A Reformed Monthly 75th Year of Publication | December 14, 2020 | No. 3120 $5.00

Christ-centred. Creative. Canadian.

CHRISTMAS ON THE EDGE Malcolm Guite

Christmas sets the centre on the edge; The edge of town, the outhouse of the inn, The fringe of empire, far from privilege And power, on the edge and outer spin Of turning worlds, a margin of small stars That edge a galaxy itself light years From some unguessed at cosmic origin. Christmas sets the centre at the edge.

And from this day our world is re-aligned A tiny seed unfolding in the womb Becomes the source from which we all unfold And flower into being. We are healed, The end begins, the tomb becomes a womb, For now in him all things are re-aligned.

“Christmas at the Old Quick Church” by Caitlin Ambery.

Yet some artists won’t let a ON STAGE IN A pandemic put a damper on the electricity of live performance. Christian Courier spoke to two DANGEROUS TIME Canadian singer-songwriters who have persisted with performing live throughout this past year – Edmonton vocalist and soul mu- How two Canadian singer-songwriters are playing sician Ann Vriend and Abbots- ford, B.C. country band Tim & hope into a pandemic. | Meghan Kort the Glory Boys’ lead singer Tim Neufeld.

IN CHRISTMASES PAST, OUR DECEMBER CALENDARS were decorated BIG CITY STREET BEATS with the dates of school Christmas concerts and community choir Vriend had planned on spending cantatas. This year, there will be considerably less live music herald- 2020 touring Europe and hitting ing the good news. But many of us felt this void long before Advent. Canadian music festivals with In a normal year, according to Stats Canada, 81 percent of Canadians the release of her new album Hurt would have attended a live music event in the past 12 months. Chanc- People Hurt People. But instead, Ann (centre) and her a capella carolling group prepare to bundle es are there are cancelation notices from TicketMaster or Eventbrite she spent her summer gardening up and bring joy to Edmonton neighbourhoods this Christmas. buried in your own inbox. Continued on page 2 Credit: Crystal Eyo.

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STAGE CONTINUED Touring small towns is a tough sell for most musicians at the best of times, but Neufeld reframes that question for his audience just before the intermission. “If all this is for us to be famous, or to sell you our stuff, or to travel around for a living – it’s fun, but I’m not sure it’s worth it, in these times especially.” Fans know where Neufeld is going with these comments. The band dedicates time in each show to make a heartfelt appeal for audience members to sign up and sponsor orphaned children in East Africa. Ann Vriend belts out her unique brand of Existentialist Gospel Terrace locals Cole Nutma and Chad MacDonald pose with (Photo Credit: Maurice Fritz). Tim and the Glory Boys during their 2014 tour. “It’s good to give; it’s good for your mental health to give,” re- and performing from her front porch to much smaller audiences in her minds Neufeld as he dons a mask inner-city Edmonton neighbourhood. Rain or shine, Vriend offered and begins handing out sanitized live music on 26 consecutive Sunday afternoons with the last concert sponsorship packages. falling on Thanksgiving weekend. After the show, he explains a “It’s like secular church,” comments Antoinette, an especially bit more. “We have pretty good loyal audience member. Her husband was diagnosed with dementia numbers on what percentage of last year, and attending the outdoor shows was a rare opportunity for the crowd would sponsor and the couple to do something they both enjoyed within a COVID-safe it’s through the roof right now; community environment. people are being more generous “Antoinette was there every week dancing next to their car,” recalls during COVID . . . If I have a Vriend, “while her husband sat in the passenger seat, grinning.” legacy I hope it’s that tens of After spending nearly two decades performing in traditional concert thousands of kids are sponsored, settings, Vriend couldn’t help but revel in the diversity of her street- not that I have gold records or side audience. “By the end, people who drove a BMW were sitting number ones. That stuff’s fun, but A diverse lineup of amateur and professional musicians joined Ann next to a person who drove a shopping cart, listening to a former it’s not really important.” (Photo credit: Maurice Fritz). drug dealer, or a professional touring musician, or a man playing a I’m a fairly happy and fulfilled Town Hoedown Tour, which had borrowed guitar who recently had been living under a bridge – and at MUSIC AS THERAPY person.” 12 concert dates still remaining. the concerts everyone was the same; everyone was simply enjoying “I hope tonight is a therapy for For Neufeld this season of That means more postponement music together. . . it broke a lot of barriers and stereotypes without a you,” remarks Neufeld between change includes a first-time re- or cancellation notices landing single word needing to be said about it.” songs. It’s not a typical stage call cord deal with Sony Music Cana- in inboxes. But, this time, we’ve Vriend’s music is never far from her politics and she speaks about out, but eight months into the da. After decades of writing wor- been here before. We’ll grieve, the injustice of colonialism, capitalism and addiction with the same pandemic, it received muffled ship music, he’s experimenting get creative and find new ways fire that powers her soaring vocals. cheers and masked smiles. with writing the occasional love to keep on singing this Christmas “People always get so pitied here, like they have nothing to offer,” Back in Edmonton, Vriend song that falls more squarely in season. explains Vriend. But the shows were a true communal effort, with shares similar sentiments about the country genre. neighbours pitching in to set up chairs, cut the grass and clean up the role live music plays during Neufeld contemplates these Meghan Kort garbage. Some even offered safely-served food and refreshments. these anxious times. “I do believe song writing experiments within a Meghan is Assistant Edi- Vriend, who is the daughter of CC columnist Bob Bruinsma, says music is one of the most incred- greater context of change and un- tor of Christian Courier. she’s constantly learning from her neighbours and that they have a lot ible, mysterious and wonderful certainty. Just four days after the She lives in Terrace, B.C. to teach the rest of us about resilience in hard times. gifts we as humans have been Terrace show, B.C. announced a with her husband, al- most two-year-old son given,” she says. 14-day suspension on all in-per- and another little one SMALL TOWN HOEDOWNS For both Vriend and Neufeld, son gatherings, effectively bring- due to arrive sometime While Vriend was wrapping up her summer porch concerts, another this has been a year for creative ing a halt to Neufeld’s Small before Christmas. Canadian singer-songwriter and his band were making their way problem solving and adapting to through small northern Alberta towns. Tim and the Glory Boys, change. As Edmonton tempera- fronted by Tim Neufeld, former lead singer of Christian rock band tures have dipped below zero, Starfield, had decided to weather the pandemic with a tour fit for small Vriend is avoiding the frostbite communities and even smaller crowds. risks of outdoor piano playing “Are you excited to be risking your life for live music tonight?” in favour of a capella Christmas jokes Neufeld from behind a plexiglass disk attached to a mic stand. carolling and serenading virtual No more than 45 scattered country music fans make up his Sunday office parties. evening audience on November 15 at the Terrace Christian Reformed “Winter is gonna be hard – we Church in northern B.C. might as well face it,” confesses “We’ve come to really enjoy the smaller crowds,” says Neufeld Vriend. Yet she holds on to hope after the show. He describes these micro concerts as a way to give and joy. “I’ve got four singers back to fans who have become friends over the years. It’s actually who wanna sing together out- the band’s third trip to Terrace, and some of the young adults in the side and a bunch of people who audience including Cole Nutma and Chad MacDonald have been fans want to hear us and sing along. A typical Sunday night audience in front of Ann’s house since their teen years. As long as those things are true, (Photo credit: Maurice Fritz).

2 DECEMBER 14, 2020 | CHRISTIAN COURIER News

SONGS OF LONGING THE CHRISTMAS COURIER

Fasting with ‘small praise’ during the pandemic. | Emily Brink Musing on CC’s Christmas poem and painting. Cathy Smith

the psalms and hymns that nour- waves a welcome. Pastor? ished my faith and that I grew Custodian? Christ himself? to love as testimonies from the The northern lights arc in a communion of the saints. Psalms dynamic sweep, an atmospheric and hymns have come to us from halo framing the church, people in exile, in prison, from accenting its centrality. To me sick beds, in times of wars and those colourful lines in the plagues, perhaps more often than sky speak to the “galaxy” and from the good times. And so let HERE’S A CHURCH AT THE “cosmic origin” in Guite’s us offer our own “small praise” EDGE. Nothing around it, no poem. The scene has a nostalgic and learn a measure of comfort other buildings. All by itself quality but then it goes further; and joy as we join in lament but in the northern wilderness. But the northern lights invite a in hope with others around the it’s still in the centre . . . of the broader application. Good world suffering from so much painting. Gospel at the centre News at the centre of time and death, isolation and exhaustion of the world. The lit sanctuary space . . . even at the edge. from this cruel pandemic. May draws in the haloed faithful, Per Guite, “all things are re- this time of fasting open our young and old, male and female. aligned.” hearts to hope and trust as we In the open doorway someone sing of God’s promise of shalom that is sure to be fulfilled. Finally, perhaps we’re ready to remember as never before the CHRISTMAS ARTISTS HOW CAN CHRISTIANS CELEBRATE CHRISTMAS WITHOUT SINGING?! difference between Advent and In my own congregation, in a survey seeking wisdom on whether, Christmas, between singing the when and how to worship in person again, one person confessed, “I’m songs of longing and waiting, and not a good singer, but that is what I miss the most.” That comment the carols celebrating the birth of touched my heart. God loves to hear our praises, and our voices are our Redeemer. We sometimes for- strengthened when singing together. Alone at home, or when only two get how long God’s people wait- or three are gathered, singing is harder when remembering “how I ed for the good news of deliver- used to go with the multitude” to meet with God (Psalm 42). Can God ance. The prophets called God’s be pleased with such “small praise”? Can we? people to repentance, to God’s A short testimony: A year ago, my oldest sister died from cancer; she call to do justice, love mercy, had not been able to attend worship services for months, but it greatly and walk humbly with God. We comforted her to sing hymns together. I was able to visit her every need to hear this again now, dur- day. Near the end, her voice weakened until I did most of the singing. ing a time of such suffering by so Those were holy times, because the focus shifted from concern about many. We sing Isaiah’s “Com- “Christmas at the Old Quick Church” was painted by Caitlin Ambery, our “small praise” to comfort and even joy for us both, knowing we fort, comfort now my people,” an artist born in rural, northern B.C. who grew up in Victoria and now were not at all alone. God was with us, and we were together with a but Christ wasn’t born until 700 lives in Smithers, B.C. She paints predominantly in acrylics, with many great company of saints who sang with us across time and space. years later, and we’re still wait- thin layers building upon each other. She often incorporates people into How can we encourage each other to sing during this long “fast” ing for that comfort to be fulfilled her artwork, as “a way of exploring her views on the importance of what from being together in larger assemblies? As my sister often encour- when Christ returns. So we need it is to be a human being, participating in relationship with creation and aged me, “Just do it!” When you’re worshiping at home, join in the to sing from the prophets, as well creator” (caitlinambery.com). You can see more of her work on page 12. songs! We need practice to learn to focus not on the sound of our own as from the familiar carols of voice, but on what and to whom we are singing. Christmas. Let’s hope and pray that when “On the Edge” is from Sounding the Seasons WORSHIP IN ALL OF LIFE Lent begins on February 17 and by Malcolm Guite, © Canterbury Press, 2012, Worship leaders have been working very hard and creatively these we celebrate Easter on April 4, used by permission. Poet-Priest Malcolm Guite, past months, making sure worship materials are available online and 2021, we will sing with joy both who was Chaplain for 20 years at Girton College, at home for Sunday services; we owe them our gratitude. Singing on at home and – yes! – together Cambridge, reflects deeply on how poetry can Sundays is challenging during these pandemic days, but so is what we again in our churches. stimulate and re-awaken our prayer life. He’s treasure in the Reformed tradition: to worship in all of life, also in our the author of more than 10 books and poetry daily devotional life at home. Singing only on Sunday is not going to collections, most recently The Quarantine Emily Brink help us develop our confidence any more than showing up for a piano Quatrains. His poetic response to the Psalms lesson without having practiced during the week. Emily is a life-long mem- called David’s Crown will be published in spring Here is one small idea to expand our “small praise” at home: Rather ber of the Christian Re- 2021. Malcolm enjoys sailing, walking, old than having hymnals stuck in empty pews, churches could offer them formed Church, editor of books and live music; he also plays in the rock four hymnals and found- to those who don’t have hymnals. Consider a sign-up system and en- ing editor of the quar- band Mystery Train (malcolmguite.com). list teams of people to deliver them. As a hymnal editor who initially terly journal Reformed was more interested in the notes than the words, it was the texts of Worship.

