIFTS THAT KEEP ON GIVING
CHRISTMAS CHARACTERS
by Stacey McLachlan
“re-gifting” has been a proud holiday tradition for people all around the world, whether you celebrate Christmas, Xmas, or Hanukkah. This timehonoured ceremony involves giving away, as the French saying goes, “whatever crap you have lying around the house.” Often this includes gifts you yourself have been given in the past and/or earlier that day. But don’t feel guilty for hastily changing the tags on the woolen jumpsuit from Aunt Mildred and passing it off as a thoughtful purchase for your boyfriend’s mom. After all, as the Shadowy Board of Santas points out, it’s better to give than to receive! This is just more true for some gifts than for others. Luckily, I’ve compiled this handy list to help you keep that straight: BETTER TO GIVE
BETTER TO RECEIVE
•“Fun” hats • Hamster Dance: The Movie • Carrot cake-scented candles • Candle-scented carrot cake • Soul Decision: The Men Behind the Music and the Music Behind the Men (the book and the movie). • Figurines of bears roller-skating
• iPods, iPads, anything requiring batteries or wizardry • Figurines of bears skateboarding
BLACK-SOCK GRANNY
DODGY MALL SANTA
At least you'll never have a mismatched sock problem.
What does he do the other 11 months of the year?
CAROLING ASSEMBLY
GASSY GRAMPS
After having you watch for 5 awkward minutes . . .
Love you, but please stay away from the brussels sprouts.
SUPER AFFECTIONATE AUNT
ICE BALL BATTALION
Usually the aunt with the Those kids that think it is funny mustache. "Come here sugar!" to throw snowballs at you.
obviously (obviously), the cardinal rule of re-gifting is to never re-gift an item to the same person who gave it to you in the first place. The universe would collapse in on itself and Christmas would be ruined. Also, all human life. The key to being a good, nay, a great re-gifter then is to have a sharp memory. So: it is essential to avoid indulging in rum and nog-related beverages. Especially with the prevalence of rogue attack gifts in urban areas — a thoughtful co-worker comes at you with bath salts and no warning, blam! You need to be at the height of your mental game so you can remember what came from where. Once you’ve decided what junk you’ll be giving away to the people you love, remember: presentation is nine-tenths of the law. You’re going to need bows. Start with 10, we’ll see how that goes. After all, as Shakespeare or maybe Oprah once said, “Beauty is in the eye of the bow-holder.” World-class re-gifters can often impose such a mass of bows on their giftee that the recipient doesn’t even realize that there’s BeDazzler hidden deep inside. The sad truth is, as much fun as it can be to “upcycle” and “cheap out on your gifts” and “ruin the spirit of the holidays forever,” your family and pals usually aren’t too thrilled to find you haven’t put any “time” or “effort” into your gift exchange. But your acquaintances are just jealous of your cunning frugality, and you won’t be able to hear their weeping anyway from your unicornpowered hot air balloon that you bought with all the money you saved. Merry Christmas, everyone!
THE GETAWAY COUPLE They're the only ones who come back in the New Year with a tan.
RUDOLF THE RED NOSED UNCLE
Did you check what was in his eggnog?
HYDRO BILL BREAKING BOB That guy that decks his halls Whoever they are, they always seem to eat the most. to the max with lights & decorations. You can see his house glow from 10 blocks away.
UNEXPECTED GUEST
MERRY
CHRISTMAS!
2011-2012
JamiShel and HistoryMaker present
TUESDAYS WITH MORRIE “Once you learn how to die you learn how to live.”
RE:UNION
TOUR
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GRAVEYARD FOR SILOS Part three of Nick Schuurman's farming series.
â&#x20AC;&#x153;The standard of the exploiter is efficiency; the standard of the nurturer is care.â&#x20AC;? - Wendell Berry
O
n car rides as a child, I used to watch the countryside out the window. As we traveled along highways that cut through what used to be farmland, I remember seeing old barns, now abandoned, and cement silos standing empty at their sides. I always thought those silos looked like old gravestones. The image,
brothers continue to do. My family doesn't own the farm anymore, though. The barns, like the ones I saw during those car rides, now stand, abandoned and gutted. For all the satisfaction the work allowed him, raising hogs in an increasingly dismal market led him (along with dozens of other farmers in the area) to sell the land and pursue work elsewhere. During our last few years on the farm, a couple of families with cash in the bank together set up shop to the north of us, building two mammoth, 2000-sow barns behind ours (which, to give some sense of the difference in scale, housed 125 mother pigs). I ended up working in one of them one summer during college. Think back to high school history class for a second. During the time of the Industrial Revolution, folks discovered that more products could be produced faster, and at a lower cost, if they were put together not by men and women who had a broad understanding of how the products worked, but by lower-paid individuals who performed only one or two specific tasks all day. And so when Henry Ford first made cars, he went around the country looking for the best cart and bicycle craftsmen, whereas today I have friends who couldn't tell you how to change your car's oil, but are employed by major automobile companies â&#x20AC;&#x201D; fastening the same dozen bolts all day long. Agriculture in North America has gone through a similar transformation. I have worked with folks who would probably believe that potatoes grow on trees if you told them, because all they are required to know to get their paycheck is that the green ones are bad for you, that the rotten ones will make a mess of the storage, and that both need to be picked off of a conveyor belt with as much consistency and at the fastest speeds possible. The world of large-scale, industrial monoculture has come to resemble, in many ways, that of the factory on the other end of town. The death and dying of the small-scale family farm, and the factory-style model that has taken its place, has resulted in a loss as profound as that of environment, land, and even a means of livelihood. It is a loss of the deep knowledge that was required to care for fields and livestock: knowledge that was a result of years of experience, that was learned from the generation before, that understood and could work with the whole, rather than a single part. Photo: Mihai Costea/Flickr
it turns out, is an apt metaphor for the changes that lent themselves to shaping that landscape. Despite its difficulties, my dad loved farming. It's what he grew up doing. It's what his father did, after he immigrated here from Holland, and it's what his
18 | CONVERGE. november-december 2011
When I was a kid, riding in that car, the world seemed simple. There were the good guys and there were bad guys, and I thought it was pretty clear who was who. With each year that has been added to my life, however, I have become increasingly aware that this little planet is incredibly complex. A loss is a loss, however, regardless of who is to blame. I for one mourn what is lost each time I pass one of those old cement silos.
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GODLY GRAPHICS One man's bold Bible designs Interview by Shara Lee
Take us back to the beginning. Was it easy for you to start the project? Design is something you enjoy doing, but any project is difficult to stick to.
One of my main concerns going in was just not sticking with it. When I started out I was saying two to three hours start to finish — the design, the write up, and everything, but these days it’s gotten to be a bit more. I wanted to put a cap on it just so it didn’t grow into something that became too consuming and intimidating. But then it got to the point where I was not really in danger of letting it go because I loved doing it. I was starting to get people commenting and following, and there was enough motivation. [Now] it’s kind of grown into maybe five or six hours start to finish. So you were going to do a design every week?
Yeah that was the original plan. Some books have a couple designs and I did a whole Easter series that broke from going book by book. Just going through the gospels . . . it felt weird just to do four designs for Jesus’ life. For me, that’s the heart of the Bible right there. What feedback have you been getting? Has it been mostly Christians, or non-Christians?
It’s actually been more than 50 per cent Christians. But then I have actually had a decent amount of feedback from folks who aren’t Christian. There’s one comment I remember. I think it was something like, “I’m not a believer at all but I really like how you treat these.” So there’s been a lot of good feedback all around. I can maybe count on one hand the amount of times I’ve heard negative feedback. For some of the designs I’ve done and some of the stuff I’ve written I’m a little surprised that I haven’t had more negative reaction. What has the negative feedback been?
In December 2009, graphic designer Jim LePage made a new year’s resolution to regularly read the Bible. The problem was, this was not the first time he’d tried and failed to keep up with his reading. To ensure he stuck to his plan, LePage decided to combine his desire to read the Bible with his love for design. For every book he read, he would create a corresponding piece of art and post it on his online portfolio. The result was Word, a project that has lasted almost two years with over 79 unique designs, each interpreting a different part of the Bible. We spoke to Jim LePage about his project, the weirdness of the Bible, and cheesy Christian art. 20 | CONVERGE. november-december 2011
The Psalms, I picked out some verses that go, “I’ll smash the babies' heads against the rocks.” Not the kind of verses you think of when you think of Psalms. As I go through, all I’m looking for is something that stands out to me. I’m not looking for something that represents the whole book. Just anything that jumps out to me and I think some people didn’t like that. I think it might just have been that they didn’t understand the project. I got a few comments saying, “that doesn’t really represent the book of Psalms very well.” I think there’s a tendency within the Christian community to sugar coat things and make everything look perfect. It’s nice that you are actually creating discussion about things that are real in the Bible.
Yeah thanks and that was one of the things that I wanted to do in the project. There’s so much weird stuff in the Bible. I grew up going to Christian school and Sunday school and they didn’t talk about how God ordered all the Israelites to slaughter entire towns — men, women children, animals. I mean that’s weird. It seems weird to not address that. How have you been dealing with the stuff that you just think isn’t what you know to be Christianity?
You know for me, I guess I think there’s generally a couple ways people look at the Bible. I think one way might be that you have to make sense of that story 'cause if you don’t it’s like a little crack in the Bible that can grow and destroy your faith. But the way I see it, the foundation is Jesus. His life, His death, His resurrection, how He lived His life, that’s the rock, the foundation that’s everything. And all the other weird crap in the Bible . . . I could not understand it ever until I’m dead and that’s okay.
Were you ever afraid to give Christianity a bad name if you pointed out certain things?
Never. I think it’s super damaging to not address those things. I think if I was a non-Christian that would be one of the things that I [would] hate about Christianity. There are all these blatant things that are glossed over and not addressed or sugar coated. That sort of thing just seems fake even outside of a religion. Your designs are so diverse. Where do you get that inspiration?
Just by following other people whose designs I love. It’s fun for me to try different techniques. It forces me to try new things and not get stuck in a box. When I started the series, my whole intention at the beginning was, "okay, I’m always going to use this font; I’m always going to use this background.” I had all these parameters in place again 'cause I wanted to make this simple and easy to stick to but by about six or seven of those, the creative part of me just started going crazy.
Jim LePage is a graphic/ web designer and Church communications thinker. He currently works at Woodland Hills Church as a Design Manager. LePage also does freelance design work. His most recent work is an ongoing personal project called Word which is a series of original designs for each book of the Bible.
What is next after the project is completed?
