Retired; Octogenarian; husband, father and Opa & Great Opa; interested in celebrating/contributing, commenting and distributing the blessings we have as Christians in Canada's fair land - trying to be a bumbling, humble blogger.
I never thought I would hear the following statement uttered by my wife as we discussed the Provincial elections choices for this JUNE 2022 in Ontario.
My quiet opinionated wife, not voiced outside the home, says that we should not be voting for the PC’s (Progressive Conservatives Party) as they have given the FOR PROFIT Senior Long Term Care (LTC) home owners a wheel barrow to take their treasures to the Bank at the expense, she says, of the Seniors in Long Term Care, whose welfare will be in their keeping for the NEXT, would you believe it! – 30 YEARS. She says tax payers are on the hook for enriching corporations and their owners at the expense of the tax payers for a generation to come. Their gravy train has arrived! Stop the train, don’t vote for the PCs.
And so it now will happen! The PCs were elected with a majority in the legislature (83 seats) even though the voter turn out (40%) was said to be one of the lowest in the province’s history.
The LTC in Ontario is at least 52% owned by private for profit corporations and some of these were cited as the worst run facilities during the COVID pandemic. Many a family lost an older family member due to lax preventative health and cleanliness routines in the home. Provincial health inspections were few, irregular with a light evaluations of the practices at these homes. Supervision controls were not enforced according to regulations and staff protection and cautions were ignored. The province intervened in 35 of the homes hardest hit by COVID-19 outbreaks, and took over management of some. About 80% were for profit homes. (as reported by the Globe & Mail)
Not much was said by the PCs about the state of LTC in the province during the election (in fact many PC candidates never showed up for a local debate) except in their election rhetoric they promised more beds and facilities. But Doug Ford’s earnest plea as he rolled out the pandemic mandates, from a couple of years ago to keep our Seniors safe, has now taken second (fifth?) fiddle to highways and infrastructure etc building that the PCs proclaimed in election mandates to ‘get it done’.
But the PCs, now with such a majority, have the opportunity to give care workers a decent wage increase (rather then the present legislated 1% per year) which may also help to attract more qualified workers to this meaningful sector for our increasing populated group of Ontario citizen who need and are entitled to decent care in their elderly years. This is their opportunity to upgrade the LTC facilities and perhaps rewrite the rules for the For Profit licensees. Time to strengthen the health care mandates and management rules. Our mothers and fathers deserve every bid of comfort and attention, for they earned it in their working life-time as they helped build and contribute to the wealth in this beautiful province, Ontario.
Even though the number of LTC beds in the province is projected (promised) to rise to 110,000 in the next few years, will there be enough government muscle to get it done? Many promises to keep!
Here (https://ontariopc.ca/) were the PCs election slogans: Note there is a vague reference to LTC care but it is only #5 (last) on the list of promises. Just remember, we all get old!
A good friend and fellow church member Bill Huinink wrote the following report to record and remember the journey for those who travelled on that very first post-war immigrant ship from the Netherlands to CANADA! check the passenger list here!
JS June 5, 2022
DE S.S. WATERMAN – 75 Years ago
On May 5, 1945 the Canadian Army finally drove the Nazi occupiers from the Netherlands. The occupation had produced economic ruin to the country. Many people lost their lives to repressive actions by the Nazi forces, but the worst had been the seizure of most food products from the Netherlands and sending them to Germany. The western part of the country saw the literal starvation of thousands of Dutch citizens during the ‘Hunger Winter’ of 1944/45. Following the euphoria of the Liberation, the country still suffered from a lack of basic necessities for living. Many industries, and particularly farming, had lost most of their equipment to the Nazi war effort, either for the equipment itself or for the need for steel in the armaments supply.
The following 2 years saw little relief from this loss with only a small amount of Importing equipment being possible due to all countries working to recover from the war losses. The other major problem of the time (pre and post war) was the lack of land for agricultural expansion and the Dutch government policies of strict control over passing on real estate within a family. The existing farms/industries seemed to offer little opportunity for young people in the foreseeable future. Many Dutch people were actively looking to other countries that appeared to be offering much more promise. Many thousands had made enquiries and registered for emigration to foreign countries including Australia, Canada, and the U.S. In the meantime, the Canadian economy was healthy and particularly the agricultural industry suffered from a labour shortage. In March 1947 the Canadian and Dutch authorities came to an agreement that Agriculturists willing to work as farm laborers would be admitted to Canada. A sponsor must be in place and this sponsor was obligated to pay the workers $75/month for family men, $45 for single men, plus free housing.
Notifications went out to many families who had registered, that the boat – the SS Waterman – had been pressed into service and would sail on June 17, 1947 from Rotterdam. In the space of about 10 weeks final decisions had to be made. Visas were dependent on health and security checks, businesses had to be transferred/closed down, employers notified and personal effects had to be packed, sold or given away and separation from families/friends all needed to be dealt with. Many were afraid that they would never see their loved ones again. (A number never did, for various reasons.)
On June 17, 1947 the ship was ‘ready’ for boarding. The previous day it had dropped off a load of Dutch soldiers returning from Indonesia. The decks had been hosed, garbage unloaded and the new crew was at the stations. Otherwise, it was still a troop ship – ill-suited to being a passenger liner. Sufficient good food and supplies were loaded. The boat was not docked, but anchored out in the harbour. A tender was used to ferry the passengers to the ship (50 people at a time) and a ships ladder was used for boarding. Families with young children struggled to carry babies and toddlers up the long steep stair that swayed to the movement of the water. Once on board, you can imagine the shock of seeing the accommodations. The men and older boys were sent to one section where the beds were cramped bunk beds stacked 4 high with thin pads as mattresses, a sheet, a single blanket and a small pillow. The women and girls along with the children under the age of 10 went to separate areas of the ship where conditions were similar to the men’s. Some of the families (minus the men) were lucky to be assigned to a cabin and some even shared a cabin. Boys over 10 were housed with the men while girls over 10 shared the bunk accommodations with the women who had no children. Approximately 70 single women – most of them, war brides – were on board. 160 single men came along to scout out the new land’s suitability for their parents and siblings, and prepare for them to come later. The families were on average a couple with 3 children but there was one family with 13 children and another with 11.
The Groenewegen family had 5 children and the Dam and Huinink family had four each. Tess’s parents (de Jong) had been married only shortly before the voyage, but were already expecting her (without their knowledge at the time). Coincidentally, the Groenewegen and Dam families were right beside each other in their quarters. Nellie Schuurman (Groenewegen) recalls that Mrs. Dam often looked after both family’s children while Mrs. Groenewegen had to get on deck for some fresh air, away from the cabin fever conditions in the barracks. The families soon found out that the troop ship conditions extended to the meals. Although there was plenty of good food, all passengers had to stand in line – cafeteria style – with a plate being handed to each, even the little ones. The plate had several divisions in it to keep the types of food separate – but on one plate. The food was to be eaten at long tables. This requirement was soon dispensed with.
As soon as the ship exited the English Channel it hit a storm on the open ocean. That evening many of the passengers became sea-sick and a good number of family members were confined to their beds. Those who were not sick would bring some basic food down to the barracks so that the bed-ridden ones might try to eat at least a little bit. Leda Vanderkruk (Dam) remembers helping here Dad carry food down the stairs into the lower sleeping quarters – a difficult task for a 4 year old on a swaying ship. With so many being sick, people were vomiting at very inconvenient places. Eventually open barrels were placed on the decks and they tried to aim the projectiled food into them. In the men’s quarters, the urinals were made of steel tanks cut in half and hung from the walls with drain pipes leading out to the open sea. They were a handy place to vomit into but a lot of food got stuck in the drains. The urinals started to fill up and with the swaying of the boat, the contents started sloshing from end to end and flooding over onto the floors. Needless to say, the sanitary conditions were far from ideal. The storm abated the following day but some people were sick for the duration of the crossing. Those who were not, started to wander on the open decks and many of the children spent hours playing with their siblings or finding new friends. Older siblings looked after younger ones while their mothers were busy with babies or even confined to beds because of sea-sickness. Nellie Schuurman (Groenewegen) recalls that her 6 year old brother (Ted) would push the younger 2 ½ year old brother (John) around the deck in a folded high chair that had wheels on it. She noted another activity that fascinated her. Her Dad would lift her up to look out the porthole and watch the waves surging by during the storm.
During the day, fathers were allowed into the women’s quarters to help their wives with the chores of dressing and feeding the little ones. One day, as they were approaching land, someone spotted an iceberg. Anyone who could, got on deck to watch the new phenomenon. One of the passengers, while standing at the railing, saw an object floating at some distance from the boat. He recognized it as a sea Mine – a remnant from the war 2 years earlier. He could see that the boat was in no danger of hitting it, so he did not draw attention to it in case it might cause a panic. Then land came into sight. Newfoundland on the left and Labrador on the right. As they passed between they could observe green hills, even low mountains. This was their new country. The next blessing was the calm waters of the Gulf of St. Lawrence (no more sea-sickness) and plenty of sunshine. The voyage now became a pleasant adventure for almost everyone on board. But surprise, surprise – they sailed a whole day and were told it would be another day before they would reach Quebec City.
At Quebec City the boat was held up for a number of hours while immigration officials boarded and other affairs were taken care of. Late afternoon they sailed again and at about 10:00 AM on the morning of June 26, 1947 the ship docked in Montreal. The whole harbor appeared to be aware of the special arrival. There was a cacophony of ships horns from all over to welcome the newcomers to Canada. On the dock stood the Dutch ambassador to Canada and a Canadian official in charge of immigration. Speeches of welcome were made by both to the waiting crowds on the deck. It took most of the day to unload the travelers and transport them all to the Central Station – several blocks north – in the city. Red Cross workers were on hand, both at the dock and the Station with food and drink and other treats. Most of the passengers knew where they were going already, but some just got to know this as they came to the station. A special train was making the run to Toronto (5 – 6 hours away). The coaches had been assembled specifically for the migrants and turned out to be the oldest, most dilapidated cars that could be in service. The ride was hot – 30/31deg. C – and stifling. Some tried to open the windows but the soot from the steam engine would be sucked into the coaches. The view though, was exciting; there were lots of trees and green farm fields for most of the trip. A few families – hired by sponsors in Eastern Ontario – were dropped off along the way. In Toronto’s Union Station there was much chaos. Due to language problems a number of families were sent to the wrong trains.
Nellie recalls that the Groenewegen’s were supposed to go to Bradford but ended up being put on a train to Brantford. During the stop in Hamilton where a good number were being sent, they happened to talk with Peter Spoelstra who was assisting the ones coming to Hamilton.
Part of Hamilton Spector front page news of Immigrants arriving at the CNR Station, Hamilton in June 1947
He helped them in arranging a train passage back to Toronto and on to Bradford. The Huinink’s were to go to Thamesford and when they got off there, their sponsor was nowhere to be found. The stationmaster got to thinking – many people coming to Thamesford would take the train to Woodstock (different rail line) and arrange to be picked up there. He got on the telegraph to the Woodstock station and, sure enough, their sponsor was waiting there and wondering where his migrant family was. He then drove the 25 km back to Thamesford, only 6 km from his home, and picked them up there.
Many sponsors were fair and well intentioned to the immigrants. Among our 4 families there were no major problem or abuse of the workers. There were, however, many stories of families being housed in chicken coops or other dilapidated structures with no reasonable sanitary facilities; stories of wind howling through the wood siding while trying to keep a young family warm; outhouses to be used in freezing weather; lack of windows for ventilation in one of the hottest summers on record – it was not easy for them. The minimum wage left little for saving to cover the transition from the sponsor farm to other employment. It was a difficult time for most and we can’t go into much detail on that, but definitely the majority of immigrants, having already gone through a depression and the WWII occupation, were thrifty enough and had the determination and FAITH to get through this as well. 75 years later, we are ‘celebrating’ the fact that our families have done well – even extremely well – in the years that have gone by. TO GOD BE THE GLORY!!!
