kar0ling

I did not want to make multiple trips, nor have to cover the same ground twice. Additionally, it was later in the afternoon, so looming closing times meant I only had so much time to fit in all my errands. They all had to happen in one trip, carrying capacity be hanged. The just-in-time stop at the thrift store provided things I was looking for (curtains) and unexpected treasures I wasn’t (glass spice jars with hinged lids). Geography dictated it was grocery shopping next. It being coronatide, we’re all trying to keep out of each other’s way. A woman accidentally cuts me off by the yogurt, but we both smile and laugh good naturedly at each other. Later, outside, I back into her with my bike having failed to notice her behind me while I fiddled and grumbled with my lock. Again we smile and laugh with each other as I try to disavow that it was payback. My bike was heavy laden by the time I locked it to a flimsy bus sign pole in front of the German meat shop. I decided to take a risk: m...

My bike has been parked all over the city: lashed to suburban trees, downtown bus stops and everything in between. It’s generally my policy to take everything off the bike that I want to be there still when I return. A few the times I’ve lapsed. Things have been stolen off my bike when parked where I should have anticipated theft potential. But I’ve had things not stolen off my bike where I would have expected it. In general, I don’t assume any place is entirely free from the possibility of theft given sufficient opportunity or enticement. But there are places one thinks it’s less likely. The Canadian Mennonite University campus is one place I wouldn’t expect a non-valuable item would walk away. So, I was surprised to experience bike theft there. After a season banging over Winnipeg’s potholes tied to the rear rack of my bike, the old plastic milk crate just gave up. Every arm of the plastic lattice-bottom broke, leaving the walls of the crate hanging low over the rack. In spr...

Women of the Fur Trade, RMTC, 📷 Dylan Hewlett Siri Cruise and Shiloh Pitt: a feud to go down in history like Louis Riel and Thomas Scott? The opening words to Women of The Fur Trade at RMTC Warehouse set the tone for the lighthearted play with whiplash syncretism of history and pop culture. This playfulness redeemed the heavy-handed moralizing that permeated the play. It was to be expected in a piece taking the perspective of women in the early days of Manitoba, a play written by an Indigenous woman, that the action would obliquely, if not directly, urge action on the hard work of reconciliation. The women talked of belonging, of fearing for their lives, of land protection -- all issues as relevant and urgent today as they were back then. The most surprising part of the play was the recasting of Thomas Scott as a friend of Riel's -- actually, a simpering acolyte -- whose relationship turns suddenly, resulting in the ending we know. The most surprising joke in the play ...

Obviously not Winnipeg The light dribbles away in fall a trickle at a time. Each day, another few seconds, a minute, is lost. It erodes gradually as a tide of darkness slowly encroaches on the day. And then Christmas comes. The twinkling lights provide a welcome distraction from the ebbing daylight. But the return of the light. That comes back in fistfuls. In the midst of frigid January, suddenly, one realizes the light is returning. Even as the mercury reaches its lowest, the hope of spring beckons as daylight hours stretch out longer and longer. The winter wind may howl, the temperature may dip again and again after the false promise of spring, but the light tells the truth: warmer days are coming. And it does so generously, glopping out bigger portions of daylight each day.

“We don’t really have customs and traditions,” says the keen young woman explaining the Baha’i faith at a multifaith educational open house. Then, she proceeds to explain Baha'is have 19-day months, have 11 holy days of which 9 are mandatory to abstain from work and school, and they have weekly junior youth groups for ages 11-15. Why are we so afraid of admitting to having customs? It’s a religious tradition! Of course there are ritual practices and corporate habits. Is this the influence of oh-so-pious evangelicals who like to say, “It’s not a religion; it’s a relationship”? Is it post-modernism that makes us all want to be unencumbered the the strictures of someone else's philosophy? What is it that we resist admitting we all do? Rituals can be deadening, sure, or worse, abusive, but managed well they are shaping in constructive ways. Anyone who has tried to develop skills has learned that to become really good at something, you just need to push through hou...

Expect people to surprise you. At CMU's February Face2Face event, I think this advice from student Marnie Klassen may be the most practical take away of the panel discussion on polarization in society. Radio host Larry Updike and journalist Will Braun had lots of good stories that illustrated this point, but I think Marnie's exhortation, especially alongside her observation that no one is only one thing, are the best attitude shifts that could lead to a less heated tone of conversation between those who disagree. I think this is cheerful Christian scientist (how's that for a bunch of paradox!) Katharine Hayhoe's approach as well. She is always looking for how she can find the values and interests of those who want to resist climate change, so she can demonstrate how ecological responsibility can fit into their priorities. I'm often surprised when my friends with whom I share many perspectives suddenly don't agree with me on something. But this is so hopeful, be...

I judge other churches. When I visit your church, I take note of whether you’ve got a bike rack, and whether it’s a good one, installed properly. I pay attention to whether your doors open to the street or the parking lot. Then I go in and it continues. Granted, I’m usually there for a specific purpose, not trying to find a new worshipping community, so I don’t need you to say hi to me or greet me warmly. But I judge you if you don’t. Did anyone give me a bulletin? Direct me to what I might need, be that a coat rack, the location of the sanctuary, a bathroom, etc.? Let’s be honest, I’m usually late, so did anyone come up after the service to say hi, introduce themselves, welcome me? It’s amazing how many failing marks most churches get. The desire to leave that awkward space and not hang around waiting for no one to talk to me is a great reminder that when I’m at home in my own congregation, there is some urgency to going over to greet that new person before he or she leaves with...