I thought it would be cool to start a design project where it’s maybe similar to Word but it involves a bunch of different people. Where maybe I come up with a list of 20 different Bible passages or stories and then kind of recruit different designers out there. Assign them one of those passages, they take it, do a design and I post that on the site. I’ve got a unique spot where I think I could pull that together and I have enough connections with these other designers that I could find enough people to do that. I think it would just be a cool resource to have so people can see that not all Christian design is lame. Why do you think it is that a lot of Christian art is lame?
In my opinion American Christian culture is addicted to formulas. And formulas don’t work well with art. Good art comes outside of working within formulas. I feel like nothing in the Bible that talks about God supports that. I mean God is always being creative — Always working and adjusting and doing unique things and new things. Shocking things and things that people don’t expect. So I guess it just seems like American Christianity has become formulized. The whole being saved and having a relationship with God is formulized. So if that itself is formulized it just spreads into all forms of Christian art. But that’s just my opinion.
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Jim LePage's Word Bible Design project & portfolio
Social
JUSTICE
&
Social
ENTERPRISE I
happened to be wandering down Wall Street in mid-September, a rubbernecking tourist, when a rag-tag assemblage of about 100 protesters trouped by me. I wasn't quite sure what they were up to, but their signs said they were unhappy. Since then, of course, the Occupy Wall Street movement has exploded. It's still not entirely clear what the phenomenon is all about — people are protesting corrupt government practices, environmental degradation, poverty, homelessness, and disparity of wealth. The marchers have been disparaged as a “mangy” bunch with nothing better to do, or lionized as a serendipitous collection of truth tellers. What is apparent is that they display a desire for social justice — a desire which was built into our very being. It’s good news that masses of people care about the poor, the marginalized, the disenfranchised! Why? Because God cares about justice, and God created us in his image. If God is angry at injustice, why should we not be equally upset?
Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miser ies that are coming upon you. Your riches are corrupt ed, and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be a witness against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have heaped up treasure in the last days. (James 5:1-3 NKJV)
God's word is a radical document. Who knows how many Christians have been found among the Occupy Wall Street demonstrators? However many there are, one would hope to see more evidence of righteous anger against injustice from within the
22 | CONVERGE.
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walls of the church. Shane Claiborne (well known activist / new monastic / peacemaker / evangelical) prayed in The Irresistible Revolution “that we will have the integrity of the early church, which in the same breath that it denounced the empire in Rome, was able to invite people into the Way — little communities scattered throughout the empire.” His challenge is two-pronged. To the average pew-sitter: challenge social injustices. To those dissatisfied with a passive church: “If you have the gift of frustration and the deep sense that the world is a mess, thank God for that; not everyone has that gift of vision.” Several years ago, Claiborne’s "Simple Way" community found itself with $10,000 to share (the amount he’d received from a settlement after being wrongly arrested for sleeping on the streets of New York). They decided on a creative use for the money — to return it through a piece of street theatre right in front of the New York Stock Exchange. Where Occupy Wall Street demonstrators denounce greedy capitalists, the Simple Way community engaged in some Jubilee wealth redistribution, giving $10,000 in coins and small bills to the poor. Amidst signs reading, "Share," "Love" and "Stop Terrorism," silver coins covered the street, bills fluttered through the air. Most of us would never take part in an Occupy Wall Street march, not even if the protesters trouped right by us. Nor would we be inclined to take part in Claiborne’s street theatre. But God has given us discernment, hope and creativity. The demonstrators have a message for us, and we have the right and duty — in ways that are natural to us — to join with them in seeking social justice. — Flyn Ritchie
RESTORING JUSTICE By Eric Reynolds
R
elief organizations often act as charities. They provide relief, but their hands are tied when it comes to changing systemic problems. International Justice Mission (IJM) is different. For them it is not enough to give aid; they must also work to solve problem at its root. Their mission is to be an advocate of the oppressed, many of whom are slaves. If you think slavery is a faraway problem and one that doesn’t affect you, think again. “There is often a thread of slavery running through our goods," says IJM Canada founder and executive Director Jamie McIntosh. "Sadly, though, slavery is often invisible to our eyes, and so we miss out on the privilege of joining in the greatest liberation movement the world may have ever known — helping the 27,000,000 slaves currently held in brick kilns and brothels in our modern world — abroad and at home.” We take for granted that freedom doesn’t cost us anything. This is not the case for those IJM works with. “What the oppressed need is someone who will use their voice on their behalf and say to the oppressor ‘Take your hands off!’” states Mark Wollenberg, IJM’s regional representative in Western Canada. “We must courageously look and see what God sees and then respond and say that we will raise our voice for the oppressed until they are free.” In Chennai India 514 slaves were recently freed from forced labour slavery by IJM. These dedicated heroes are committed to justice, and have been for 14 years. “Seeking justice is not giving someone a hand out or a hand up,” Wollenberg adds. Without the safety justice provides, there is no sustainable living, no assurance that
*Kunthy was rescued from a Cambodian brothel.
life will thrive given the chance. Justice paves the way for success. They’ve called their method the collaborative casework approach. It is complex and designed on a case-by-case basis. First, IJM works with local authorities to ensure victims are rescued. Working in collaboration with local authorities requires trust and accountability from both parties. In Chennai, India, the success has been remarkable. "This is the most impressive display we have seen to date of the government being proactive in combating bonded labour and being sensitive to the needs of the victims," remarked Saju Mathew, IJM South Asia regional director in an August press release. "It is a huge encouragement to work with talented, dedicated officials like these, who clearly demonstrate the potential of the government to lead the charge against bonded labour in India." IJM and local officials don’t just rescue and release. The victims enter aftercare programs. For a sex trafficking victim, this could mean counseling to help heal the trauma and retraining to help secure meaningful employment. For a former slave, it is imperative to help him learn how to function in his newfound freedom. Some have been slaves for so long, that they’ve never been outside the walls of the place where they were held, or learned the days of the week, or things we take for granted, like knowing that the world is round. Perpetrators of these crimes are held accountable for their actions. They’re shown that they can’t continue their ille-
When would-be thieves attempted to steal Claire’s home, she was protected through the strong advocacy of IJM Uganda’s legal team. Today, Claire is safe on her own property, and she lives with hope for a secure future.
"Charity binds up the broken, justice protects from the intrusion of brokenness." gal practices, whether it’s selling minors for sex, stealing land from a widow, or holding slaves captive, without consequences. They learn that breaking the law could mean going to jail, being fined or losing their business. Suddenly, it’s a lot more expensive for these violent oppressors to continue their exploitation of people. IJM gives justice the upper hand and leaves a legacy wherever they go. For McIntosh this approach does more than just good, it restores what is right. “It has been said that justice is what love looks like in public. It has also been said that we need to understand that often we think we are engaged in acts of charity when really we are only giving people — or, rather, returning to them — their due,” he says. “Charity binds up the broken, justice protects from the intrusion of brokenness.”
*In order to protect the individuals IJM serves, pseudonyms have been used, though the accounts are real. Actual names and casework documentation are on file with IJM.
convergemagazine.com
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WHY IS SOCIAL JUSTICE an intrinsically christian
RESPONSIBILITY?
allison montgomery ISJC Vice-President
In the time I’ve spent traveling, it amazes me to see such happiness in the complete absence of material wealth. In the garbage dump of Managua, and on the streets of Calcutta, amidst the brokenness and desperation of the people, there is joy. One young girl I met in Managua was standing with piles of garbage all around her, smiling beautifully at me. One of the hardest things I had to do was to smile back at her, because I stood there by choice in a place that she had to be. If people who have nothing are willing to give so much in opening themselves up to us, we ought to give all we can, not just in material ways but in the investments of our love and compassion, and in the surrendering of our lives to a King who can give it such a greater purpose.
dennis kim International Social Justice Club (Trinity Western University) President
I am one who strongly believes that there is no separation between social justice and being Christian. Jesus spent most of his time with the worst of the worst — the broken, the hungry, the lepers, and the prostitutes. It says in 1 John 3:16, that Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. We all have received so much love from God, and I believe we are to use that love for others and this world. I love how Shane Claiborne in his book, The Irresistible Revolution puts it, “Most good things have been said far too many times and just need to be lived.” Why is it so hard for us today to do these simple things that Jesus calls us to do? If we say that we are followers of Christ, we should be challenged to be more like Christ. That means in every aspect of our lives, no matter where we are or what we are doing.
chelsea ayers ISJC Vice-President
I know that God is a just God, and that he cares about the orphans, the widows ,and the oppressed. I also know that he calls us to love them. Sometimes following God will mean that we are placed in uncomfortable situations. Sometimes it
will mean that we must be content with where we are, even if our tasks are not glamorous. Whatever the case, social justice is not just another cause. It is loving people because Christ has loved us. It is building relationships with the orphans and the widows. It is not only freeing the slaves, but walking with them and making sure that they are no longer vulnerable. It is not only giving food to the poor, but giving dignity to the poor, working with them so that they can sustain themselves. Finally, it is recognizing our weakness, following God's lead with trust and a desire for him, and sharing with others the hope of his continuous redemption of humanity.
It’s easy to see why a person who is chasing after the heart of God would end up chasing after the hearts of people. Since God is love (1 John 4:8), and love is essentially a collection of verbs (1 Cor.13:4-8), and faith without works is dead (James 2:17), caring for the needs of people should be near the top of every Christian’s agenda. It is when I have taken this command seriously, that I have been able to connect best with God
and his children. Whether it was when I was making friends in Palestinian refugee camps, living amongst the grime with abused children in Guatemala, or simply sharing a hot chocolate with an impoverished person in the local community, I have found that the light of God shines brightest when I recognize that we’re all a part of the same family. Then I can appreciate that the ache of others is also my own.
cam sorenson ISJC Vice-President
24 | CONVERGE. november-december 2011
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GETTING TO ZERO:
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RELATED DEATHS By Jacqueline Solomon
H
ope. It’s an important word when you’re talking about HIV/AIDS, and yet it seems contradictory. Today there are over 34 million people living with HIV/ AIDS and over 16 million children have been orphaned. It’s easy to give up hope and think that HIV is a death sentence. But there’s good news. There are new treatments available that are changing HIV from a terminal disease to a chronic illness, meaning that more children are born HIV-free. More parents are living to care for their children. Fewer people are contracting the virus and those who are infected are living better, healthier lives. There’s still a long way to go, but there is some very bright light at the end of a long, dark tunnel. For the last 23 years, we’ve been marking December 1 on our calendars as World AIDS Day. When it began, AIDS was a little-understood disease. Most of us didn’t know how it was transmitted. Initially there was no treatment. Fear and stigma abounded, and those who were diagnosed with HIV typically died within 10 years. Now, thanks in part to the Global Fund to fight AIDS, TB, and malaria, more people are accessing treatment. New infections are down. There are interventions that can reduce mother to child transmission of HIV down to less than five per cent. Moms are living to care for their babies. For an HIV-positive mother, this is hope.