Bill Huinink’s NOTE: I acknowledge the information gleaned from the book ‘To All Our Children’ by Albert Vandermey, the passenger list for the boat, the diary of Tryn Snyder (one of the passengers on De Waterman), inputs by Nellie Schuurman and Leda Vanderkruk (Dam), and word of mouth comments by my own parents and other passengers I have met over the years. W. (Bill) Huinink – June 12, 2022
So on that 17th day of June 1947 the S.S. Waterman slipped out of the Rotterdam harbour into the Nieuwe Waterweg, and so out to the North Sea, headed for Montreal, PQ Canada with 1,100 Dutch immigrants on board who were full of excitement for the new adventures that would await them. They all had visions of a new starts and prosperity for them and their families; to a bright future in a welcoming land. O Canada!
Many of these pioneers have now passed away and their children and grand-children and great grand children are remembering the joys and the hardships of their parents bold venture, so many years ago from a war-torn Netherlands, to a new country full of future hope and new beginnings.
Here is a poem written by J. Bergwerff, living in Rozenburg, at the occasion of the Cor & Sjaan Groenewegen family’s departure to Canada via the S.S. Waterman. (Translated in 2005 by Mrs. Benna Nicholai)
Immigration
As the ship comes sailing by, and we, filled with sadness, with a sigh
Stare at the fading silhouette; we know a full stop has been set.
The tie with Holland has been cut, you'll travel another country but
Our poor little Nederland is it no longer your fatherland?
Our country's little, that is true yet you earned your living, didn't you?
We're wondering and we'd like to know what possessed you to decide to go.
Couldn't your children and your wife prevent this sad parting in your life?
Didn't you think of your mother dear, who now must carry this sorrow year after year?
Or were you thinking of your children's welfare? to oppose, in this we would not dare.
In this battle how did you fight? We trust that you did pray for light.
That you didn't stand alone, of course, you know. What thoughts and questions through your mind did go?
Were you careful to bend your knees to pray, as every possibility you did weigh?
There's still something I truly want to know. You won't forget our Holland when you go?
That little spot of treasured ground where years ago your cradle was found!
O Nederlands, your best sons and daughters no longer want to live within your borders.
To unfold their talents is their wish, strong and sure, in this place they no longer can endure.
They'll spread their wings in a land so wide, far from here on the other side.
Here they cannot build a future and grow. Should we then hinder them and say, "Don't go?"
There goes the ship. It's done you see. How endless the distances will be.
O Lord, what pain......... there goes my child, to each one give Your comfort so mild.
Long ago a mother stood by the cross, her son was going home. To her it seemed a loss.
Dear Mother and Father remember always, that Son our Eternal Great Shepherd will stay.
After we travel our tiresome earthly road, we'll arrive with joy in our heavenly abode.
Whether in Canada or in the Nederlands, we're all on our way to our eternal homeland.
June 26, 1947 – Netherlands Ambassador Dr. J.H. van Roijin and Mrs. van Roijin greeting Dutch immigrants arriving by ship in Montreal. Photo by George Hunter: National Film Board of Canada
As I opened my iPad, there it was, shocking, a picture of senseless destruction and chaos, a family man, perhaps a husband/father/son, lying tossed like garbage along the side of the road, degrading him of human dignity. Yet, a (his) dog is keeping watch. Perhaps he was getting food for his family and hurrying back to the safety of his shelter. Gunned down without mercy. O Lord, why? But see, there were more pictures of sadness: More bodies in the streets and in the bombed out buildings. Blood on the sidewalk and blood on the doors and hallways.
They are the terrible scenes we are able to be part of, as we peek in on our iPhones and tablets every morning. Ukraine is on fire, this is war gone wild, insanity and total destruction of people, neighbourhoods and civilization. Explosions, fire and the burning of homes, buildings, cars and machinery. Battle weapons scarred and destroyed; rusting in the streets and roads. People coming out of their building/homes and finding hiding places in basements and shelters, while columns of smoke and explosions are seen on the horizons everywhere. Faces edged with fright and fear. Children crying and wives carrying small children, weeping as they say good-bye to their husbands. Seniors and grandmothers helped by soldiers across make shift bridges and cooking their meager meals outdoors. Make-shift graves along the side of the road or in the local park/playground. Mothers/wives weeping for their soldier husbands/sons as their caskets are carried out of the church through the streets. Bombed buildings and war junk lying everywhere. Flames and destructions in every direction. Imagine the noise as the missiles hit and explode! with shrapnel flying in all directions finding their targets in flesh and surrounding materials. It is a war of crime (criminal)!
The above photo is the telling summation of all the ‘what for!!’ insanity of this war.
See here is barbarity in full action and view. A citizen of Bucha * lying on the curb shot dead while gathering groceries for his family. For no reason. For ‘in spite of’ and because they can. A scene that grips me and will not let go. O God have mercy!
Soon it will be Easter (2022) again when we remember the blood on the doors posts to free a people locked down in slavery. When the avenging angel of God passed by those who had the sign of redemption on their doorposts. It is the time again to remember the blood on the tree of Golgotha. The blood of the LAMB (JESUS) slain for the salvation of many, proclaiming God’s peace to all peoples and nations. This is the blood that “was poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins”. Gospel of Matthew chapter 26 verse 8
May Easter – this 2022 Easter – speak to you and me more loudly and clearly with conviction as we contemplate the Lamb slain for all to give us peace with God. A peace that was given, and we must pass on and practice, among us and to others. As the angels sang on that new morning in Bethlehem: “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to those on whom his favour rests.” Gospel of Luke, chapter 2
JS APRIL 11, 2022
(Book of Common Prayer) A PRAYER FOR OUR UKRAINIAN BROTHERS AND SISTERS ON THE BATTLE FIELD: O God, who seest that in this warfare we are seeking to serve thee, and yet in the waging of it must needs do many things that are an offence against thy love; Accept we pray thee, our imperfect offering. Arm us with thy Spirit that our warfare may further the victory of thy justice and truth; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
verse 1: O Lord, how swiftly grows, the number of my foes, who wantonly oppress me! Yea, multiplied are they that rise to my dismay, and day by day distress me. Though heavy my despair, they scornfully declare, to my humiliation, That Thou, O God, no more, canst help me as before or come to my salvation.
verse 3: I laid me down and slept; I waked, for I was kept, in His divine protection; The Lord was at my side, my succor He supplied, whatever my affliction. Defended by His hand, I shall undaunted stand, While thousands surge about me; Though furious foemen wage their war with mighty rage, I know they shall not rout me.
Note: * A dog sits next to the body of a civilian, who according to residents was killed by Russian soldiers, in Bucha, in Kyiv region, Ukraine, April 3, 2022. Photo REUTERS/Stringer
At the entrance of the Red Square in Moscow, one must pass through the Resurrection (Iberian) Gate and with its Iberian Chapel. The Resurrection Gate has an icon on its wall which is a picture of the Risen Christ. In this picture the Risen Christ emerges victorious from a dark pit of dark despair, chains and destructive death elements. For Russians this is a symbolic picture promise of Mother Russia rising from the despair and shame of it past history.
The Resurrection Gate was re- established (rebuilt) in 1995 and is one of the most holy symbols for the Russian people. The Iberian Chapel contains an icon depicting the Mother of God, a symbol of the protector of Russia. In all Russian Cathedrals at Easter the Orthodox priest will shout out “Christ is Risen” and the congregants will answer “He is Risen indeed”. In the Russian mind there is no difference between Christ’s rising and the promise of a renewal risen Russia. That also includes Ukraine.
Religious passion and desire for seeing the ‘Empire’ restored is what drives Putin to do what he has done, even if the things that are now underway in the Ukraine are terrible, destructive of life and limb. This is a (national) holy war.
The leader of the dominant Russian Orthodox Church is Patriarch Kirill, a close friend of Putin. Kirill has described the invasion war in the Ukraine( according to AP report) – a conflict struggle against sin and pressure from liberal foreigners to hold “gay parades” justifying the war. The Ukrainians, he said, are exterminating Russians. He has refrained from criticizing the invasion and the bombardment of civilians. Ukraine must be cleansed. This has led to alienating many in the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
Meantime the voice of the Church worldwide is being heard. Many are praying for the people of the Ukraine and for the war to stop and peace to come soon. Letters signed by many leaders from various churches worldwide including the Reformed, Evangelical and World Wide Council of Churches have asked Kirill to mediate an immediate peace, and received this polite reply: “I pray unceasingly that by His power, the Lord help establish the lasting and justice-based peace as soon as possible…and that the religious world leaders will maintain an unbiased platform……” – (oikoumene.org) Does he know people or being killed and cities are blasted with missiles and bombs? That Ukrainian refugees (up to 2 million, women and children) are leaving all behind for the safety of other countries?
On March the 18th, a rally was held at Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow (seating 80,000) where a flag waving crowd listened to a ‘near Biblical’ speech by Putin: “The military action is to liberate the people from the genocide and sufferings. This is the goal, I recollect the words from Holy Scripture: ‘Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends’. Shoulder to shoulder, they help and support each other,” the Russian president said of the Kremlin’s forces in a rare public appearance since the start of the war. “We have not had unity like this for a long time,” he added to cheers from the crowd. (AP & NBCnews report) Meantime destruction and bombs are raining and pounding on civilian building and military installations and Russian young men are paying a deadly price.
We have seen through the media, discontent in Russia over this war but it is small and overwhelmed by the ‘holy war’ gospel and the misinformation being speud out of the Communist propaganda media machine.
Make no mistake, this is a Holy War, this has to do with the soul of Mother Russia’s revival and honor. This is religion with politics which is a religion.
Does the secular political ‘West’ understand this? Some of our church leader are talking that this may be the ‘end of times’ and so in a round about way almost legitimizing Putin role as the hand of God. Oh, how foolish, Jesus – when others speculated when the last days might come -, he said : ‘But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only.‘ (Gospel Matthew, Chapter 24)
Can Putin be stopped, can the war end, can peace come, …….honorably?
Maybe it is time again for the ‘West’ to put into practice President’s Theodore Roosevelt’s (1904) advice: “Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far.” (a West African proverb)
Pray for Truth to be told and above all, pray for Peace.
There is war again in Europe of all places. A cruel assault on a peaceful nation by their closest neighbour Russia. Ukraine has been attacked by the BEAR!
We are used to wars but not this close to home or even in our ‘Western’ world’s neighbourhood communities. A lot of immigrant Canadians have connections with the Ukraine. It is estimated that 1.3 million persons of Ukrainian origin are citizens of Canada. They make up the 11th largest ethnic group in our country.
The Ukraine already for years (as I was taught in primary school) has been the bread-basket of Europe. It is a country that emerged out of the disintegrated Soviet Union empire and struggled to gain it own independence with a forward looking mission hoping someday to be part of the NATO alliance. A nation of welcoming people and looking for a prosperous and democratic future.
All of these hopes and aspirations have now be dashed by their near friends and neighbour’s attack, at the behest of the President of Russia. He says he is afraid that the NATO influence on Ukraine will turn the heads of their citizens to look to Europe for nation building wisdom, rather than to him and Russia, a dictatorship. This is considered a threat!
So Ukraine was invaded 13 days ago (February 24th) by 200,000 fully armed Russian soldiers, with tanks and missiles, who are now encircling their cities. The Russian soldiers, through months of ‘propaganda’ have been sent – were told – to liberate the Ukrainians so as ‘to demilitarize and de-nazify Ukraine, as well as bring to trial those who perpetrated numerous bloody crimes against civilians, including against citizens of the Russian Federation.’ (report by NPR news) On an earlier attempt (2014), Russia had already annexed and occupied the Crimea and Donetsk regions on the eastern Ukraine border. However now, the continuing Liberation (read- ‘Occupation’) was met with strong resistance and was going slow. People are defending their homes! imagine that!
