These are some of the experiences and musings of an artist and disciple...

Wednesday, July 31, 2013

In Loving Memory...




2 days ago I sat in a chair at the Hamilton General Hospital.  Florescent lights cast a harsh white glow over everything in the room.  I never really liked being in hospitals.  Perhaps it was because I always felt that death was just around the corner or in another room, waiting for the time when it would be allowed to steal a person’s life away.  Its presence was elusive, but always constant.

I saw there looking at the rigid and broken body of my grandmother as she lay there in her bed.  She was a shadow of her former self, stricken with the degeneration time brings to us all.  On this day, death was in the same room, waiting to take my grandma from this world.

Though I was aware of her laying there, my thoughts were not of the present time.  I was in a moment of reminiscence, recalling a time when she was healthy and well…


~~~~~


Having been raised by a single mother who needed to work twice as hard to support two people, my grandma shared the responsibility of raising me.  Even since I was a toddler, she was looking after me while my parents were working during the day.  After my mother and father divorced, she would often look after me when I came home from school.

During those times we would watch the classic movies from her era.  I grew up on movies like “A Night to Remember”, “Great Expectations”, “Robin Hood”, “Ben-Hur”, and many others.  We would also play board games a lot of the times, and I got quite good at the game “Uno” by the end of elementary school.

left to right: Myself, Grandma, Great Aunt Pat
She was also a faithful woman of God and she knew her Bible more than many people I knew growing up.  I’m not sure how many times she had read through the Bible, but I know she participated in the “Read a Bible in a Year” schedule every year up until I was 23 years old.  My grandma was also the one who really taught me all about the Bible and the works of Jesus Christ.  It was through her that I came to have some knowledge of God and though I went through many dark times in my teens, that knowledge lifted me out of the darkness and saved my life. 

My grandma’s faith was simple and she found much satisfaction from it.  Many people in my generation don’t understand what it is like to have a simple faith, especially the people I know from college.  Today, one needs to be able to defend one’s faith using non-religious evidence.  We often need to be certain about what we believe before we are able to believe it.  The faith that doesn’t need justification is lost to us.  At the very least it is deemed irrational and of those that are of poor intellect.

What was beautiful about my Grandma’s faith was that she never needed to have her faith justified.  She was interacting with God on a daily basis and no information from science or philosophy could ever change what she experienced.  She knew God existed because He was active in her life.  That is something that I find both challenging to understand and incredibly beautiful to witness.

As I sat there, I dwelled on who she had been, but I also began seeing her for who she would be.  I saw her as a woman glorified in Christ, running around with a newly resurrected body that would never be broken.  I saw her catching up with her brothers and sister, who had been waiting for her for several years.  I saw her walking with God, being embraced by His love and affection for her.

I saw her, for the first time, as the woman that God has intended for her to be.  And that was more beautiful than anything I had seen in my lifetime…

I was brought out of my ruminations by the time…it was time to leave, and I knew it was the last time I would see her in this world.  I held her hand gently in mine and said, “See ya later grandma.”  Then I walked out of the room with my mom beside me.  2 days later, she passed away…



~~~~~


He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
I will say of the Lord, "He is my refuge and my fortress,
my God, in whom I trust."
Psalm 91

Saturday, July 27, 2013

Kosovo Reflections Part 2 - NEWBORN



We arrived at Prishtina airport at around noon.  The weather was surprisingly similar to that of Southern Ontario.  As I stepped off of the plane I got my first glimpse of Kosovo, rolling hills that surrounded the airport.  In the distance I saw the edges of Prishtina, the capital city.  The houses were orange and white, the colour of baked clay shingles and plaster.  Prishtina was the city I was to spend the next few weeks in.  It was a completely new experience for me since I have never traveled to Europe before as an adult. As we drove, cars whizzed by us in the slow lane.  The roads were packed with cars ranging from jury-rigged DIY vehicles to BMWs and Mercedes.


During our first day in the country, we were just trying to stay awake in order to sleep off the jet lag later that night.  Just before dinner, we decided to take a stroll around the city center.  We had to learn traffic etiquette very quickly.  Cars don’t normally stop if you just wait at a crosswalk.  You have to begin to walk across for cars to stop for you, which they do (usually)!