Photos courtesy of SIM Canada
What does the Bible have to say about this? “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world” (James 1:27). God has said over and over again that He loves the widows and the orphans. The heart of our religion as Christians must be to love those whom he loves. HIV has widowed and orphaned people in unprecedented numbers. Children are heading households. Sick mothers spend their last days worried about the future of their children. Grandparents are left to try and manage households. If ever there was a crisis that called us to respond with the love of God, this is it.
STATISTICS • There are 34 million Canadians. Around the world there are nearly as many people living with HIV/AIDS as there are Canadian citizens. • 16.6 million children have lost a parent to HIV/AIDS. • 22.5 million people living with HIV/AIDS live in sub-Saharan Africa.
"Love without courage and wisdom is sentimentality, as with the ordinary church member. Courage without love and wisdom is foolhardiness, as with the ordinary soldier. Wisdom without love and courage is cowardice, as with the ordinary intellectual. But the one who has love, courage and wisdom moved the world." Ammon Hennacy, a long-time ally of Dorothy Day, founder of the Catholic Worker Movement.
26 | CONVERGE. november-december 2011
• Approximately 2/3 of all people living with HIV/AIDS live in Sub-Saharan Africa. • 2.5 million people living with HIV/AIDS are children. • 1.8 million people died of AIDS-related illness in 2009.
TRAFFICKING CRISIS
FIGHTING HUMAN TRAFFICKING • Deborah's GateSalvation Army www.deborahsgate.ca • Walk with Me: www.walk-with-me.org • Ratanak International www.ratanak.org • International Justice Mission www.ijm.ca • Rahab Ministries Thailand www.rahabministriesthailand.com
• Embracing Dignity www.embracedignity.org • Dalit Freedom www.dalitfreedom.net • ERDO www.erdo.ca
Tara Teng on a recent mission's trip to Cambodia
By Shara Lee
O
ver the past couple of years, reigning Miss Canada Tara Teng has become a fierce abolitionist and has made combating sex slavery her cause. She first became involved in the fight after a trip to Guatemala and Honduras where she witnessed the effects of poverty and oppression firsthand. Fifteen-year-old Anna Demian, is also an abolitionist. Trafficking had been an issue on her heart ever since her sister came back from a missions trip in Cambodia with heartbreaking stories of trafficked victims as young as three. This summer Teng organized the Ignite the Road to Justice Tour, a three week long trek across Canada to raise awareness, ignite passion, and move people to action on the issue of human trafficking. She invited Demian to accompany her as a youth representative. Together with small caravan they traveled for 20 days hitting 10 cities. “It was hard, it was challenging, but there were miracles every single day,” says Teng. The one thing unique about this tour was that it wasn’t only a speaking tour, the group also invited Non-Governmental Organizations to every city they visited. “We made it really easy,” says Teng. They greeted audiences with a problem but they also came with NGOs working towards solutions. The response from crowds was overwhelmingly positive. “It really brought a strong sense of unity to the anti-human
trafficking network in Canada,” says Teng. Demian echoes similar sentiments. “It was great. At the end of Tara’s section she would say, I want you guys to take a physical stand right where you are if you want to pursue seeking justice and you want to see an end to human trafficking and you personally will do something for this cause. And all across Canada we saw people standing up in their seats and just saying yes, we do believe in this issue.” Many who had heard about the trafficking crisis in Canada for the first time were changed — Demian was also changed. “In Kamloops, I met the mother of a human trafficking victim and her daughter (Jessie Foster) is still being trafficked to this day,” recalls Demian. “The reality of it just crashed in front of me.” Today both abolitionists are continuing to fight for justice. “Every 30 seconds, a child is sold in to human trafficking . . . God looks down on earth and he’s appalled at us if we don’t intervene. This is what gets me out of bed in the morning. This is what makes me do what I do, and why my days are so busy and why I stay up till three in the morning,” says Teng who is currently completing her studies at Trinity Western University’s Laurentian Leadership Centre in Ottawa while continuing to spread awareness on trafficking. Teng is firm on what she knows is just, despite arguments from critics who talk about legalizing prostitution. “[We’re talking] about an industry that capitalizes on the selling, the renting of people’s body parts, for whatever you want to do with them, whatever violence you want to [inflict on] somebody. I don’t understand how you could possibly legalize that, it’s like legalizing murder.” Since the tour Demian has also re-
Anna Demian on the Ignite the Road to Justice tour
mained committed to the cause. Shortly after her return, friends began asking about the tour and soon they too wanted to get involved. “It was honestly the people I would least expect. It wasn’t the Christians, it was not anyone that was already involved.” The group quickly organized a letter writing campaign and presented 300 letters to their local MP. They have since been meeting with him to discuss solutions for the trafficking problem in their city. “I feel like as a 15-year-old I can stir passion in other people. We are the people of tomorrow. We need to start educating and raising the standard of what’s acceptable . . . I feel like we do have a voice. And that people do listen to us as young as we are,” says Demian about her continuing fight. While the problem might be overwhelming for some people, Teng remains confident. “Our God is bigger,” she says. “Little David took down a giant and orphan Esther became Queen and saved an entire nation from genocide.” convergemagazine.com
| 27
CHILD SPONSORSHIP PHENOMENON By Robyn Roste
M
ichelle Ironmonger is not your average child sponsor. As a rule she selects “the oldest and the ugliest” — but that’s only if there’s a photo to choose from. “I look for organizations that understand the reality of poverty but don’t exploit the dignity of children,” she said. Ironmonger says some organizations use photos of needy children as a way of raising money. “I call it Poverty Pornography.” Ironmonger isn’t alone in her cynicism towards the traditional sponsorship model. Since its origin in the 1930s, sponsorship organizations have been criticized of raising money by appealing to people’s emotions, creating division within communities, and not applying all the sponsorship money towards the child. As a result, the traditional model has been modified, and sponsorship programs are thriving in their battle against poverty.
CHILD SPONSORSHIP ORGANIZATIONS •Watoto www.watoto.com •Compassion www.compassion.ca •World Vision www.worldvision.ca •Childcare Canada www.childcarecanada.com
world vision canada World Vision has experienced this criticism. Their model still allows people to choose which child to sponsor based on a photo and description. “A little known fact is that the children really enjoy the process of having their picture taken, and look forward to receiving pictures in return,” said World Vision Canada public relations manager Jane Bargout. She said World Vision is a child-centred organization concerned for the protection and rights of all children. With more than four million children in the program worldwide, World Vision is the world’s largest child sponsorship organization. Bargout described their sponsorship model as a “sustainable development model.” The organization uses sponsorship funding by providing for daily needs in entire communities instead of focusing on select children.
•Christian Children's Fund of Canada www.ccfcanada.ca •African Children's Choir www.africanchildrenschoir.com
Photo courtesy of World Vision
african children's choir Another sponsorship model is found with the African Children’s Choir. Although best known for its music program, the organization also has 2,500 non-choir children in their sponsorship program, spanning eight African countries. They avoid the traditional sponsorship model by not allowing people to choose which child to sponsor. Instead, you fill in a form and are then sent information about your sponsored child. “Our model has been developed through trial and error over the past 25 years,” said Reni Gitschmann, who handles sponsorship for the Canadian office. The organization operates primary and high schools as well as music camps, and sends tour choirs around the world.
compassion canada Another distinctive sponsorship model is that of Compassion Canada. Waiting until communities come to them, Compassion partners with local churches in impoverished communities. Barry Slauenwhite, president and CEO of Compassion Canada, said their model focuses on individual children and child development, rather than the community as a whole. This, he said, takes “sponsorship” out of the program and concentrates on developing successful
28 | CONVERGE.
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Photo courtesy of World Vision
people, regardless of their roots. He said the effectiveness of the Compassion model is directly related to their development program, which has existed for more than 55 years.
a little goes a long way For Ironmonger, it wasn’t until she saw sponsorship programs in action that she realized how essential they are for combating poverty in developing nations. “I learned that making an effort means so much.” She said even though she’s cynical of sponsorship programs, she knows they are helping provide access to the basic necessities of life.
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FAIR TRADE:
IT'S MORE THAN JUST A LABEL By Gavin Fisher
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hen visiting your local coffee shop to get your caffeine fix for the day, you may notice a sign claiming that the store uses “fair trade” coffee beans. In recent years the fair trade coffee movement has exploded. But you might be asking yourself, what exactly is fair trade? According to the World Fair Trade Organization, fair trade is a trading relationship that seeks greater equity in international trade. This involves the payment of a fair price — which covers not only the costs of production but also enables environmentally sustainable and safe working conditions for producers. Ten Thousand Villages celebrates its 65th anniversary this year. You can walk into any one of the 49 Ten Thousand Villages retail stores across Canada and purchase jewelry, ceramics, blankets, coffee, chocolate and more from 35 countries in the developing world, all with the knowledge that the producers and artisans have been paid a fair price. But paying a fair price is only just one part of their mission. “We make long-term commitments to our producer groups — which is just as important if not more important to them than a fair income,” says Ingrid Heinrichs Pauls, education and media coordinator for Ten Thousands Villages Canada. This commitment includes supporting producers even if a product is going to be late because of unforeseen circumstances — as in the case of a Christmas product line from India that ran late because excessively hot weather caused many of the workers to fall sick. In addition to their range of artisan handicrafts, Ten Thousand Villages stores also stock coffee beans and dried fruit from Level Ground Trading, a fair trade organization based out of Victoria, BC. The company’s first trading relationship was set up when founder Hugo Ciro traveled to Antioquia, Colombia to meet with producers. After discussing the needs and desires of the farming families, Ciro organized teachers and community members to form Famicafé — a fund that provides scholarships for the community members to attend high school and university. Since its founding in 1997, Level Ground has expanded to include dried fruit, cane sugar, and coffee beans from six coun-
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Photo courtesy of Level Ground Trading
tries — with a seventh, the Congo, added in October. Stacey Toews, co-founder and communications catalyst, says that fair trade is about the needs and realities of the producing communities. “Our main focus is that fair trade is about dialogue and transparency and respect between the producing and consuming communities,” Toews says. “We’re always looking to strike that back-andforth dialogue so that . . . we can find out legitimately what producers are needing to be paid, so it’s definitely fair on their terms rather than looking at some rather generic formula for international trade that says this is what you should be paid”. Toews also points out that businesses can sell products that have been fair trade-certified by an organization such as Fairtrade International, but that doesn’t necessarily mean the business is focused on the welfare of their producers. Dr. Anil Hira, a professor of Political Science at Simon Fraser University who has done research in international trade, agrees that fair trade certifying organizations often
The Ten Principles of Fair Trade •Creating opportunities for Economically Disadvantaged Producers •Transparency and Accountability •Fair Trading Practices •Payment of a Fair Price •Ensuring no Child Labour and Forced Labour •Commitment to Non Discrimination, Gender Equity and Freedom of Association •Ensuring Good Working Conditions •Providing Capacity Building •Promoting Fair Trade •Respect ß the Environment
2011
don’t have the funds and the capacity to regulate fair trade. “There’s no regulatory body, no agreed upon definition, and there’s no authority to actually enforce whether somebody is really following this or not.” Both Toews and Pauls acknowledge these challenges, but say that with a bit of research, a consumer can find out whether or not the company they are purchasing from has the best interests of the producers in mind. Level Ground, for example, has chosen to focus on being transparent about their trading costs rather than holding themselves accountable to an organization or certification. Visitors to their website can see the breakdown of their costs. “[You’ll] see all the details of where the money flowed, all the green unroasted coffee we purchased from the community,” Toews says, “what was the world price the day we bought, what was the price we paid the day we bought, and how much of what we paid actually went to the farmers.” Ideally, buying a fair trade product should not be a choice that someone has to make, it should be the norm. “The consumer shouldn’t have to choose to buy a safe product,” says Dr. Hira. “This should be just a matter of public regulation, just like they have public regulation against child labour, and public regulation against poisonous food; this should just be a normal thing that everyone is willing [to do].” Something to think about the next time you fill your mug with fair trade coffee.
