Category Archives: Consider

Consider

Being Cristian requires 24/7

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I find myself in a philosophical pondering mood. This is, I suspect, as a result of being driven for the past three weeks to pull the Tao of James together. The Tao being a book of stories, quotes, wisdoms, koans etc for meditating and cogitating upon on a journey for illumination and enlightenment.

The important point is that this pursuit left me in a philosophical frame of mind for viewing the world around me. It is interesting how being in this philosophical point of reference mindset changed some of the questions vis-à-vis the actions of the City and Abbotsford Police Department in their drive to render the homeless more homeless by closing their camps.

Abbotsford and Abbotsford City Council boast of being a Christian city.

However the City attitudes, behaviours and actions towards the homeless and their camps make it clear that while the City may like to claim to be a Christian city it demonstrably is not.

One cannot repeatedly treat the homeless in un-Christian ways and be a Christian city. A community that is a Christian community cannot act in a Christian manner only when it is easy or convenient; it must act in a Christian manner all the time, even when inconvenient or painful.

When a community chooses to repeatedly act in un-Christian ways it not only does not have the right to claim to be a Christian community, it is NOT a Christian community.

The broader question is about the citizens of Abbotsford and the employees of the city that carry out the un-Christian actions of the city.

Citizens and employees do not get to put on their “Christianity” one day a week (Sunday) and take it off and set it aside the other six days a week.

Tearing down and carting off the homes of the homeless is at its core barbaric and un-Christian behaviour. Anyone who engages in, aids or abets this behaviour is by their actions declaring and demonstrating themselves to be not a Christian.

Any city employee who is a Christian, in more than name only, must refuse to engage in the city’s un-Christian behaviour towards the homeless.

“I am just doing as I am told” or “I could lose my job” do not matter.

The question is “Are you or are you not a Christian, or are you one of the Christians-in-name-only?”

If you are a Christian act like it.
The same question applies to all citizens: “Are you or are you not a Christian, or are you one of the Christians-in-name only?”

If you are a Christian in more than name-only why are you allowing the city to act in this un-Christian way – as your representative? As a Christian one must act to put a stop to this unacceptable behaviour.

These behavioural constraints/requirements also apply to our large Sikh community and the other faith communities that have as part of their tenants the Golden Rule.

Being a Christian or a person of any faith is not about your words but about your actions, about living your faith every moment of your life – no matter how inconvenient or uncomfortable

Being spiritual often makes my head ache because of the philosophical, spiritual and behaviour questions it raises to be considered. A very uncomfortable and unsettling state of being. But an interesting and challenging state of being nonetheless.

In beginning to contemplate and meditate on the implications of what effect being a person of faith should have on one’s actions I find myself in agreement with G K Chesterton when he said “The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult and left untried.”

Consider, Issues

A Penny in my thoughts.

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A lone bouquet of flowers stands guard against the cleanup dumpster under the Peardonville underpass, in forlorn tribute to mark the passing of the homeless man who died under that underpass.

A poignant counterpoint to the crowded sanctuary at St. Matthew’s Anglican Church for Penny Jodway’s memorial service just two weeks earlier. A memorial made possible by the generosity of the members of the church.

Penny was a well known member of the homeless/street community in Abbotsford and the 150 – 200 people who filled the pews at her memorial say more than mere words can about how members of that community felt about her.

In contrast the police, understandably so, had to investigate Jean’s death to insure it was accidental.

Two deaths in the homeless/street community close to each other in time which garnered markedly different media and public attention.

Jean literally went out in a blaze of glory by dieing in a gloriously photogenic blaze that made not only the front page of the local papers, but coverage on the Vancouver TV news. In his death Jean had garnered more public attention and concern than he garnered in his life.

Penny died quietly and without media fanfare or notice, as have others of the homeless/street community in Abbotsford, BC and Canada this year.

Penny’s passing was noted in the local papers only because of submissions to the papers by people from and involved with the homeless/street population. Yet she was a remarkable enough person that 150 – 200 people attended her memorial to say goodbye and mark her life.

I feel sad about the deaths of these two who I knew, but I feel an even deeper sadness for what these events say about society.

Consider, Issues, Municipal

This is a Police Priority?

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I have heard city councillors moaning over the large budget increase given the Abbotsford Police Department and the affect this will have and has had on other budget areas.

I was thinking about this because the police are so hot-to-trot about tearing down homeless camps around town.

I rather doubt it was to tear down homeless camps that the police were given their $4,000,000 budget increase?

But with the spectacular fire and death under the Peardonville overpass providing cover justification, the police want to move quickly, before the image fades from the publics mind.

Is chasing the homeless from spot to spot, time after time, really the best use of police resources when there are gunfights taking place on our streets and our city is becoming a gang hangout?

Let me be clear I, and the homeless themselves, would agree and be happy to see some of the camps torn down or the residents required to maintain their campsites – as homeowners are required to upkeep their property.

We all are aware of the horror stories of neighbours who have old cars or other junk piled in their yard or of the problem of having someone on your street selling drugs out of their residence.

Those whose camps are their home feel the same way about bad neighbours as others feel about bad neighbours near their home.

These are the homeless whose camps will never make the television news or the newspapers because they are neat, tidy and well kept.

One couple I know has just started to clean up an abandoned pigsty of a campsite, having already cleaned up one such site in their neighbourhood. Considering the great deal of effort involved since they have to remove the debris one shopping cart load at a time, these are the kind of people you want as neighbours.

The police should be focusing their time, resources and taxpayer dollars on problem solving and dealing with real problems not chasing people who are and want to be good neighbours around the city from spot to spot simply because they lack the resources to meet their housing needs.