@ChrCourier ChrCourier CHRISTIANCOURIER.CA | DECEMBER 14, 2020 3 Editorial

the ballot box, then we live with THE MANY UNEXPECTED integrity. No compartments. That’s part of what I learned at SHAPES OF HOPE Redeemer and that’s my vision for the pages of CC – You want to write about your dad? Or vac- Angela Reitsma Bick | Editor cines and social media? Or prob- This editorial is a revised version of the speech Angela gave over lems with church leadership? Of Zoom in November as the recipient of Redeemer University’s 2020 course! It all matters! And those Distinguished Alumni Award for her 12 years as Editor of CC. are all columns in the October Christian Courier, by the way. WHEN I STARTED WITH Christian TWO NOTABLE EDITORIALS God is with us, in this broken and Courier in January 2009, Prime There were some Letters to the beautiful world, and there’s way Minister Stephen Harper had just Editor, especially in the early more than one way to tell that prorogued parliament, Barack years, that were not super polite. story. Obama was inaugurated and the Many of them came from men, Let me close with this. financial crisis put both countries often older, often Dutch. They It’s a really weird time to be in an economic downturn. In one meant well, in the same way a journalist. Typically, journal- of my first editorials, I looked for that my Opa meant well when ists are not living through the silver linings in the fiscal slump, he asked why I got “just an A” same crisis they are reporting on. like the Green Energy Act, an up- instead of an A+, when I was a Now those distinctions are gone. tick in home cooking, and a pas- kid. His goal was to challenge me There’s nowhere to retreat to any- tor who said that “people draw to try harder. This very specific more, outside of COVID, to ob- closer together and rely on each style of “encouragement” feels jectively report on COVID. How other in tough times.” like thinly-veiled criticism, and can we still find & publish messa- While hunting for these differ- I’ve gotten a lot of that, over the ges of hope that mean something? ent perspectives, I used at least years. We are pointing out these Well, I think the answer is that one thing I’d learned at Redeem- mistakes so you can fix them! And hope, like story, comes in many er in Dr. Bowen’s Postmodern Lit we won’t bother mentioning what different shapes, too. Hope can class, from that time we read a you might have done right, so you be found in our honesty, in our Julian Barnes book that imagined don’t become too proud. dreams, in our roots, in the voices Noah’s ark from the point of view There are two other editor- of our kids. And hope can even of a termite; namely, that there ials I want to tell you about, be- be found in criticism – which that is more than one way to tell the cause they illustrate how close- generation of Dutch men tried same story. ly linked my years as an editor to convey to me, and which has It’s fun to scan the titles of are with motherhood. In 2010, really just become clear to me other editorials from that first I lost a baby in the second tri- during COVID. year: “Drive-by mission pro- mester of pregnancy. And then “Critics are the real optimists,” jects,” “Toddler theology,” and I wrote about it, and somehow someone said recently – and that “All mothers work, but the pay that helped. There were, inter- was a lightbulb moment for me. really varies.” Yup, we had young estingly, only a few responses Critics are the real optimists, be- kids when I started with CC, ages from men. But I did start hearing cause they see how things could one and three, and they were such from women – of all ages. From a be better. We will not ignore or wonderful . . . material. Like that grandmother in her 60s who had accept ecological crisis, infinite time Robin got mad at her Zonder- lost a baby years ago and still re- economic growth, racial inequal- kidz Bible because it didn’t show membered. From young women ity, the prosperity gospel or bad God in Genesis 1. Just your regu- who had gone through the same theology in praise and worship lar art critic, age three. thing. And, to this day, that edi- songs, because Christ calls us to “Where’s God?” she wanted to torial has unfortunately been the make things better. To find our know. most requested – photocopied or place in God’s ongoing redemp- “That’s God’s hand,” I said. A emailed more times than I want- tion story. stylized hand held onto the earth, ed to, for cousins and friends and That perspective is, amazingly, in the picture. the friends of CC readers with even more hopeful than where She was totally unimpressed. their own versions of that story. I began, after the Great Reces- “Where is the REST of God?” The second editorial was a few sion of 2008, searching for silver (From top left) Joella Reitsma, Hannah Marnoch, Cathy Smith, Joe & Alida Reitsma, she said, unconsciously echoing years later, shortly after Ben was Jennifer Neutel, Meghan Kort, Peter Schuurman and Deborah Bowen linings. If we truly believe that the cry of so many adult hearts. “I born. There was a trend at the were among the well-wishers who congratulated Angela on her award God is working, through us, to re- want to see his FACE!” time called the 100-Mile Diet – store every bit of this earth, even Another day at lunch, I prayed good and thoughtful attempts to ing baby Jesus. Not a lot of men responded to that one either, strange- the very broken things, let’s bear out loud with “Thank you God, eat food that’s been grown clos- ly. Though I do remember that Bert Witvoet really liked it. witness by writing about that. for . . .” and then rushed through er to home – within 100 miles, May you be surprised by hope a long list. Before I could say if you’re really serious about it. DIFFERENT KINDS OF HOPE this Christmas, as we celebrate “Amen,” Alba, who was two, I wrote a tongue-in-cheek edi- Why am I telling you all this? Because we are more than, as Jamie the glorious truth that God came piped up with, “God says, torial about breastfeeding – after Smith puts it, walking brains on a stick. We have bodies, and lives, into the mess with us, for us, to ‘You’re welcome!’” She had this all, it’s local and sustainable! The and we live in certain places, in this moment in time, and it all matters. bring lasting change. Let this beautiful understanding of God lowest carbon footprint ever! I It matters to God. When we use who we are as friends and relatives weary world rejoice (safely)! as listening to us closely. And re- called it the Zero-Mile Diet, and and neighbours to make decisions at work, then we live with integrity. Merry Christmas from all of us sponding. And being super polite. included a picture of Mary nurs- When we bring our faith to the boardroom and to the ice rink and to at Christian Courier!

4 DECEMBER 14, 2020 | CHRISTIAN COURIER Letters / News

THE CHURCH & HUMAN RIGHTS I very much appreciate the article by Jim Joosse in the Nov. 9 issue and I want to thank you for publishing it in CC. The article expresses Founded in 1945 my sentiments better than I myself could do on the issue of the sta- tus of gay people in the Christian Reformed Church. The report [on An independent monthly that seeks to engage creatively in critical Christian Human Sexuality going to Synod] is yet another example of how the journalism, connecting Christians with church is decades behind in dealing with current issues in society. a network of culturally savvy partners Harry Van Belle in faith for the purpose of inspiring all to participate in God’s renewing work Edmonton, Alberta within his fallen creation.