EMBEDDED GENEROSITY By Natasha Irvine
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he ethical consumer has become a staple of the market. The locallysourced, fair-trade, grain-fed, free-range, organic, conflict-free options on offer in every retail sector suggest that a good number of people are realizing that their purchasing choices are an opportunity, if not a responsibility, to make a difference in the world. But, if consumers are recognizing this inherent responsibility, should not producers be at least as mindful? So said Mark Bubb, the national marketing director of Made for Good and Jedidiah Clothing. “So much money is being made in industry that we feel that industry is just as responsible for the world as individual people.” Jedidiah Clothing is a street and surf apparel company that partners with a charity each season and donates their profits to that organization. It has been a pioneer in a new generation of companies that are both for-profit but also for-social-good. For over a decade, they have been using a business model called "embedded generosity." This model has been so successful that a group of like-minded brands have recently gathered under the label Made for Good. This new consortium promises all of their products use a recurring model of giving through their partnerships with non-profits. When you buy a Made for Good product, Bubb explained, you are also supporting a good cause. But unlike other versions of charity purchasing, in this model your support doesn’t cost the consumer any more. “Instead of the consumer making a contribution in an increased price, we are taking that percentage from our bottom line and putting it towards the organizations we are working with.” Another company using the concept of embedded generosity is the enormously popular shoe manufacturer, TOMS. On their website they describe themselves as “a for-profit company with giving at its core.” For every pair of TOMS shoes or glasses that are bought, the company donates another pair of shoes or eyeglasses to people in need. The company refers to the people who buy their products as ‘benefactors’ or ‘customer-philanthropists,’ rather than ‘customers.’ Their
Photo courtesy of Jedidiah USA
Giving does not just feel good, it’s really, really good for business. — Blake Mycoskie, founder of TOMS
strategy seems to have been successful: by last year, TOMS had already donated over one million pairs of shoes to needy children worldwide. Like Jedidiah Clothing, TOMS has found that they are simply able to do more good as a for-profit company than as a non-profit organization because they can use sales instead of fundraising to support their giving. But is a customer-philanthropist an oxymoron? Is it simply a marketing move to capitalize on people’s sense of social responsibility and self-worth? “There are a ton of [companies] out there that are doing it because it is the right thing to do,” Bubb said. “They honestly have good intentions in their heart and they want to do something positive.” He did admit that embedded generosity is a good PR strategy, and that a lot of companies are getting on board because of that. However, he notes that even this might not be negative be-
cause consumers will continue to drive the market by pushing companies to do what they think is the right thing. “Do you remember when people started to recycle?” Bubb asked. He explained that doing something to make the world a better place made people feel good about themselves and now it has become a popular and socially responsible practice. Bubb said that this is the way people will begin to think about purchasing. He does not expect the market to change completely overnight but said, “I think embedded generosity companies are going to grow and are here to stay.” “There are so many businesses and products out there that can lend themselves to this kind of idea. I think the general population of consumers are going to get to the point where if they are buying something that doesn’t have a positive aspect they are going to look at it and ask, ‘why would I buy that?’” convergemagazine.com
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By Tracy Le
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y parents divorced when I was 12. The ages between seven and nine were marked with warning signs of the inevitable. Some families went to the lake every summer to get away and enjoy; mine took time to get away from one another. I never understood why it was peculiar to not have my dad at momentous occasions in my life. My mom’s presence perhaps filled that seemingly unattended void. My dependence for as long I can remember fell on one pair of eyes instead of two, so when asked why I am extremely close to my mother even today, or why I have never fallen in love, I say it is because I am the product of divorce. For a while, “complete” was defined as one parent, my mother. There’s fullness in what I seem to lack — what everyone seems to think I lack. My pain has helped me grow, perhaps even given me a greater longing for true and perfect love. To say I lack, is to say I did not live well, and that is definitely not the case. I don’t blame others for having viewed me as some-
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one who lacked. I would agree it’s not ideal for a child to be raised by one parent. It is doable but it is definitely harder. The queries such as who cuts the turkey at my house were moments that often flooded my young mind. These moments were like someone pointing out the spaghetti stain on your white shirt — you deny it’s at all a bother to you or a mess, but the moment you manage to flee the scene, you scrub the heck out of your shirt because it is in fact a mess and you are bothered that people are actually noticing. It is simple though, people are not perfect and my parents were the best example of imperfection. I saw mom and dad traipse around metaphorical land mines all my life up until I was an impressionable though strong-willed preteen. Thankfully, I somehow managed to keep busy and far from the fields of danger. I was immersed in everything from elementary spelling bees to competitive tennis matches. Though my home was split in half, I still dreamed of having my own whole home one day. These dreams still seemed attainable.
This good news was always embedded in me. I always knew that anger and selfishness were never meant to be included in the definition of marriage. When I was young (even as a non-practicing believer) I held onto a truth I knew would redeem the purpose of marriage. And double-checking myself, I guess a truth held closely onto me — the truth that my eternal Father would be there to carry me through. If I ride the wings of the morning, if I dwell by the farthest oceans, even there your hand will guide me, and your strength will support me.
(Psalm 139:9b-10a).
By embracing such a faithful truth, there is a freedom that allows me to concoct in a dizzy manner lists of various traits I pray my husband will embody. I have opinions on fabric and how certain ones just wouldn’t work for a wedding dress, let alone mine and I even playfully invite the matrimonial conflicts that are, “What if I do end up having over twelve bridesmaids in my wedding?” I’ve arrived here because I actually see remnants of a strong woman in the reflection. A strong woman who is privileged to have love completely, despite the past
examples of misused love, of broken love, or far-from-a-Christ-centered love. I see a woman with characteristics I know I’ve attained through being raised in a unique way and I truly can’t help but declare such fullness, stained shirt and all. And today I would tell you, glimpses of His kingdom and promise for me are positively affirming, despite the example of the broken marriage that surrounded me. I must be thankful for what came to be restored after it. Romance, love and commitment are nice things and powerful even, but resurrection from painful things is even more profound. I revel in that freedom that invites restoration and renewal. I often ask myself often why I haven’t truly veered off into the arms of strangers, been a victim of self-loathing, or why I haven't simply categorized myself as an eternal man-hater who refuses to let anyone in. Upon examination, I realize that I’ve stayed the path because I can assume what lies off road, and I want to see God's purpose for my life revealed. I’m far too curious and strong-willed to revert backwards when He beckons me forwards. My life up until now is proof of a faithful God, and dare I say a faithful girl. I know if I were to allow a hardened heart or a spiteful spirit to take precedent, His promise is hindered and love can
Tracy and her mother
never fully enter. I’m simply hopeful through it all. Why? Because the opposite of "hopeful” could not have gotten me to the place I am today — a good place, where a soul dwells in readiness and waits beside an Almighty God.
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REALITY TV By Shara Lee
A CLOSER LOOK AT UNSCRIPTED DRAMA
the reality seed
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n the mid sixties, Andy Warhol developed what we can call one of the first forms of reality film. The 1965 experimental picture Poor Little Rich Girl has sixties style icon Edie Sedgwick in her New York apartment acting out a day in her own life. The beginning scene shows an out-of-focus Sedgwick sleeping, then waking up to talk on the phone, smoke cigarettes, put on makeup, and try on outfits. It was Warhol’s films that catapulted her into superstardom. Unlike traditional actors, her natural personality was infectious and her style so unique that she did not need to put on a mask or take on a different persona to attract audience — people just wanted to see Edie be Edie. The public was fixated with this beautiful magnetic socialite. In 1966 Andy Warhol released Chelsea Girls, a film done in a similar style and featuring many of Andy Warhol’s superstars including Brigid Berlin, Mary Woronov, and Velvet Underground’s Nico. Newsweek praised the film for being the “Iliad of the underground” while film critic Rex Reed called it, “a three-and-a-half hour cesspool of vulgarity and talentless confusion which is about as interesting as the inside of a toilet bowl.” Like anything new or avant-garde, it was met with equal parts praise and criticism, but Warhol tapped into something interesting by capturing real moments. He had captured the audience’s desire for something authentic. Warhol seemed to describe what many wanted but were unable to express when he said, “I'm the type who'd be happy not going anywhere as long as I was sure I knew exactly what was happening at the places I wasn't going to. I'm the type who'd like to sit home and watch every party that I'm invited to on a monitor in my bedroom.” That is exactly what reality television has given us — an answer to our voyeuristic need.
