My Role In Empowering Our Community For Truth And Reconciliation

Empowering our Community for Truth and Reconciliation:

 “What did you do that helped the constituency grow in awareness of the TRC, grasp its importance

and engage it?”

Mennonite Church Canada (MC-Canada), formally known as the General Conference Mennonite Church in Canada, has had a relationship with First Nations People going back to the 1940s if not earlier. This relationship has grown to a connection that spans at least all the western provinces in Canada. As such, it was probably almost a natural that MC-Canada should become involved with the Indian Residential School Survivors Society and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. This denomination has long had a ministry working with First Nations, first known as Mennonite Pioneer Mission, then Native Ministries and now, in keeping with a more appropriate recognition of what that relationship should look like, I working together of equals, it has become the National Ministry: Indigenous Relations.

I have become involved with this thrust and so am being kept in the communications link about what is going on presently. As such, I received an article from MC-Canada Indigenous Relations Coordinator Steve Heinrichs about HOW the Saskatchewan Mennonite TRC Group engaged their constituency, and what – in hindsight – they could have done.  The document was entitled “Empowering our Community for Truth and Reconciliation: Learnings from the MC-Sask & MCC-Sask TRC Prep Group.”  It asked the question: “What did you do that helped the constituency grow in awareness of the TRC, grasp its importance and engage it?”

I have considered myself a part of the movement within Mennonite Church BC, a provincial arm of MC-Canada, of working towards reconciliation with the First Nations in our communities. This led me to begin to look at what I have done and am doing. The following document was the first step that has been recorded of that process.

1. In the first place, I grew up in a home among First Nations people, to a father who had already worked in this community for three years, teaching school and then serving as a United Church minister. My mother had joined him a year before my birth.

The first year of my life, 1946-47, was spent partly at Oxford House, a community in North-eastern Manitoba, followed by several months at the home of Stanley Collie in Buffalo Narrows, Saskatchewan, where my parents were relieved this couple as they went out to do deputation work for the Northern Canada Evangelical Mission which they were working for.

Then we spent nine years in Grand Rapids, Manitoba, a Historic community at the mouth of the Saskatchewan River, where it runs into Lake Winnipeg. This was a Métis community on one side of the river and a Cree reserve on the other side. My parents were working for the Northern Canada Evangelical Mission and we built a new home and a worship space we called the Gospel Tabernacle.

In 1957 We Moved To Loon Straits, Manitoba, a largely Métis Community on the east side of the south basin of Lake Winnipeg, where my father became the local pastor in the chapel they had there.

So, all of my schooling and all of my playmates were either Metis or First Nations Children. To my parents' credit, I grew up with accepting all of these people as equals and, indeed, in many ways superior to us, because of their knowledge of the land, their adaptation to it and their ways of living in it. I never heard my parents say anything discriminatory or negative against them.

2. With that background, we moved to Winnipeg in 1962. It was around that time that Winnipeg was beginning to become something of a Mecca for first Nations young people looking for work and to further their education. My father opened up a mission there to provide tutoring, help with finding employment and simply a drop-in center to facilitate relationships between the Mennonite church in Winnipeg and first Nations people. Youth Opportunities Unlimited, as it was called, located on Notre Dame Ave., ran from 1963 until after my parents moved to Meadow Lake, Saskatchewan, in 1967. During the time in Winnipeg and before, I remember accompanying my father to Indian-Metis conferences. He also made connections with prisoners at Stony Mountain Penitentiary and I remember our family accompanying him for a powwow on the grounds one Sunday afternoon.

3. When I moved to Saskatchewan in 1968, to Saskatoon, my connections to first Nations peoples dwindled. It was not until I moved back to Winnipeg to study medicine in 1972, that I began to re-establish my connections with First Nations people. After first year medicine, and again after second year, those being the only two years where we has medical students had the summer off, the University of Manitoba's Faculty of Medicine's Northern Medical Unit offered employment in northern nursing stations for those who wished. This was to help facilitate physicians going to rural areas on graduation and also to help provide better healthcare for these people, mainly of First Nations Origin.