EDITORIAL TEAM & PRODUCTION STAFF CLEAR AND COMPELLING Editor: Angela Reitsma Bick Thank you for the publication of Jim Joosse’s article “The Church [email protected] & Human Rights” (Nov. 9, 2020). Our forthcoming Synod is facing Assistant Editor: Meghan Kort [email protected] a challenge to lead the Christian Reformed Church (CRC) forward Features Editor: Amy MacLachlan in its embrace of sexual minorities. Jim’s article makes a clear and [email protected] compelling case for a reframing of the CRC stance on criteria for full Reviews Editor: Brian Bork [email protected] Church membership – criteria that are based on “the Christ-ordained Contributing Editor: Michael Buma imperative to love our neighbour as we love ourselves” rather than on [email protected] biblical literalism. Contributing Editor: Peter Schuurman [email protected] Jim Visser Circulation: Sarah Smith Donna Tigchelaar [email protected] Edmonton, Alberta Admin: Heather Snippe [email protected] Development: Jennifer Neutel READERS OVERSEAS [email protected] Congratulations, Angela, on receiving Redeemer’s Distinguished Website & Social Media: Meghan Kort [email protected] Alumni Award and on thriving as a writer these 12 years with CC. YOUR FAVOURITE Layout and design: Kevin Tamming Your courage began much earlier when you and Allan spent the year [email protected] of 2001-02 here in Russia as English teachers. May you have many Layout and Ad design: Naomi Francois ARTICLES FROM 2020 collidemedia.ca years of building bridges of understanding and goodwill between peo- ple of all kinds, and may God be praised as your writings lead many Christian Courier is published by the lives to greater service for Christ! Best wishes! Number of times our weekly Board of Reformed Faith Witness: emails were opened. James Dekker (Chair), Peter Elgersma, Gary Timmerman, Resonate Global Mission Sylvan Gerritsma, Ron Rupke, Emma St. Petersburg, Russia Winter, Jaime Spyksma, Noah Van Brenk and Sarah van der Ende SUBSCRIBING TO SHOW SUPPORT 13,558 The publication of comments, “I want to thank you for publishing Jim Joosse’s article (“The opinions or advertising does not Church and Human Rights,” Nov. 9). In our divisive times, it takes The Top 5 most viewed articles imply agreement or endorsement by courage and conviction to allow a much-needed voice like this to Christian Courier or the publisher. “The Upside of COVID-19” by Lloyd Rang be heard. As a minister, I am aware that you will likely get some The paper is published on the second pushback from articles like this. So, to counter-balance some of that, “The Parable of COVID-19” by John Van Sloten Monday of each month. I want to send my gratitude and encouragement. I have subscribed to “Beloved Former CC Editor Bert Witvoet dies at 85” by Peter CANADA MAIL your publication to show my support in a more tangible way.” Schuurman and Angela Reitsma Bick Publications Mail Agreement No. 40009999 “Christian Education and COVID-19” by Jonathan Schat Return undeliverable addresses to: NOTES WITH RECENT Christian Courier DONATIONS “Context Matters” by Angela Reitsma Bick PO Box 20022 Grantham “I am impressed with the pro-masking, pro-affirming voices you are St Catharines ON L2M 7W7 sharing. Thank you for your wisdom.” (ISSN 1192-3415) The article that got shared “Love the paper. Keep plugging away with good words in this world SUBSCRIPTIONS: the most on Facebook: of verbiage.” To subscribe, “The Parable of COVID-19” by email [email protected] or call 1-800-275-9185. John Van Sloten One year (12 issues): $60. Six months (6 issues): $30. Two years (24 issues): $110 Please contact circulation if you cannot afford the subscription price but would The article that got the most like to receive Christian Courier. comments on Facebook: CHRISTIAN COURIER “Different by design” by PO Box 20022 Grantham St Catharines ON L2M 7W7 Meghan Kort

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@ChrCourier ChrCourier CHRISTIANCOURIER.CA | DECEMBER 14, 2020 5 CRC Ministries within Canada WAITING NEW WAYS TO FIND

Darren Roorda | [email protected] CHRIST THIS CHRISTMAS

Darren is the Canadian Ministries Director of the Christian Cassie Westrate | Resonate Global Mission Reformed Church in North America.

I AM SICK OF WAITING – literally sick and tired of it. I’m tired of wait- ing to get closer than six feet to loved ones who are outside my social bubble, waiting for a decision on Medical Assistance in Dying to be rightfully dealt with in Canada, waiting for my neighbour to say “yes” to Jesus, and waiting for the CRCNA to deal wholesomely with the questions of Human Sexuality. The list goes on. Interestingly, at just about the time I have “had it up to here” with all proactive waiting. It’s the kind of this waiting, I find myself faced with Advent – defined as “the season waiting that places Jesus as an in- of waiting.” Advent has actually kicked off the church calendar for fant in Bethlehem at just the right millenia. time in human history; the kind of Whereas one might typically find solace in a secular New Year’s waiting that allows Jesus to say to MANY PEOPLE ATTEND CHRISTMAS CHURCH SERVICES who would turn of the calendar, because you get a chance to start again with new his mother at the wedding in Cana, never otherwise set foot in a church building – and the season is upon resolutions, the church calendar kicks off its new year inviting one “My time has not yet come.” It’s us. How will churches host Christmas and Advent gatherings during into waiting. the kind of waiting that has in its COVID-19? How can we share the gospel during a time when so many Advent is meant to draw our attention both to the waiting for sight, the work of the cross 30+ people are ready for hope and peace? Christ’s arrival in nativity, but also to his second coming when all of years later outside of Jerusalem. These are questions Resonate Global Mission ministry leaders ask our waiting will be done and all things will be made right. I would This kind of waiting best re- every day. And in Halifax, Nova Scotia, the Holy Spirit is drawing suggest that ever since Adam and Eve’s fall in the garden, waiting has flects the meaning of the two people closer to Christ in new ways. been our primary posture, and its close cousins of “perseverance” and most common words for wait- “There are different expressions of church that are taking shape by the “endurance” have become our primary human discipline. No wonder ing in the Old Testament: yachal community centered around Jesus,” said Sam K*, a Resonate ministry the psalmists cry out “How Long?” and qavah. One has the sense leader who partners with Trellis Collective. Sam lives in Halifax, where Waiting is more than personal. It’s also corporate. In my work as a of “hoping expectantly” and the he serves as a community chaplain and provides support for grassroots denominational leader I am called, together with co-leaders, to go be- other of “binding together.” They ministry efforts. In the neighbourhoods where Sam works, he meets yond simply waiting, and instead venture headlong into the intentional are words for waiting that look people who are interested in learning more about Jesus and God’s pursuit of change and growth in common ministry. Your local church forward with joint purpose. kingdom but will not attend a traditional church event. Some people is called to do the same. Sometimes, such pursuits seem foolish. Until the world is as it’s suppos- are newcomers from a Muslim background and feel pressure from Until you realize this one thing: God is also waiting. God endures ed to be, we will wait. Get used family and friends. Some First Nations individuals have been told by and perseveres while he watches his world suffer in its prolonged to it. And whether it is with your the church that they need to lose their culture in order to embrace Jesus. brokenness. God also embodies a kind of hopeful waiting that is at local church, with the govern- Some people have been hurt by the church. the core of His being. “He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to ment, or with your denomination Whatever the reasons for staying away, many people are often not perish, but everyone to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3). and their given issues of concern, reached by traditional church ministries. “It really closes the door to God’s waiting is marked by patience. Patience to act at just the right we can go beyond endurance to getting to know Jesus more or meeting believers,” said Sam. time for setting things right again. And to ensure that full repentance is its most hopeful and strategic ex- But the Holy Spirit has been at work in Halifax outside of the walls of a possible. God’s waiting is motivated by the desire for change. God’s pression: Jesus Christ, “Hope” church building – even before COVID-19 restrictions. And this Christmas waiting is motivated by gospel witness and missional growth! It’s a wrapped in swaddling clothes! season, people are still learning about the hope, peace, and love of Christ. A small group of people regularly gather together in a living room for a Bible study hosted by a mother and daughter who came to Halifax from El Salvador as refugees. “None of them feel like they can be part of an established church in the city, but have found each other in our home gatherings where we encounter Christ together,” said Sam. While not everyone considers this small group “church,” Sam recognizes how this community of faith supports seekers and believers as they pursue Christ. “It came out in our Bible study that two of those among us didn’t have parents they could rely on for love and acceptance. They needed Jesus to be that for them,” said Sam. The two believers shared what it meant for them to find love from God when they haven’t received love from their earthly parents. “And here in this home . . . it’s a refugee mother and daughter who prayed with them and continue to walk with them in their healing,” said Sam. This is just one of the new expressions of church that Sam, Resonate, and Trellis Collective support in Halifax. Sam said these small gatherings have especially been helpful through COVID-19 restrictions because people can still gather safely through the Christmas season and beyond. “The focus is: where is Jesus at work? Where is the Spirit dancing? And how do we join Jesus and form church there?”

* Because of the nature of his work, Sam isn’t comfortable publicizing his last name, in fear that it would hinder his ability to form relationships with new people in the future.

6 DECEMBER 14, 2020 | CHRISTIAN COURIER This page is made possible through a partnership with CRC Ministries within Canada. News

a shadow compared to the rela- A LENTEN YEAR tionship we really need, the one we were made for, the one we A PRODUCTIVE YEAR Trent DeJong lost in the Fall. In the Incarna- tion, Jesus Christ made possible Stats on CC’s staff in 2020. | Angela Reitsma Bick the restoration of this relation- ship. The more we understand this, the more deeply we will Christian Courier has a small staff – eight people, all across Canada. appreciate what we annually cel- Because we work from home already, the pandemic didn’t change ebrate at Christmas. In this way, our work habits . . . but it did add some wrinkles when it came to COVID-19 has created the con- child care! ditions for us to more profoundly Kids we taught during Kids currently being appreciate the Gift of Grace. “distance learning” while home-schooled by still doing CC work: staff members: LENT Lent is a big deal in the tradition- 12 8 al church calendar. Many non-li- turgical Christians ignore it, or Total number of babies Kids under age three engage it playfully, but there may born to CC staff in 2020: with interrupted be some benefit for us to take daycare routines: Lent a little more seriously in the 2, light of the pandemic. COVID with one more due in a 4 can deepen our Lenten experi- few weeks! ence, and our Lenten experience Somehow, in between all our parenting tasks, can deepen our engagement with we kept up with our CC duties! Grace. Lent is a time for reflection, re- Number of Number of CC Number of phone pentance and prayer as a way of newsletters email addresses we calls that Sarah preparing our hearts for Easter. published: monitor: Smith, Circulation This is often accomplished by Manager, answered: COVID-19 HAS CHANGED OUR was meant to be and that there is “giving something up” for the 40 lives in ways we don’t want them more, much more, in store for us. days preceding Easter. The idea 47 16 changed. And it will change our A little suffering can increase our here is that some form of depri- 750 Christmas celebrations in signifi- awareness of our profound need vation helps us to attend more Number of emails Total number cant ways, but I’m wondering, as for Grace. deeply to the sin in our lives and Number of that Angela Reitsma of articles we difficult as those changes will be, our need for salvation, and what awards Bick, Editor, received: published: if the pandemic might have a pos- THE INCARNATION it cost Jesus to restore that rela- CC won: itive impact on our celebrations. On Christmas day we celebrate tionship on the cross. 22,832 Could COVID-19 deepen our ex- the Incarnation. It is an incredi- Because of COVID-19, we 374 perience of Grace from Advent to ble thing that the material world have had to give up many things 12 Easter and beyond? was visited by the transcendent and it doesn’t look like circum- Subject line of our email newsletter with the The traditional church calendar God. We celebrate that God has stances are going to change any highest open-rate: “Not allowed to sing in starts with Advent, a time of ex- bridged the huge chasm that sep- time soon. Think of 2020 as a church? Maybe that’s a good thing.” pectation. It commemorates the arates us from himself. Lenten year. hope that God’s people had for the coming Messiah. It reminds This month we are saying a fond (and temporary) farewell to us that we, too, are waiting for The Advent season reminds us Meghan Kort, who is going on maternity leave for one year. We Jesus to return. that this world is not all are very grateful for all of Meghan’s work on the new website and There are different kinds of everything she’s done as Assistant Editor – writing articles, finding waiting. There is the excited an- it was meant to be. new contributors, creating the newsletter each week, marketing and ticipation of kids seeing their much more! We pray for God’s blessings on your family as you presents under the Christmas tree We also celebrate family and We are all sick of the pandem- anticipate the gift of new life and welcome a new member to your and the desperate waiting of hun- giving and other wonderful ic and its disruptions in our lives, family. gry children for their next meal. things. COVID-19 will negative- but we have a choice. We can fo- Our waiting is supposed to be ly affect our DeJong family cele- cus on what we’ve lost and be bit- Meanwhile, we’ve been delighted to welcome Maaike like that of the Jews in the first brations at Christmas this year. In ter and resentful. Or we can look VanderMeer to our staff this fall as incoming Assistant Editor; she century – urgent and desperate. my case, over half of the people beyond the loss to Grace. If we will fill in for the next year while Meghan is on leave. You’re already Perhaps the inconvenience, the who usually join us at the table do so, this holiday season may be familiar with Maaike’s excellent written contributions to CC; now lack of control, and the danger will not be there this year be- one of the most profound we’ve she’s taking on the weekly newsletter, assigning and editing news afforded by COVID-19 can add cause of the pandemic. This is a experienced – and this will leave articles, finding graphics and more. Maaike, a Canadian who grew something to our waiting and hardship, especially since one of us grateful. up in the Democratic Republic of Congo, brings valuable skills and to our engagement with Advent them is my 14-month-old grand- experiences to our staff and we’re excited to have her on board. Trent DeJong when we channel our frustration son who I haven’t seen since last She’s currently living in Abbotsford, B.C. Welcome, Maaike, and and fears into anticipation of Christmas. This is a hard thing to Trent teaches Humanities thank you to all our far-flung, hard-working staff members. Have a God’s salvation from far more cast into a positive light. I really at Abbotsford Christian restful Christmas! than Roman rule or a virus. want to be with my family this School in Abbotsford, B.C., and thinks a lot about the The Advent season reminds us Christmas. intersection of culture and Angela, Editor of Christian Courier, will be taking a complete break from email Dec. 21-28. that this world is not all that it Yet these relationships are but faith (trentdejong.com).

