well, this is about it . . .
Mood:  not sure
Now Playing: Coldplay

While trying to avoid being sucked into and assimilated entirely into Canadian culture, I'm certainly having trouble.  Fighting the desire to buy stuff, including snacks and eating out, and songs from iTunes.  Have rediscovered the ability to waste hours on the internet.

SIGH.

I'll keep trying to integrate Cyprus with Canada, though.

But this blog is coming to an end.

All good things must come to an end.  Except Eternity and the New Jerusalem and Jesus, etc.

This blog, you may have noticed, is called "blogging away in nicosia."  I am no longer in Nicosia.  I am in Ottawa.  And tomorrow is my first official day as a normal person.  I start work at Subway and am no longer an employee of IVCF.

A chapter in my life is through.

I'm glad for the gradual shift.  None of this "Arrive June 17, start new job June 18" kind of thing.  Instead, I arrived and spent the end of June and July visiting supporters and telling people about Cyprus and tying up some loose ends regarding Cyprus, and then finding work and settling back into Canadian life.

I miss Cyprus sometimes, though.

It's weird.  Hard to explain.

I'll post one more time when I have my new blog up and running.  Otherwise, this is it.

The end.

Hey, those quotes are now up in the Randomness section of my site.  They are available at http://mjjhoskin.tripod.com/yearfive/id6.html.

things I learned in Cyprus
Mood:  chatty
Now Playing: Turtle Island String Quartet

A selection in no particular order:

Namiste is Nepali for both hello and goodbye.

Hindus have over 330 million deities

On the other hand, Hindus are pantheists/monists, so really they have but one god who also happens to be everything....

When the world is cold, dark, lonely, hostile, and cruel, sometimes all you can do is cry.

Crying can be cathartic.

Trusting God when stupid, little things happen is possible--it is just very hard.

Only lower-class English people have gnomes.  And eccentrics.

St. John Chrysostom was born in AD 349, seven years before St. Augustine of Hippo.

The last Western saint canonised by the Eastern Orthodox Church was a Viking king named Olaf (alt. sp: Olav) who died in 1046.

If God were omnipresent but had substance, then elephants would be more full of him and small people would be at a disadvantage.

Explaining the Gospel to Hindus with limited English is very difficult.

Hindus have a totally different set of boundaries from Westerners as well as a totally different way of thinking.

Explaining the word "self-perpetuating" is also hard.

A little bit of Jesus' love into a lonely life can do a lot.

Travelling expands your mind.

Even if you aren't racist, you have your own ways of judging--money, class, intelligence, education, personal interests.

Nepal was the last Hindu kingdom before it became a secularist state.

Constantine Palaeologos was the last Byzantine Emperor.

Only 1 million people live in Cyprus.

30 million live in Cairo.

Snails are fun to watch but unpleasant to eat.

Latvian food is simple but deeelish.

Latvia has beavers and otters.

Finns like hockey.

Thai people make curry.

How to meditate on God's Word, just as the Psalmist says.

A couple of Taize chants.

In Eastern cultures, feet are bad.

The Bible isn't necessarily the book of answers, but it is the book of Truth.

People think Canada is a Christian nation.

P G Wodehouse is FUNNY.

How to play snooker.

"Eimai apo tin Kanatha.  Apo pou eisai?"  "Me lene Mathiou.  Pos se lene?" "Ya sas."

And much much more...

atonement revisited
Mood:  hungry

I feel that I did not do the Classic View of Atonement justice last time.  Some of what I said was accurate, but some was only what some of the Orthodox writers I have read have to say.

The Classic View:

In any view, the Atonement is founded on the Divine Incarnation. By this great mystery, the Eternal Word took to Himself the nature of man and, being both God and man, became the Mediator between God and men. From this, we have one of the first and most profound forms of theological speculation on the Atonement, the theory which is sometimes described as Mystical Redemption. Instead of seeking a solution in legal figures, some of the great Greek Fathers were content to dwell on the fundamental fact of the Divine Incarnation. By the union of the Eternal Word with the nature of man all mankind was lifted up and, so to say, deified. "He was made man", says St. Athanasius, "that we might be made gods" (De Incarnatione Verbi, 54). (from the Catholic Encyclopedia)

Although I am not so sure about the concept of deification, I would say that I agree with the Classic View.  I also agree with the Latin or Judicial View as well.  They work together.  Yes, Christ's death was an atoning sacrifice paying for our sins (Latin View).  Yes, Christ's life and death as an incarnate man reconciled us to God and draw us up into His embrace.

I feel that this is a necessary thing to bring up only because I did it an injustice earlier.  The important thing is that through His life and death, Christ brought humanity and God back together, healing the wounds of sin and fallenness.  Both images are correct; neither is fully complete.

We spend too much time worrying about "which" doctrine or theology is correct, when sometimes, "both" are.

leaving thunder bay

Tonight is my last night in Thunder Bay.  Tomorrow I fly to Ottawa.

I mean, not "never to return" or anything.  Just until Christmas.  But never to live. 