Many Ukrainian citizens are now escaping the bombing and killings and leaving the country (men aged 18-60 are ordered to stay and defend their homeland) fleeing to Poland, and other Ukraine western border nations. The estimate is that about 2 million (mostly women & children) have left.
At the present date (March 8, 2022) of writing there are some things that we can see that are different about this war:
NATO and allies are rallying around and forming a strong block with measures to hamper and damage the economic structures of the Russia regime by stopping and blocking Bank transactions, seizing assets belonging to the Russian president and his close advisers and oligarchs. (Bank accounts, boats, real estate, business assets etc; McDonalds, Starbucks and IBM and the major gas companies (Shell) are closing their businesses in Russia, Russia has also been banned from the SWIFT banking services.)
Russia travel and air traffic is banned from the NATO and NA skies.
Supplies of of all types of weapons (Stinger anti-aircraft defense systems and anti-tank missiles, small arms and ammunition, body armour (there are attempts to supply them even with warplanes) are being shipped to the Ukraine battle fields, even Germany for the first time has contributed weapons.
The Ukraine president spoke, via internet video, to a session of the UK parliament. He spoke of the Ukrainian people’s determination ‘to fight in the forests, to fight in the streets, to fight on the shores’. An expression that echoes the famous Churchill address during WW2.
Russian mothers (Russian prisoners are allowed to use iPhones and call home) are hearing news from their soldier sons that the propaganda about Ukraine is false and the mothers are asking ‘where can I go to get my son home, whose door can I knock on?’
This war will be the most recorded (videoed) and instant playback of events since the invention of war in history. Those iPhones the ‘prisoners’ are using are recording the willful destruction, wounding and killing and of everyday citizens and their homes by the invading forces. The iPhones are used to record and spread the news via internet and phone connections without limit to Europe and the rest of the world.
A solid block of support and unity is forming in the western world, marches, humanitarian fundraisers are springing up, unseen since the second world war. (1940 – 1945)
Support and medical supplies are coming from everywhere and the people of the western nations and good folk anywhere are watching on their ‘iPhones’, computers and TVs and seeing the unfairness and cruelty of this unnecessary and awful event.
There is the long lines of human traffic out of the country but there are also those who are going back to help and fight supporting the present Ukrainian freedom fighters.
The next few days and weeks will tell the tale of this unprovoked attack!
Awake, Awake! There is a BEAR in the glorious sunny garden! Rooting among the sunflowers and the grains of wheat. Quick! Gather the neighbours and let’s chase him out. Forever banished to the frozen winter fields of ice!
WAR IS HELL!
Lord have mercy!
……….for all those who habitually draw the sword will die by the sword. (Gospel of Matthew – Chapter 25 verse 52: Jesus’ warning to Peter who tried to defend Jesus, with his sword, from capture by the Temple soldiers)
The Oxford dictionary defines this word as meaning that a person/or (nation) is; aggressive, assaultive, combative, contentious, defiant, hostile, threatening, antagonistic, bull-necked, quarrelsome, hot tempered, battling, scrappy, warlike, militant, mean, fierce, having a bone to pick or having a chip on their shoulder…. anyway you get the picture.
There have been many instances like this in the past. Let’s name a few: the Pharaoh of Egypt when the Israelites asked for permission to leave; Goliath and David; King Ahab for Nabot’s vineyard; King Herod with the little children of Bethlehem; Rome expanding their Empire; the Spanish Armada threating the English; the US army war against the Native people (Seminole) of Florida; Napoleon’s wars against anyone; Hitler against Europe; America in Iraq; tragic power failures in Afghanistan; ISIS in Syria, Putin and the Ukraine crisis, and many others. All are examples of instances of belligerence. (the act of being belligerent)
All these were either personal or national in scope, for power (authority) and revenge or aggrandization couched in political or religious reasons. Usually a mix-up of both for politics and control (authoritarianism) is as religion is to faith.
And so we are there again, like the times of the ‘Munich agreement’: arguing , pleading, disputing, taking liberty with facts and history, refusing to accept the present status, pleading for peace, showing the fallacies of re-visioning the historic past to legitimize the new future. Followed by the usual responses of no, we are not interested in war, we are peaceful, we just want justice and freedom. But the telling and showing are not in sync, for in the meantime: I will show (off) to you what it takes to get my way: men and might; overwhelming numbers; guns; threatening of lives and lively-hoods, jail and taking away one’s freedom: destruction, war! and political slavery.
A little bit of that (belligerent) spirit we saw recently with the truckers convoy movement here in Canada. Ordinary people came together because they were upset with health (safety) concern mandates coupled with Government actions necessary to protect citizens from the deadly virus that was tearing through our neighbourhoods and communities. No one thought or felt this was (a lark) nice….. certainly all of us were frustrated, upset, scared, angry at times and very, very sad when this death virus brushed into our lives, family and friends. It turned our world upside down! What could we collectively do to stem the march of this unholy guest?
Well, use the smarts and knowledge we had at hand: keep our distance and if needed isolate, get medical help (develop vaccines) use stats to pin point the hives of outbreaks and use whatever protection necessary, communicate and inform, make life possible by economic assistance and if you are religious pray for the healing of our people and land.
In order to do all this you will need to disrupt (crack) the status quo, people and organizations will get hurt, curtailed in doing their business, loss of income with mental and bodily fatigue. Some (students) lost part of their usual social well-being. Lives were interrupted and accomplishments postponed or failed. Many dug into their life savings to survive and we all were affected. Not one of us escaped. You know the slogan: We are in this together!
So some of your freedom was curtailed and now you started to mope and blame the government, for what? manufacturing the VIRUS? mandating ways that perhaps could keep us all functioning by doing new things differently? Come on, get it straight! Are we now against the Canadian democratic system that we are so proud off. Did it slip? Well yes, a little out of necessity to get us where we are today, almost free of the severity of the disease! Have we licked it yet? No, but the effort has been unrelenting, would you not agree? Did we get it right and fine tuned from the beginning? No, but none of us have ever experienced this before. The Sars scare was maybe a river, the Asian flu like a creek but this was Niagara Falls 10 times over.
Be thankful your country took on the hard lifting (and was not indifferent) to keep you and your loved ones healthy and safe.
We are free (no war is threatening) and living in a jewel of a country envied by many in the world. Let’s rebuild even stronger! Hands together and held tightly. The world is watching!
“I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the water to create many ripples.” –Mother Teresa
“When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.” —Susan Jenkins
When it gets -15 C or more we have noticed these early morning scenes. It is fascinating to see. This always reminds me of these Biblical instances.
@ Second book of Kings chapter 6: Then he (the King of Aram) sent horses and chariots and a strong force to Samaria. They went by night and surrounded the city. 15 When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early the next morning, an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. “Oh no, my lord! What shall we do?” the servant asked. 16 “Don’t be afraid,” the prophet answered. “Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” 17 And Elisha prayed, “Open his eyes, Lord, so that he may see.” Then the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.
@ Book of Psalms number 125 verse 2: As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds his people both now and forevermore.
@ the Book of Hebrews chapter 12 verse 1:Therefore, since we also have such a large cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us lay aside every hindrance and the sin that so easily ensnares us. Let us run with endurance the race that lies before us, keeping our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith.
Burlington Bay in winter when the temperature is -15 C or more
There is a petition in the Lord’s Prayer (Gospel of Matthew chapter 6) that Jesus taught us to pray for our daily food & living needs. This petition is the fourth and sits between the third: that God’s will be done on earth as it is in heaven and the fifth: Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespassed against us. Interesting that our Lord Jesus when he taught this prayer squeezed this petition between God’s will be done and us forgiving others so we can be forgiven by God for the sins we commit against God’s will on earth.
So why this thought today?
Well, we have some of our Food & Goods Suppliers transporters trucks occupying (blocking) the streets of our Capital Ottawa, other cities and important intersections of our highways through Canada. They are a small part (some say maybe 10% or less) of the larger Truck drivers industry but they are loud and noisy. They say, they are there for their (our) Freedom and the freedom of fellow Canadians. Many more are travelling to our Capital (Ottawa is bitterly cold) and other places with 1,000s cheering them on along the way. ‘No more mandates’ they shout and blare their truck horns to draw attention as they vow not to leave till the Government of Canada lifts all Covid restrictions. What are those restrictions?
Access to public places (locations determined by local authorities) is now restricted (as determined by medical community statistics and sickness intervention evidence) to those who have evidence of the following:
Vaccination evidence against the Covid-19; preferably 3 jabs.
Wearing masks in all public settings.
These 2 demands seem reasonable in light of the facts, as we now know (and that will continue to reveal to us as this Covid virus is still with us) that since the virus appeared in our country January 2020, 33,000 Canadians have died after catching this disease and that at this time Ontario alone is averaging 3 deaths per hour everyday for the last 3 weeks or more. And that there is proof that vaccinations has lessened the impact of this virus in many lives saved. However, at present our Emerg ICU services and medical care-givers are strained (drained) and almost half or more of these deaths are with unvaccinated people. The world (at least the Western world populations) have been reeling from the viciousness of this disease. We are now touching the 4th wave of variants of this virus and it has been devastating! judging by the death totals records; USA has 900,000 and almost 5,000,000 worldwide. Almost 400,000,000 people have been affected and many will be dealing with ‘long-term’ effects. There is sorrow and regret in many families.
When you add this up and then take note of the reason for all of these truckers to block roads in cities and towns, you say to yourself: This is not reasonable. The science by now has proven that vaccination lessens the severity of the virus and so protect you and your family. So come on, don’t be a chicken! get your shot! What! are you afraid of a little jab in the arm? But wait there is more…..
‘Nobody is going to tell me what to do’ …. ‘Mon corpse; mon ame’…’my body; my choice’. So this has to do with Freedom of choice and they do not want to be told.
The police and the authorities are pulling their hairs as they do not know what to do. The water is over dam. They are in the streets. Levy fines? against parking? Tow the huge tractors off the streets? The Freedom truckers and their supporters say they are not moving until the Mandates are lifted. Meantime the situation has become an ‘Occupation’ and neighbourhoods, businesses and neighbours are being held hostage by diesel fumes and loud honking of truck-horns and in some cases: destruction of property and just being a public nuisance by a fringe hooligans’ element which has joined in with the Freedom crowd. The 10 million dollars collected on ‘GoFundMe’ are in dispute, frozen. (see bottom note) The Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is in Covid quarantine and has refused so far to speak to the protesters. Will he need to do as his father did, in the 1970 FLQ crisis insurrection, a ‘Pierre Trudeau’ – “Just watch me” action? How ironic would that be!
So how will it all end?
I think that this Freedom action (Covid fed-ups) restlessness, already smoldering for the last 2 months or so, has now burst into full flame. And not only in Canada but also in the USA as their Covid restrictions now also concerns the cross-border traffic for US truck drivers. The rules are now the same in both countries: you want to cross the border with your goods? get vaccinated!
But now people have had enough and are done with Covid. For 2 years authorities, who have been trying to use, as they saw fit, strategic methods of public protection techniques (mandates) that have hurt many with economic and mental stress issues and concerns. Businesses have failed and individuals have lost jobs. Let’s face it, it has not been good! and all emergency funding (as good as it is) do not make the virus and the BLAHS go away!
