2020 Christmas Greetings from our home to yours

2020 is drawing to a close, and I think most of us will be glad to see the end of it. The Covid-19 pandemic has changed our lives and routines in ... what's the word I'm looking for ... unprecedented ways, and we hope for good things in 2021 with a vaccine and eventually a return to some semblance of normal life again. I say "some semblance" because of course for so many of us there is no real return to normal: many have lost loved ones and been ill themselves. And for those who have not been personally touched by Covid-19 I think there is a general realization (though this should not have been news to us) that life is not something we can control and capture.

Perhaps Advent and Christmas are also good reminders of this truth, as we ponder God's faithfulness, his Emmanuel-God-With-Us presence, no matter what the circumstances of life bring.

When school shut down in March, our family had to adapt to new routines and rhythms. This was perhaps hardest for Jonathan, who suddenly lost all his favourite activities: school, camp, church, Circle of Friends, sports events with Dad, and the library. We found enjoyment in many, many, MANY family walks: on the K&P Trail, at Lake Ontario Park and Fort Henry and Lemoine Point.

Jonathan sprouted up in height, past me and then past Allison, lost about 15 pounds, and wore his sneaker soles smooth with all the walking. He did amazingly well all those months at home, but was glad when school started again. Now in mid-December the newly built Kingston Secondary School has just opened up, so he and everyone else at KCVI has moved over there. It will be an adjustment for him in the new space, but we know that if he has his familiar people around him, he will adapt.

 

After taking her first on-campus course in Linguistics last year, Allison moved back to remote study along with most other students. This fall she took three third-year Linguistics courses (attending around 9 hours of Zoom lectures most weeks) and has worked very hard. She'll continue this area of study in January; she really seems interested in this subject, perhaps because it combines her interest in language with a sense of structure and order.

Not going to PEI this year was perhaps the biggest disruption to our normal life. When we said goodbye to Dad in his hospital room in August 2019 we never thought we would not be seeing him for well over a year. But he is doing well at the Whisperwood Villa nursing home, staying healthy, and coping patiently with the restrictions Covid has brought. We are hopeful that sometime in 2021 we'll be able to make the trip there and see him and my brother Lincoln and other relatives again.

Richard's work has not changed too much this year besides the need for Covid safety protocols at the hospital. He is missing his volunteer and sports activities: no road races, church softball, or summer soccer. He's done a lot of running on his own, coped with a sciatic nerve flare-up this fall that lasted about a month, and provided regular support to a church friend who has some life challenges.

As an online instructor I have not experienced much day-to-day change in my work. I know our students are stressed and struggling, though, so I need to remind myself that marks and due dates are less important than students' well-being. One student told me in his year-end reflection that he found doing the work in our course "oddly comforting." In 2020, I take that as the highest compliment.

I haven't done a huge amount of creative writing this year (the fact that my writers' group isn't meeting is definitely a factor in that), but I did have three publications:

• My poem "These days" appeared in Dust Poetry in January. (It's interesting to look back at the very real global concerns that preoccupied us in those pre-pandemic days.)
  
• My poem "Leaving home for the last time" appeared in Juniper Poetry this fall.
• My article "Prison farms in a time of global crisis: thinking big, starting small" appeared in Kingstonist.
  

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Ten days from now we celebrate the birth of Jesus. We won't be having an in-person Christmas Eve service or any big family gatherings. But nothing stopped the coming of Jesus into this world as a baby, and nothing can prevent our celebrating that gift, even if it is in new, quieter, simpler ways than in the past. 

But when the fullness of time had come,
God sent forth his Son.
(Galatians 4:4a)

Whatever way you celebrate Christmas this year -- or even if you have different religious observances or none at all -- may you experience peace, contentment, and hope for the future.

My 2020 reading list

 

 

It's time once again to share my list of books I've read in the past year. My list is a little shorter than usual this year; particularly during the early weeks of the pandemic I found it a challenge to focus on reading. But there is still a lot of good stuff here. 