The first summer, 1973, it was my great joy to return to Grand Rapids, my childhood home, to spend the summer working in the Nursing Station there. Naturally, I reconnected with a number of people from my past. My parents came to visit and showed slides from the time that we had lived in the area for the community in the local band hall.

The second summer, 1974, I went to work at South Indian Lake, accessible in the summer only by boat or aircraft. I spent such an enjoyable time there that when I heard about a vacancy over the Christmas/New Year's season, I volunteered to go and work there for another 10 days. I even had to find my own nurse to work under, which I was able to do, using a friend from my church. I again had a very good time. It was here that I met a number of individuals whose situation stimulated me to write folk songs about them, which I was to perform years later (see below). When I left the community, I ended up leaving the guitar that I used to compose and perform the songs with in the hands of our housekeeper, Betsy Linklater, who wanted it. The deal was that she make me a beaded best in the Woodland Cree tradition, which she did, and which I have continued to wear at events through the years.

4. Then, when I got into the Family Practice Residency in 1976, one of the outreach programs the Family Practice Unit of St. Boniface General Hospital ran was where we as residents would fly up to first Nations and Métis communities in eastern Manitoba every six weeks to deliver health care. I was able to secure Bloodvein River, just 30 miles north of my former home in Loon Straits, and which I had once visited with my father, Little Grand Rapids and Puaingassi as my outposts and thoroughly enjoyed going there for the second year of the program. This was in part in because I could renew and also build on some previous connections, as these communities had been mission sites of Mennonite Pioneer Mission, the agency under which my parents had worked at Loon Straits and then in Winnipeg.

5. Then, when I moved to Gladstone, Manitoba, a small rural community in north-central Manitoba, I began to make weekly visits to the Sandy Bay Reserve, a Saulteaux/Ojibway or Anishinabe community. Many of these people also made their way to our clinic and especially hospital in Gladstone as well. We were even invited to take part in some of their social events. On one occasion we were en route to a powwow when we went into the ditch, so we never made it.

6. When we moved to Brandon in 1985, I worked as a Family Physician for 4 1/2 years. I had some First Nations patients. One young woman who was afflicted with schizophrenia, and whom I had looked after in the hospital and then helped her through her prenatal period, remarked to me on one visit, "You really like Indians don't you?" I received that as a wonderful compliment. Brandon had also been the site of the large residential schools to the northwest of the community. The buildings were still standing.

7. When I completed my psychiatry residency in 1994, I began a new chapter of connecting to the first Nations in south-western Manitoba. I began to make regular consultation trips to communities, which served large First Nations populations, who took advantage of this service. These included communities such as Swan River, Dauphin (the site of a residential school), Russell, Birtle (another past residential school site), Shoal River, Rivers, Minnedosa, Neepawa, Wawanesa, Souris, Virden and Killarney.

8. It was during these years that I became aware of the residential school issue, although I had known about it at some level all my life. At the same time, I was seeing a lot of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder. I then realized that many of the non-First Nations Peoples' unfortunate, discriminatory and derogatory stereotypes of Indians were of those who ran into trouble with alcohol and were probably even suffering from FASD. The characteristics that came to be so closely identified with First Nations individuals who lived in the cities and towns are too similar to the features of FASD. I always maintained that the people who held to these negative views really did not know First Nations people, particularly those who lived in their own communities and were leading successful lives and therefore not attracting the negative attention that led to the perpetuation of these stereotypes.

9. Then, in 2005, we felt the timing was right to move west and felt led to Richmond, BC. There were pros and cons to the move. In some ways, the cons became more evident even after we arrived, although they were not major. For me, professionally, I felt somewhat saddened that all of my experience and good relationships with First Nations people was basically not being drawn on here, at least not initially and professionally. There are references to first Nations in Richmond but the oft-quoted 2500 of them that are seemingly here must be mostly invisible, although I'm not sure if that means well integrated. I did run into the occasional patient from time to time, but sometimes I did not even realize I was seeing a First Nations person.