@ChrCourier ChrCourier CHRISTIANCOURIER.CA | DECEMBER 14, 2020 7 News

their said Tribe their Heirs, and WHAT’S WITH THE the Heirs of their Heirs forever.” It leaves little room for doubt as KERFUFFLE ABOUT to the timeframe over which the treaty is to be kept. The second passage makes clear in Article LOBSTER? four of the eight articles compris- ing the body of the treaty that, Danny Zacharias and Terry LeBlanc “It is agreed that the said Tribe of Indians shall not be hindered from, but have free liberty of Hunting & Fishing as usual: and Credit: shaunl/E+ via Getty Images. that if they shall think a Truck- Not only did covenants signal mutual obligations, they also initiat- house needful at the River Chi- ed and ritualized a familial bond between the parties. We see further benaccadie or any other place examples of covenants made in the Bible between other parties (eg. of their resort, they shall have Josh. 9:15), but for believers in Christ, we have the best possible ex- the same built and proper Mer- ample of a faithful covenant partner in the Creator himself. Those chandize lodged therein, to be who are “in Christ” truly are “in”: we are brought “in” to a familial Exchanged for what the Indians relationship with the Creator and “in” to a relationship which entails shall have to dispose of, and that ongoing responsibilities to God, to the household of faith, and to the in the mean time the said Indians entire community of creation. To be in Christ is to be bound by a shall have free liberty to bring covenant, something our faith should require us to take very seriously. for Sale to Halifax or any other While in contemporary times, the language of “covenant” is used Settlement within this Province, much less, if at all, the nature of such agreements between two parties Skins, feathers, fowl, fish or any persists in treaties, and to a lesser extent, in modern day contracts. other thing they shall have to While all agreements may entail several parties with differing obliga- sell, where they shall have liberty tions, people rightly expect the parties to any agreement to uphold the to dispose thereof to the best Ad- terms of the relationship they describe. As with the breaking of a mar- vantage.” ital covenant, God is not only grieved, but can also be angered (Mal. Taken together with the rest 2:16) when one party breaches the agreement and creates conflict. of the treaty, these two passages God rightly expects his image-bearers to be people of our word: “let plainly indicate the intent and your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No’; anything beyond this comes scope of the treaty and its im- from the evil one” (Matt 5:37). plications for the lobster fishery – and any other fishery today – BOUND TOGETHER and it includes a right to fish for Why does this matter in a discussion over the Nova Scotia fisheries a livelihood, not simply subsis- disputes, or for that matter many of the disputes going on between tence. Clearly then, the treaty Indigenous communities and the government in Canada? Because, of entered into by the Mi’kmaq and all people, followers of Jesus should understand the nature of treaties. the British, “for them and their We know from our own scriptures that covenants bind peoples togeth- descendants,” has force majeure er into kin relationships that entail ongoing responsibilities. And we or principal weight today. ought to know that they endure – even for thousands of years. “Island City Life” by Marcus Gosse, Mi’kmaq artist (marcusgosse.ca). We are all treaty people, bound to the agreements of long ago. Yet RECIPROCITY Canada – federally, provincially, and individually for settler Canadi- WHETHER THE NAME IS HOMARD, LOBSTER or, as Mi’kmaq call them, Three page turns. That is all it ans – has been like Israel in the Old Testament, continually ignoring jakej, mention them in Atlantic Canada these days and you’re proba- takes in your Bible before you and violating the terms of the covenants with the Indigenous peoples bly in for a tension-filled conversation on treaty rights and commercial encounter the word “covenant.” of this land. And like Israel in the Old Testament, the violations of fishery. The current focus on lobster fishing has its roots in the 1752 From that point in Genesis 6:18, the covenant with God happened afresh in almost every generation. Treaty with Mi’kmaw people – a treaty right upheld in the 1999 Mar- the covenant-chain between God, The fisheries dispute that has captured headlines, therefore, is nothing shall decision of the Supreme Court of Canada. To more fully under- his people and, ultimately, the new; Canada is simply being alerted to what has been the norm for stand the challenges of interpreting the present-day actions in Nova rest of creation (Gen. 9), under- Mi’kmaq fishers – and being called to be people of their word. Scotia concerning the lobster fishery dispute, we need to step back in girds the entire biblical narrative, at least two directions. culminating in the consumma- Terry LeBlanc Danny Zacharias First, we need to know and understand the history of treaty making tive new covenant with all of and the nature of treaty, particularly the 1752 through 1761 treaties en- creation through the life, death Terry is Mi’kmaq with Danny is a Cree-Austri- tered into between Mi’kmaw people and the British colonial and home and resurrection of Jesus the Acadian ancestry. To- an man originally from governments. Second, we need to understand the nature of covenant Christ (Jer. 31:31; Luke 22:20; gether with Bev, his wife Winnipeg in Treaty One of 48 years, he resides on territory. He and his fam- and the relationship that exists, or perhaps better put, the similarity 1 Cor. 11:25; Heb. 9:15; 12:24). Epekwitk (Prince Edward ily reside in Wolfville, N.S. that exists between covenant and treaty. In both of these we want to The biblical covenants initiated Island), one of the seven (Mi’kma’ki) where he discuss the implications of the biblical admonition that our “yes” be by God always entail both rights districts of Mi’kma’kik. serves as the Professor of “yes” and our “no” be “no.” For followers of Jesus, this goes to the and responsibilities one to an- Bev and Terry have three New Testament Studies adult children. Terry holds at Acadia Divinity College, heart of ensuring we do not engage in evil and deceptive practice. other, even in the case of these an interdisciplinary Ph.D. and as an adjunct profes- covenants having a greater party specializing in Theology sor for NAIITS: An Indige- HUNTING & FISHING RIGHTS (God) and a lesser party. A rela- and Anthropology and is nous Learning Commu- Two critical passages form part of the 1752 treaty between the tionship of mutual understand- the founding Chair and nity. current Director of NAIITS: Mi’kmaq and the British Crown. After describing the parties to and ing, responsibility and reciproci- An Indigenous Learning nature of the treaty, the narrative provides the scope of time over ty, is the foundation of a biblical Community, a member of which it is to be considered valid. It says, simply, “For themselves and covenant. Indigenous Pathways.

8 DECEMBER 14, 2020 | CHRISTIAN COURIER @ChrCourier ChrCourier CHRISTIANCOURIER.CA | DECEMBER 14, 2020 9 Reviews TILTING THE FLOOR OF HUMAN BEHAVIOUR