Are we being told what to do, yes! but this has not been punishment but rather a benevolence! A maybe bumbling, mumbling, stumbling attempt to limit a very bad disease from killing our neighbours, fathers, mothers, children and grand-parents. But we (authorities) are hopefully gaining wisdom and learning. As my mother-in-law used to say about unknown life events: “You learn from every deal!”
Now to get back to what I said at the beginning. The Lord’s prayer petitions before we get to ask #4’s ‘Give us this day our daily bread’; God tells us to make our communities as Jesus said; like his heavenly Kingdom on earth #3; then you may (ask) work to supply your daily (food) meal and living comforts #4; after that again in perfect order God tells us to petition in #5; to be thankful and tell each other, as you enjoy your meal, that you forgive and love your neighbours. Hard to do when we are all charged up with our own interests & ideas? YOU BET! But give it a try…….In the words of John Lennon- ‘Give Peace a Chance!’
And for Canada my petition is: “Under the king’s hand: May this land (Canada) of mountains and hills know peace and experience justice for all the people”. Book of Psalms #72 verse 3.
JS Pax vobiscum February 5, 2022
Note: Funds are instead being raised through the U.S.-based GiveSendGo, which describes itself as a “Free Christian Crowdfunding” website. CTV report.
‘No one would have believed…..’ Richard Burton voice is heard on Jeff Wayne’s ‘War of the World’ musical that I used to play on the 8 track in my Hornet American Motors car, whenever I took my kids out for a drive. Yes, no-one would have believed that 2 years after the first occurrence of Covid-19 (SARS-COV-2) (previously known as “2019 novel coronavirus”) in Ontario we would still be dealing with this terrible scourge that has affected everyone in the world today.
January 25th, 2020 was the recorded date (I noted) here in Ontario but already we had heard of it appearing in China, Europe and other parts of the world with devastating news. People dying everywhere. A Pandemic!
How did it start? There is much controversy about that and that is where all the misinformation, suspicions and conspiracy theories start. No one has been able to put these ideas to rest and many are still mesmerised by inflated tales and false news since the beginning. We have seen people who have denied the reports of sickness and death among those who have been affected as hoax and manipulations of the news media. No matter how many deaths we see reported (and also hear first-hand) among our friends and relatives, many are stubbornly resisting the evidence before their very eyes.
When the news broke out my choir practices were stopped (we have not yet restarted) church services were stopped, stores, restaurant, places of recreation, events and gathering were all forbidden. Governments locally and nationally issued health warning and asked us to follow policies that would minimize contact spreading. Signs appeared: practice the 6 ft rules; social distancing became a new word; classrooms were closed and students and teachers were thrown into a new media world of ‘zoom’ education. Businesses, especially the small entrepreneurs were heavily hit by mandated closures. People, especially service-industry workers, were laid-off from their jobs and had no income. We were on (that dreaded word) LOCKDOWN!
Your doctor would curtail office visits and you could talk about your illness symptoms over the phone or you went straight to the ER which was filling up with especially the vulnerable Seniors from Nursing Homes and Retirement centres rushing the medical doctors and nurses off their feet, taking up sparce IC beds, to save as many as possible from the dreaded Covid-19 virus that would plug up their lungs and slowly squeezed the breath out of them. Pictures on TV and newspapers showed cemeteries with ready dug burial sites for the next victims and barely keeping up. Respirator machines were in short supply and medical masks were depleted and hard to obtain.
Soon fake info news would rise up in our communities about who to blame and what would cure the and protect us from the virus. Some even suggested ‘horse medicine’ (Ivermectin) and other solutions (Hydroxychloroquine) could be the cure.
Although late on the uptake of realizing the devastation with economic rip-ups of our communities, Government bodies (our people’s representatives) swung into action to remediate the damage by making available grants, loans and income assistance to personal and businesses alike to keep us all in tack and stop the fall out as much as they could determine where the needs were.
While all of this was going on the medical community also sprung into action analyzing the virus and trying to get a handle on what type of preventive action could be considered to help stem the severity of this illness in people. Tests and research and history (think: insulin, small-pox, polio, measles, diphtheria, yellow fever, etc.) indicated vaccines might be the answer. Although this required much late-night laboratory efforts with short intensive guided trials, it was not long before some had at least developed a vaccine that could lessen the punch of this disease if administered in at least 2 doses. So Pfizer and Moderna and other pharmaceuticals created vaccines sprung to the foreground as medical helps to end this fast moving disease by getting it freely into human arms thereby quickly coming to a ‘herd’ immunity status in our neighbourhoods and giving the ‘bug’ nowhere else to grow. We breathed a sigh of relief and thought, I think we got it! This nightmare might just end by Spring/Summer 2021! News flash (January 17, 2022): A new pill Paxlovid by Pfizer which when administered within the first 5 days of contracting Covid may curtail the effects of the disease.
In the meantime, there were many who scoffed at the promised effects of the vaccines citing various claims and ‘expert’ inside knowledge and (conspiracy) theories that the stuff in the vaccine would harm you or your future children’s DNA. Crowds formed around hospitals demonstrating against hard working, sometimes sacrificing (dying) nurses and doctors busy saving lives in the crowded ICUs of our hospitals. Political figures and other notables fanned the flames of the anti-vaxxers rhetoric. Calling on ‘human rights’; ‘my body my choice’; and the BIG one ‘no government is going to tell me what to do’. Sadly many sincere people were led ‘around the bush’ by these tactics including some of my people in the Reformed Christian communities. (see letter to the editor The Hamilton Spectator – December 14, 2021)
Although we all thought by September 2021 we had seen the end of this pandemic and even after noting a variant ‘Delta’ had evolved prompting from a 3rd booster shot, we were again confronted with a new variant labelled Omicron. Very contagious and spreading rapidly around the world.
So two years in and we are still in LOCKDOWN hiding from the new variant Omicron. Already I have noticed there are scares (rumours) of another variant ‘DeltaCrom’?
So here we are then, at home in lockdown mode. Sparce visits with family in the last 2 years. Economic hardships for many. Children and students taking the brunt of the social pains. Limited community interactions for our teens and older seniors. Educators on edge. Cultural events scrapped or reduced. Controversies about treatment and prevention. Medical staff at their wits end. Religious communities and church congregations divided and unable to practice their beliefs in person. Supply and demand of goods and services in disarray. Everyone now needs a vaccination certificate qualify for travel.
Why? How? What now? Is there maybe a reason for all this to happen to us? Where is God in all this?
N. T. Wright (Bible scholar) wrote a little book in 2020 “God and the Pandemic” in which he says we should not jump to conclusion that God is angry because of our (sins) shortcomings and failings. Rather this all should teach us to be humble and caring people in the face of this struggle. There is more and you can read about it in this little book.
For me, I say, we do not know, but God still cares and understands our fears and failings. Perhaps this teaches us to be wise and compassionate in a time when we see and experience a lot of other earth shattering (warming and warring) events and problems. The second part of the unity command statement ‘Love God’ and ‘Love your neighbour as yourself’ has certainly come into sharp focus.
This Pandemic is not yet over and we will see……….. However let me draw your attention to an old Hymn. One that we always sing when we as citizens, annually remember our national defense efforts in times of war and great crisis, a mixture of the bad and sacrifices in all the victories:
As the year comes to a close we are again for the second time in the grip of Covid-19 through the Omicron virus, another variation of Covid. This time it appears to be affecting many more people and it seems that our health-care prevention network is behind the eight ball in this one.
Reading the New York Times daily update this week refers to a report that explores our present time as in a state of ‘languishing’; the mode ‘between depression and well-being’. No doubt this probably describes the feeling of many Ontarians at this time. When we think and dwell on Covid and its consequences for the past 21 months; we are in the BLAHS!
Just now with all the practice (experience) we have had in managing this Covid pandemic; this alone: There are long lines of people waiting to get a ‘test’ as they feel the need (are told) because of sudden symptoms or work/visiting requirements, giving assurance they have not been exposed to the virus. Self testing kits are few (‘they are on order’ we are told) and not easy to obtain. There is a list of sites on the Gov website but they are in different Ontario locations on different specific dates. Businesses can order free kits via this website and pick them up at Chamber of Commerce office in their local area. (not available right now!) Pharmacies can administer tests but they cost anywhere from $30.00 for self tests to $199 for Travel use tests (Antigen type) which are available in 24 – 48 hours. On website Express Rapid Test costs can be $145.00 for 5 tests with pick-up Test kits only at Steeles Ave. Toronto location and ready in one hour. Some people are even now questioning the need for self-testing unless one is a frequent visitor at places of work or for instance visits with elderly or other needy persons or has a job that could put others at risks. Those staying mostly at home do not need to self test as they are infrequently in contact with others.
The usual isolation time of 10 days has now been cut back to 5 days as it appears the Omicron variant although quite contagious does not appear to have severe health issues for those having had their vaccinations. (2 shots and a booster) They say 10 days will harm our ability to function as a society. Ther will be less workers especially health workers if we maintain the 10 day rule.
The experts have different takes on what will serve us the best in fighting this virus. There are many questions and sometimes it seems the answers are like: to quote a popular song ‘the answer is blowing in the wind’.
So what will the new year 2022 bring?
I believe there will be business flow as we have seen in the last 2 years. Full lock-downs will be fewer and people will take the mask-on and other distancing methods in their stride. It is hoped that the Omicron virus will slowly die out but there will be over-caution-ness in the Health-care sector well into the next year or so. ???? Will there be have many indoor events restored? Visits indoor with friends and relative in the usual way? Church meeting and worship services and other family and social gatherings in our usual accepted manner? How will school function? Can our kids manage with fewer and more difficult interactions needed for healthy Youthful living? Travel without restrictions and will vaccination proofs documents be obligatory? Shaking hands and hugs in public? Probably not much, at least till we are sure the cases of infections are mostly eliminated. Will we need to have proof of vaccinations in order to enjoy and enter certain venues? Yah, we probably will need to have those documents handy.
My hope is that our neighbourhoods and coming together events will slowly be restored but the practice of healthy cautions will be front and center for a while. May Covid develop into a mild flu like 21st Century nuisance.
Let, I say, the feeling of ‘languishing‘ be banned and let’s make an effort to look forward into the new year 2022 as a year of trust and well-being. As the slogan goes ‘we can do this together’.
May this enthusiasm for the new year for those who profess to be Christ followers not go without echoing and owning the words of the Heidelberg Catechism. This Catechism is a list of Questions and Answers from the Bible what Christians believe about our lives and our future. It always asks the BIG tough questions: What do you believe about the Providence of God in 2022?
Questions and answers 27 & 28: What do you understand by the providence of God?God’s providence is his almighty and ever present power, whereby, as with his hand, he still upholds heaven and earth and all creatures, and so governs them that leaf and blade, rain and drought, fruitful and barren years, food and drink, health and sickness, riches and poverty, indeed, all things come to us not by chance but by his fatherly hand.
So how does knowing this help us to face issues in 2022? We can be patient in adversity, thankful in prosperity, and with a view to the future we can have a firm confidence in our faithful God and Father that no creature shall separate us from his love; for all creatures are so completely in his hand that without his will they cannot so much as move.
Happy New Year 2022 to all!
JS December 30, 2021
A Hymn that speaks of disconsolate people (sad, bleak and dismal emptiness, unhappy) and languishing (stagnation, weak, neglected) but yet believing in the the Lord’s goodness where ‘earth has no sorrows that heaven cannot heal‘. This can be sung for the 4th Sunday of LENT.
Who would have believed that in ‘Mien Hogelaand’ of the province of Groningen in the Netherlands, they would find one of the world’s largest (10th) natural gas fields. So in 1959 near the village of Slochteren (after 2 unsuccessful tries) they discovered a well at a depth of 9,800 ft some 100 trillion cubic feet of gas, the largest gas field in Europe. Who would have believed it?