10. In, I believe it was 2006, I had volunteered/accepted the nomination as Deacon of The Missions and Service Committee of Peace Mennonite Church and was duly acclaimed for that role which I kept until June 2012. Part of my reason for continuing in this as time went on was to advance the agenda of the relationship with First Nations people.

11. Richard Twiss, a Lakota Sioux from the prairies who now lives in Oregon and runs Wiconi International was brought to our church for an evening session by Daryll Klassen of the Neighbours Program at MCC BC. A Presbyterian Cree elder by the name of Mary Fontaine was also present that evening. I believe we met.

12. There were various things going on though in the nation and province, as well as our own area, that kept me in touch with and interested in what was going on with the First Nations. There was still enough in my heart for me to go to Winnipeg in June 2010 and take a one-week course at the Canadian Mennonite University School of Peace Building on treaties and justice with respect to the First Nations. It was a wonderful week spent with eight other students under the mentorship of Cree Elder and former United Church of Canada Moderator Stan McKay. When I returned from that course I resolved to put my experience to good use in terms of what could be done in our community to improve the situation between first Nations and the rest of us. One of my thoughts was that, having gotten to know many immigrants, they really have little idea of the place of First Nations peoples in this country. Unfortunately, too many of them have too quickly swallowed the stereotype I discussed in .8. A fantasy I entertained was of First Nations Welcoming Teams meeting new immigrants and arrivals at Vancouver International Airport with entertainment and information about this land and the place of First Nations peoples in it. I still think this would be a wonderful thing to see come to fruition. After all, there is already a loss of First Nations artwork and display their. It just needs to be accompanied by present-day information and reality.

13. Mennonite Church BC decided to hire an Indigenous Relations Coordinator to help oversee the relations between the First Nations and our conference and congregations. The first incumbent, Steve Heinrichs, had gained his experience with First Nations people while pastoring at Burns Lake BC. I met him when he came to speak at our church and joined a network of individuals that he was forming to promote this cause.

14. Mary Fontaine, introduced in .11, is the Executive Director of Hummingbird Ministries. We began to make connections. This was underscored when I found that one of my friends in the congregation, Tim Corlis, a musician, had been involved with their sharing circles for the past year. He and his wife Sarah Fretz had even performed at their second annual Peace through the Arts Festival at South Delta Baptist Church in the fall of 2011.

15. Steve was snatched up, within months of his having taken up the position referred to in .13, by Native Ministries of Mennonite Church Canada and moved to Winnipeg. A gentleman who identified himself as a Cree, Brander McDonald, replaced him. We had Brander come to our church to speak to us and give us further input about First Nations and their ways and worldviews in our Adult Education Hour. I had discovered that we had connections going back to Grand Rapids. When Brander came for lunch and began looking at the photo albums I offered him while lunch was being readied, I discovered we had even closer ties from my days in Loon Straits.

16. Brander established a Facebook accounts of which I became a friend and so furthered the network concept that Steve had begun.

17. Through this network I became aware of Don Claassen and Isadore Charters. Isadore had begun to attend the Sardis Church of which Don was a member. By this time we were all becoming aware of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission coming to Vancouver in 2013 and beginning to think of how we needed to be prepared for that in our conference and congregations. This was an agency established to give a hearing to victims of the residential school fiasco and educate the rest of Canada more about what had happened here and how it related to the whole First Nations-Canada relationships that has suffered so much. Isadore had the idea of creating a healing totem pole for First Nations and whites to all take part in carving together as an act of reconciliation and taking it to church is and other places in BC where it could be well come and able to meet that expectation. One of these places was the international Mission Festival that takes place in January every winter in Vancouver.

18. I attended the MC-BC conference in 2012. I attended Brander's workshop there. Don and Isadore were there with their pole, but we were already planning to have them come to our congregation, so I did not carve on the pole at the time.

19. I learned at the conference that the Service, Peace and Justice Committee was looking for members. I discussed this with a former Missions and Service Committee member of Peace Mennonite Church, Ken Kehler, and we both decided to check this out further. This resulted in both of us attending a couple of meetings of the committee, after which Ken decided he needed to withdraw at this time.