Derek Schuurman

A RECENT NETFLIX DOCUMENTARY TITLED THE SOCIAL DILEMMA interests. Although one can try mentary are conversations with interviews several engineers who initially helped build social media to push back, social media al- social scientists who have been platforms, but who are now sounding the alarm on their creations. The gorithms “tilt the floor” of hu- sounding these alarms for many film features prominent designers from Google, Facebook and Twitter, man behaviour in a way that is years. Even so, there is some- including the engineer who created the pervasive “like” button and difficult to resist. The end result thing redemptive in hearing social the inventor of the “infinite scroll.” The very people who created the is greater polarization, outrage media engineers voice remorse technology behind social networks are expressing regret, repenting of and misinformation. The re- for their creations. I wonder how what they helped to build. cent presidential elections in the things might have unfolded dif- The documentary provides a clear explanation of the issues arising United States have only served to ferently if more computer science from social networking, whose business models depend on keeping underscore this point. programs included the liberal people’s attention fixated on screens. These products employ sophis- arts. Computer science programs ticated tracking and profiling in order to customize content that will LOST FOR WORDS taught at most Christian colleges further engage and influence users. The end result is that users are The movie opens with the film- not only include liberal arts cours- THE SOCIAL DILEMMA manipulated unconsciously through positive, intermittent behaviour maker posing the question, “What es, but also emphasize how faith Directed by Jeff Orlowski reinforcement (similar to playing a slot machine) for the purpose of is the problem?” The computer ought to inform our technical cre- Netflix, 2020. attracting advertisers. scientists and engineers in the ations. The design of social media results in many negative side effects film seem at a loss for words. The Abraham Kuyper talked of the which have become increasingly clear. There are documented declines big answer to “what is the prob- perils of a utilitarian education in mental health related to social media use and to our growing addic- lem” is the reality of sin. Sin im- simply to “acquire a steady pos- tion to smartphones. There has been an increase in political disinfor- pacts not only human hearts but ition and a guaranteed salary.” He mation campaigns (doubling in the last two years), and remarkable also technology. Technology is concludes that to undertake such growth in extremist groups caused by algorithms that steer people to- not a neutral activity of designing a utilitarian education condemns wards them. artifacts, but profoundly reflects a oneself to become a “hewer of particular view of the world and wood and drawer of water” rather TILTED the kind of people we desire to be, than a “nurseryman in a conse- Between interviews with former social media engineers, the film whether this is done consciously crated garden.” What the world of weaves in dramatic vignettes of a family whose members are impact- or not. Likewise, social media social media needs are more com- ed and influenced by social media. A young man named Ben tries to platforms are not just neutral plat- puter scientists trained not as just shake his smartphone addiction but is drawn back into bingeing on forms to connect people, but in- “hewers of code” but thoughtful his social media feed. Gradually, manipulative algorithms target him, clude significant cultural, ethical, caretakers in the garden of digital nudging him to behaviours that cause conflict within his family. Later, societal, economic and political possibilities. he is steered towards a rabbit hole of online conspiracies, until he par- aspects of our lives. Clearly, the ticipates in a demonstration that turns violent. In another vignette, a design decisions related to social Derek Schuurman teenage girl is portrayed wrestling with body image and depression as media platforms ought to be in- Derek is a professor at Calvin social media perpetuates unrealistic standards of beauty. formed by more than just technic- University where he teaches the capstone course in com- The interviews alongside the dramatic sketches are effectively al or economic considerations. puter science. illustrate the issues arising from social media driven by commercial What is missing from this docu-

A UNIQUELY ILLUSTRATED CHRISTMAS TALE

Sonya VanderVeen Feddema

YOUNG JO, HER INFANT BROTHER, AND ILL, SINGLE MOTHER are cast with 1,700 primary students from they imagined… Fuelled by my out into the elements on Christmas Eve. Though Jo plans to leave 2015-2017 in every province and desktop computer in Newmar- town on a bus with her family, the fierce, unruly winter wind pushes territory of Canada, and with four ket, Ontario, this project brought them in the direction of Franklin Murdoch’s barn and house. Jo is grade one classes in Melbourne, students back in time to when afraid of the man, known in the community as mean and crusty; the Australia. She writes, “A unique things were un-googleable, and death of his wife and baby on a Christmas Eve long ago had appar- literacy experiment, this project wonder and wait weren’t foreign ently turned him into a nasty person. had students from JK-Grade 6 lis- words.” Still, Jo forges on, bringing her brother to safety in the barn, and tening to a story in a format akin then going back to bring her mother. But a surprise awaits Jo that to an old, serialized radio show. Sonya VanderVeen THE CHRISTMAS WIND forces her to make a brave choice and changes her perspective on Each week, for eight weeks, an Feddema

Stephanie Simpson McLellan Franklin Murdoch. audio portion of a story was up- Sonya is a freelance writer Illustrated by Brooke Kerrigan This charming Christmas picture book has a unique history. Auth- loaded to their class webpage and living in St Catharines, Ont. Red Deer Press, 2017. or Stephanie Simpson McLellan explains that a project was piloted they were asked to illustrate what

10 DECEMBER 14, 2020 | CHRISTIAN COURIER Reviews

go outside like his brothers and tries to break free against family and dle to regain his sense of Amer- COMPANION BOOKS societal obstacles. When reading a fictional account of confinement, ica. The author concedes that his the reader can suspend disbelief and find entertainment in the sus- travelogue is non-scientific; in Harriette Mostert pense and terror spun by the author. When paired with a true story, research terms, it would be an the realism may inspire a more active and compassionate response to ethnography based on encoun- WHILE MOST PEOPLE CAN RELATE TO THE IDEA that a book can be a contemporary injustices. ters with individuals in various companion, books can also act as companions to one another. In my American states. role as a vice principal last fall, I observed an eighth grade teach- UNEXPECTED COMPANION BOOKS The uncanny connections be- er leading a study of a verse-novel that begins in war-torn Vietnam Recently, I have also read two pairs of books that became compan- tween two books written forty called Inside Out and Back Again. She wisely introduced non-fiction ions through serendipity – they would seem to be unrelated, but they years apart and the daily news- texts in the form of news articles to add depth and understanding to were mutually enlightening. Genesis for the Rest of Us was co-writ- papers of 2020 are the themes the history and culture essential to the story. That was an early step ten by a parishioner, John R. Little, and his pastor Darrell Bierman, of political polarization, the in my consideration of the way fiction and non-fiction texts can com- from Ayr and Cambridge, Ontario, respectively. Despite over 600 decline of small towns, human plement each other. pages that alternate between a fresh translation of the text of Gen- loneliness and racial tensions. In the West, we tend to have a strong divide between factual in- esis from the original Hebrew and commentary on each section, I The most striking connection formation (non-fiction) and make-believe stories (fiction). I’d like to had trouble putting this book down. At the same time I was listen- became more poignant after May suggest that pairing non fiction and fiction serves to deepen one’s ing to the audiobook Perelandra by C.S. Lewis. The plot of this 25, when George Floyd’s mur- understanding of an aspect of life by engaging our minds and hearts science fiction book centres around a creative retelling of Genesis der became publicized. Stein- more holistically. I offer some examples to illustrate how this might 2-3, where a perfect planet populated with “the lady” and “the king” beck writes almost prophetically also work for adults. is subject to a tempting force in a scientist possessed by evil (the when anticipating an upcoming The first non-fiction/fiction pairing for adults I’d like to put -for “unman”). The short account of Eve’s temptation in Eden as told in leg of his journey, “I faced the ward deals with less typical ways of perceiving the world. Temple Genesis is extended in Perelandra, where the lady faces a protracted South with dread. Here, I knew, Grandin’s informative Animals in Translation: Using the Mysteries and coordinated attack on her loyalty to Maleldil (God). On the other were pain and confusion and all of Autism to Decode Animal Behavior comes from her personal ex- hand, Little’s commentary on other incidents in Genesis highlights the manic results of bewilder- perience with traits of autism and her passion for animal science. instances of temptation, evil and spiritual warfare where I had not ment and fear. And the South She explains how domestic and wild beasts sense and interpret their noticed them before. Both books helped me to consider temptation being a limb of the nation, its interactions with their environment and with humans. A brilliant aca- and obedience from different angles and to appreciate the depth of pain spreads out to all America. demic, Grandin nevertheless explains concepts in a simple way for biblical narrative. I knew, as everyone knows, that those not as well versed in her field. In contrast, the fiction book true but incomplete statement of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Had- the problem – that an original sin don puts the reader in the shoes of a teenage boy whose habits and of the fathers was being visited interpretations of events seem odd to most people. While Haddon on the children of succeeding has been criticized for presenting a character with a form of autism generations.” Putnam’s words without having done adequate research, it is also true that the story is likewise speak to current events: sympathetic to the main character Christopher and widens the read- “The parts of the United States er’s understanding of how a neurotypical response to events is easily where social trust and other taken for granted. Engaging the head with information and the heart forms of social capital are low- with empathy enables the reader to have a richer understanding of the est today are the places where subject than by reading either two works of fiction or two informa- slavery and racialist policies tional books on the same topic. were most entrenched historic- ally.” Not only do many conver- Two other books became companions to me and to each other in sations and musings in Travels an unexpected way. For nearly a year, I had been ploughing through with Charley illustrate the find- Robert Putnam’s landmark text Bowling Alone: The Collapse and ings of Bowling Alone, but its Revival of American Community (2000). This spring, I was deter- interesting storyline motivated mined to complete it. This in-depth sociological study of what Put- me to press on and complete the nam calls “social capital,” the vital but non-economic connections dense sociological text. between people that makes society function at its best, requires full As a reading teacher, I have concentration. Bringing together surveys and studies over many dec- become convinced that encour- ades, it paints a picture of how social connections are being lost aging students to make connec- and theorizes about factors pushing this trend in the United States. tions between the book they are Meanwhile, I had selected an audiobook Travels with Charley: In reading and previous material Search of America by John Steinbeck, acting on a recommendation they have read improves their The second pair of books explores the theme of confinement and received some twenty years ago. Though best known as a novelist, comprehension and strengthens the devastation caused by secrecy. Hope: A Memoir of Survival in Steinbeck claims to be documenting a 1960 road trip with his poo- brain connections. By recogniz- Cleveland is a first-person account by two of three women held cap- ing connections between books tive for years by an evil man. Between segments told by survivors that have companion qualities, Amanda Berry and Gina deJesus, information about the women’s adults may also find greater en- families and about the lewd captor provide a documentary lens for joyment and insight from their their story. The difficult story is framed with hope – the women share reading. that prayer and holding onto God’s existence enabled them to not only survive brutal conditions but also forge a quasi-normal environ- ment for the daughter Amanda gave birth to and homeschooled in Harriette Mostert this setting. A possible fiction companion to this book is the Young Harriette teaches and learns Adult novel Among the Hidden by Margaret Peterson Haddix. In this in Kitchener, Ontario. Along- story (and its continuing series), a third child has to remain hidden side her husband and young adult children, books and in a totalitarian regime that has the strict limit on two children per papers occupy much of her household. Third-born son Luke gradually discovers why he cannot home life.