Production started in 1963 with around 100 billion cubic metres (3.57 trillion cubic feet) per year during the first first 10 years and gradually pared down to 35 billion cubic feet. So far 60% of the field’s capacity have been extracted with the remaining 39 trillion cubic feet lasting another 50 years it is estimated.
This find has won large volumes of profits for the Dutch Government and has contributed largely to the wealth of its population. It is estimated that revenues from this gas extraction since 1965 are 417 billion Euros and at times produced for the Dutch Mining sector a large share of the Dutch GDP (in 1985 it was 7.9% since then down to 4%) however even with declining extractions the revenue is significant for the Mining industry.
The Groningen gas field is operated by the Nederlandse Aardolie Maatschappij BV (NAM), a joint venture with Royal Dutch Shell and Exxon Mobile and supplies 50% of natural gas needs for the Netherlands. The other 50% is harvested from wells in the North Sea. At the moment the Dutch extract every 10 days, comparable cubic volumes as large as the size of the ‘IJsselmeer’, a huge lake (area 1,100 km2) in the center of Holland.
As the revenues climbed in 1980 so did the earthquakes. Something was wrong in ‘Pronkje, Stad en Ommelaand’. The strong fertile clay was breaking up in frightening ‘events’ at several places and het ‘volk’ were rudely awakened by shocks and trilling of the earth. Cracks started to appear in structures and houses. Cracks were also now apparent in the euphoria of the win and winners for NAM and the Dutch government. By 1991 seismicity records kept showed a rate of about five (earthquake) events per year. Since 2003, the number of these events and magnitudes started to increase leading in 2012 to the largest ever recorded of 3.6 on the Richter scale causing lots of damage to houses and structures throughout the gas area. There was much damage. Studies confirmed that as the depletion of the gas field continued there appeared to be a close link between induced seismicity and reservoir compaction. In other words, the natural consistency of the ground under the farms and towns of Groningen had been shifted, modified and robbed of their native and consistent expansion abilities causing flows of substances on the move from various pressure areas creating upheavals and underground ‘streams’ grinding underneath the feet of the province’s citizens. And they were not only traumatized by the sudden ‘events’ but were losing their tempers as it seemed that NAM and the government traded accuses off against each other as to who was to blame and who should pay for the damage. Many houses and other structures needed to be shored up and walls re-enforced while the good citizens were losing their homes to being condemned unfit and too dangerous to live in. The ‘huis-vrede’ (home-peace) had been threatened and damaged.
Requests (applications) of remuneration claims for damages were discussed and in the beginning honored and approved although the ‘proper paper for filing’ the claims was a horrific nightmare. Claims boundary eligibility regions were set and reset because who could predict where the next quake would come. As the gas extraction was cut back claims limits were also scaled back accordingly leaving many people (especially since 2012) with being lost in the bureaucracy with many becoming tired of the fight for their rights even though they had no control over the ongoing quakes (these seismicity were called ‘events’). There were a lot of protests (fakkel en kaarsen) and a lot of ‘Blah, Blah, Blah’.
In the village of Overschild, with a population of 500, just east of the City of Groningen, over 80% of the homes will be demolished as they have been condemned to being unsafe to live in. New houses with ‘earthquake resistant foundations’ are now being built. A nightmare for the citizen experiencing the breakdown of their homes as they knew them. Although they seem to be the lucky ones, there are many who having lived in their homes for 40/50 years are giving up hope to ever ‘in their lifetime’ be compensated for their structural damages and losses. There are a registered 26,809 addresses that have noted instances of structural damage. Of these about 10,000 are waiting for a visit by inspectors from the ‘Staatstoezicht op de Mijnen’ government group who have a 7 year window to determine all damages.
Not only are there structural damages but even the teachers at school notice how the tremors are emotionally scarring some of the children who are experiencing these sudden terrifying shocks in their communities. It is affecting their school work and their relational family well-being.
It seems that the ‘Den Hague’ government is staying far away from the good citizens of Groningen. Demonstrations, protests and discussions only leave long pauses of getting ‘nowhere’ in providing an end to the gas extraction. Oh yes, there is a plan (2022, 2025 or maybe 2030) but it gets modified from time to time and yes, the premier Mr. Mark Rutte came to visit Loppersum but that turned out to be just a political token. Many told him to just ‘Oprutte’ a regional slang expression meaning ‘Get Lost!’ What will be next?????
A shock – literally – went through the Groningen village of Garrelsweer last night. How is the damage after this massive earthquake? This is an article from ‘Trouw’ a dutch newspaper.Every day a selection of the best articles from newspapers and magazines appears on NU.nl.
Wim Vreeling was woken up at around a quarter to two last night by loud rumblings in his house. There was a bang, after which he almost rolled out of bed in the dark from the vibrations. Immediately the thoughts of the church steward of the village church in Garrelsweer in Groningen went to the golden weathercock on top of his church. “Imagine another blow like that,” he thought. “I have to have the church tower checked.”
Vreeling is one of the 450 inhabitants of the village of Garrelsweer, where one of the strongest earthquakes – with a magnitude of 3.2 – of the last two years was recorded last night. Residents were awakened in the pitch dark by clattering wardrobes or trembling bedsteads. A few who were still awake, such as the couple Ron Otte and Caroline Marang, were able to see the shock wave. Marang: “The walls and the ceiling danced, as if we were on a boat. The corner where the kitchen is located came up. I don’t know yet whether we have any damage, but I was completely shocked.”
Steward Vreeling too, and that is why he immediately reported his concerns about the church tower, on which the heavy golden weathercock rests on Tuesday morning. The engineers who immediately came to have a look confirmed his fears.
After the quake, which could also be felt (all the way as far as) in the city of Groningen, more than two hundred Groningen residents reported their earthquake damage to the Groningen Mining Damage Institute (IMG) on Tuesday evening.Eight of those reports, including that of Vreeling, indicate that acutely unsafe situations had arisen.
Feeling of insecurity
Because damage is certain. Resident Fenne Feenstra counted three new cracks in her house. She immediately makes it clear that the damage is not only about cracks, but also about the feeling of insecurity. Fearing that her trembling closet would fall on her Tuesday night, she froze. “The feeling that it is not safe here, you learn to ignore it, but on a day like today you are literally shaken awake.” She now tells this to a handful of other residents, who nod in agreement. They sit together at the table in the neighborhood center of Garrelsweer, where mayor Gerard Beukema invited them on Tuesday afternoon to share what happened last night. After all these years, he knows that an earthquake makes a lot of noise among residents. Around him, residents discuss fortification procedures for their homes, complain about communication with aid workers and describe how angry they are. The shock and fear that Feenstra still felt at night quickly turned into anger, she says. “After such a night you open the newspaper and you read that Shell wants to go to England because they do notwant to pay dividend tax,” she says with tears in her eyes. “They’re evading their social responsibility, again.”
Heading under top-picture: In Loppersum, considered the center of the quake zone, 80 percent of the first 200 homes that underwent government safety checks required demolition. Credit…Julia Gunther for The New York Times
April 19, 2024 – Mr. Hans Vijlbrief – State Secretary, signs the law document (de Wet – ‘de gas kraan gaat dicht!’) shutting down the well (for good!) where the original discovery (1959) was made. They were looking for oil but found gas. Ceremony took place today in a field near Kolham, Groningen.
Groningen, the Netherlands on April 13, 1945 my family and I were hiding in the building on the left. These Canadian soldiers were our liberators. NEVER FORGET!
Picture taken during the “Keep Them Rolling” parade in Apeldoorn 2005.
A mutual heartfelt thanks! for the Canadian veterans by the Dutch people.
Or is this the tip of the iceberg of the Liberal Party’s political dark-side? Bottom line – to be a little prejudiced is OK for the Government but not for Canadians or their non-profit organizations. Or a little bit of trampling by the Government on Canadian charter rights is OK? You be the Judge.
Court finds Ottawa’s anti-abortion test for summer jobs funding within bounds
CHRISTOPHER REYNOLDS – OTTAWA – THE CANADIAN PRESS PUBLISHED OCTOBER 25, 2021
A Federal Court judge has found it was reasonable for Ottawa to require applicants to its summer-jobs program to declare themselves in support of abortion rights in order to get funding.
In a decision Friday, Justice Catherine Kane dismissed a legal challenge to the federal government from Toronto Right to Life as well as its former president and a student who’d hoped to work at the organization.
The court case came after the Liberal government added wording to the Canada Summer Jobs program application that required groups to say neither their core mandates nor the jobs being funded actively worked to undermine constitutional, human and reproductive rights.
Faith-based groups felt the wording went against their religious beliefs, so the Liberals reworked the declaration and eligibility rules for 2019 to make applicants say they don’t work to infringe any Canadian’s legal rights. However, the new ruling says the program’s pro-choice attestation fell within the labour minister’s authority and had a “minimal” impact on the court applicants’ charter rights.
“The minister did not act for an improper purpose, rely on irrelevant considerations, or show bad faith or a closed mind in making this decision,” Kane wrote.
“Given that the decision reflects a proportionate balancing, it is a reasonable decision.”
The jobs program aims to encourage small businesses and non-profits to bring on students and others looking for early experience by subsidizing wages for summer workers.
Informal consultations in late 2018 helped convince the government to change the wording for the following year’s version of the program.
The head of the Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada said at the time that the retooled language achieved the same aim of ensuring that “anti-choice groups,” among others, would still be ineligible for funding.
After the government put the reproductive-rights language in the 2018 application, funding rejections increased 12-fold. Only one of 63 groups flagged to the government as problematic by pro-choice groups received funding.
Blaise Alleyne, former head and current vice-president of Toronto Right to Life, said the group is “disappointed” with the ruling.
“We believe it’s a violation of our charter rights to put a values test on a government program like that, and deny applicants on the basis of their beliefs, rather than relevant eligibility criteria,” Alleyne said in an e-mail.
He said the organization is reviewing the decision, which dismissed its request for a judicial review, and considering next steps.
Employment and Social Development Canada said the summer-jobs program plays a key role in “ensuring that young people have the supports” needed to build successful careers.
“The government of Canada is committed to ensuring that the Canada Summer Jobs program supports quality job opportunities for youth that, among other things, take place in safe, inclusive and healthy work environments,” the department said in an e-mail.
This content appears as provided to The Globe by the originating wire service. It has not been edited by Globe staff.
A Hamilton Spectator reader comments on the above news feed hits the nail on the head!
The Hamilton Spectator 30 Oct 2021 a letter to the Editor by a reader.
Trudeau and Spec leading to totalitarian state
Regarding “Ruling says anti-abortion test for summer jobs within bounds” (Oct. 26): Even before 2017, when the Trudeau government linked views on abortion to access to the Canada Summer Jobs program, I have been highly concerned about our path toward totalitarianism. Now that this attempt at thought control has been endorsed by the courts, we should all be very, very concerned. This has nothing to do with abortion, but has everything to do with your opinions and your right to express them, personally or in a group. How long before you are denied access to services and opportunities because you don’t accept the government’s viewpoint on such issues as climate change, open borders or foreign policy? Will your pension, access to medical care or admission to university be compromised? If you think these things cannot happen to you, consider all the jobs and careers you have seen evaporate under the repressive doctrine of cancel culture.
The reader then comments on the fact that the Spec had No Comments to make. He then concluded with the question – Where is your outrage?
Don’t you understand what I’m trying to say? Can’t you feel the fear that I’m feeling today? If the button is pushed, there’s no running away There’ll be no one to save with the world in a grave Take a look around you boy, it’s bound to scare you, boy
But you tell me over and over and over again, my friend Ah, you don’t believe we’re on the eve of destruction
New York Times (Oct 27, 2021) had this recent report – WASHINGTON — “China’s testing of a hypersonic missile designed to evade American nuclear defenses was “very close” to a “Sputnik moment” for the United States, Gen. Mark A. Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Wednesday in the first official confirmation of how Beijing’s demonstration of its weapon capabilities had taken American officials by surprise. The tests, which could revive fears of a Cold War-like arms race, come as Beijing is spending heavily to modernize its military and may be seeking to expand its nuclear arsenal.”