the age of “reality” television
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lthough there were a few reality-like television shows throughout the ’70s, ’80s, and ’90s, it was not until that 2000s that the reality television genre gained prominence. According to Kevin Schut, media studies professor at Trinity Western University, if you look at the cultural context at the time, “there was this deep hunger in popular culture for non-scripted, non-produced material.” He says that during the early 2000s, popular culture was filled with ultra produced phenomena that included slick boy bands and over-processed pop stars. Audiences were craving something more authentic. Reality television seemed to be the answer. MTV had already seen success with their early ’90s hit the Real World, a show in
which eight strangers are picked to live in a house and have their lives taped. Of those auditioning to be filmed, some were aspiring actors and musicians desperate to get noticed. There were jocks wanting to reclaim their varsity popularity and wallflowers that had finally gained the confidence to be seen — here were people who all wanted a soapbox and their 15 minutes of fame. While the strangers almost always started out as a group of chummy friends, soon after settling in, each character slowly revealed their baggage. Shortly after, rivalries are formed, romances are ignited, and drama ensues. Producers and network executives began to take notice. Without the need for elaborate sets or trained actors, costs could be kept low. Network executives came to see the profits that could be made and the reality television genre started to gain popularity. Foreign imports such as Survivor and Big Brother were Americanized and fed to audiences who gobbled them up. This was authentic drama and it hardly cost anything to produce. These shows were definitely different from scripted dramas. Because reality television contestants were real people, viewers could better identify with them. They didn’t have that singsongy quality in their voices that actors sometimes have and their facial expressions did not have to be perfect for every frame.
the dark irony
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ike Schut, John G. Stackhouse, Sangwoo Youtong Chee Professor of Theology and Culture at Regent College, agrees that unscripted television is a backlash from years of overly-fictionalized material. “Some of reality TV expresses a hunger for authenticity. We've been entertained so long by such clever fictions,” he says. “It's refreshing to see things as they really are.” However, he also states, “The dark irony, of course, is that reality TV is generally very carefully scripted, shot, edited, and presented so that it's hardly more 'real' than anything else on television.” This edited reality was explicitly revealed on the season finale of MTV’s The Hills. In the final moments of the season finale, lead protagonist Kristin Cavallari says a tearful goodbye to her friend and former boyfriend Brody Jenner. They share a heartfelt and bittersweet moment after which she drives off to the airport ready to embark on a trip to Europe. As Jenner stares off into the distance on a Los Angeles street watching her leave, the fake backdrop suddenly rolls away, cameras pan out and we see Jenner standing on a Hollywood lot with crew members surrounding him. He starts clapping and smiling, then Cavallari gets out of her car, runs towards Jenner and they embrace. convergemagazine.com
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do you watch reality tv and if so, what do you watch and why?
the actors and performers
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hile these new programs were marketed as reality shows, people quickly began to realize that not only were they scripted, but in most cases those starring were struggling actors hoping to pay their bills and possibly gain recognition by getting some on screen time. Max Clough is very familiar with the practice of reality television casting. As a Vancouver actor, he tells us that most of the people on these shows are actually struggling performers. “I’d say at least 90 per cent of people on reality television are actors,” he says. Clough himself has even appeared on the Canadian reality TV show Mantracker. The premise of the show is built around Terry Grant, an expert tracker who pursues prey (two individuals) in the North American wilderness. The prey must elude Grant and reach the finish line within 36 hours. Clough knew what producers would be looking for when he sent in his audition tape. As a former varsity football athlete, he has an imposing build and a deep gruff voice. He knew that he had to play to the stereotype of the big mean man if he wanted to get the part. “I kind of came up with a composite character,” says Clough who describes his persona as a cross between Arnold Schwarzenegger from Predator and wrestler The Rock. Although his character did come alive on screen, Clough says he was a little displeased with the editing process. “If I ever did it again I just wouldn’t show the obnoxious side of myself. I didn’t know how it was gonna go and I didn’t know the pitfalls of reality television so I was as outgoing as possible,” he says. “I don’t usually go around yelling at people all the time.”
voyeurism and schadenfreude
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espite the fact that we know much of it is scripted, the idea of reality television is appealing partially because it allows viewers the intimate interaction with a subject or a group of people. Peeking into the lives of others satisfies an innate curiosity each of us have. This genre also provides us with the satisfaction of seeing others humiliated. And while we might not feel comfortable with admitting it, perhaps laughing at the misfortunes of others makes us feel better about ourselves. Reality stars do not lack the sense of inhibition we may lack — they subject themselves to fights, publicly humiliate themselves, and say exactly what is on their minds without holding back. Even if watching them navigate uncomfortable situations may make us cringe, it is nevertheless entertaining, almost like staring at a horrible car accident on the side of the road. It may look gruesome, but it is difficult to look away.
the danger of it all
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his brings us to the question that we must finally ask, are we as viewers influenced by what we watch on television? If this is the case, and shows that celebrate debauchery such as Jersey Shore, The Real World, and The Bachelor are gaining massive network ratings, this could be cause for concern. Schut points to a famous study by psychologist Albert Bandura who hypothesized that the way we learn to behave is based on the role models we see. Because he was very interested in violence in media, he conducted a study that would test the effects of violence on film. Bandura had some children watch a film where an adult was playing with a toy normally. He had another group of children watch a film that showed an adult punching a Bobo doll. After
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I don’t really watch reality tv. I would say I watch more soap operas and stuff. Probably because I’m a student I don’t really have that much time so I make room for the shows that I do really enjoy and reality tv is not on the top of my list, but when I do have lots of time I do watch some reality tv. So You Think You Can Dance, American Idol, lot’s of stuff on TLC, the wedding shows.
I only watch reality tv shows in the summer, but not in the Fall. Because in the summer I have time and I watch American Idol and So You Think You Can Dance because they’re enjoyable and fun. But in the fall I just watch sitcoms that come out. — Bonnie Mueller
— Julia Verhoeff
they had watched the films, the kids were all sent to play and Bandura discovered that the children who had watched the film of an adult punching the Bobo doll were far more aggressive. “There has been a lot of debate over whether that’s valid. The point is that that’s the theory,” says Schut. “There’s some validity to that. But there are a couple of reasons to question whether it’s quite that simple.” First there is of course the chicken and the egg question. Which came first? Most would say that what ends up on television are the things that our society wants. This is what Schut tends to agree with. “If you look at the kind of behaviours that are common in prime time television, there’s an overrepresentation of extramarital sex, there’s an overrepresentation of violence. So it doesn’t precisely reflect our society but it does reflect sort of our aspirations and interests and things that excite us,” says Schut. “So it could to some extent reflect a shift in our desires and our values, not necessarily our behaviours.” The shows may reflect our desires. But that just brings us back to the chicken and the egg question. Do we as a society like watching violence, sexual immorality and relational conflict or have we just been conditioned to accept it because it’s what we see on television? Fred Rogers, American educator and television host seemed to think that television was a much more powerful medium than we gave it credit for. “We have to remember to whom the airwaves belong, and we must put as great an emphasis on the nurturing of the human personality as we can,” he said. “I believe that those of us who are the producers and purveyors of television — or video games or newspapers or any mass media — I believe that we are the servants of this nation.” Rogers stated in many interviews that he only got into television because he hated it and wanted to redeem it for a greater purpose. He believed that television was in fact dangerous, especially for children (one of the reasons he created a program to educate the young). He also believed that television also had the power to heal and transform. Rogers was angry with the way most producers created television pro-
Sorry I don’t watch tv at all because it takes so much time and I don’t really like to watch. — Daniel Lee
I don’t watch reality tv. I watch a lot of tv series but not reality tv. I feel like there’s enough drama in normal every day life that I don’t need to watch it too. And usually it’s pretty trashy. A lot of it is just drinking and sleeping around and I don’t need to fill my head with that.
I don’t watch that much reality tv. I don’t have that much time to sit down and watch tv. I’ve got better things to do. — Anthony Russo
— Sarah Kelsey
I do watch kind of reality tv, Jersey Shore I guess. There’s some other reality tv [shows]. I don’t know if you’ve heard about the I think it was MTV’s Bucket List about ten things you would do before you die. So the reason I watch it is because you get to look through the perspective of peoples lives. But I don’t know, for Jersey Shore it’s kind of sketchy, but it’s kind of entertaining as well. — Daniel Belimac
grams. “You wouldn't put a newsman on the air who didn't know how to pronounce Vietnam. But we give millions of dollars to these people who are producing cartoons and they have no earthly idea of what they're doing to a kid,” he said.
the redeeming qualities
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hile it may seem like the values presented on reality television programs are all bad, the truth is they are not. Even the most lewd of reality shows have some redeeming qualities. According to Schut, most of the time we overlook the positives. “I could see positive aspects of friendship, sticking together, loyalty, knowing how to comfort people when they’re upset, those kinds of things. I’m not saying that I’m endorsing those kinds of shows, but what I’m saying is some of that stuff is modeled as well to some extent,” says Schut specifically referring to controversial programs like Jersey Shore and Real World. Far from being harmful, reality television programs could even be seen as modern morality tales. A show like the Amazing Race for example, could be compared to Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales. The producers edit characters to fit certain stereotypes such as “villain”, “hero,” “coward” etc. Chaucer did this too by giving us portraits of moral and immoral characters. Like the Canterbury Tales, reality television also paints a picture of our society as a whole showing both our vices and our virtues.
Stackhouse disagrees. For him, the morality presented on these shows is nothing more than “the sentimental morality of high school,” certainly nothing new or truly instructive. “It's hard to see most of the shows as helpful . . . Most of the shows are sheer entertainment and of a pretty prurient kind: Let's see who suffers this week; let's see how far people are prepared to shed their dignity for money; let's see if the person we all love to hate finally gets the vengeance we all wish upon him or her. Not high-minded stuff,” he says.
what do we make of it?