We walked around for a bit, enjoying the new culture and scenery.  The sun was just beginning to set as we arrived at a strip plaza with an interesting monument standing in front of it.  There before me was the word NEWBORN, constructed from pieces of sheet metal that had been welded together.  At 3 meters high and 20 meters wide, this typographic piece of art was a very strong expression of how the nation felt when it finally achieved its independence.  It was a symbol of their freedom and liberation.  It described their birth as a new country and a renewed people.  I stood in wonder at this monument wondering how I could convey the feelings I had within me.


~~~~~


The idea of freedom is one that is confused and muddled here in the west, as it probably is elsewhere in the world as well.  What is freedom for one person can be the opposite for another, yet all we seem to talk about here in the west is individual freedom, rights and liberties.  In North America, freedom is often thought of as the ability to choose for oneself, to be expressive or outspoken, or to have political rights.  But is that was freedom really is?

If freedom is the ability choose, then won’t having the most choices we can have to choose from in any given situation make us more satisfied and happier?  Barry Schwartz, a psychologist, presented evidence of the opposite.  He notes that a particular dogma is frequently found in western industrial societies which states, “To maximize the welfare of our citizens, we must maximize their individual freedom.”  Freedom in this sense is the ability to take control of our own welfare by acting on our own, thus to maximize the freedom to act on our own we must maximize our choices.  He then shows how at a certain point this freedom of choice becomes paradoxical. 

Imagine walking into a chocolate store and marveling at their wall of chocolate bars.  Each one is different, some look appealing and others not so much.  You have not tried any of these varieties before, so you are eager to taste them.  After narrowing down your selection to a handful of choices, you realize that you only have enough money for one.  You must take your pick of the best of the best of the best of the selection of choices.  It is hard to make up your mind because you are considering what each experience will be like and you want to have the best.  Finally, you make your decision and make your purchase.  What Schwartz found was that people will tend to contemplate a reality in which they chose one of the other options.  By the time they finished eating the chocolate bar that they had purchased, they felt less satisfied with their purchase because they (in some fashion) were aware of the many other realities in which they were more satisfied with the other products than they were satisfied with their choice in the present reality.  The more choices there were, the more realities there were to cause regret.  So if this is true then does maximized choice really create maximized freedom, or does it make us a slave to our desire for ultimate satisfaction?  In this sense, can we define freedom as merely our unlimited ability to choose?

Freedom of speech is an popular topic of many media sources these days.  Anything from Westboro Church’s protests to the occupy movement, people are eager to express their opinions because they believe it is their right to be able to express them.  Of course, legally in North America, it is…but it is here where we run into problems because some of what people say can take other people’s freedom away.  A prime example is the aforementioned Westboro “Church” of Topeka Kansas.  This is a group of people who protest people’s funerals with such statements of hatred and offence, that it cannot be ignored.  The family of a deceased soldier have the right to be free to bury their loved one in peace and respect, yet the people of Westboro deny them of this freedom by shouting out things like “God hates American soldiers.”  This freedom of speech then serves to oppress.  This is not to say that we should not have the freedom to speak our opinions.  The occupy movement was recognized as at movement for social justice for those affected by the increasingly capitalist economy in America.  In this case, a person's suffering is expressed in a desire to be free to work.  It is when our speech becomes rotten and oppressive in nature towards others that freedom of speech just becomes another weapon to wound and enslave.  And the idea that freedom can be used to enslave is also paradoxical if not outright contradictory.


But what about political rights?  Democracy is the best, right?  We have seen the news headlines of America helping other nations like Iraq, Egypt, Libya and even Kosovo achieve “true” democracy.  People seem to think that all humans should have the right to vote.  Obviously this is true in democratic countries, but is democracy freedom?  Sure it puts power into the hands of the majority, but what about the minority?  How can the majority explain freedom to the minority?  Is it just about the greater good in an individualistic culture?  Try to explain the greater good to an unborn human baby that has had its life ended, its body removed from its mother and discarded like a piece of rotten meat…all decidedly ethical by people who have reduced human life down to mere biological processes and stages of cell division.  Does freedom oppress and destroy life for the mere satisfaction of others?


If these things are not what true freedom is, then what is true freedom?

In the western worldview, we are all individuals competing for success, recognition and reward.  The corporate ladder is made to climb.  Our opinions are made to be heard.  Our choices are our own to make.  Is this really the best paradigm for living a fulfilling life?  Will we always be stepping on other people’s toes to catch a glimpse of the freedom that we long for, but will never see?


What if freedom was something else entirely?

Let me tell a story about a people.  This people became separated from their Creator, the One who gave them complete freedom.  This people were given chance after chance to become reconciled once again with their Creator, but they failed repeatedly.  They were instead enslaved by their religious laws, their selfishness, and eventually by other nations.  They yearned for release!  To be freed from oppression and slavery!  Even more so, they sought freedom from the fallen state of the world, from humanity.  They looked forward to the promised day when their Creator would renew them as a nation, to free them from their slavery and cure them of their brokenness.  They sought to be resurrected and reborn free from their separation from their Creator.

This is the story of Israel and Yahweh, the God of Abraham.

Freedom, then, is not about being able to do more and say more.  It is not about being able to vote against “liberals” or “conservatives”.  It is not about experiencing the most that we can in life.  It is not about maximized choices. 



Freedom, instead, is about becoming who we were created to be.  It is accepting our true selves, the people we would have been had we not become separated from the One that created us to be free.  In accepting freedom from the One who created the desire in us, we are then free to forgive. 

We are freed from bitterness and hate.  We are freed from self-loathing.  We are freed from “seeking our self-worth from the opinions of other people”.  We are freed from the standards we have for ourselves which we constantly fail to meet.




"We are free to love. 



We are free to be loved”…


~~~~~



Israel looked forward to a day when the imperfect would fade and the perfect would be made fully known.  The day when all wrongs and rights would be judged by the supreme Judge.  The day when all that is wrong in the world is made right.  When nations will have no reason for borders.  When wars and speeches of hate are silenced and peace flows through our hearts.  When love overcomes all and our satisfaction is found in the very One that made us who we are.  The One who understands us more than we understand ourselves.