And these were the head lines on the BBC News website (October 25, 2021): “Is China’s present missile development program a contest of strength that will be used as a threat to extend their political and moral supremacy over the world?”
Here is an excerpt from that article: “Some advocates of rapid US nuclear modernization have seen the recent Chinese tests as “a Sputnik moment” as a reference copy to the surprise and alarm registered in the US at the Soviet Union’s first orbital satellite in the late 1950s.”
“However, but some experts would disagree and don’t believe this test by China creates a new threat. James Acton of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace says the US has been vulnerable to nuclear attack by China since at least the 1980s.”
Are some of the powerful nations stealthily and silently back into the STAR WARS competitiveness scenarios of the “Cold War” and the Reagan era? Being a teenager in the 50s, I remember the shock of reading that front page headline in the Globe and Mail newspapers on that 1957 October 4th early morning when I picked up my paper-route newspaper bundles for delivery along King Street, King William, Rebecca, Wilson, Mary Streets and Ferguson Ave in the city of Hamilton. The Russians had won the “cold war space race” and we were all in big trouble. The alarm sirens that had been strategically located around the city in the previous years to warn of nuclear attack were now our only defenses to save our lives. ( I think Hamilton had 5 of those)
see NOTE at end of article
The USA (read the Western World) now had lost their prominent scientific advantage for space weapon superiority and we would soon be in a war we would never be able to win. The anxiety of that thought was never far from my mind. The nuclear Cold War had been lost.
Although this was an anxious time, the population of the day continued with their work, studies and chores as before. What could they have done otherwise? Nevertheless there hung a threatening (cloud) in the sky. What if somebody slipped up or an unforeseen mechanical accident occurred? Where would we be safe?…………… Being a Christian, I asked, with these all-powerful weapons how can God defend us now? In fact why did God allow the Russians to race ahead of the USA and us? My anxiety about this threat always hung in the back-ground of my thoughts and prayers through my teenage years.
These thoughts were in the minds of others also and were expressed in Folks Songs of that day like: ‘Were have all the flowers gone’ by Peter, Paul & Mary, the Kingston Trio, Joan Baez, Brothers Four and many, many other singers. (Especially during the Vietnam war days)
Perhaps Peter Seeger expresses it the best in this song with Judy Collins: Turn, turn, turn, there is a season…….(based on Ecclesiastes chapter 3, verse 8 and on) which has this fitting ending:
To everything (turn, turn, turn) There is a season (turn, turn, turn) And a time for every purpose, under heaven
A time to gain, a time to lose A time to rend, a time to sew A time to love, a time to hate A time for peace, I swear it’s not too late
I also recently ran across a poem by I.F. Stone, (1907 – 1989) an investigative journalist and author who wrote it to commemorate V-E Day in 1985.
Prayer To A Displaced Person
Our father,
Who art in Heaven
Where shall we find You
When contending armies
Build battle stations
In the skies, jostling
For high ground
In outer space?
Where then will we hear
The Herald Angels sing?
Will You become
A displaced person
Searching among the stars
For a place
To lay Your head?
Who needs God
When particle beams
Spray death across
Infinite spaces
And lasers overwhelm
Your trivial lightnings
And the aboriginal void
You found in the beginning
Yawns again
To swallow You
And Your Creation
Why did You plant that tree
And temp us with the fruit?
Now our rebellion
Is at Your gate.
Where are we going with this at a time when our Climate Change dilemma – Covid 19 pandemic and war and poverty with stark economic inequality is seen all around us? When will WE ever learn!
JS October 29, 2021
The first epistle of Peter chapter 5, verse 7 reminds us:‘Cast all your cares [all your anxieties, all your worries, and all your concerns, once and for all] on Him, for He cares about you [with deepest affection, and watches over you very carefully]. Translation: amplified Bible
And Gospel of Luke chapter 21, verses 25 – 28:There will be earth-shattering events—the heavens themselves will seem to be shaken with signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars. And across the earth the outsider nations will feel powerless and terrified in the face of a roaring flood of fear and foreboding, crashing like tidal waves upon them. 26 “What’s happening to the world?” people will wonder. The cosmic order will be destabilized. 27 And then, at that point, they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and blazing glory. 28 So when the troubles begin, don’t be afraid. Look up—raise your head high, because the truth is that your liberation is fast approaching. Translation: the Voice
NOTE on Website: Spacing.ca/TORONTO a Chris Bateman article dated November 12, 2015;
…… In 1967, a fault at a downtown telephone exchange triggered dozens of sirens across the city for about 10 minutes. The police were flooded with calls, though no-one was scared, according to reports.
“The only thing that panics people here is when the Leafs lose 10 straight,” a police official said.
As the threat of nuclear war diminished through the 70s and 80s, the Ontario siren system began to fall into disrepair. Lightning strikes and damage by vandals with rifles triggered periodical false alarms. In 1979, a badly timed activation of 50 sirens between Port Credit and Oshawa caused nervous moments for several local residents.
“Some called police and local media to ask whether the alarm was a warning that SkyLab was about to fall on Toronto, ” the Globe and Mail reported.
By 1980, there were 1,704 sirens dotted across the country, according to the Toronto Star. “Most of the sirens have gone the way of the wind, or torn down with utility poles when lines and poles were replaced.” The downtown siren at Yonge and Richmond was still standing at the time, though it now seems to be gone.
NOTE: November 16, 2021 – BBCNews – On Monday, Russia carried out the A-Sat (anti-satellite) test from Plesetsk Cosmodrome, about 800km north of Moscow. The missile destroyed an old Soviet spy satellite, called Kosmos 1408….causing 1,500 pieces of large orbiting objects…… and thousands of smaller fragments some 440km to 520km above the Earth, threatening the ISS, China’s Tiangong space station and other spacecraft. Many countries now have their own A-Sat systems; the US, Russia, China and others have been developing weapons of this kind since the 1950s……and have conducted similar tests since as early as 1985. The proliferation of small satellite technologies will likely see the annual launchings rise above 1,000 satellites a year, greatly increasing space junk garbage.
As October the 31st, 2021 approaches, I will again remember the Reformation (restoration) of our Christian Faith told through the story of the Life of Martin Luther. (1483 – 1546)
My father, back in the early 1950s, when I was 10 years old, had given me a small soft cover book with many pictures that described the life events of Martin Luther, the Reformer. It made a large impression on me. The message was clear: the message of the Truth of our Gospel is in the Bible and can only be received by faith.
This message was presented in a classic film made in 1953. A black and white movie of Martin Luther’s Gospel Truth discovery. This movie can now be found on YOUTUBE a Louis de Rochement film by Luthern Church Productions – Martin Luther | with Niall MacGinnis | John Ruddock | Pierre Lefevre. A copy of this movie was bought by John vanderBoom, director of the Bible League of Canada (then known as the Canadian Home Bible League) and shown to many churches in Canada through the 1960s as a fundraiser for the promotion of the placement of Bibles around the world.
Here below is the narrative in the scene of that movie that was the turning point of Martin Luther’s life search and found for him the rest for what he perceived was his sinful soul and the punishment of an angry God. Luther’s life journey, ‘spiritual angst’ about the anger of God’s dealing in judgement with sinners, to a loving and faithful Father and Saviour. To atone for his sinful soul Martin had stopped his Law studies and entered an Augustinian monastery to devote his life and studies to knowing how he could be right with God. He was ordained as a priest and continued his studies of Scripture and to search rest for his soul
At minute 26 in the movie: The setting is the Wittenberg’s Castle church where Martin Luther was pastor and served as professor at Duke Frederick’s Wittenberg University. In this scene, the church Vicar shows to Martin Luther and members of the church, his newly collected acquisition of holy relics.
Vicar: All fragments of Saint Jerome and Saint Chrysostom and from the veil sprinkled with the blood of the Saviour; a morsel of the very bread eaten at the last supper; this, a nail driven into our Lord’s feet and hands; a fragment of the true cross. The Vicar then says: with these and all the others I have brought, if a pilgrim were to venerate (revere; give respect to) every single relic in our church, they would be forgiven by God of their time in purgatory: 1 million, nine hundred and two thousand, two hundred and two years, and two hundred and seventy days. He then turns and says: Now, brother Martin………………. but Martin Luther is seen perplexed and upset as he leaves the sanctuary of the church in a hurry.
Later, the Vicar visits Martin Luther in his study. Vicar: Doctor Martin, you don’t think much of my acquisitions.
Luther replies: I’m not sure that Christ does. Dear Vicar, I wish I could be the kind of Christian that only sees and hears, believes and worships and there’s that.
Vicar: Doctor Luther, relics are not an end in themselves they’re merely symbols of holy men and women whose sanctity enables them to intercede in our behalf before God.
Luther: Symbols, it’s true, but if the symbol is replacing the meaning-ness of faith then meaning itself is lost, and if it is the other, I say if then we are lost, lost and damned.
Vicar: this (pointing to the crucifix on the wall) is a simple tool, but is it God’s supreme gift of His only Son we adore. This symbol, the splinters of the wood, the rest of the nails that we worship, this crucifix makes the agony of Christ more vivid for the simple Christian, the little peasant with his prayer to St. Christopher for a safe journey, the poor widow with a tiny Madonna, the soldier going into battle with his rosary, yes – even the Duke of Wittenberg with his noble gifts to our church. Would you take all these away, doctor Luther? You the people’s priest. You cannot afford to shatter their faith by tearing away it’s visible supports.
Luther: As their priest responsible to God for their souls can I afford not to. Symbols to inspire devotion, yes, but crutches to uphold a tottering faith?
Vicar: doctor Luther whence all this sudden doubt?
Luther: This is no sudden doubt but a growing certainty. Dear Vicar, what little certainty I have you gave to me, you heard my sin, you sent me to Rome to fortify my faith; you sent me to Scripture to find my God; you brought me here to Wittenberg to preach his Word; and now here in my room I’ve been preparing my lectures on the epistles of Paul to the Romans and here (pointing to an open Bible) I think I’ve found the truth at last and when I found it, it was as though the gates of heaven were open to me.
The Vicar sits down and reads: Paul’s Epistle to the Romans chapter 1 : verse 17 in Latin (iustitia enim Dei in eo revelatur ex fide in fidem sicut scriptum est iustus autem ex fide vivit)
Luther recounts: ‘For in the Gospel righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith as it is written: the just shall live by faith!’ and so where do we find anything here of relics, Vicar? By faith mankind lives and is made righteous, not by what we do for ourselves. Not the veneration of relics, singing of masses, pilgrimages to Rome will one purchase pardon for their sins, but by faith in what God has done for them already through his son Jesus Christ.
Vicar: doctor Martin, if you leave the Christian to live only by faith, if you sweep away all good works, all these glorious things and you dismiss them as mere crutches, what will you put in their place?
Martin Luther: Christ, mankind only needs Jesus Christ; THE JUST SHALL LIVE BY FAITH ALONE!
It is a week before Thanksgiving (Oct 11, 2021) and I seem to be caught in a spin. Like a spinning wheel that revolves around and around and seems to constantly return to the same starting point. It is the now ‘normal’ that is confusing. Going to the store the other day I forgot to wear a mask and was intercepted by a young fellow shouting: “Sir, you need to wear a mask”. I apologized and went back to my car and got my mask on. What is happening to us?