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t is difficult to conclusively say whether or not reality television is necessarily good or bad for us. Some say it is harmful, yet others believe that our own internal filters can separate what is good from what is bad. Like with most things in life, moderation is key. This genre can provide an escape but should not consume one’s life. An important thing to remember is that reality television is a mixture of fantasy and reality. It is carefully cast, scripted, and edited to form a compelling story arc. So what are we to make of it? The fact is that reality television is here to stay. The genre has proven that it has a lasting quality. For this reason we need to generate discussion on this controversial new form of cultural expression. Schut seems to sum it up nicely when he says that the danger lies in never consciously engaging the genre. “I think unexamined stuff can have unpredictable effects,” he warns.
some of reality tv expresses a hunger for authenticity . . . the dark irony, of course , is that reality tv is generally very carefully scripted , shot, edited , and presented so that it's hardly more 'real' than anything else on television — John G. Stackhouse, Sangwoo Youtong Chee Professor of Theology and Culture at Regent College convergemagazine.com
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By J.J. McCullough
It was just an office building but I loved it very much. It was where my father worked, and as a child I savored every visit. Dad has long since moved on to other things, of course, but in those days he had his own office with a door and a big window — all in glorious downtown Vancouver. He would leave for work in the morning, then come home in the evening. He did it for several decades. The McCullough family seemed to do all right. For most of my life I had no other conception of what “work” was. Eventually I would complete my own years of schooling and slide effortlessly into a swanky office with a big window just like father. I’m 27 now, but the office seems further away than ever. Like many in my generation, I feel something, somewhere, went horribly wrong. For any unemployed (or underemployed, to use the current trendy euphemism) 20-something with a modicum of self-awareness, one of the dreariest challenges of day-to-day living is attempting to determine how much of your crappy present life is the result of your own poor life decisions, as opposed to powerful societal forces beyond your control. How much blame should you direct to the mirror, versus some more amorphous demon — like, say “the economy?” My friend Stephanie seemed to do everything right. She got good marks and did impressive work at the student newspaper. Yet she has never found full-time work in the aftermath of her graduation two years ago. Now on her third consecutive unpaid internship, she still lives with her parents. “I thought that as long as I had a good degree, I would be set,” she said. “But instead I applied to jobs wondering what was so wrong with me that nobody wanted to hire me. It was frustrating and depressing.” Having little luck winning over any established employer, she now sees freelancing as the most logical career path. “Today’s job seekers need to be more enterprising and scrape up opportunities wherever they can find them,” she explained. Stephanie’s belated conclusion probably personifies the largest flaw of contemporary youth education. We were taught to view work as something that employers would award for our talents, in a simple cause-andeffect equation. It was hard to overstate the simplicity, in fact. Rarely did we entertain the possibility that the employer might go off-script. And yet here we are: in the midst of an economic climate where our parents’ generation stubbornly refuses to retire, while an information revolution has rendered numerous once-proud industries either obsolete or financially teetering. The Internet gives away for free what many once made a living providing; news, software, music, video games, maps, encyclopedias, mail… We all got quite
uppity when people said our downloads and torrents were killing jobs, and now we fight for the last remaining pieces of businesses we helped crumble. You can forgive the old-timers for hanging on. In such a context, the wave of the future seems to be opting out of business-as-usual and going it alone, or at the very least, going with a small clique of like-minded, independent entrepreneurs. Indeed, of the few people I know who are genuinely “making it” in respectable white collar, nine-to-five, middle class careers — as opposed to the pseudo-work refuges of graduate school, government bureaucracy, or family business apprenticeships — almost all are either self-employed, or working for someone else’s plucky little startup. It’s a shift in expectations that has David, another friend and recent grad, feeling a bit jerked around. “I don’t have any appropriate training,” he told me. “Starting a business is something that I would like to do, but I didn’t study business in university, and I don’t know the first thing about creating one.” “The primary difference between my peers who have found gainful employment and those that have not,” he added, “is how good they are at making connections that can find jobs for them.” If you’re not the next Zuckerberg, in other words, it usually helps to know one. Though schmoozing and networking is yet another skill education failed to impart. It is always easily to dismiss the current hopelessness of our generation as the product of a kind of lazy entitlement, the result of the unprecedentedly spoiled expectation that good careers, like spending money or Christmas presents, should simply be handed over, rather than correlated to any sort of hard work. It dovetails neatly with that other unspoken assumption lying just beneath many youth critiques of the present job market (including this one): work should not only be available, but fun, interesting, and important too. In theory, of course, anyone can work anywhere. There’s always lot of floors to be swept and boxes to be stacked. Yet ask anyone who read that 2,000-word resignation letter from a disgruntled young grocer at Whole Foods that went viral earlier this year, and they’ll happily tell you about the particular sort of chaos that ensues when you attempt to cram an over-qualified square peg into the round hole of wage labor. “You don't hold critical thinking and discretion in high regard?” the writer
asks with great rhetorical indignance, amid critiques of the supermarket’s environmental and fiscal policies. “You encourage blindly following rules?” He wanted none of it. Though an air of self-righteousness is unmistakable, this is a decidedly different phenomenon than sheer laziness. For all its failings, completing school is still a far more difficult slog than the alternative, and passion will always requires more effort than submission. Low-paying, lowskill jobs are certainly available, but can be maddening and depressing for minds that have gotten used to completing bigger and better things (and earning ample praise and attention for doing so). If a sus-
I actually attended after-school architecture classes). So why not complain if the grocery store isn’t quite up-to-snuff? It’s a uniquely unsettling feeling to feel so flawed and irresponsible after years of being told you were doing everything right. There’s very little to be gained from any sort of wallowing, of course. Amid all the weepy CBC profiles about how Things Have Never Been Worse, the surest equation for educated youths seeking success remains fairly simple: perfect your skills, accomplish things, get noticed, introduce yourself to people that matter, and apply, apply, apply. It’s a different equation than the one we were taught, it may take agonizingly long, and it may not lead to the places we expected, but it’s still something. And so long as something is better than anything, it’s all you can really do. It’s troubling to think that there may never be an office with a door or a window in my future. “Work” may mean something else entirely by the time, I, or Stephanie, or David, or the Whole Foods guy, are actually doing enough of it to live comfortable, independent, adult lives. It may be nobody’s fault in particular, but that doesn’t make it any easier.
How much blame should you direct to the mirror, versus some more amorphous demon — like, say "the economy?" tenance career was all that was likely or expected, I can imagine more than a few people who wouldn’t have tried nearly as hard. Ours was the generation of oboe lessons, French tutors, and computer camps, all designed to prep us for the workaholic futures that supposedly awaited (it seems almost grotesque now, but in third grade
jayesslee fall in love with
It's not at all hard to see how the
Australian-Korean musical twin sister duo captured the hearts of their 200,000 subscribers on YouTube. You could say it's their on-screen charm, their dazzling smiles, their angelic voices or their silly sisterly banter. But what really charmed us about the these sisters were their down to earth personalities and infectious positive outlook on life.
By Carmen Bright Photo: Agnon/Art Department
IT STARTS WITH A SPARK It's a golden leaf and blue-sky kind of day in the city and sitting across from me in this sun-lit Carmana Plaza hotel suite are the twins. Despite their double-digit hour flight, Janice and Sonia Lee are still as cheery and friendly as they are in their videos. They look outside their window and admire Vancouver's fluffy white clouds and mountainous backdrop, saying they never ever see this in Australia. I hardly hear what they say though. My mind is crippled by the fear of accidentally switching them up. But they've already eased my worries by setting themselves up in their usual placement: Sonia on the left, Janice on the right. "We're really into burgers," Sonia says, gesturing invisible hamburgers with their hands. “We LOVE food." It has only been an afternoon and I’m already starting to love them. They’re just as bubbly and energetic in person as they are on camera. Their genuine happiness is infectious.
THEN A FLAME STARTS It's a cold night for the hundreds of people waiting in a line that snaked its way around the venue’s parking lot. As they file their way into their seats they are greeted by a stage warmly lit with yellow paper lanterns and Victorian street lamps. The stage designers outdid themselves creating that perfect romantic atmosphere for the “Fall In Love” concert.
42 | CONVERGE. november-december 2011
Photos: Grace Lau
"We love you Vancouver!" say Janice and Sonia in perfect unison. Jayesslee steps out on stage, and you can feel the love through the cheers and rumbling floors. Their manager Andy stands between them recording the cheering audience as a keepsake to share with their YouTube subscribers later. They like to stay connected to their fans and that means keeping them updated on their activities in every city they hit. They're standing in front of me and a thousand others singing now at the "Fall in Love" concert put on by I AM MADE Entertainment. Their voices are angelic. Back at the hotel I get to know them a bit more. Janice and Sonia have come a long way since they started recording music videos in their pajamas with a handycam. "We've always been singing [even] at a very young age," says Janice, thinking back to their childhood days when their parents eagerly signed them up for church talent competitions. Many years later Janice and Sonia organized their own church talent quest, which unexpectedly ignited their musical career. "There weren't enough participants [in the talent quest] and we decided 'we should do this' so we participated and won the contest as organizers," says Janice, having a laugh at the irony of this. "People started coming to us after the event saying 'your singing brought me to tears.'" The two then knew that singing was their calling and began sharing their talent online. The two uploaded their first video as Jayesslee in 2008. What started out as a casual hobby quickly became an Internet sensation. Their popularity skyrocketed after the twins covered the highly requested “Officially Missing You,” which now sits with over 9 million views. "We woke up one morning and it had gone viral!" Sonia said. "Now we're traveling [and] doing music full time." Three years and 30 video uploads later, Jayesslee has fine tuned their look, sound and presentation. When I ask how they prepare for each video, they sigh. "It gets more difficult as we do it ‘cause now we get more picky. In the beginning we really didn't really care how we looked in our pajamas with drool coming out," laughs Janice. But since their online fame became apparent, they upped their quality to reward their subscribers for being so faithful in watching their videos. "So we dressed out of our pajamas, shampooed, brushed our hair, and showered!"
Which one of you would win in an arm wrestle? Sonia: Truly . . . our hands would be locked and it would stay right there. We are exactly the same. Janice: We've done it we've tested it so many times Every time it just doesn't move. It goes about 5 minutes. Which one of you is the crazy twin? Janice: I think people think immediately from the outside judge Janice to be the crazy twin, but if you really get to know Sonia, I think you see that she's the crazy twin. Sonia: You'll never know, I'll have to take it to the grave. Janice: She knows it. Who's the better cook? Sonia: I'll give this one to Janice. I'm not a good cook. Janice: Neither of us are good cooks. Sonia: [Janice] made a chicken stir fry and every time we make it it becomes a really thick paste, like really disgusting, but she actually succeeded once and I was really impressed. Best thing about traveling? Janice: I think definitely one of the best things about traveling is the different foods. We love food so much! Best food had touring? Where's the best place to get burgers? Sonia: We're big fans of the golden arches. So when we went to Red Robins last night it was a HUGE treat for us it was an upgrade. Bottomless fries, bottomless drinks. It was like we were in heaven. Have you guys tried rapping? Sonia: I rap a little! In "Price Tag." [Janice] actually beat boxes! Who's your prince charming? Janice: Someobdy that has leadership but is humble. Somebody who is patient . . . character qualities but that's the stuff that counts. Doesn't matter how tall, or round. It's more about the character. Sonia: I think it's the qualities of the man, is having integrity and [being] honest and faithful. It's those traits makes him attractive.