As usual, I rate my books out of 5 stars.

 

FICTION:

The Difference - Marina Endicott. (This novel was published in the U.S. under the title The Voyage of the Morning Light.) I absolutely loved this novel and would rank it among my favourites of all time. It is about a young girl, Kay, who leaves Halifax in 1911 with her sister and brother-in-law on the ship he captains, to take a merchant voyage to the far east. Kay is angry and traumatized over what she and her sister experienced in western Canada where, we come to learn, her father ran a native residential school. As Kay encounters new places and the people who inhabit them -- foremost among them her friend/mentor Mr. Brimner and a young Tongan boy named Aren whom her sister purchases -- she starts to question what is or is not true about her past and the distinctions people create between themselves and others. (5 stars)

Five Wives - Joan Thomas. This novel is a fictionalized account of the true story of five missionary men (the most famous being Jim Elliot) killed by Auca (Waorani) tribespeople in Ecuador in the 1950s. It explores the conflicted motives of the men, their wives' struggle to understand and support their husbands' ambitions, and the decades-long fallout from the incident. The book -- which weaves together several characters' stories from different generations -- calls into question many of the myths surrounding Christian martyrdom, missions, and colonization. It's complex but riveting. (5 stars)

Piranesi - Susanna Clarke. I just finished this wonderful, highly-acclaimed novel, and I have a feeling it will stay with me for a very long time. Piranesi ("but I do not think that is my name") lives in The House, an infinite labyrinthine structure filled with statues. He spends his days contentedly writing in his journal, recording the tides, befriending the statues, and caring for the dead bones of the only other 13 human beings he believes have ever existed -- besides himself and The House's one other inabitant, whom he calls The Other and sees only occasionally. But Piranesi's loving relationship with the Beauty and Mercies of The House is disrupted when strange messages begin to appear, suggesting that a third person has entered The House. I loved the atmosphere Clarke creates, the page-turning suspense as the story gets going, and the humble goodness of the main character. (5 stars)

The Gown - Jennifer Robson. This is a lovely novel about two young embroiderers in post-WWII London, Ann and Miriam, who are tasked with working on Princess Elizabeth's wedding dress. The story is told from the perspectives of both women as well as that of Ann's granddaughter, who receives some pieces of embroidery when her grandmother dies and who goes to London to find out more about Ann's early life. (4 stars)

All the Living - C.E. Morgan. This short novel is about a lonely young woman who goes to live on an isolated farm with her boyfriend after his family dies in an accident. The writing is spare yet powerful, with echoes of writers like Elizabeth Strout or Marilynne Robinson. Really good. (4 stars)

The Book of Longings - Sue Monk Kidd. This is about a girl growing up in a wealthy family in Israel; she is a seeker who reads and writes about silenced women and longs to find a purpose worthy of her gifts. When she meets and befriends Jesus, they are drawn together and eventually marry. The premise is unique and interesting, and Kidd's level of research is (as always) admirable -- but this was just Too Much Book for me at the time I read it: too slow and too detailed. This may not be others' experience, of course, but I didn't really enjoy it that much. (3 stars)

In Five Years - Rebecca Serle. This novel is about a young woman who has her whole life neatly planned out: the job she knows she'll get, the man she knows she'll marry. But when a dream shows her five years in the future with an entirely different man, her life is thrown into disarray as she tries to figure out -- and hopefully control -- future events. This is quite a lite novel, but it does get you thinking about life choices and how expectations so often do not match reality. (2 stars)

 

NONFICTION:

One Long River of Song - Brian Doyle. This posthumously published collection of essays by Doyle, who died in 2017 at age 60, is just beautiful. Doyle found so much beauty and joy in life and was able to convey that to us with his long, lanky, playful sentences and poignant tone. (5 stars)