Going to church is now a contest of sucking in enough breath of air to sing the hymn on the worship screen. Like sucking through a straw. It is difficult to sing the Lord’s praises with a mask on for an octogenarian like me; I do not understand why the 40 or so people in the church sanctuary (big enough for 300 + people) need to wear masks. But if we are all fully vaxxed the chances of spreading something affecting each other is very remote. Is it not? It’s a provincial Covid restriction rule they say.
That brings me to the present Canadian situation.
In the Province of Alberta, medical staff are exhausted they say; because the hospitals are full of Covid patients who have NOT been vaxxed. The Saskatchewan hospitals are also full. Medical staff is warning of a disaster to come, where some Covid people will be triaged to lesser care because of staff shortages. We also hear much news of medical nurses quitting their jobs, too much stress and too many extra hours of work have become unmanageable situations. New Brunswick is facing the same dilemma. Where will it all end? The army is coming to help out they say, but will that stop new no-vaxx Covid cases?. These are head issues in the sense that, how do to you convince someone to consider another truth. This is war but not the kind an army can fix or blow away. (the average 7 day increase in positive tests in Alberta right now is 10.9%; in Saskatchewan it is 13.3%; why so high there? Ontario is only 1.9% but then Ontario has been under stricter rules than other Provinces and I guess that has paid off in subduing the spread of this vicious virus.)
And still there are people protesting, No Vax. And there are also people protesting No masks. Some are saying ‘my body my choice’. Yes, but a choice to get VERY sick? is a BAD choice!
The media shows us video clips of people in ICU with all the technology we know of, strapped to their bodies to help them breathe, to live. There are stories of people suddenly missing a loved one; healthy one week and the next a funeral. And some do not believe it can hurt them. Others say you are mistrusting God if you get the shot. Can it truly be so?
Next, we have the No certificates, mandated to prove we are vaxxed in order to be safe for others who also are attending the restaurants, sports events and other group get-to-gethers? This is a privacy concern they say, and not the business of others to know. But have they ever been stopped to show their driver’s license or health card? Of course; so ‘Where is the beef?’ (a slogan from a Wendy’s hamburger Ad in 1984. It increased sales by 31%. Maybe we should use it to draw the attention of the No vax crowd?)
The production, research and advance of this vaccine has been nothing but a heaven sent miracle effort. I know much of the world believes this is ‘look at us’ taking control of our lives, but I really consider this be a gift from God. Yes, smart people made it, but our created reality has made smart people (see note at bottom) able and possible to get it done. It almost reminds you of that sermon on the book of Psalms, song number 8 (a King David song, a song fit for a King) and also the quote in the letter to the Hebrews in chapter 2; where we read “Yet you have made him (mankind) a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him him with glory and honor. You have given him dominion over the works of your hands….” Mankind made in the “likeness of God” has been endowed and enabled by the Eternal to discover and make this medical breakthrough for our time. A God given gift. We agree with the Kingly Psalmist when he says: Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! Oh, the common grace God freely gives!
Shall we waste this gift, reject it and despise its usefulness. No way!
Are there issues with this about how to protect everyone? Yes. Are we concerned that our egos and privacy will make us feel more or less important than others? No doubt. But let’s together see this through. Will the virus be gone soon, like the Spanish flu or the eradication of small pox and polio? Nah, I think we will always need to be on our toes. And remember the rebelliousness in ourselves will not always be overcome by the kindnesses of this world. Just see what happens when we participate in our national religion called “Politics”. Everyone for himself! Give it to the other team and give it often.
So then how will we celebrate Thanksgiving? Lets give a handshake for the Amens of thankfulness for the fruit of the land, including the fruit of medical research and discovery of all types of ‘sweet fruits’ to make us well again and drive away sadness, despair and the angry-nous of all; disease and sickness, viruses that attack and devour the old and the young. (to date almost 5 million world wide)
We will celebrate in humbleness and sincerity and acknowledge that our lives are but a ‘breath’ and that we are not ourselves but are part and of the Eternal’s big plan. Let’s do our part. Be kind get your shots! and give thanks to God for His marvelous gifts to mankind!
The 3rd and last verse of ‘We Gather Together’ a favourite Thanksgiving hymn is:
We all do extol you, our leader triumphant, And pray that you still our defender wilt be. Let your congregation escape tribulation; (like the virus and other oppressions) Your name be ever praised! O Lord, make us free!
JS October 4, 2021
NOTE: God has given ability to mankind by his Spirit. In the Book of Exodus, at the construct of the Temple, chapter 31; verses 1 through 5 it tells us: The Lord said to Moses, 2 “See, I (the Lord) have called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, 3 and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with ability and intelligence, with knowledge and all craftsmanship, 4 to devise artistic designs, to work in gold, silver, and bronze, 5 in cutting stones for setting, and in carving wood, to work in every craft.
Note: Bible translation: ESV; some thees and thous changed in the verse quoted
On the whim of one person, Justin Trudeau, Canada was cast into an election mode in the middle of a rising Covid-19 Delta pandemic. He said Canada needs him to show the way forward as we are in crisis mode. Many new initiatives need to be started by a strong unlimited political power. The Liberal Party!
And so we started the roller caster on the scripted track but it soon began to sway and became undone. What have we experienced so far?
No vaxxers protests near hospitals overrun by sick no-vaxxers; hiding personal vaccination status especially among (candidates) Conservatives; 620 million dollars wasted for election expenses; evading clear direction on vaccine passports; Jason Kenney’s blunder on “Open for the Summer” Alberta announcement boomeranging back with large number of ICU non-vaxxed sick people; USA border openings: Masks on orders in public indoor places; the rise of the Freedom Party otherwise known as People’s Party of Canada with Maxine Bernier; Trudeau’s claim only the Liberals (read: Justin) can solve Canadian problems; accusations by all parties of Gov’t neglect on Native issues (graves of children at Residential schools, land claims; water on Reservations); Covid-19 issues; Pipe lines; Climate change; Day care initiatives; messy plans and execution of ‘out of Afghanistan’ rescue of “friends of Canada”; housing crisis; and then the other little irritants of sexual misconducts and racist remarks (Oh boy, the internet has a long memory) and finally the National Debt among others.
With attack ads sickening the beautiful Fall of 2021, it is probably a good thing that the election is only 36 days long!
My prediction is a Liberal/Conservative near tie with all other parties increasing their votes and maybe we will have a few seats in Parliament for the unknown, even though the First Past the Post system will not be lenient in seeing ALL voices heard on the Hill, only those who shout the loudest!
When all is DONE, may respect, fairness and kindness still be the law of the land!
So much for democracy.
Like a real JELLY-PUDDING, the new government of Canada will quiver, tremble, shake, vibrate and almost flop over, but steady up as always.
Peace be with you. JS Monday morning 9 AM September 20, 2021
Book of Proverbs 29 verse 18 reads: “Where there is no vision from God, the people run wild, but those who adhere to God’s instruction know genuine happiness”.Translation: The Voice
The early Tuesday (Sep21) results are a mirror of the2019 before: 158 (157) Lib; 119 (121) Con; 34 (32) BQ; 25 (24) NDP; 2 (3) Green; (1) Indep
For the USA this August 2021, the forecasts tell us that 100,000 people will die of Covid-19 in the next 90 days.
Covid-19 statistics gathered in the last 12 months indicate that if you wear a mask when out and about in the public, the number of deaths will drop to half (50%) so that number would be 50,000. 50,000 lives are saved. Although still too much, this (simple) prevention method seems effortless! Just wear a mask!
This means that if you do this, you can SAVE the lives of people like possibly your neighbour, your friend and yourself.
People, this is a no brainer. So why are you not doing this?
The smell of the new mowed grass of this outdoor activity is a very soothing exercise. Well, except maybe the noise! I love the way all grass stands at the same height and when trimmed along the edges it produces a neat, clear and exact fresh look. The up and down or across the lawn movement give me a good sense of accomplished satisfaction. You can see where you have laboured as you move row to row. Although it is very mechanical and rote, it is at the same time relaxing. Many a thought has crossed my mind as I progressed in my work. This may sound strange but always thoughts of Psalm 103 ring through my head – ‘Our days on earth are like grass; like wildflowers, we bloom and die. The wind blows, and we are gone— as though we had never been here. The Africaans version of this Genevan version of the psalm perhaps says it best: ‘Die mens – soos gras is al sy lewensdae, ‘n blom wat ons aanskou met welbehae, maar wat kortstondig is en baie teer. Sodra die rukwind oor die veld gekom het, dan knak die steel wat lustig daar geblom het: dis weg – sy staanplek ken hom selfs nie meer.’ If you are able to read this language it gives a very colourful description of our life-span event and lays the emphasis on the shortness of it all. (‘the winds of life – a sudden (unexpected) gust ‘een ruk-wind’) can snap its beauty and it disappears without trace!) There is much show and beauty but then a sudden end with a thought of: who knows who this was? who cares to know their resting place, for over time that all will vanish from the everyday events.
You may think what an odd thing to do is to think about your end. Cemetery dismal thoughts………but know this headline of verse 8 of Psalm 103 and is often read after the remembrance celebration of the Lord Supper event in our churches: Listen to this (again in Afrkaans): Barmhartig en genadig is die HERE, lankmoedig en groot van goedertierenheid. Hy sal nie vir altyd twis en nie vir ewig die toorn behou nie. Hy handel met ons nie na ons sondes en vergeld ons nie na ons ongeregtighede nie. Want so hoog as die hemel is bo die aarde, so geweldig is sy goedertierenheid oor die wat Hom vrees. So ver as die ooste verwyderd is van die weste, so ver verwyder Hy ons oortredinge van ons. Soos ‘n vader hom ontferm oor die kinders, so ontferm die HERE Hom oor die wat Hom vrees. Want Hy, Hy weet watter maaksel ons is, gedagtig dat ons stof is. ‘As far as the east is from the west, [so] far hath he removed our transgressions from us. Like as a father pitieth [his] children, [so] the LORD pitieth them that fear him.’
This is the comfort for a lifetime of rest for your soul. As the (murderer turned chaplain) prisoner said: ‘When I was down and miserable because of my past life and then for the first time read this declaration from God’s Word for my life, a whole new chapter opened up for me. Just imagine my struggle with God: vanished in a moment: ‘for God promised as the East never meets the West; SO FAR HAS HE REMOVED MY MISTAKES AND REBELLION FROM HIS MIND! What a declaration of forgiveness! How could I not but be a servant for Him! Praise God!
And so, this promise is for all of us who do the daily ordinary (failings) things we do. Your life will be a cutting the grass exercise, forgiveness is guaranteed at every step and even your past will look smooth and neatly trimmed because the promises of Psalm 103 gives you that pleasure.
A quote from the poet – Emily Barret Browning (1806-1861) “Earth’s crammed with heaven, And every common bush afire with God; And only he who sees takes off his shoes; The rest sit round it and pluck blackberries“.
Lang zal hij/zij leven, (Long may he/she live!) Lang zal hij/zij leven, (Long may he/she live!) Lang zal hij/zij leven, (Long may he/she live!) In de gloria, In de gloria, In de gloria, Hip, hip, hip, (hieperdepiep) hoera! Hip, hip, hip, (hieperdepiep) hoera! Hip, hip, hip, (hieperdepiep) hoera!
This is an old Dutch song that is sung when someone has a birthday or other significant celebratory event in their life. Notice each phrase is repeated three times for special emphasis. The GLORIA has a special mention here, I think it means as long as life lasts and from then on and into an eternal different plain, FOREVER. Usually the person so honored would then distribute an edible gift to those present. (at school, everyone in the class would be offered a candy, or a piece of cake or cookie)
This year is a special year of celebrations for me. Not only is it my 80th birthday but also it will be exactly a year ago that I had my by-pass surgery. I received a miracle, I have healed and life is good!
