moonshot

Today marks 40 years since a human walked on the moon. This was a rather incredible feat if you ask me. A few years prior to the landing, JFK announced that America will put a man on the moon. That was a rather incredible statement considering the state of the US Space Program.

Although I don't always agree with the billions of dollars spent on space exploration while people on earth are starving to death, there is a sense of awe when you realize how vast the universe is and how small we are in it.

People now refer to statements like JFK's as a moonshot statement. An incredible idea with the will to accomplish it. It got me thinking - what is my moonshot statement? What could I achieve if I had the idea and the will to do it?

Perhaps it is in just taking a small step towards the idea...

Be Surprised

"All of us have had the experience of a sudden joy that came when nothing in the world had forewarned us of its coming - a joy so thrilling that if it was born of misery we remembered even the misery with tenderness."

“Life always bursts the boundaries of formulas”

I recently found these great quotes on surprise by Antoine de Saint-Exupery, the author of "The Little Prince" [SIDENOTE: I must re-read that book soon so I don't become too much like an adult]. The quotes below made me re-look at my year theme of "Be Surprised". The whole thing about being surprised is it requires an unusual openness to life and a resistance to organizing every detail in life. This creates a good deal of protest from the planner within. I like to be in control and prepare for the next event, step or person in my life. But as I am discovering this year, sometimes the decision to not plan brings unexpected joys, surprises and blessings. Here is just one small example - I decided to "boycott" the Calgary Stampede and not attend any work or personal parties or events (much to the chagrin of friends and colleagues). I think I was the only one in Calgary not doing anything Stampede-ish thus leaving my calendar wide-open for 10 days. Then out of the blue, I get a call from an old friend who happened to be in town for the week and I was free to hang out a few times and catch up - a luxury my normally busy life would not have afforded. Surprise!

This example is just one of many small decisions I made this year which initially appeared to have little consequence in the big scheme of things. But in fact, those minor choices were part of a larger surprise or purpose in my life. There have been so many blessings in the past 6 months that I am often in awe that I still want to be in control. The thrill of a surprise should be enough to let go of the control...

This whole experiment about preparing to be surprised reminds me of the Woody Allen quote “If you want to make God laugh, tell him about your plans". I started thinking about God and surprises. Throughout the bible, God takes people’s plans for their lives and blows them to smithereens. In fact, I have a sneaky suspicion that God revels in surprising people with situations that seem so far from anything they could imagine:

Surprise, Adam - meet Eve

Surprise, Noah - it’s gonna rain, you better build a boat

Surprise, David - so you’re gonna to be king

Surprise, Jonah - yes, in fact, you are in the belly of a fish

Surprise, Mary - you are pregnant

Surprise, Martha - your brother is alive

Surprise, Paul - you are blind

Surprise, Peter - you are going to lead my church

Surprise, World - He is risen indeed.

Just think of the surprises awaiting in our lives...

prayer beads

Prayer does not change God, but it changes him who prays. ~Søren Kierkegaard

Prayer is when you talk to God; meditation is when you listen to God. ~Author Unknown

During my recent trip, I became fascinated by prayer beads. I kept my eyes open for some beads I liked as I travelled but I never found any I loved in my price range. I did find these lovely silver ones but I couldn't justify the price.

When I returned home, I began to look into the use of prayer beads. Many faiths (Muslim, Buddhists, Bahai, Sikh, Catholic, Anglican, Hindu and Orthodox Christians) use beads during prayer. Each beads represents a request or praise to God. Whether in meditation or repetition, the beads focus the person praying on the task at hand. Perhaps that is why the beads fascinate me. During times I dedicate to prayer, my mind wanders to a thousand other things so to have a tool to focus prayer appealed to me.

The beads are made from pretty much any type of material and the number of beads vary anywhere between 19 and 108. A couple weeks ago, I found some beads I loved. I decided on 33 beads - 30 around the inner circle and 3 hanging down from the loop. 33 beads are used for Muslim, Orthodox and Anglican prayer beads. 33 is also the age of Christ at his death.

Whether it is listening or speaking to God, people of many faiths earnestly seek God. And that gives me hope.

I stumbled across this "reverse" prayer on the weekend. It made me smile.

Good morning, this is God. I will be taking care of all your problems today. I will not need your help so have a good time. I love you.

To that I say amen.

Glorious & Free

Happy Canada Day! It truly is great to live in Canada...so many freedoms. Yesterday I celebrated with about 300 new Canadians who recently moved to Canada from 124 different countries. It was their first Canada Day celebration! I looked around and saw the world right in front of me here in Canada; it made me so proud to be Canadian.

Also, if you haven't seen the movie One Week with Joshua Jackson and you are Canadian, you need to see it. It truly is a love letter to Canada. If you haven't been fully appreciating the beauty of this country, you will fall in love with it again after watching the movie.

Another thing I love about Canada is the summer. Because our winters feel so cold and long, I appreciate summer all the more by spending as much time in the sunshine as possible, visiting farmers markets and loading up on fresh veggies and fruit, attending festivals, sitting on patios drinking wobbly pops and devouring quintessential summer foods. Here are some shots from the past week in celebration of summer:

A BBQ dinner - grilled veggies, steak, corn-on-the-cob and tomato/mozza salad

Some produce from the Calgary Farmers Market

Some tomatoes used to make Jamie Oliver's Mothership Tomato Salad