@ChrCourier ChrCourier CHRISTIANCOURIER.CA | DECEMBER 14, 2020 11 Features RISKY BUSINESS

Overcoming pandemic fatigue. | Marcel Gemme

no longer strictly safe. Celebrat- ing Christmas is still possible, but there have to be specific meas- ures taken to ensure the safety of everyone involved. Consider the following when making plans this Christmas: Organize a virtual holiday celebration if the risk is high and you are not living in the same home as your immediate family members. If you are permitted a small family gathering, bring your own food and disposable cutlery, plates and glasses. Consider ordering food and think carefully about safe ways “Maggie’s Flowers” by Caitlin Ambery. to share. Gathering outdoors in Canada Now I have to watch the Christ- is not always an option during HOMESICK mas celebrations on Facebook. winter, but some venues may Go through the list of children provide more space indoors to for the presents to be given. Se- accommodate social distancing. Missing the holiday traditions of a First Nations cret Santas are being set up. Not MOST OF US HAVE GROWN Send letters, cards, and get sure how that works. They may weary of living life in a state of everyone involved in the decor- Vivian Ketchum community. | still have the pow wow, but on a semi-panic and cautious concern. ating and spirit of the holidays, smaller scale. Only on-reserve; The COVID-19 pandemic has whether virtually or safely in-per- Band members only, due to the grown old. son. The most important thing is I’M THINKING OF HOME during this holiday season. Usually prepara- pandemic restrictions. I might We knew that it could go on for maintaining connection with the tions are being made for the annual pow wow back in my home com- still be able to watch the events a while, but seriously? Christmas ones you love. munity, Wauzhushk Onigum First Nation near Kenora, Ont. This year online, but it’s not the same. is fast approaching, and we can During these uncertain times, I I won’t be able to go back … travel restrictions and all. Going to miss holding that almost taste the bitterness of the have experienced ups and downs I will miss the sound of the drum and watching the dancers in their baby in my lap. Getting teased one-year anniversary. both personally and profession- regalia. Sitting in the circle with my friends and family. Of course a by my nieces and nephews. The At this point, we can’t blame ally. One thing that has helped baby will be placed in my lap. I won’t know the name of the baby, smell of the food. The sound of the continued rise on a lack of tremendously is staying in touch but that will be alright. It will be loved by all the grandmothers and the laughter in the hall. The mem- knowledge or unclear instruc- with the members of my church, aunties in the circle. I am a grandmother, but in this stage of my life, ories when stories are shared. tions about how to stop the despite not being able to meet I would be considered an auntie – an advisor or helper to the younger Most of all, I am going to miss spread. Many experts, includ- for Sunday service. Be intention- people. Not an Elder, that title is reserved for the knowledge-keepers. hearing my language spoken in ing the U.S. Surgeon General, al about reaching out to senior I live in Manitoba, and even the bannock is different in each in- that circle. Miss listening to the are blaming a new phenomenon members so they know some- digenous community. The bannock here is flatter and back home it’s Elders share their stories of our called “pandemic fatigue.” one is thinking about them. Sing more fluffy. The odd things one remembers of back home. Going to past. Stories that can’t be written Essentially, pandemic fatigue carols over zoom. Get the Sun- miss the wild meat. The best cooks are always known by the commun- in any form. Oh, and that home means that people are loos- day school kids to send letters. ity; the ones who make the deer meat taste so delicious and can con- humour with a bite to it. ening up on precautions because Maybe even organize a Secret jure up different types of soups that are so tasty. And of course the tea. I am going to miss my home they’re tired of dealing with the Santa among your church’s small community this holiday season, pandemic. They’re willing to groups. knowing that the Circle is going take more significant risks for Our faith is our greatest asset, to be smaller. We might even improved mental health and feel- but understand that the choices lose a Knowledge Keeper or re- ings of normalcy. This can be es- we make during this time will spected Elder. So there is more pecially true of seniors, who are impact whether we have both to missing my home community reporting high levels of stress and a safe Christmas and a healthy than the cherished traditions. It is loneliness, yet are at the highest New Year. the fear of losing loved ones. risk. That said, during the holi- Vivian Ketchum Marcel Gemme day season, be mindful of your Vivian was born in Kenora, choices and the choices of those Marcel lives in Montreal and Ont., and attended a residen- has worked in the health- tial school run by the Presby- around you. It’s important to care system for more than terian Church in Canada. She realize that this behaviour might 20 years. He currently helps is a writer and social activist, people find long-term senior focusing mainly on healing come in the form of wanting to care through his website, A 2019 Christmas pageant at Vivian’s church Place of Hope in Winnipeg. and reconciliation work. stick to family traditions that are ECDOL.org.

12 DECEMBER 14, 2020 | CHRISTIAN COURIER Features

help; and your good friend who Nearly four years ago now, my comes to my home and we all AN AWFUL YEAR already suffered with serious de- marriage ended. And the way we open presents together, and then pression and now doesn’t know celebrated Christmas changed. the girls and I head over to my what to do; and your sister who I was sad and my kids were sad parents’ place for Christmas din- is a small business owner and and it just didn’t feel right. Can’t ner. There are presents just from Yet we live in hope. | Amy MacLachlan has lost everything. It’s okay to we go back to the way it was? Mom now. And some just from feel like you’re drowning. We all It was awkward at first, but Dad. We still come together. Just are. In some way. At some point. as my ex-husband and I worked a little bit differently. We will Slow down. Be gentle with your- towards forgiveness and healing have to change things up again self. Eat some shortbread. and a mutual respect despite no this year, but doing things in a And if you feel like you can’t longer being together, we fig- new way can mean finding new come up from the water, please ured out a new way to celebrate things that you love. seek help. Tell someone that you Christmas that is just as wonder- As people of Christ, we rest in are not okay. Your best friend. ful. We did keep some favourite hope for new beginnings. Let us Your pastor. Your doctor. Your traditions – like walking through take that hope with us this Christ- therapist. the neighbourhood in the snow mas as we both honour the loss It’s okay to ask for what you on Christmas Eve to look at the and the challenges of 2020, and need. lights, and opening presents greet the season with gratitude, For me, one of the saddest right before bed, and of course openness and excitement for things about this pandemic is how we still put out milk and cook- making things new. it has, in many ways, divided us. ies for Santa. But we take turns We watch on the news or even see celebrating in each of our homes, Amy MacLachlan

at our local grocery store, how and sometimes his parents come Amy is Features Editor at CC. people are fighting. Trying to de- down from up north and I show Contact her at features@ DO YOU REMEMBER WHERE YOU WERE BACK IN MARCH? I can recall cide who’s right and who’s wrong up on Christmas morning for christiancourier.ca. being at my fun, part-time job at an upscale boutique, and getting news when it comes to mask-wearing, breakfast with all of them. Or he that schools were closing and I had to close up shop and go home. It prohibited gatherings, vaccines. wasn’t long before people were hoarding toilet paper, arguing about We let our own rigid beliefs get in wearing masks and personal rights, talking about someone eating a bat the way of togetherness. We trade in China, and circulating conspiracy theories about Bill Gates and Big kindness for cruelty. Honesty for Pharma and 5G towers. scare tactics. Understanding for Busy downtown streets became ghost towns overnight. Small busi- judgment. Instead of “us togeth- nesses closed for good. Families struggled with continuing school at er” we become “us and them.” home. People living alone were even more alone. Domestic violence But I have also witnessed and increased. Mental health suffered. People died. written stories about people and First off, let’s name all of that for what it is: awful. And though I churches and charities who are know you’ve heard this a bunch of times (or at least I hope you have), getting it right. Who are coming it’s worth repeating: together to be better. To help out, It’s okay to not be okay. show love, and share what they It’s okay to be suffering. To be lonely. Afraid. Sad. Angry. Lost. It’s have. People who look at diffi- okay that you’re starting to crumble under the weight of supporting culty and sadness and challenge your children who are showing signs of stress and anxiety; and your as a rallying call to fight harder. elderly parents who you can’t really see anymore but still need your It reminds us what’s possible.

Christmas arrived, I was relaxed and ready to enjoy the celebra- SLOWING DOWN tion of Jesus’ birth. In this year of COVID-19, How a minister’s career shift made Christmas we may all find that Advent and Christmas are quieter than usual. magical again. | Kristine O’Brien Before 2020, none of us could have imagined a holiday season without church services packed FOR 20 YEARS, I HATED CHRISTMAS. Or perhaps hate is too strong a to the rafters and big family din- word. It’s more accurate to say that Christmas was exhausting, and ners with turkey and all the trim- always I dreaded its arrival. As a pastor with four children I worked mings. If you are lamenting that hard to have gifts bought and wrapped by the first Sunday in Advent the holidays just won’t be the because the month of December was filled with church potlucks, ex- same this year, take heart. There tra worship services and a Christmas pageant. Then there were chil- are gifts to be found in a slower The O’Brien family hunts for the perfect tree. dren’s school and music concerts, my husband’s work events and a celebration. May you and yours host of traditional at-home activities. It just wouldn’t be Christmas that when you have a little bit Advent candles and a glass of find them all. without gingerbread houses, advent calendars and homemade short- of breathing room, Advent and wine on Sunday evenings. Our bread for the kids, right? Every year I spent weeks running on too Christmas aren’t so terrible. family cut our own Christmas Kristine O’Brien many cookies and not enough sleep. It felt strange at first – no par- tree on a snowy December after- Kristine is the executive dir- In 2018, everything changed when I left the parish life for a new ties, no pageant, no frantic rush- noon, laughing all the way. I ector at Crieff Hills Retreat role at a retreat centre, which coincided with two children living on ing from one thing to another. went to bed at a reasonable hour and Conference Centre in Puslinch, Ont. their own and a change to my husband’s work. And I discovered There was time to linger over every single day and by the time

@ChrCourier ChrCourier CHRISTIANCOURIER.CA | DECEMBER 14, 2020 13 Columns

process. Through Advent, we lis- THE WAITING YEAR ten to the prophets who peered into the dark and sang out the Katie Munnik | [email protected] promises of God. We grieve with the mourning in the long waiting Katie is an Ottawa writer living in Cardiff with her spouse and three days. And we prepare. Each can- growing children. You can also find Katie on twitter @messy_table. dle, each pause, each prayer, and even each chocolate is part of that “Heap on more wood! The wind is chill; process as we gather light, hope But let it whistle as it will, and sweetness to make our hearts We’ll keep our Christmas merry still.” softer, warmer places where the Sir Walter Scott Christ child will be welcomed in. Darkness is named and faced and WHEN I WAS LITTLE, MY MOTHER QUILTED AN ADVENT CALENDAR. we prepare for light. It was a pre-printed fabric scene – chipmunks making popcorn chains, This isn’t meant as luxurious I believe – that she made three-dimensional with batting and stitches, indulgence. Instead, it can be and 24 small red hoops stitches on for Hershey’s kisses, two for each seen as gathering and sharing hoop. One day, my older sisters would claim the chocolates, the next, gifts and equipping the church. I’d share with my little brother. A spot of sweetness every other day, I think about Columba the Celt- and wasn’t it wonderful to see the chocolates go and know that Christ- ic monk who founded the com- mas was coming close and closer? munity of the Scottish island With kids of my own now, I like to keep things similar and a little of Iona. Through his guidance different, too, so each year, we make a new Advent calendar. Last and vision, his abbey became a year, it was clothes pegs, chocolate coins and stapled paper pouches. place of shelter and study where Photo Credit: Sarah Noble For a few years when the kids were small and at home, we made other missionary monks could advent mobiles to suspend over our table, making a new decoration page on the table every evening, a pause that helps our waiting. And be equipped for their work. He every day: donkeys, holly and stars. One year, we had a candle with we eat chocolate coins. offered comfort to strengthen numbers along its length. The candle widened towards to base and others. each day we had to sit a little longer together at the table to watch the PREPARE FOR LIGHT May our Christmas tables of- number melt away. Waiting can be hard. Hard for children, hard for adults, too. And fer that blessing, too. May our This year, I’ve printed pages with the calendar dates and words from every year we do it. Maybe all this waiting is foolish. Why are we warmth warm the world and our scripture, hymns and seasonal quotations, and the kids have provided waiting again? This year – perhaps particularly in this already-too- gifts equip the church for the art for each one. We had a couple of quiet evenings making art togeth- long waiting year – we might feel justified in jumping to the feast. year ahead. er at the table after supper, and now throughout Advent, we have one But just as a fire takes time to kindle and grow, so Christmas is a Heap on more wood!