There is so much in our lives to be thankful about. The recent events (July 2021) in the world, (floods in Europe and tornadoes in Barrie, ON, so close to home) made me realize again that the edge of despair is always close by. I am more aware of my most blessed position and residence, now that I will become an octogenarian, than ever before in my life.
In my father’s generation there are only a few who lived to be this old. My mother Trientje Oosterveld was 80 when she died; my dad, Derk was 78; my father’s mother, Oma Titia (Grasdijk) was 87, (she was a strong woman); my Opa Jan was 74; my Great-Opa Derk was 73; my dad’s older sister was 97, (she was still biking in her 80s) his one brother died at 56; the other brother was 80. On my mother’s side most of (her brothers and sisters) my aunts and uncles, died in their 70s or early 80s.
It has become a habit for me to note the obituaries in the Hamilton Spectator especially on Saturdays morning when there seems to be a long list of persons who have passed away during the previous week. I read that many are in the 80s and 90s and I am taking note!
Life is good! Longevity is what everyone wants and seeks for in their life. Medical advances, access to care, prescriptions or herbal additions are abundant in every pharmacy and the discovery and promotion of drugs and health products continue to be produced and manufactured everyday that have helped many persons manage and recover from health issues and concerns that killed people 100 years or even 50 years ago. Treatments and cures of every kind can be obtained and purchased. Some of these are extremely expensive as they are produced in small limited batches for exceptional diseases that only the rich or the well insured can afford. The promos for health products knows no end. Hospital medical surgery techniques now are wonderful and almost magical. (See the Covid treatments and vaccines development recently) Thank God for the Canadian Health Care benefits that we as citizens enjoy in this country.
But besides all of these wonders there is also much disappointment in that the obituaries, which do not cease, eloquently continue to describe and record the griefs and sorrows for the passing of a loved one. There is no end. It is what life is.
But life still also has its great “I’m alive” moments.
One of the greatest pleasures for me is to sit quietly outside in the early morning in a garden, a camping spot or place of restfulness somewhere, and just listen to your surroundings: the sound of a summer breeze in the trees; the song of a little wren; the fluttering of a bee, working already with the early morning light doing what bees do – busily gathering honey and spreading life’s fertility from plant to plant; lake water crystal clear lapping at the edge of a sandy beach; the sight of an ant carrying to its nest food for winter; the occasional tweet of the cardinal and the majestic posture of a blue heron in a misty sunlit pond and the bright yellow petals of the sunflower standing tall among its garden companions.
How sweet it all is. This then is a time to give thanks. A time for a soul to remember the goodness of life. A time to give thanks and say a prayer to the Giver of Life, to feel humbled by the created world we see, touch, smell and hear. Go ahead take a breath and smell aura of the garden. Doesn’t that give you a crisp new feeling of new hope, new starts, and the joy of ‘just being alive’ satisfaction?
And as you listen closely with you heart and soul, you will hear the whisper of God in the breeze, echoing in your resting soul stillness.
“For you my child, I made all this, come, enjoy, work and be joyful; till in the GLORIA.”
The fear that gripped me (affecting us all) last March 2020 when it was ‘breaking news’ that a deadly virus was present in my neighbourhood, was removed for me this week-end by getting that 2nd shot of the Pfizer vaccine. It promises good protection from the virus and will give much needed reassurance in all of us moving slowly back to our normal way of life.
Halleluiah! Yes, literally ‘Praise God’ for the vaccines.
I know many would not express it that way as they would say: Science and good research and facilities operated by excellent minds made this happen. I appreciate and understand that praise for the efforts and smarts of the laboratorial medical men & women with the pharmaceutical enterprises ( and government funded vaccines) are to be commended and thanked, but hey- without the gifts of ‘earthly materials’ it would not be possible. These are the essence of the created world, with its unlimited resources, creatures and human beings and along with its many other wonders (wonderful) are a surely a God-like thing!
At a Mega-Clinic event, over 26,000 arms took the shot on Sunday, at the Toronto Scotia Bank Arena, a North American and perhaps a world record for vaccinations in one day at one location. Only in Canada you say?
Now 30% plus of Canadians have had 2 shots of these amazing vaccines for protection against the Covid-19 virus. May God be praised! and many protected from this deadly virus.
‘There is so much here (in the world), O Eternal One, so much You have made. By the wise way in which You create, riches and creatures fill the earth.’
Since writing about the Kamloops Residential School news and the whole issue of misguided leadership of church and state, I came across a news piece written by Reinder Smith a journalist (verslaggever) with RTV Noord. (a TV radio station in the province of Groningen, The Netherlands) He writes about an anniversary and a ship called ‘De Leusden’.
‘De Leusden’, a ship in which the City of Groningen, The Netherlands and the local Chamber of Commerce had a 1/9th ownership, sailed with the fleet of ships that the Dutch commercial traders had setup in 1621 known as the ‘De West-Indische Compagnie (WIC). This company profited much from the slave-trade-commerce, so prevalent in 1600s to early 1800s. This year (2021) will be the 400th Anniversary since that inaugural beginning. Reinder Smith remarks that he had not noticed any references to this 400th event in the present local news. Perhaps that is due to all the thoughts, questions and negative re-actions that we have noted (some call it our ‘woke’) in the last year or so about remembering and honoring historic figures and events. (Think statues, names on buildings, sport clubs and educational centers etc.)
‘De Leusden’ sailed for the Gold Coast (Ghana) to the fort called ‘Le Mina’ (built by the Portugese in 1482) on March 1, 1737 from the island Texel to facilitate the transport of persons (read – slaves) from there to the Dutch colony of Suriname (Paramaribo) to be sold for do slave-work on the sugar plantations. The sugar plantations were very prosperous for the Dutch. (see – ‘Hoe duur was de suiker’ – a book in Dutch by Cynthia McLeod and produced as a movie in 2013)
On November 19,1737 at ‘Le Mina’, they loaded onboard; 680 slave prison persons, a substantial load, thus promising great profitability even though the records of other slavery trade transports indicated that many would not survive the voyage across the Atlantic. (on a previous voyage ‘De Leusden’ had taken in 687 slaves and only 280 reached Suriname alive)
As the ship approached land, on January 1, 1738, the weather turned bad and Outtjes, the captain, sailed up the wrong river, the un-navigable Marowijne river instead of the usual Suriname river, causing the ship to hit a sandbank, flounder and capsize. The crew then proceeded to nail shut all the exits to the hold were the 680 slaves were housed, less the crew be in danger of being over-run, as space on the life boats were sufficient for the 73 sailors only.
The 664 persons in the hold of the ship died a terrible cruel death. There were 16 slaves that survived as they happened to be on deck when the ship sank and these were sold in Paramaribo (Suriname’s capital) for 4,140 guilders.
A trunk containing 23 kilos of gold however was rescued from the ship before it sank. The gold rescuers insisted they be paid for its salvage, which they eventually received.
Leo Balai‘s book – ‘Slave Ship Leusden: A Story of Mutiny, Shipwreck and Murder’ published in 2014 has pulled this story out of the forgotten history of The Netherlands.
At the time of the tragedy there is a record of letters concerning payment for the gold salvage, but shockingly no words or indications of regret and sorrow over the lives of 664 persons who died and drowned mercilessly on the ‘De Leusden’s’ final voyage. This was the worst loss of lives for a sea-ship tragedy in the history of seafaring for The Netherlands.
For sometime after there were conversations about raising a monument on the bank of the Marwijne river commemorating this event, however the project just faded away.
Where are we today? We have shut the door on many of these historic instances, trying hard to forget?, all these lessons we should have learned from. Many wrongs have been instigated by our collective ‘I think its OK’ culture, but on closer examination lacked any kind of compassion, justice or peace.
Think about it! Do something about it! Be part of the solution! To those who are able: Can you at least apologize and say ‘you are sorry?’
“We call on all governments (individuals and persons) to do public justice and to protect the rights and freedoms of individuals, groups, and institutions so that each may do their tasks. We urge governments and pledge ourselves to safeguard children and the elderly from abuse and exploitation, to bring justice to the poor and oppressed, and to promote the freedom to speak, work, worship, and associate.”
Two hundred and fifteen remains of children have been located in unmarked burial sites at the Kamloops Indian Residential School (Roman Catholic Church administered) in British Columbia province, which was closed in 1977. There were 139 of these Government schools identified of which the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada Report said were established “primarily to break their link (the native children) to their culture and identity”. Estimates of unreported deaths of indigenous children at all residential schools is believed to be as high as 6,000. There is a registry of listed deaths at the University of Manitoba and was created and is maintained by the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation (NCTR). An example of structural racism. A road full of tears and cries unspeakable!
Who were they and who were their parents and where did they come from; what were their ages; why did they die?
It is shocking to know or not know who buried these children and who made the decision to dispose of them in an unmarked and unknown graves. It is even more shocking to learn that the last of these schools were closed in the 1990s and that recommended actions to tell the truth about these institutions have been documented and agreed to but not acted on for a long time already. Maybe the ‘don’t talk about it’ would make it go away? Or too many people have a guilty conscience? (the teachers, principals, administrators, church officials and government officers)
This is just part of our past here in Canada but what about the rest of the world. Just now the USA remembers with reluctance, the 1921 Tulsa Black Wall Massacre, incited by city officials and the white community; where 35 blocks of Black neighbourhoods were destroyed and up to 300 people died, hundreds were injured and over 10,000 people lost their homes. A race riot. Again a place of unmarked mass graves.
What about other events going back in the recorded history of the world. To name a few unknowns: The massacre of people in the Congo by the King of Belgium (King Leopold the ll) forcing the local natives into slave labour (with punshment) for the harvesting of natural rubber. (think Dunlop tires) Prompting a Belgian expression of regret to the Congo government in 2020. What about the genocidal events perpetrated on the Herero and Namaqua tribes in Namibia by German colonization. Estimates are that 100,000 Namibians (reports from Missionaries) were killed as they revolted again the colonizers taking over their land. (in recent news of May 2021 the German government agreed to pay 1.1 billion Euros over 30 years – a mere pittance!)
Thinking about all of this will take us back to the Slave trade of the 1600s where the Dutch and English traders, owners and sailors (upstanding people in their home communities) of the ships that were used to transport captive native tribes people (many sold by their own people) from Africa to North America. And what about the whole aspect of colonization. So many sharp edges on the getting of wealth and man’s unbridled thirst for more and more.
The Charter Rights (Doctrine of Discovery) of the explorers as they ‘discovered’ new lands in their journeys of discovery (?) claimed possession and jurisdiction to new found lands and continents with the Pope’s blessing. As a 12 year old Aboriginal boy from Australia has said: ‘What did they (white explorers) think happened; we have always been here. This is our land, our home.’
How many of these domination actions can you name? I have listed a few. Think not just of racism against the African people but count the atrocities of wars; against Jews, Christians, Natives, black, yellow or white, religious and patriotic and all for the glory of god and the Emperors.
A stream of never ending assaults! Unbelievable! Unbearable! Unrepayable! Embarrassing, cruel and wrong!
All of us, even the ‘unreligious or un-spiritualistic’ person will find within their ‘souls’ the inkling bothersome conscious awareness that all of this is not right, not the way it should be. Not following the ‘golden rule’.
Why do we have this notion of feeling that the earthly human bus, full of ‘souls’ has left the road and is in the ditch? Do we have the ‘towing’ capacity to put it back where it should be, on the road?
The biblical command: Love God and your neighbour as yourself or the words of an old African-American man: ‘Love God and be kind to your neighbour!’ Sums it all up. How easy and how difficult!
Book of Proverbs 3: 9 – Make no plans that could result in injury to your neighbour; after all, he should be more secure because he lives near you. translation: the Voice
On the Road 