20. Anne and I also went at the end of February to make our first appearance at a sharing circles with the Hummingbird Ministries folk at Tsawassen First Nation Band Hall for a potluck and sharing evening. This was, of course, hosted by Mary Fontaine and other leadership of Hummingbird Ministries. We were well received and made many good connections that's we have continued to build on.

21. Anne and I also stopped at the Marpole Midden site next to the Arthur Lang Granville Bridge In Vancouver. The Musqueam band was protesting the development on what turned out to be burial ground of theirs. I had sent emails to the Musqueam band to try and make a connection leading up to the MC BC conference being held here and just in general but had gotten no response. I got some further names from the people at the site but still got no response when I tried those.

22. Don Claassen and Isadore Charters came to share in our worship service and Adult Education Hour about the legacy of the residential schools among first Nations peoples. They came to Richmond on Saturday and stayed overnight with us in our home. They also returned to our place for lunch on Sunday before returning to Sardis. Isadore, or Yemmo, his childhood name, which he likes being called, tells a powerful story. With his history of being a child in the residential school, I had some concerns about him sleeping in a strange bed, especially an exposed one in our loft, but to my great relief and joy, he said he had a wonderful rest.

23. In attending the Vancouver School of Theology Convocation because of former patient of mine was being honoured with an Honorary Degree and really wanted me to attend, I took note of the part in the ceremony played by Musqueam Elder Rose Point.

24.  Towards the end of June, Anne and I motored out one rainy Saturday to the Sto:lo Band Hall east of Agassi to attend a potluck and sharing circle hosted jointly by that First Nation, MCC-BC and MC-BC. Darryll Klassen of cc, Gary Janzen and Brander and his wife Jill were part of the proceedings. First Nations Singer Cheryl Bear-Barnetson, her husband Randy and one of her sons were also featured artists. It was a good time of fellowship, sharing and learning from one another.

25. I was notified in June that Rose Point had passed away and that it would be a good connection to attend the funeral. Pastor Tim Kuepfer and I did, although we did not make any connections there other than signing a guestbook.

26. I made connections again with Brander McDonald, Don Claassen and Isadore Charters at the MC Canada conference in Richmond in July. Don and Isadore had the Healing Pole there and I finally took steps to carve in it. We had hoped, and I had tried, to make the proper connections and invitations for the Musqueam to give us a traditional welcome to their territory. However, we were not successful and Brander had to do somewhat of a stand-in. Besides Brander and Don/Isadore’s being at the conference to present what they had to offer, we did also have another First Nations lady and an academic presenting a case together from a local (Chilliwack) situation of where the mother was being prosecuted for fishing.

27. I maintained my contact with Hummingbird Ministries and on October 27, having gotten approval from our Peace Mennonite Church Council, we hosted them in our building to have the workshop and practice for their upcoming third annual Peace through the Arts Festival.

28. Thus it was, that on November 9, Friday and 10, Saturday, our church hosted this Hummingbird Ministries Peace through the Arts Festival. A number of people from our congregation helped out, in particular the sound people Erwin Klassen and Roby Chakrabarti. Others helped prepare the food during the day on Friday. Others, particularly my wife Anne and daughter Anika, helped the Hummingbird People and their guests in the kitchen and with the food and dining all day, as well as the big clean-up after. As I had on the 27th, I remained present to do what I could to help things proceed and work out smoothly enough. I did also give of my own time and talents to share in singing for songs of my composition, accompanying myself on the piano, as one of the artists. Two of the songs dealt with particularly First Nations Topics, having arisen from my time in South Indian Lake many years previously.

According to word from Executive Director Mary Fontaine afterwards, they felt the Festival had been quite successful in terms of the number of performers, what was shown, the number of volunteers and attendees. We had been advertising it with bulletin inserts In our congregation and I was a little disappointed at the attendance. I subsequently also had a bulletin insert given out for a couple of Sundays to promote the new Hummingbird Ministries CD, Silent Voices, which was released about the time of the festival.