Miracles and Other Reasonable Things - Sarah Bessey. After a serious car accident, Bessey (author of Jesus Feminist and Out of Sorts) faced a long physical and spiritual recovery. This journey includes a trip to Rome to meet the Pope and a slow, difficult realization that miracles may occur in different ways than we expect. Bessey's writing is always so warm and companionable, and this book is no exception. (5 stars)

The Color of Compromise - Jemar Tisby. Historian Tisby gives a clear, detailed account of how the Christian church in the U.S. has been complicit with racism at every stage of America's history. An important book that any Christian, American or not, should read. (5 stars)

The Cross and the Lynching Tree - James Cone. If Tisby's book is like taking a history course, Cone's book is like listening to a lecture and sermon at the same time. He explores the connection between the cross and the lynching tree, showing how they symbolize both the worst man can do and the power of hope and salvation. He also shows just how much the church can learn from Black theology, music, and womanist teachings and the experiences of African-Americans. (5 stars)

The Skin We're In - Desmond Cole. This is a series of 12 interconnected essays by Canadian journalist Cole, in which he chronicles a year in the struggle against racism in Canada. He highlights 12 different incidents -- including his decision to stop writing for The Toronto Star when it criticized his journalistic "activism" -- and how each was handled by police, media, and government. Powerful and eye-opening. (4 stars)

Unafraid - Benjamin Corey. I really enjoyed this book, in which Corey talks about how he had to unlearn the fear-based Christian faith he grew up with and move into a more freeing, love-based one. (4 stars) 

How the Bible Actually Works - Pete Enns. Enns insists that far from being a static how-to manual for life, the Bible is an ancient, ambiguous and diverse library of books that unfolds God's wisdom rather than doling out simple answers. I always enjoy Enns' down-to-earth style and his obvious enjoyment of difficult questions. (4 stars)

Out of Istanbul - Bernard Ollivier. Very absorbing memoir about a French man in his 60s who decides to hike the Silk Road. He begins in Istanbul in hopes of making it to Tehran, encountering many external and internal obstacles along the way. (3 stars)

Too Much and Never Enough - Mary Trump. This book by Donald Trump's niece unpacks some of the unhealthy family dynamics that have made Donald Trump into the person he is. (3 stars)

The Naked Now - Richard Rohr. I haven't finished this one yet, so I won't star it. The subtitle is "Learning to See as the Mystics See," and it is about leaving behind dualism and egotism and learning to be present and accept paradox.

Thanks for reading this far! I hope my list has given you some ideas for books you'd like to read -- and if you've already read some of these and have opinions to share, please leave those in the comments! Happy reading in 2021.

 

Five Minute Friday: PRESENT

Today I'm linking up with the Five Minute Friday community, writing for five minutes on a given prompt.

This week's word is PRESENT.

 

If you've read Beverly Cleary's Ramona the Pest, you'll remember Ramona's first day of kindergarten, and all the mishaps and misadventures she experiences as she struggles to adjust to new people, new routines ... and new words.

One of the most memorable moments is when her teacher, Miss Binney, points to a seat and tells Ramona, "Sit here for the present."

Ramona is so excited: she thinks sitting in this seat means she'll get a present.

But she's disappointed when after a lengthy, expectant wait, no present appears. Finally her teacher has to explain to her that "Sit here for the present" doesn't mean "Sit here and you'll get a gift"; it means "Sit here for now."

I think a lot of us can relate to Ramona's disillusionment. We believe that if we just wait patiently, complete the task, make the sacrifice, then we'll be rewarded with a wonderful outcome. In Ramona's case she's mistaken because she doesn't know that the word present has another meaning. In our case I think we are sometimes mistaken because we see life as transactional. "I did what I was supposed to do; I should have received a payoff!"

Advent -- especially Advent 2020 -- is a good time to set aside transactional thinking. This year, and this season, teaches us to hold our expectations lightly, wait in hope, and not demand results or rewards. 

It also reminds us that present has a third meaning besides "gift" and "now"; it also means "close at hand." "Nearby." "Here." 

"The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son,

and they will call him Immanuel, 

which means God With Us."

Matthew 1:23