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our modern definition of melan- A MELANCHOLY choly suggests. Though it may not be easy, per- CHRISTMAS haps we can embrace this year’s melancholy Christmas. We could Roland De Vries | [email protected] do so by remembering those for whom it has always been a sad Roland is currently serving as Principal of The Presbyterian season. I think of those hanging College in Montreal, where he also teaches. He likes to explore culture and play with words. out at McDonald’s or Tim Hor- ton’s or anywhere else alone on Christmas Eve – not because MELANCHOLY ISN’T WHAT IT USED TO BE. they must be sad or lonely, but During the medieval period, our physical and mental wellbeing because they remind us of the were thought to be shaped by four fluids circulating in our bodies: many who would love to be blood, phlegm, white bile and black bile. In the Greek language, black surrounded by family or friends bile is melaina chole – melancholy. It was thought that high levels of reading the newspaper online. Among those hanging out at McDon- but are not. We can be mindful black bile caused a range of disorders including babbling, depression, ald’s on Christmas Eve were an older man working on a crossword of, and reach out to, those who fear or crazed hysteria. puzzle and a few youths who seemed in no hurry to be anywhere. As experience real loneliness at I am not prone to melancholy in this medieval sense. But perhaps I I sat there, I thought to myself: “This is my kind of Christmas.” As I Christmas; for example, feeling am in the more modern sense. Today we usually define melancholy as think back to that McDonald’s Christmas Eve, I have a nostalgic and the loss a spouse or parent or a more modest “feeling of pensive sadness, typically with no obvious melancholy feeling. child. cause.” The experience of melancholy is like listening to a mournful Perhaps it’s because (and here I will likely get sideways glances And maybe a melancholy piano piece and feeling its sorrow, even if the circumstances of our life from some family members and friends!) I don’t particularly enjoy Christmas will also give us an don’t suggest sadness. If we define melancholy in this way, perhaps Christmas. I never quite know what to do with it. Sure, there are a opportunity to pull back from I’m prone to it. few elements of Christmas that I have enjoyed over my life. But for the consumerism and sacchar- the past couple of decades I’ve not really known what to do with ine sweetness that have been al- AN INTROVERT’S REPRIEVE everything that makes up a typical Christmas in Canada. Sitting at lowed to shape our celebrations One of my more memorable Christmas moments could be described McDonald’s was a kind of Christmas introvert’s reprieve. It was like for too long. Perhaps we can re- as a melancholy moment. A few years back I led worship for two sitting for a couple of hours listening only to carols written in a minor ceive this as a year to dwell more Christmas Eve services at a congregation on the West Island of Mont- key – Let all mortal flesh keep silence, or I wonder as I wander. simply with the powerful and real. One service was in the afternoon and the other in the evening. mysterious narrative of God with Between the services, rather than heading back into the city I spent a A SAD SEASON us – a narrative that is broad and couple of hours hanging out at McDonald’s. This year it’s likely that many of us will have a less happy Christmas beautiful enough to embrace our There I sat, eating my Big Mac Trio with fries and a Diet Coke, than we would wish. Indeed, it may be even sadder for some than melancholy in all its forms.

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BIGGER BUDGETS? PEACE-MAKERS WILL PEACE ON EARTH About 20 years ago Canada led a global movement to focus on human INHERIT THE EARTH security. Many will remember the land mine treaty and the movement COVID-19, racial conflict, forced Kathy Vandergrift | [email protected] to end the use of child soldiers. It led to a new ethic, the Responsib- migration and other contempor- Kathy is a public policy analyst with a Master’s Degree in Public ility to Protect, based on the principle that security of persons is the ary threats to peace are better Ethics. She lives in Ottawa and is Vice-President of the Canadian first obligation of nations. Since then, great power competition has solved through co-operation than Council of Churches. re-asserted itself as the dominant thinking about national security. It military dominance. There is a says that bigger and more weapons, including new nuclear weapons, serious mismatch between the “PEACE ON EARTH” RINGS OUT FROM CHRISTMAS CAROLS and greet- lethal autonomous weapons, military surveillance and space weapons, existential threats to peace and the ing cards at this time of year. It echoes the good news of the angels are needed to assert dominance over China, Russia or other nuclear expensive defense systems that long ago; it expresses the hope for shalom as a result of God coming powers. Bigger military budgets and economic dominance are used to swallow up large parts of our tax down into our world. We cherish the serenity of a crèche and sing- force others into alliances or submission. That approach is more like dollars. We continue to build mil- ing Silent Night by candle light precisely because the peacefulness Rome than Jesus’s birth, which challenged the ways of Rome. itaries for the wars of the last cen- contrasts so sharply with our reality of continuing anxiety, fears and tury, to assert world dominance conflicts. through superior weapons. Recent This year COVID-19 is changing the conversation about threats to Canadian military engagements, peace on earth, which is larger than the inner peace of a Christmas Eve like Afghanistan, illustrate that service on Zoom in front of a fireplace. A global virus doesn’t care how winning a war does not bring sta- many nuclear warheads a president boasts having. Racial tensions and bility. Technically, Western forces identity conflicts that break out on city streets are not solved by who won the military battle but lost the has the quickest gun or bullet-proof chest shields. Many analysts pre- peace for decades to come. dict future conflicts over clean water or tensions between people forced Peace on earth requires some- to move because of changes in climate. They will not be prevented or thing entirely different in an age of solved by bigger defense budgets. In her new book on War: How Con- global public health threats, fears flict Shaped Us, globally renowned Canadian historian Margaret Mac- about safe homes and safe streets, Millan highlights that conflicts within countries, between people who social cohesion between rich and should be neighbours, are the most damaging and the most difficult to poor, and identity conflicts. prevent, resolve and heal. We are learning again that without peace be- Peace-makers, said Jesus, tween people, human security, there is no national security. That seems will inherit the earth. Maybe we a very Biblical concept. should take him at his word.

central heating. In an age when king Haakon the Good replaced the old Yule festival with the Christian THE GREAT FROST OF 2020 rising temperatures render each Christmas celebration sometime in the 900s. For some Christians, this winter milder and more toothless feels like fake news. A desecration, somehow. Yet it is true. Lloyd Rang | [email protected] than the last. Sure, it’s still dark But look at it this way: Northern Europeans chose to celebrate the and dreary outside, but it’s no lon- Birth of Christ on a day when it would be the most meaningful. On a Lloyd works in communications and is a member of Rehoboth ger deadly. Often – like tonight, day when, for a few hours, they could hold back the cold and the hunger Christian Reformed Church in Bowmanville, Ont. outside my window – winter – when they could celebrate and eat and exchange gifts – and remind brings grim and grinding rain. At one another that the world would be renewed again someday soon. its very worst winter is an incon- venience, and at its best a thing to A COLD YEAR be celebrated with a trip to the ski Christmas, in other words, has not just accidentally coincided with hill and a cup of hot chocolate. midwinter. It has traditionally needed the depth of darkness to be a day of pretty lights. It has needed the threat of hunger to help people WHEN IT’S NEEDED MOST reflect on their blessings. Scarcity, danger and dread is the backdrop In C.S. Lewis’s book The Lion, the for Christmas – and the holiday is a rejection of fear and a symbol of Witch and the Wardrobe, the mag- hope. ic land of Narnia is under the spell Those same Christians who don’t like to admit the 25th of De- of a winter like 1709. The dread- cember is not the actual birthday of Christ are usually also the ones ed White Witch has kept the land complaining about the commercialization of Christmas. They’re the cursed in a perpetual deep freeze. folks who implore us to put the “Christ” back in “Christmas.” But in “It is winter in Narnia,” says the a world where there is no threat of cold – where Christians are com- faun, Mr. Tumnus. “And has been fortable at home in their hoodies and housecoats – what else can we for ever so long – always winter, expect? When the livestock are dying, you know that you need hope. Credit: Marek Okon (Unsplash). but never Christmas.” When you’re inside watching Netflix, it’s not as obvious – but no less THE WINTER OF 1709 WAS A KILLER. That quote gets at the heart of necessary. In England it was called “The Great Frost.” In France it was called another truth about winter: Christ- Certainly, 2020 has been a dark year. Over two hundred thousand “Le Grand Hiver.” Over three weeks in early January, temperatures mas is meant to be a reprieve from Americans have died of COVID-19, a disease many others consider a dropped across Europe to levels not seen in 500 years. The Mediterra- winter. It is meant to give hope hoax. Politics has never been more divisive – in Canada and around the nean Sea froze. Trees exploded. Livestock died in the barns. In Swit- on literally the darkest day of the world. There are no wolves in the streets, but we are at each other’s zerland, wolves prowled village streets. Travelers died on the roads. In year. throats. Or kneeling on them. France, 600,000 people perished. A lot of Christians get upset If we want to put Christ back in Christmas, we need to understand For most of Western history, winter has been terrifying. A time of when people point out – correctly that this has been a cold year. If we want to see the light, we must darkness and death. A time to hunker down and hope that you’ve saved – that the celebration of Christmas choose to see how truly dark it has been. enough food, chopped enough wood and that you have the grace and on December 25 replaced a pa- For a thousand years Christmas has meant more when we feel in our good fortune to see the spring. gan holiday in Northern Europe. bones that we want it. When we understand in our hearts that we need That’s hard to imagine now, in a time of fleece hoodies, slippers and It happened when the Norwegian the hope it brings.