29. Then, on December 15, Anne and I again made the journey to the Tsawassen First Nations Band Hall to help and be a guest at the Hummingbird Ministries Christmas Sharing Circle. This time we were pleased to see that our MC-BC Conference Pastor Gary Janzen was that there. In fact, he read the Christmas story from Luke chapter 22 help begin the sharing Circle. Brander McDonald and his wife were also present. To emphasize the multicultural aspects of this gathering, there were a number of guests of Pakistani origin, linked to a Gospel Church in Surrey, who also played and sang for us. Other nationalities and ethnicities present included Korean, Dutch, Irish, and Chinese. First Nations represented Prairie, BC interior and BC coastal peoples.

30. I’ve accepted the nomination of Henry Krause, Chair of the MC-BC Service, Peace and Justice Committee, to become a full-fledged member of the committee if I am elected at the annual meeting in February. That platform is another vehicle to advance this cause of reconciliation between First Nations people and us.

- This document was first completed and shared with other members of this movement on January 1, 2013.  The first three paragraphs were added as an introduction to this blog.

I would invite any readers of this to raise questions that might help me clarify my stand, role and direction in this process further. Thank you.

Why I Can't Believe in Evolution

Evolution is a theory. As such, I think one would have to say that it requires faith to believe in it. It is an idea that has been around for a long time. However, it is only in the last hundred and 50 years or so, especially since Darwin's time, that it has become such a pervasively accepted theory in our world.

Those who have faith in this theory, or should I say believe in it, often tend to ridicule those of us who do not accept it to the degree that they do. I don't know why they don't understand that it is no harder to believe, to have faith in, the existence of a supernatural figure who could have created everything we know than it is to believe in their theory.  As someone brought up in our Western educational system, and having graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree, I put a good deal of effort into studying evolution. I took special courses on it. Like many, I wanted to believe that there was no conflict between the theory and the beliefs that I hold as one who believes in a Creator.  I really wanted to synthesize those viewpoints. However, I have given up on that pursuit. That theory leads to too many unanswered questions when it comes to what I believe in as a Believer in God.

Those who believe in evolution have been working hard at finding evidence to bolster their theory. They claim to use scientific methods, but have not always been honest with what they do. What many do not realize is that there is also a group of scientists who look scientifically at the universe, at our solar system in the world in which we live, and find much evidence that corroborates with what The Bible says.

I have also studied the Bible and theology to a considerable extent. I am no theologian or philosopher though. There are those who would say that The Bible is a book that is meant to tell us about God, man and our relationship. They would say that it is not concerned with scientific and historic fact.  However, the conventional orthodox view, to which I ascribe, still holds that the writings we accept as The Bible were "inspired" by God. If that is the case, I think we would have to accept that God, who is Truth, would not allow statements to stand in His Word that are untrue. Many Bible scholars and theologians interpret the content of the Bible differently, and come up with different conclusions about what its passages mean. I believe that too many have been too ready to relegate too many passages to the realm of poetry, by which they mean that the images contained can be interpreted quite loosely and are not factual. They would also apply similar thinking to the 1st few chapters of the book of Genesis.

Let me list some of my objections to all of this thinking about evolution. If we believe that God is good, and that what he makes is good, which is the message in the Bible, how could he allow life to go through millions of years of evolution where many forms would have suffered horribly because of the unsuccessful mutations that occurred in them before they were eradicated? If God did not create the world, why does Jesus keep referring to God and creation? Why do the apostles refer to Jesus as The Creator?

The orthodox Christian view of man is that what had originally been meant to be good, according to the Scriptures, fell out of relationship with God because of evil. In an entirely evolutionary system, there is no room for any of this kind of thinking. There is no good or bad. There is no morality.

Furthermore, Orthodox Christians also believe in the existence of something we refer to as The Holy Spirit. Again, it would be self evident that in the universe that occurred by evolution, there simply is no supernatural. If evolutionists open up that possibility, they are making themselves vulnerable to possibilities that could obviously challenge their entire system.  So how can Christians hold these views and still accept evolution?  I don't think they have really thought through things honestly.