I had big plans for this post.  I know it.  But I'm really tired and drawing a blank right now.

Going to bed instead.

cyprus: a year in photos
Mood:  hungry

So I made a set of photos on my flickr called "Cyprus: A Year in Photos."

I realise I put 140 in it.  Consider that I had btwn 500-600 to choose from.  They cover from September to the end of May.

If you don't want to look at each individually, you can watch it as a slideshow.  At least, if you don't have a really lame internet connection such as I have, that is.

cyprus: a year in quotes
Mood:  a-ok

A selection of quotes that I recorded in and from various sources over the course of this year.  These are some gems.  I’ll post the bulkier version in the Randomness section of the site.  Remember: I read 70 books this year… 

 

Worship is the fuel and goal in missions.

-John Piper, quoted by Giacomo Kim in a talk about spiritual warfare at training

 

The river still chattered on to him, a babbling procession of the best stories in the world, sent from the heart of the earth to be told at last to the insatiable sea.

-Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows 

 

Salvation is past tense in that, through the death and Resurrection of Christ, we have been saved.  It is present tense, for we must also be being saved by our active participation through faith in our union with Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit.  Salvation is also future tense, for we must yet be saved at His glorious Second Coming.

-What Orthodox Christians Believe 

 

The pirate attack had been a complete surprise; sure proof that the unscrupulous Hook had conducted it improperly, for to surprise redskins fairly is beyond the wit of the white man.

-J M Barrie,  Peter Pan 

 

A disciple says, ‘I hear you.  It’s the nuttiest thing I ever heard of.  It’s risky.  I’ll look like a fool, but I’ll do it.  Because my life is no longer committed to doing my thing but your thing.’

-Rebecca Manley Pippert, Out of the Saltshaker 

 

That is surely childhood’s end, when you look at a thing like a rabbit needing skinned and have to say: “Nobody else is going to do this.”

-Leah in The Poisonwood Bible, by Barbara Kingsolver

 

As people who live in North America, self-absorbed and preoccupied with ensuring ourselves of a stable country, the next mortgage payment or finding a cheap can of tuna, we need to rediscover the heroic faith that refuses to compromise on spiritual essentials.

-Bob Morris, “Martyrdom: The Ultimate Challenge” on urbana.org

 

The most incredible thing about miracles is that they happen.

-G K Chesterton, “The Blue Cross,”  The Innocence of Father Brown 

 

Besides, even the most spiritually advanced—perhaps especially the most spiritually advanced—need frequent times of laughter and play and good fun.

-Richard Foster, Prayer 

 

The proud cannot find you, even though by dint of study they have skill to number stars and grains of sand, to measure the tracts of constellations and trace the paths of planets.

-St. Augustine, Confessions 

 

That is what the Church is: the gathering round the same table of the Last, Mystical Supper; the supper without which we cannot have salvation.  It is only through this that Man is united with God, the Real Life.  In this way, we are freed from the realm of death, where we belong after the fall, that is, the separation of Man from God.

-Rev. Andreas Michaelidis, The Creed 

 

When he has finished censing, the Deacon puts away the censer.

-rubrics in The Divine Liturgy of Our Father Among the Saints John Chrysostom 

 

I do not reject exclusion because of a contingent preference for a certain kind of society…. I reject exclusion because the prophets, evangelists, and apostles tell me that this is a wrong way to treat human beings, any human being, anywhere, and I am persuaded to have good reasons to believe them.

-Miroslav Volf, Exclusion and Embrace 

 

Faith in Christianity is based on evidence.  It is reasonable faith.  Faith in the Christian sense goes beyond reason but not against it.

-Paul E. Little, Know Why You Believe 

 

Be prepared to look God in the eye when Christ comes again.

-Bishop Clive Handford, sermon at St. Paul’s Anglican Cathedral, Nicosia

 

I find it awkward to walk up to strangers in cafes and say, “What’s my name?”

-Ann Carter discussing ministry

 

He who does not know the truth cannot truly have faith; for by nature knowledge precedes faith.

-St. Mark the Ascetic, “200 Texts on the Spiritual Law,” The Philokalia 

 

Can a mortal ask questions which God finds unanswerable?  Quite easily, I should think.  All nonsense questions are unanswerable.  How many hours in a mile?  Is yellow square or round?  Probably half the questions we ask—half our great theological and metaphysical problems—are like that.

-C S Lewis, A Grief Observed 

 

Not to teach a man who is ripe: waste of man.  To teach a man who is not ripe: waste of words.

-Confucius, quoted by Anthony de Mello in The Song of the Bird 

 

Evangelism is never proclamation in a vacuum; but always to people, and the message must be given in terms that make sense to them.

-Michael Green, Evangelism in the Early Church 

 

It was somewhat to my chagrin the other day that I realized that I’m turning into my mother. Now, I have long since come to terms with the fact that I’ve become my father, but to realize at the tender age of twenty-two that one has assumed the characteristics of not one, but both of one’s parents is somewhat offputting.