GETTING TO KNOW THAT SOMEONE On stage and on video you can see them brimming with love for each other and for those who surround them. But how do the twins relate to each other in their day-to-day lives when the camera stops rolling and when no one is looking? "We hate each other," says Janice. They both laugh but quickly assume a dead serious look. Contrary to popular belief, Janice and Sonia are not loving with each other 24 hours of the day. "I think itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s so funny that people think we're so close and we love each other all the time. I think that's hilarious," adds Sonia. "We're very individual, very independent. We have 25 years of just living together. We have the same likes, we like the same food, we like the same clothes, same shoes, [so] we're bound to fight, but at the same time I know I can't live without her. I know she can't live without me." Janice turns to face Sonia, arms stretched out. "Big hug!" Sonia responds with a grimace and crossed arms. One can see how their sisterly dynamic carries through from their everyday lives into their videos. Their honesty is very apparent and perhaps the reason for their success. People all around the world have fallen in love with Janice and Sonia because of their on-camera authenticity. YouTube has been the perfect outlet to showcase this. When it comes to being open about faith they're not concerned about losing subscribers. While some aspiring artists conceal faith for fear that it could deter people from becoming fans, Janice and Sonia put it right out in the open. You could even say that they flaunt it. "That's who we are. We can't really put our faith on and off." There are those that speak up against their faith, saying that their talent is going to waste for the glory of God. Others have expressed displeasure towards Jayesslee's cover of The Scriptâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s â&#x20AC;&#x153;Break Evenâ&#x20AC;? where they changed the line "I'm praying to a God I don't believe in" to "I'm praying to a God I believe in." "We don't let it affect us too much," says Sonia. "It's inevitable. You know in the end it's what we believe in and we're confident about it." As they say, â&#x20AC;&#x153;haters gonna hate.â&#x20AC;?
WHEN THE FLAME STARTS TO BURN OUT Their concert up until now has been a calming acoustic experience. The two have been sweetly entertaining the crowds with their music and witty quips in between numbers. But now things seem to be going in a more somber and serious direction. They indicate they will now be telling us something serious. â&#x20AC;&#x153; The concert hall becomes quiet. The two of them, moments earlier laughing, singing, and joking, now share a very tender and intimate moment with their fans. Janice and Sonia were only seven when the news of their
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mother diagnosed with breast cancer hit their family. Being so young they didn't fully understand the physical and mental consequences of cancer but as time went on the cancer began to spread further into their mother's body. They questioned God. Asking questions like, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Why? How? Why them?â&#x20AC;? They had always been told in church that God was good all the time. But it was hard to believe that while watching their mother slowly wither away. Suddenly at 15 Janice and Sonia found themselves having to come to terms with the fact that their mother only had two weeks to live. "Sonia and I decided to be strong," Janice tells us. She says the two of them made a choice and promised each other that, instead of breaking their parentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; hearts by being sad, they would cry one last time and pray for their mother. It was then when a certain peace washed over them. They finally understood that God had a plan for everyone and that they should make the most of their time with their mother while she was still with them. Shortly after their mother died in hospital, but not without a memorable moment. Just when it seemed like all her strength had left her, their mother raised her arms and sang a Korean worship song. Everyone in the concert hall is now stifling sniffles. Janice and Sonia tell us they want to share the song. First they say in English, "Lord here I am, My heart, my body, I give it to you. Use me as I am, hallelujah." Now they start singing in their usual two-part harmony, this time in Korean.
FLAMES NEVER DIE OUT In the concert hall the show has long been over, but Janice and Sonia are lingering by the stage to talk with those still remaining. Fans squeeze past the crowd and eagerly come back to ask for photos. They pose, they smile, and they part with a hug. They repeat this process with virtually everyone who asks. "At the end of the day itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s really not by your own efforts," said Sonia, "itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s God who gives opportunities to open the doors so just [by] being faithful and knowing him daily, walking with him, He will get you to where you need to go." They say that God shines through his children and this could not be more true for these sisters. Their love for Him is truly the most beautiful part about them. Janice and Sonia have turned a hobby into a full-time job they love. Most of their YouTube videos have well over a million hits. It has been a great tool for them. When I ask if they would still make singing a career if YouTube didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t exist, their answer is clear. "God would provide some other way. I'm pretty sure this is what we're called to do. I mean, we're not very good at anything else so I'm pretty sure God would have opened other doors. It just happened to be YouTube for us," says one of them, Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m not too sure which, but it doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t really matter; Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m positive the other would wholeheartedly agree.
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HAVE YOU READ?
By Miriam Miller
SOME OTHER READS: All Is Grace
One Thousand Gifts Ann Voskamp
Meet Ann Voskamp. Despite first appearances — the wife of a farmer in a quiet farming community in south-western Ontario and a homeschooling mom of six children. Voskamp is an accomplished writer and a global advocate for the poor, traveling for Compassion International. She has 40,000+ hits on her blog a month and her book One Thousand Gifts just landed on the New York Times bestseller list. Still, she describes herself as “a bit of a mess... most days [feeling] just a tad bit overwhelmed and crazy.” In preparation for reviewing her book I watched a couple of interviews of her on YouTube. She is lovely. Soft-spoken, quirky, passionate as anything, humble and most importantly, authentic. If there was ever a buzz word that you hope doesn’t die out, it is authentic. A testimony that is authentic is not only compelling, it is necessary. Reading her words, watching her speak, I knew Jesus was filling this woman up to experience the abundant life that is so joyously preached about in the Bible. She has truly met her God and been changed. I’ve never met her, but like many readers/fans, I feel like I know her — or that she knows me. Her views from the trenches of Christian faith (through human suffering) are familiar. Losing her little sister at a young age starts the journey of finding God in the brokenness and heartache of life. The initial fallout to such a painful tragedy is despair and distrust of God and dissatisfac-
Brennan Manning
tion with life. “All my eyes can seem to fixate on are the splatters of disappointment across here and me,” she writes. Woven through that angst you read of restlessness as she salivates and hungers for more of the spiritual life we are promised in the Word. A step along the path to transformation is when she starts to question her blindness. “That which tears open our souls, those holes that splatter our sight, may actually become the thin, open places to see through the mess of this place to the heartaching beauty beyond. To Him. To the God whom we endlessly crave.” Through studying the Bible and a simple dare from a friend to pen gifts that God has blessed her with, her life is forever changed. The list of blessings is of simple things that open her eyes to Truth and set her free to truly live an abundant life. It is a dare she pitches to one and all: find God in thanksgiving. At the end of the book, her shackles having been removed, she triumphantly declares, “God is always good and I am always loved and eucharisteo [thanksgiving] has made me my truest self, ‘full of grace.’” The book is well praised as to its style and poetic offerings. Her stories are relevant and revelatory. The grammar is at times artistic, but often poor. The poetic language sometimes makes the facts hard to follow. The details are dressed up in so many metaphorical and descriptive layers that the sequence reveals itself on a second read or pages later; a shortcoming I have seen in many other books as well. I will describe her as thorough, which is
Author of the popular Ragamuffin Gospel, Brennan Manning writes thoughtfully about his life's stuggles and triumphs in this heartfelt memoir.
Night of the Living Dead Christian Matt Mikalatos What does a transformed life look like? In his followup to Imaginary Jesus, Matt Mikalatos tackles this question in an entertaining way: with monsters.
several positive steps away from repetitive. The reader is given the opportunity to meditate on the revelations that she is presenting. Voskamp takes liberties with a couple of her theological viewpoints that require a discerning eye. For example, there is a chapter where somewhat graphic illusions to intercourse and intimacy are aligned with our relationship with God. Some find it thrilling, some appalling. One Thousand Gifts is bathed in scripture and points to Jesus, so it can enrich one’s life. It declares the existence of a loving God who is ever present in the midst of the hurt and brokenness of the world. The timely message that He is not only the solution to our hurt, but offers abundantly more — healing, grace, love, and joy. We need only receive all of Him with thanksgiving.
HAVE YOU HEARD?
By Craig Ketchum
Gungor Ghosts Upon The Earth Liturgical Post-rock, Denver, CO
Thrice Major/Minor Post-Hardcore, Irvine, CA
Brianna Gaither Love is Patient Pop/alternative, Oklahoma City, OK
What a show of confidence in their identity and journey for Gungor to use their growing popularity as a lever to open doors of access to musical and lyrical styles that have been left untouched by Christian establishment for decades! With the release of Ghosts Upon the Earth, which received more pre-orders than their distributor could expedite on schedule, Gungor delivers another phenomenal album replete with kingdom creativity. The band has had the courage to continue to experiment after the hugely successful Beautiful Things. The track “You Are the Beauty” keeps you on the edge of your seat the whole time as it segues from bluegrass to flamenco to jazz. The album's name is a concept Michael Gungor explains in videos you can find online. The opening track metaphorically paints a fitting soundscape to celebrate the original creative action that brought forth the universe, ambling along minimally before bursting forth with explosions of syncopated sound and countermelody. The second track, "Brother Moon," is distinctly flavoured by Jonsi's (of Sigur Ros) 2010 album Go, giving a nod to a fellow experimenter and serendipitous musical visionary. The theme here is co-creativity. With this album, Gungor continues on a mission to embrace their heritage of diverse and eclectic influences and redeem it just as they articulated in Beautiful Things. Their increased use of natural metaphor, akin to John Mark McMillan or Aaron Weiss, weaves parables like, “when death dies, all things live” that explicate their “liturgical post-rock.”
Thrice shows itself to be a band that can go the distance in the ring. With each album, it seems the punches gain force. From the beginning, Dustin Kensrue’s lyrics have been potent, but latter releases reveal true knockout force as he sings about everything from marriage to media to hypocrisy. Heavy-hitting “Yellow Belly” bookends the album with a grungy, gritty electric opener and offers an acoustic reprise to close. Careful listeners will catch allusion to the difficulty of confronting the hypocrite within as well as criticism of those who pray for rapture instead of confronting evils around them. Kensrue uses his powerful parabolic style to narrate his faith journey and challenges others to make their decision. “Words in the Water” tells of the lifting of the law and “Listen Through Me” describes the crucifixion. Major/Minor is unmistakably Thrice, regardless of their frequent experimentation. This heavier, more minimally produced record is somewhat similar to Beggars and may please fans of Vheissu. Stickwork and guitar are grungy yet ironically crisp, drawing together with the vocals into anthemic territory. Sonically, Thrice continues doing what they want to do and pay little attention to the tastes of their fanbase. Love it or hate it, they are revolutionaries in a peoplepleasing industry.