Another problem for me is that, as I believe it would be for many who think about this, evolution cannot answer what some call 1st questions. Scientists talk about the Big Bang theory of the beginning of the universe. Where did the energy or the matter come from that may have been there at the beginning?

 Some would have us believe that it is not that important whether we believe in evolution or not.  To the contrary, I want to make some comments about how I think the belief in evolution has resulted in a number of serious and deeply-entrenched negative consequences for us as persons and society. In the 1st place, the widespread acceptance of this theory by those who do not want to believe in God or what he says has resulted in many turning away from faith in God. Secondly, if we leave God out of the picture, there is no place for value or rank in the universe. Man just happens to be at this point the most highly evolved specimen that we know of on this Earth. These lines of thinking are what has taken away belief in the value of life, or even what those of us who have a faith would describe as the sacredness of life. We're just another creature in the universe, of no special consequence, so what is the problem with abortion, the misuse of sex or euthanasia? We have no more intrinsic value than animals, so what is the problem with spending thousands and millions of dollars on our pets, for example, when people around the world are suffering, starving and dying. Thus we also have the sometimes ludicrous positions of those who  have developed the whole concept of animal rights and would place them on a par with, and sometimes seemingly, above human rights. I have no problem with well thought out and followed vegetarianism, but sometimes the extremes associated with that can be seen to have their roots in evolution too.  According to the Scriptures,  God not only allowed man to eat animal life,  it was part of the God-worshiping religious system at one time to sacrifice animals.

Simply put, when we leave God out of the picture and turn to evolution as the system we have faith in, we lose our way. Those who believe in evolution, humanists, would still talk of civil society and such values. However, if we push them on that, I don't know how they could defend the appearance of all of that from evolution. If God had never been in the picture from the beginning, society would be much more evil and cruel than it is. We know that from history and from knowledge of peoples before their contact with Christianity and other great religions.

Indeed, other religions would have no place in the realm of man if we only subscribe to evolution either. The fact that it seems believers of other religions are less criticized then Christians suggests to me that proponents of evolution sense that there is more to fear from Christianity than from other religions. Or, if I wanted to go further and speak from another Orthodox or fundamental vantage point, the powers of evil that drive everything that works against God, according to our Bible, know that there is a God and are afraid. Thus, they would know that Christianity provides the best understanding of this God, his creativity and his relationship to his creation. That would be the reason why Christians suffer more persecution than those of other religions. It would also be why our fellow religionists, the Jews, are also high on the ranks of those who are hated and persecuted, because their religion also believes in the same God.

These are some of my thoughts and conclusions, based on 50 years of thinking about this. I know there are many apologists who have spelled this out in much greater detail and with much greater strength than I have. Some of those individuals today work with an organization called the Institute for Creation Research, which I would invite the reader to look into.

Chapter 11 - Thursday - The Ten Commandments Number 7 – 2008 7 24

"You shall not commit adultery," Exodus 20:14. In other words, no sex outside of marriage. Plain and simple.

I once saw a cartoon of Moses coming down to the Children of Israel after going back up Mount Sinai the second time to complete getting these laws, The Ten Commandments. He reported to his associates that he tried but he could not get God to relax on this one. Indeed, many people have difficulty with this law. As human beings, our sexual drive is very strong, coming right behind our drive to live.  Of course, that is precisely why God had to put limits on sexual activity.

We know all too well what happens when people have sex as freely as they want. There are unplanned pregnancies. One sin leads to another if abortion follows. Or, a child may be born unwanted and suffer. There are broken relationships, including marriage, when a partner goes astray. Serious diseases can result – infections, even cancer. This can even lead to a woman not being able to get pregnant anymore. Most importantly, it changes relationships and sex into things they were not meant to be.

We believe God created human beings to live in relationship to one another. The main one is the relationship of a man and a woman. The Book of Genesis only tells of God creating one woman for the man. We come to the conclusion, along with God giving 'laws' like this, that sex is only meant to be between one man and one woman. That is the only way it can truly be what God wants it to be. The world is overdoing sex, but are they really having a good time? For how long? Actual surveys of people show it is not those who have sex whenever they want who are really happiest with their sex life. It is devout faithful Christians, married to one partner, having sex only with that person. Sex is not just an act. It is a valuable part of a relationship.