-Will Ferrey from his blog

 

Me: It’s good that you ask questions, ‘cause I’m a little vague.  In my brain.

Shannon: That’s called being a guy.

 

Each Sura [of the Qu’ran] (except the ninth) begins with the words BISMILLAH RAHIMAN IRRAHIM—“In the Name of God, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.”  Rahiman and rahim are words more intense than the superlative degree in English, and refer to different aspects of God’s attribute of mercy.

-Ishmael My Brother, compiled by Anne Cooper

 

This is authentic Roman rebar.

-“Frank” in Salamis

canada or cyprus
Now Playing: Gordon Lightfoot

At the moment, I can't decide what to write about.  Shall I write about what I see lacking in Canada?  Or should I begin my final posts on Cyprus, looking at the year as a whole?

Hm...

Just got back from Calgary.  Just so much...bigness.  Too much.  Too much money.  I'm a little afraid of the materialism of the West--either that I'll lash out unjustly or be sucked in.  I'd like rather to be able to speak forth to my culture, hoping that it will change.

Sometimes it's hard to tell people about Cyprus, to find the words, even though I'm bursting to say things.  Mind you, the "How was Cyprus?" line has begun to get a bit old.

"Good."

Lame answer.

The word good has been destroyed forever.  There were things in Cyprus that were wonderful and delightful and that I really enjoyed.  But there were also some really, really hard times.  I would say that some of the hardest and some of the best times of my life were had in Cyprus.

And here in Canada, I'm having a little trouble meshing.  While thankful for freedoms, I wish people wouldn't abuse them.  Just because you can do something doesn't mean you should.  Doesn't mean it's right.  I feel somewhat detached from Canada and Canadians.  Certain things just don't resonate with me.

Like shopping.  I still like books, but only to the degree of finding ones I'm already looking for and which serve a purpose.  I mean, we have libraries here!  Big ones!  Why buy books that I'll read once that I can acquire from the library?!  I mean, there are those I'll reread and others I can't borrow from the library.  So these I buy.

Or the amount of money we spend just to entertain ourselves.  Bleah.

Not that people don't spend ridiculous amounts of money on entertainment in Cyprus.  I just wasn't one of them.  Nor did I spend much time with any.  International students and missionaries have fairly tight budgets.  So we did more communal things to entertain ourselves--things that require no more than friends and maybe a couple pounds each.

I like Canada.  But I kinda miss Cyprus.

canada
Mood:  cool
Dad is sleeping. Then he'll shower. Following this, we're going out for supper at a restaurant. Apparently these exist in rural Saskatchewan. Today, Jonathan, Dad and I dismantled a tree house.

And now, while I wait, allow me to share with you about Canada.

The True North Strong and Free.

So. Canada. First of all, let me talk about the things I enjoy about Canada. Canada has a lot going for it, my friends. In Canada, there's Dr. Pepper, for one thing. And doughnuts, and Slurpees (as well as Slurpee knock-offs), and pie. People drive on the right side of the road (as opposed to the left). They also speak with Canadian accents and use Canadianisms.

Other things that are great about Canada. Not all of these are things that are necessarily opposed to the way Cyprus is. Cyprus has a lot going for it as well. But I'll reminisce on that later.

In Canada, we are free to be we. We can be Anglicans. Or gay. Or gay Anglicans, for that matter. Or Indians. Or First Nations persons. Or Indians married to First Nations persons. Or Mormons. Or French. Or English, for that matter. As a Canadian, I am free to go anywhere in my country I wish. I am allowed to believe as I wish. I am allowed to be an Anglo-Scots Canadian.

Sometimes it can be culturally difficult to celebrate whiteness. But other times, it is a blessing to be a white guy in Canada. As a white guy with Scots ancestors, I can Highland dance or go to Highland games or all sorts of things. As a Canadian with a little Metis heritage, if I wish I could get Metis status and be able to celebrate that part of my heritage as well.

I, myself, am free to be I in Canada. I am free to be an Anglo-Scots heterosexual evangelical traditionalist Anglican who plays the clarinet, Highland dances, and reads a lot of books. I am also free to do all sorts of other things.

If I like, I could write a post criticising Canada. Canadians are free to criticise the government. We are free to hold our own political opinions and publicly state them. We are free to hold our own spiritual beliefs and practise our spirituality freely.

In some countries, people can't even read religious or political documents on the internet, regardless of whom or what the documents support. Books are not in abundance and are often even banned. In Canada, we have access to a wealth of information about all sorts of topics--arts, science, politics, philosophy, religion, medicine. There is a fairly free flow of information in Canada.

Furthermore, we have access to education that can enable us to be able to think critically about the information we access through these books and off the internet. Sure, people will try to convince that their opinions are the right ones, but we are free to think and believe as we will.

This is a freedom to cherish and celebrate.

I am glad to be Canadian.

brief note
I'm in Sasquatchenon.

And I don't think that's the last time I'll tell that joke.

Just posting to say that the last photos from my journeys overseas are up on my flickr if any of you care to check it out.