Here comes spring

With our return to southern Ontario, and especially to the micro-climate of Toronto, I was expecting a rather mild winter.  After 11 years in Alberta, and especially the last 4 in Edmonton the thought of a short and mild winter was a welcome thought.

Who would have thought that the winter months would be so spring like?  We've had little snow, have had few days below 0 and even as I was looking forward to the first day of spring, the past few days it has been more like early summer.

I had to laugh this past Thursday as Winsome, who was leading chapel, referred to Canadians and their continual reference in conversation to the weather. Winsome is from Jamaica and the weather is not a point of conversation there.  She said...."it is either hot or hotter".

Travelling in the arctic I was warned not to use weather as a conversation piece.  The Inuit see people who talk about the weather as foolish.  Why would you talk about what is so obvious?  It seems we are obsessed with this conversation.

Clarke and Dawe - love these guys

The new iPad is out - did you get yours?

Employee happiness is up in the air

Employment strife seems to be the current hallmark of Air Canada.  If it isn't the attendants it's the pilots or the mechanics.  The Federal Ministry of Labour seems to be Air Canada's best friend currently keeping the airline operating and therefore all of us in the air.  I'm not ungrateful to the Minister of Labour for stepping in, but I know as do you, that this doesn't really resolve anything.  There are grievances on both sides and those differences need to be addressed or the public and the efficiency of the airline will suffer.

I've been reminded of our days in Hamilton where two huge steel producers operate.  Stelco is unionized and it wasn't uncommon in those days for their to be labour strife and following from that a strike.  Next door was Dofasco, without a union their motto was: "our product is steel, our strength is people".  No strikes at Dafasco.  Whenever Stelco had a labour settlement Dofasco would pass the same wage on to it's workers plus a nickel.

That wasn't Dafasco's only strategy - they had a community choir, a pipe band, sponsored hockey tournaments,  held remarkable parties for their employees and their families and seemed to develop a culture that kept the need for a union at bay.

So next week I get on another Air Canada plane and I'll be wondering - hasn't Air Canada learned anything from West Jet's development?  Rather than have the Minister of Labour intervene perhaps it might be better to take a look at the structure of West Jet.  Just a thought.

By the way Dafasco remains a solid corporate citizen - Stelco was bought by US Steel.

From Dafasco's website:

This corporate culture is known as the Dofasco Way, and it has been the driving force in employee relations since the company was founded in 1912.

ArcelorMittal Dofasco was the first Canadian company to introduce profit sharing to motivate the workforce and have employees benefit from the company's success. In addition, ArcelorMittal Dofasco also operates a 100-acre park in Stoney Creek, Ontario, with facilities for staff recreation, education and meetings.

Employee incentives and investments in people are giving ArcelorMittal Dofasco a significant edge in a more aggressive and hotly competitive steel industry. Our focus is firmly fixed on innovation and measurable performance. 

Attrition is very low, and productivity has increased 50 per cent since 1990, which is about twice the rate of the Canadian manufacturing sector. Our employees feel they have a stake in the company and something to gain in preserving and expanding the Dofasco Way. 

Don't let your neighbour's ox stray

My daily Bible reading today begins in Deuteronomy 22: " ¹ If you see your fellow Israelite’s ox or sheep straying, do not ignore it but be sure to take it back to its owner. ² If they do not live near you or if you do not know who owns it, take it home with you and keep it until they come looking for it. Then give it back. ³ Do the same if you find their donkey or cloak or anything else they have lost. Do not ignore it."


God understands human nature - He gave it to us.  We have the ability, some might say right, to choose.  We can turn right or left.  We can move forward or go backwards.  We can choose to dwell on good things or bad things.


So in giving the law to the people of Israel God gives them these words.  They seem archaic to us, but looking after another person's property or interests is not limited to ox or sheep.  Consider if you will when we look for other people's interests around our neighbourhood.  The neighbourhood watch program is built on this concept.  Remember the Block Parent program where families would display a Block Parent sign in their window and children who were in some kind of need knew they could go and find help?


Most people have some awareness of the Story of the Good Samaritan, or at least know the concept of the Good Samaritan - it is built on this concept.  Looking out for other people's interests.  The Bible is frequent in it's reminders that God is pleased, in fact expects, that we (The Church - to pick up on yesterday's blog theme) are to be prepared to act on behalf of other people's interests.  Even if it costs us something.


Intention is great but actions don't lie - we are to "not ignore it" as Deuteronomy 22 puts it.  We are to act.


So what does that look like for me and you today?


Keep an eye out for your neighbour's ox!

GCB is a bit too accurate

For the second Sunday evening in a row Wendy and I sat down to watch GCB.  In case you're unaware what that stands for, it's a show about the women of a particular community who all attend the same church, who see themselves as (G) good (C) Christians but whose behaviour is not so....well, christian!

The writers are, no doubt, very aware of the under belly of The Church and it shows up - somewhat exaggerated - in the script.  The dialogue while a bit risque is laced with Scriptural references and church values.  We were repeatedly uncomfortable with how accurate the portrayal was surrounding the dynamic of people rubbing shoulders with people.

At one point Wendy commented that The Church should be paying attention to this show - that this reveals a strong impression of what people see in The Church.  While the women compete to keep their influence on their husbands, their work in charity that is self serving, to protect their hypocritical decisions, the men are not guiltless either.

GCB does paint a picture of The Church that is, in my humble opinion, unfortunate.  There are themes of course that are true of every group of people - church or not - but the images, themes, plots and characters being developed on this show ring a little too true in my ears.

Now for those of you who are feeling a bit shocked at the moment let me add this - The Church is the Bride of Christ, and as I've come to understand, when you're talking about the Bride of Christ, it should be done cautiously.  It would be considered both inappropriate and disloyal to do so.

Let me tell you about the good people in The Church - the saints of God who are faithful, not perfect - who love others without prejudice - who give of themselves with honest intent and generosity.  who do put others first and understand what it means to serve sacrificially.

The Church is not perfect (what group is?) and I do wish that the show GCB didn't hit home so close at times.  My guess is that someone on the writing team or one of the producers has suffered at the hands of a GCB.  They have grown up with this - perhaps even lived at home with a family like this - I do hope they come to see that their take, cynical as it is, isn't how God intended it to be.

If you had 3 wishes

The Genie has appeared and is prepared to grant you three wishes.  You can ask for anything.  Whatever you can imagine is your's for the asking.

What would you ask for?

Would you have the wisdom to ask for the right thing?

Would you ask for good health, for wealth, for days filled with happiness and joy?

A number of years ago we had gone to Florida in March to visit Leanne and Shawn.  The kids were young and in the evening after they were in bed, Shawn and I went outside into the warm Florida evening.  Turning to Shawn I mentioned how wonderful it was to be outside in the evening in just a short sleeved shirt.  Shawn's response took me back a bit.

"After a while the sun and blue sky gets a bit boring"... he responded.  I think I heard right...bored of sunshine, warm evening breezes, deep blue skies - bored of it?

The contrast of life helps us appreciate the sun, the good the pleasant the joys.  Without the dark sky we miss the joy of the sun breaking through cloud.  Without the cold wind we miss the pleasure of the warm breezes.

So if you had three wishes would you ask for good health, for wealth, for days filled with happiness and joy?

Pray with your neighbour

Rachel stands and sings

Our little granddaughter continues to grow and develop and it is as if she's changing every week.  Last evening she seemed to be discontent to sit...she's been trying to pull herself up on things.  So with some help from Jason she stood on the end of the couch...and then began to give us a little tune!