So, if God created sex and has a plan for it, we should not treat it lightly, carelessly. We should watch our talk and our behaviour. What impression to do we give others about our beliefs about sex? Do we say things that make others uncomfortable around us because of the references to sex? Do we tell so-called 'dirty' jokes about sex? Do we watch pornography or 'dirty' movies? This is all not God-honouring and does nothing to build up our view of sex.

If we love the Lord our God (Commandment Number One according to Jesus – Matthew 22:37), we will not do these things. They may be tempting, but we need to remember two important passages from the New Testament. Hebrew 4:15 says of Jesus, "We do not have a High Priest who cannot be touched by our weaknesses; but was in every way tempted like we are, yet without sin." If Christ resisted temptation, so can we, with his help. This is the promise of the other passage, I Corinthians 10:13: "There is no temptation that will come upon you but what is common to all people: but God is faithful, who will not let you be tempted beyond what you are able; but will with the temptation, also make a way to escape, so you can bear it". We need to pray daily that we not be led into temptation.

Chapter 10 - Wednesday - The Ten Commandments Number 6 – 2008 7 23

The Sixth commandment says: "Thou shall not kill" (Exodus 20:13). That is the shortest and most direct of the commandments. But is its meaning that simple? Or do we human beings try to make it complicated by arguing about what it means? In the Judeao-Christian traditions, this has been taken to mean referring to humans. Not like some religions that don't even allow killing animals, even insects. This does not mean all living things do not have value.

We read how God gave Noah and his family permission to eat animals. Genesis 9:3 said: "Every moving thing that lives shall be meat for you; even as the green herb I have given you all things." We don't have to be vegetarians, although there is nothing wrong with that. In the same chapter, vs. 6 it says, "Whoever sheds human blood, by humans shall his blood be shed; for in the image of God made He man." That's why humans get different treatment. They are made in God's image. That's why we have no right to put an end to a human life, from conception to the grave. That's why many believers don't even think it's right to carry out capital punishment – the death penalty. The verse above may suggest it is acceptable. However, if we study the life and sayings of Christ, which came after, we don’t believe we find support for the idea of capital punishment.

This is why we cannot support abortion at one end of life, or mercy-killing, euthanasia, at the other end of life. We believe that life is sacred, all of it, as the saying goes, "from the cradle to the grave." God gave us life. Only God can take it away. Of course, we know that life is really actually eternal, but we are talking about life on earth.

Chapter 9 - Tuesday - The Ten Commandments Number 5 – 2008 7 22

The Fifth Commandment is this, "Honour your father and mother that the days may be long in the land which the Lord your God gives you". I have a personal story to relate to that.

If you were in church this last Sunday, you will have noticed that we were not there. My parents had called and asked if we would come out to Abbotsford to meet them for lunch. They were coming down from where they live in Vernon to help celebrate my great Uncle Bill's 90^th birthday.

William E. Thiessen is my maternal (father's mother's side of the family) grandmother's youngest brother. My grandmother died in 1993 at age 95. Bill has been a pastor, teacher and administrator. He still gives short devotional talks when he goes with a group to visit Personal Care Homes on Sunday mornings. This birthday party was organized by his 4 children and their spouses. That is really honouring your father (unfortunately, Bill's wife Kay died two years ago).

The party was held in the common room of the apartment complex where he has lived for 18 years. Besides his children, grandparents, and us, there were his in-laws and other cousins of his filling the room. It was as loud as a Chinese restaurant! I guess you could say we were honouring my parents by going out there to see them and these other relatives, many of whom we don't even know. Of course, we did know a number too, such as my own uncles and aunts, who are his nephews and nieces.