In that time, we will be reborn.  We will be liberated from the oppression of sin and brokenness.  We will be NEWBORN…   

Saturday, July 20, 2013

Kosovo Reflections Part 1 - Getting to Know Kosova



Several day ago, I returned home from the country of Kosovo.  Most of the people I have talked to about this trip responded to me by asking questions like, “Kosovo…Where is that?” or for those who remember the news headlines many years ago, “There was a war there a while ago, right?”  My guess is that this ignorance about Kosovo is in part due by the small size of the country, but also because it was officially recognized as a country by NATO in the year 2008.  I hope that anyone who doesn’t know anything about Kosovo, will learn much about it through my posts.  In this post I will list some interesting tidbits about the country that I found to be important in understanding Kosovo and its people.

1. Geographically, the Repulic of Kosova lies north of Greece and directly south of Serbia.  The climate is similar to where I come from in Canada, hot and muggy in the summer and cold and damp in the winter.  The landscapes vary depending on where you are in the country.  I had the opportunity to travel to all parts of Kosovo and witnessed its rolling hills to the east, soaring mountains and their lush valleys to the west, and expansive farmlands in between.  All in all, the landscapes are beautiful as is the weather (most of the time). 

2. Kosovo is home to approximately 1.7 million people, 92% of which are Albanian and 4% of which are Serbs, and 4% are other peoples like the Turks, Bosniaks, and Roma.  About two-hundred thousand of those people live in the capital city, Prishtina, which is also the city I stayed in during the three week trip.  The people of Kosovo are warm to foreigners and are (for the most part) pro-American due to NATO’s involvement in their independence.  Their patiortism for the United States can even exceed those of Americans, especially on the 4th of July (remember, fireworks can kill!). 

3.  Something that the people of Kosovo have that many people in North America miss out on is strong emphasis on family unit.  Kosovo has a soft honour based culture (that is typically found in eastern cultures) due to the influences of the Ottoman Empire in their past.  This honour is what motivates people to do many of the things that they do (western cultures are typically guilt based) and to the goal is to bring honour to oneself by bring honour to the family (though this traditional mindset is becoming less the case with the introduction of secularism).  Still, even today families stay together for most of their lives in houses that are four or five stories high and large enough to fit an entire extended family in it.  In my time there I did not see a single western style single floor house made for one couple and their children.  This showed me how the importance of family in Kosovo even influences the construction of houses and neighbourhoods.

4. Kosovo is filled with young people.  There are so many young people that the nation's median age is actually 26.7 years old. One man I talked with said that over 50% of the population is under 30 years old.  That being said, there is a growing gap between the older traditional generations and the younger secular generations.  It becomes more evident that the youth are slowly taking over as you walk through Prishtina's core at nighttime and observe club after club pumping out music until the early morning.  We were fortunate to spend time with many young people at an arts camp and after our concerts, but we were also privileged to meet some older individuals who retained the knowledge of their tradition as well as the events of the Kosovo War that took place in 1999.

5.  The food in Kosovo is some of the best that I have had.  Much of it is inspired by other European countries, however there are some traditional dishes that I unfortunately didn’t get a chance to try.  The most common thing to eat is something like Doner (meat roasted on a vertical spit, usually beef, lamb or chicken) or Burek (a thin flaky pastry that is filled with cheese, minced meat, or fruit sauce).  A good drink to have with your dinner is Ayran (plain yogurt mixed with salt and water) which could be considered an aquired taste for some, but is delicious with pizza or other rich and spicy dishes.  In Kosovo there is a bakery on almost every block and each one offers freshly made pastries.  There is also no shortage of coffee shops, which act as the local hangout spots for younger and older adults.  The people of Kosovo are known for their café hopping (jumping from café to café), especially on rainy days.


6. Music in Kosovo is a big deal!  Most of the mainstream music channels are saturated with pop and hiphop genres; however, there are smaller and newer subcultures that prefer rock, metal and country music as well.  We had heard that the most popular metal band in Kosovo was called Troja (pronounced Troya), but unfortunately we were unable to grab a taste of the band while there.  Very few city dwellers seem to listen to the traditional Albanian style music.  To be exposed to that one would have to travel to a town outside of the larger cities where their style of folk music is handed down through generations.  The çifteli is one of the primary instruments used in Albanian music, which is very reminiscent of traditional Greek music with a middle-eastern flare.

There is much more that I could go on, but I wanted to save some for more focused posts.  Kosovo definitely made a mark on my heart and its people a fond impression in my memories.  There is no doubt that I will be back to play some music again in Kosovo, only a matter of time…