It is pop that is both thoughtful and accessible. It is highly independent and even experimental. Brianna Gaither is a singer-songwriter from Oklahoma with an exquisite repertoire and a growing fanbase. This new album is highly listenable and thoroughly original, without a hint of repetition. Gaither has a beautiful voice that manages both dusky alto and clarion soprano. Her impressive range really shines on “Find You” as she follows chromatic scales up and down in the verses before hitting some high notes in the choruses. The track then segues through a pretty crazy stylistic adventure. Brianna is not a single-style composer. “Harvest Moon” and “Home” are powerful ballads; "Home" could easily find itself on a wedding playlist. She picked her musicians well for his album. Sonically, lyrics are accentuated and really stand out. Love is Patient is harmonious, honest, and delightful.
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DEVELOPMENT OUTREACH YOUTH SERVICES CHURCH MINISTRY DRAMA PERFORMANCE THE TH T HE H EA AT ATR TR T RE TRANSLATION TRAN NS SLA SL LLA AT TIIO TIO IION ON CONSTRUCTION CO ON NS T NS TRU TR RU R UC CTI CT T ON N BOOKKEEPING BOO B BO O OO OK KKE KK KEEPI EPING G TEACHER TEA ACHE CHER R ESL TEACHER PAINTER PAIN THEATRE SECRETARY CONDUCTOR BIBLE TRANSLATOR NANNY RELIEF WORK SPIRIT RIT RIT TUA UAL U A FORMATION FORMA ATI TIO T ION TRANSFORMATION TRANSFO SFO SFO FORMA R TION LEADERSHIP LEA EAD E A ERSHIP DEVELOPMENT HEALTH CARE THEOLOGY CHILD YOUTH CARE WORSHIP GLOBAL STUDIES MISSIONS SPIRITUAL EVANGELISM GREAT COMMISSION ORPHANS AT RISK YOUTH TEACH ESL DISCIPLE SHARE THE GOSPEL TASK TEAM INITIATE IDEAS ORGANIZATIONAL SUPPORT OFFICE MANAGEMENT ADMINISTRATION DEVELOPMENTAL AGENCIES ARTICULATE YOUR FAITH NEW LANGUAGES FOREIGN LANGUAGE PHONETICS CHURCH MUSIC PERFORMANCE MUSIC CONTEMPORARY MUSIC SOUL CARE PASTORAL CARE BIBLICAL FOUNDATIONS THEOLOGICAL FOUNDATIONS MENTORING YOUTH PASTOR INTERCULTURAL STUDY SOCIAL AGENCY COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT INTERNATIONAL OUTREACH HUMAN SERVICES COMMUNITY YOUTH SERVICES CHURCH MINISTRY DRAMA PERFORMANCE THEATRE TRANSLATION CONSTRUCTION BOOKKEEPING TEACHER ESL TEACHER PAINTER SECRETARY CONDUCTOR BIBLE TRANSLATOR SUPERVISO Calgary, Alberta • 1.877.YOUnRMC • enrolment@rockymountaincollege.ca • www.rockymountaincollege.ca
Is yo your journey taking you wh where you need to go? Why wait?
be change.
Rocky Mountain College
HAVE YOU SEEN?
Like Crazy (2011) Directed by Drake Doresmus Starring: Anthon Yelchin, Felicity Jones
Like Crazy is the story of a British girl and her American boy who must face the realities of a long-distance relationship after she overstays her student visa and is shipped home to the United Kingdom. Captured beautifully by Anton Yelchin (Charlie Bartlett, Star Trek) and Felicity Jones (The Tempest), Jacob and Anna must find a way to make their relationship work while their everyday lives seem to pull them further apart. The film, directed by Drake Doremus, seems trivial at first: young love is separated and their idealistic desires begin to create friction in their relationship. However, upon spending time with Jacob and Anna both together and individually, the audience is wrapped into their feelings of abandonment and conflict, selfishness and longing. Both Jacob and Anna struggle, not with fidelity, but with the halting pace of their connection. Their relationship is on again, off again — but it's never long before they
By Stephanie Ip
find the familiarity of the other's embrace. As Jacob and Anna reconnect throughout the years following college graduation and their forced separation, it becomes obvious that the success of their love is based on two factors: convenience and chemistry. While both are certainly of value in a relationship, it seems troubling, although not entirely surprising, that the two young adults have built their entire romance on these two concepts. This detail is hammered home when Anna’s parents suggest marriage as a solution to their visa troubles and the lovers react with surprise and uncertainty. Yelchin shines in his role and is perfect as a down-to-earth, patient boy; a carpenter and furniture designer. His character’s occupation seems to reinforce the idea that Jacob is always the one left behind, rooted in place like a tree from which he takes his craft materials. His gift to Anna early in the film — an uncomfortable-looking wooden chair that she absolutely adores — represents him perfectly: well-built but not universally attractive, the inside joke to their relationship. Like Crazy also succeeds in that the beginning of Jacob and Anna’s relationship never seems rushed despite being forced
into a quick montage that shows their initial flirtation unfurl over the course of a school year. The film has been rumoured to be based on Doremus’ personal history. Media interviews with his wife reveal that many details of the film (down to the timing of the storyline and details of the visa complications) are remarkably similar to their real-life story. With this in mind, the pain of separation experienced by Jacob and Anna seem all too realistic, which is perhaps why certain scenes are almost difficult to watch. Even so, audiences both cringe and rejoice with the couple though their lows and highs. As the film comes to its conclusion, viewers begin to realize that no matter what Jacob and Anna thought was the right way to do things, it’s clear there’s no road map for love. Presented at the 27th Sundance Film Festival in January 2011, Like Crazy garnered a Grand Jury Prize in the dramatic film category and Jones won a Special Grand Jury Prize for her portrayal of Anna. It has since been picked up by Paramount Vantage and was released to mainstream audiences in late October.
KEEP AN EYE OUT FOR THESE MOVIES:
The Adventures of Tintin
The Descendants
December 21, 2011
November 18, 2011 In the so-called paradise of Hawaii, we follow the sometimes funny and sometimes tragic journey of a man forced to reckon with his blind sighted past and to embrace an uncertain future.
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EW
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A childhood favourite is brought to life on the big screen. Follow Tintin the reporter as his curiosity and relentless pursuit of a good story takes him into a world of wild adventure with his best friend, the seafaring captain.
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows
December 21, 2011
December 16, 2011
Based from Stieg Larsson's bestseller worldwide phenomenon, a journalist is pulled into a twisted family to solve a 40-year-old mystery and is aided by a young female hacker.
Robert Downey Jr and Jude Law return as the famous detective and his formidable colleague for an explosive sequel. A new criminal mastermind is at large and is more of a challenge than Holmes can possible handle.
THE COST OF COMMUNITY
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Jesus, St. Francis and Life in the Kingdom From Canadian Author JAMIE ARPIN-RICCI Jamie leads the Little Flowers Community Church in urban Winnipeg, MB
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Want to go deeper in your understanding of God’s Word ȱȱȱȱȱȱȱȱȱȱȱȱȱȱȱȱȱȱȱȱȱȱȱȱȱȱȱȱȱȱȱȱȱȱȱȱȱȱȱȱȱȱȱȱȱȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ě ȱ ȱ¢ ȱ ǵ ȱȱȱȱȱȱȱȱȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ¢ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ Ĵ ȱ ȱę ȱ ȱ ȱ¢ ȱ ǯ ȱȱȱȱȱȱȱȱȱȱȱȱȱȱȱȱȱȱȱȱȱȱȱȱȱȱȱȱ ȱ ě ȱ ȱ ȱ ǰȱ ȱ ¢ȱ ȱ ǰȱ ȱȱȱȱȱȱȱȱȱȱȱ ǰȱ ǰȱ ȱ ǰȱ ȱ ǯ
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last word Beauty matters. A few weeks ago, I was surprised to find myself at the arena downtown a couple of nights in a row. I saw two different recording artists who had come through town on their multi-city tours. There couldn’t have been two more different shows to see than these. The first night’s show would have been nearly impossible to make it through for those with high sensitivity to the party scene. Most of this artist’s songs were about happenings at an out-of-control college bash — happenings not worth repeating. The second night’s show would have been nearly impossible to stomach for many who have lost belief in innocence. All of her songs were about first kisses, hand holding, and other experiences that mark the slow awakening of a young girl to romantic love. This polarized combination of concerts was like putting in The Little Mermaid DVD after first watching The Hangover. I walked away from that sleep-deprived weekend with a very clear example of why beauty matters. The first recording artist seemed to have decided that beauty is not something we should allow to f lourish within the protective bounds of dignity. Rather, she smothered beauty with a posture of indifference toward maintaining a whole, sacred self. Her music exposed the great tragedy of a woman who believes that holding no boundaries is the only way to prevent further heartache. If no boundaries are in place, none can ever be crossed, and she can maintain an illusion of control. My heart was broken at the thought of this. For those who have responded to life in this way, good reasons often exist to shut off the hope for a sense of wholeness, dignified beauty, and heroic love. Many of those who promote indifference in the deepest matters of the heart have been wounded greatly. The second recording artist seemed to have maintained a sense of innocence and wonder with regards to love and beauty. While often bordering on fantasy in her exaltation of romantic relationship, she nonetheless carried a belief in the existence of love that can protect beauty and allow it to flourish in herself and between lovers. Instead of denying that true beauty exists, she celebrated how important and vital it is to maintain. Through my own struggle to find for my heart a home in beauty, I have known the extremes of indifference and fantasy. While experiencing heartache, I have wanted to give up the hope that I would ever feel beautiful again. Other times I have believed that I would only feel beautiful if I had proof through the perfect experience of romance. Our world is jam-packed with marketing that feasts on the illusion that beauty is an experience, style, or technique. However, the truth is that beauty only blossoms atop those plants that are grounded in dignity, and the only one who can plant and nurture this dignity, this identity, is God. Will you ask God to expose the places where you have become indifferent to beauty or believe that beauty is a hopeless fantasy? True beauty not only exists, but its life giving nature is essential for the health of your innermost places. In fact, the more you allow God to tend to the places in your heart where you reject your own belovedness, your own beauty, the more you will be free to let love flourish in your life as a whole. The songs that your heart will sing will be joyful songs of an identity fully grounded in the love of God. Yes, beauty matters.
Michelle Sudduth
Great Commission Media Ministries
www.gcmministries.ca
20,000 children in prison!
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