Towards the end of the afternoon, Uncle Bill sang a special hymn with three other men he had sung with in the past as a quartet in churches. One of the men was my own Uncle Allen. Bill sang bass, the lowest pitch! Then he gave a little speech. At one point during his talk he pulled a slip of paper from his pocket – he was obviously prepared – and read:

"Nevertheless, I am continually with you; you hold me by my right hand. You will guide me with your counsel and afterward receive me to glory. Who have I in heaven but you? And there is none on earth that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart fail: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion forever".

That came from Psalm 73: 23-26.

I am glad we went to this party. Uncle Bill is a great inspiration to us all. He went around the room smiling and talking with everyone, putting his arm around their shoulder, making them all feel welcome. Would we could all be like that. He obviously honoured his parents by what he became and look how long he has lived and how healthy he looks!

Chapter 8 – Monday – The Ten Commandments Number 4 - 2008 7 20

Exodus 20:8 says: "Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy". This is The Fourth Commandment. It goes on to say:

"For six days you may labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God; on it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, or your male servant, or your female servant, or your cattle, or the resident foreigner who is in your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth and the sea and all that is in them, and he rested on the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart as holy." (Exodus 20: 9-11)

The Sabbath Day was the day of rest. It was to remember that God rested when He finished his work of creation. In Genesis 2: 2-3 we read: "On the seventh day God ended his work which He had made; and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had made. And God blessed the seventh day and 'made it holy' (= sanctified it): because on it He rested from all His work which God created and made".

What does it mean to keep a day holy? We find part of the answer in Exodus 20 vs. 9 – 11. There is even more in Exodus ch. 31: 15, "Six days may work be done; but on the seventh is the Sabbath of rest, holy to the Lord; whoever does any work on the Sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death." Vs. 17 adds: "It is a sign between me and the children of Israel forever; for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed".

So, basically, we are not to work on the Sabbath day to keep it holy. It also became the day when the children of Israel, and now we as Christians, gather together as a community of believers and seekers to worship God. That is certainly a holy activity. Now, one might argue, we are not the children of Israel, we are not Jews, we are Christian. However, if you study the New Testament you will realize that The Church, the Christians, are in fact a continuation of the children of Israel.  However, instead of keeping the seventh day, most Christians now keep the first day, as that is the day our Lord rose from the dead, or was resurrected.

When the communists took power in Russia, because they did not believe in God, they wanted to do away with anything that had to do with God. So, they decided to cancel the Sabbath, or Sunday, as a day of rest. It did not work. In modern society, people need a day of rest, or they can't function effectively. Indeed, if our all-powerful God took a day of rest after creation, surely we as mere humans need a day or rest and refreshment! So, enjoy your Sabbaths/Sundays!

Chapter 7 – Saturday – The Ten Commandments Number 3 - 2008 7 19

I wrote then: Life has been busy and I am not getting out a chapter a day as you see. After all, I still work full-time. Then, when I get home, there are letters to write (mostly e-mail). There is dinner to share with Anne. I have reading to do. We like to watch the news on TV and sometimes something else together. There are plants to water. There may be time for some hobbies, like working on my music.

So, that brings us to Commandment Number 3: "You shall not take the Name of the Lord your God in vain, for The Lord will not hold you guiltless if you do" (Exodus 20:7). In other words, using God's name in vain is a sin and it makes you guilty before God. Using His name, or names, in vain means using them in places in your speech where you shouldn't be using them. It is swearing or, as some people say, cursing. An older word is blasphemy.

Unfortunately, taking God's name in vain has become far too common in our society. Even little children say "Oh My God" when they are surprised by something, or excited about something.  It's even appearing in ads and commercials, often just as OMG, the common e-mail or Facebook usage. And how often do we not hear expressions beginning with "Jesus… this or that," or even "Jesus Christ etc." Jesus is God so using His name in vain is included here. Some people would say that even using words like "Geez" is swearing because it could be a short form of Jesus.

Expressions like "Holy cow" or other phrases using holy (like 'Holy s____') like this may not be exactly using Gold's name in vain. However, it should be clear that this is not good speech for a disciple of Jesus to be using either. Holy should only be used in relation to things that refer to God an the appropriate way.

 As the Apostle Paul is believed by many to have written:

 "Let your speech be always with grace."

A good thought to start the week.