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sunrise, creating contaminations WISE MEN LOST? in photos. Many companies and governments are in the process Rudy Eikelboom | [email protected] of deploying bright low-orbit satellites. While these satellites Rudy, who longs to see more stars, is a pastoral elder at Water- loo CRC and a professor in the Psychology Department at Wilfrid serve a useful purpose and will be Laurier University. needed if we are to deploy tech- nologies like self-driving cars, FROM JUNE 29 TO JULY 2 THIS YEAR, the American Astronomical So- they may cost us a clear view of ciety held a virtual conference on satellite constellations’ impact on the universe and prevent us from optical astronomy. The scientists were concerned that satellite deploy- discovering its secrets. ment, particularly bright satellites in low-Earth orbit, will prevent us from collecting meaningful optical data from the stars. AT WHAT COST? I grew up in Montreal and never realized what the night sky could Imagine if the wise men had been look like till I went camping in provincial parks and saw the full ex- looking for the Christ Child in to- tent of the stars on clear nights. In the city, I could barely even see the day’s world. Jerusalem and, I’m Big Dipper. But in the country, the full glory of the night sky with the sure, even Bethlehem are places Milky Way and millions upon millions of individual twinkles of light where our electrical city lights appeared. Astronomy had never interested me, but seeing the stars for now obscure the night sky. How the first time made me realise the beauty of God’s creation. would they have followed the the way the Godhead entered his creation. How do we find our way to birth star? Does our technology the stable in the bright light of the shopping mall? DARK-SKY PRESERVES hide God’s voice and presence The tension we live with, particularly in the pandemic, is that we are Because of the effects of light glow from cities, many countries, in- from us, just like our satellites dependent on our technology (how many of our congregations meet cluding Canada, have established “dark-sky preserves.” These are hide God’s creation? As we de- over Zoom?), but at what cost? No one would want to go back to areas where artificial lighting is restricted or nonexistent, like in Wood pend more and more on our tech- the literal Dark Ages without streetlights. We appreciate the seamless Buffalo National Park in northern Alberta and the Northwest Territor- nology, are we losing our ability communication systems that hold us together in this pandemic, but ies. Dark-sky preserves now exist in almost all Canadian provinces. to hear the call of our Lord? can we still see the birth star that brought the wise men to Jesus? People can go to these areas and observe the night sky in the way The Christ Child’s arrival was Perhaps we need to establish spiritual dark-sky preserves to give us humans did in the ages before artificial light provided us with a way a non-event on the world stage – the chance to see God’s very profound, but hidden, actions in today’s to get around in the dark. a baby born under suspicious cir- world. One of these opportunities may be to see the Christ Child in the Not only city lights but the number and height of satellites we are cumstances, to displaced parents, lost and marginalized in our society. Another might be to truly obey deploying to help with electronic communication create problems in an occupied country, who had the sabbath command to rest once a week. Maybe, just maybe, this for astronomers when collecting high-quality data about the cosmos. no birthplace but a stable. Yet this abrupt stop in our hectic lives caused by the pandemic is an opportun- These satellites reflect sunlight for several hours after sunset or before birth occurring in obscurity was ity to see and hear the voice of our Lord again.

a hen. I don’t remember if any LOOK, A STAR! of us bowed down to worship, nor if we offered Ann any gifts. Curt Gesch | [email protected] I know we did go into the house for hot chocolate. We invited Curt is a retired teacher and semi-active farmer living in Quick, Dave to join us. B.C. SECRET AGENTS OF CHRIST “The star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stood The children seemed to have no over the place where the Child was. When they saw the star, they re- trouble taking the story serious- joiced with great delight. On coming to the house, they saw the Child ly. In fact, these are the same with his mother Mary, and they fell down and worshiped him” children who saw the tooth (Matt. 2: 9-11a). fairy flying over the orchard to bring them a quarter for a lost LONG AGO, WHEN OUR CHILDREN WERE YOUNG, we celebrated tooth. And they saw a gnome in Christmas outside, “socially-distanced” before it became the thing to NORTH-POLE-STAR the pumpkin patch. Years later, do. I’d had enough of kids in bath robes pretending to be wise men We got the children ready. I know they didn’t wear fake beards but when a Christian school teach- and shepherds wandering around a church auditorium, sucking their maybe Liz – always dramatic – may have dressed up in some sort of er told Becca that gnomes were thumbs and staring awestruck at the congregation and sometimes cry- robe. I remember that, upon a pretext of some sort, I looked out the “just pretend,” she was not im- ing when they realized they had become a display. back door and said, “Look, a star!” The children put on their gum pressed. Another one of our kids You’ll have to imagine the scene: we were renting a small frame boots and walked into the East Delta night. Dave kept a distance (in- once told another student who house on a dairy farm. We had no barn but a double garage, part of visible in the dark) and wandered around the orchard. From time to asked what she wanted from which we had turned into a chicken coop. It wasn’t an inn, but neither time he’d turn out the flashlight and we’d all look (“Where did it go? Santa, “Well, my dad says Santa was it a stage. There it is”) until eventually he sneaked into the garage and leaned the Claus is bullsh*t.” Clear, cold nights in East Delta (near Vancouver) being as rare in true-north-pole-star (it was a Canadian Christmas, after all) against All the children still confess December as snow in Congo, we had to improvise a star. David, a the wall. When the adults and children finally got to the garage, lo, the Christ-child (and the reality friend perhaps 14 years old, agreed to help us. I found a long pole, there was a little makeshift box with hay in it and – as I remember – a of gnomes?) and they also par- maybe eight cubits long, and Betsey cut out a big star from a card- Raggedy Ann doll lying there. ticipate, biting their tongues, board box, covered it with aluminum foil and attached it to the top The chickens, disturbed from their dreams of worms and wheat, in the cult of Santa Claus as of the pole. David was to wear dark clothing, carry the pole, shine a clucked a bit from their roosts; a couple flew to the ground. The roost- secret agents of a Child now flashlight on the star, and stand in the orchard. er crowed because of the light, and – being a rooster – tried to breed King.

@ChrCourier ChrCourier CHRISTIANCOURIER.CA | DECEMBER 14, 2020 17 Columns

no Christmas tree in our house flection, was odd since this was a Catholic holiday in Holland celebrat- AN UNEASY CHRISTMAS and therefore also no Christmas ing a Catholic Saint.) While not virulently anti-Catholic, my parents presents under the tree. We at- certainly made it clear to me in other ways that Roman Catholics were, tended church on Christmas day in all probability, not part of the true Kingdom of God. Be that as it may, Bob Bruinsma | [email protected] only once (twice if Christmas we put a carrot in a shoe outside the door on the eve of December 5, Bob’s wife, Louisa, wants you to know that he is not as curmud- fell on a Sunday). My Canadian in anticipation of the visit of St Nick riding his snow-white horse over geonly as he sounds in this column. friends were amazed that I could rooftops. In appreciation for the carrot for his horse, St Nick would come out and play shinny on leave a small gift of candy in the shoe. On the evening of December 5 Christmas Day as if it were any there would be a family party with delicious food and gift giving ac- other day. They knew that on companied by doggerel poems made by the gift-giver who had drawn Sundays the level of activity in the name of another family member. A good time was by all. which I could participate was se- verely restricted. They were con- FESTIVAL OF CAROLS fused by my dad’s explanation For reasons that I won’t go into here, my parents left the Canadian that Christmas was a man-made Reformed Church and became Christian Reformed. I remember my day like any other, not the Sab- father’s unhappiness with the presence of a Christmas tree in the sanc- bath, and because Christmas was tuary; but, one Christmas, my middle sister bought a small tree with often the only day they went to electric lights and set it up in the house, which was grudgingly ac- church at all. No, for me Christ- cepted by my father at my mother’s urging. mas was a day to commemorate So, perhaps, dear reader, given my background, you’ll understand Christ’s birth and that was it. My why this column is not filled to the brim with “uplifting content.” We best friend’s mother felt so sorry now enjoy an IKEA Christmas tree in our house with a few presents for me that, when I dropped by underneath, and we usually have a wonderful family dinner with the “Let’s pack this Christmas issue, our last of the year, with uplifting his house on Christmas after- whole clan in attendance (though not this pandemic year). And, of content” (Angela Reitsma Bick, CC Editor, in her pre-Christmas noon, she always had a small course, there is wonderful Christmas music to enjoy, both recorded email to columnists). present for me under their Christ- and sung at the Festival of Lessons and Carols at Edmonton’s Win- mas tree. spear Concert Hall. Nevertheless, Christmas in the Bruinsma house I HAVE ALWAYS HAD AN UNEASY RELATIONSHIP WITH CHRISTMAS. is a decidedly muted affair by contemporary standards. And I’m OK Perhaps that stems from my childhood upbringing in a conservative WOODEN SHOES & POEMS with that. Especially since, after Christmas, I can look forward to the Dutch Canadian Reformed family. We went out of our way to distance We did celebrate Sinterklaas truly uplifting season of Easter with its celebration of our Saviour’s ourselves from the “worldly” celebration of consumeristic pagan ex- (Saint Nicholas) Day at our house victory over sin and death, and the promise of resurrection life. cess that typifies North American Christmas celebrations. There was on December 5. (Which, on re- Merry Christmas to all.

that river seven times.” We don’t there are still times when we feel ing cards might showcase. Yet, WITH US like being told what to do, particu- far removed from what others call though unknown to each other, larly if the command is beyond typical. Mary, Joseph and the field work- Sara Pot | [email protected] our comfort zone. ers were in that space together. HOLY (BUSY) NIGHT With each other, in the presence The Pot family story includes two daughters who are severely CAFFEINE WITH A SHOT disabled but radiate joy and grace. Which brings Mary, Joseph and of God With Us. OF FAMILIARITY the story of Christ’s birth to mind. One of my favourite words is Our comfort zone fell apart on May It’s a familiar story to many over WITH. It’s about not being alone, “SO, WHEN ARE WE decorating for CBC recently published an article 4, 2006. Overnight, our normalcy the centuries, but it seems very about sharing an experience or a Christmas?” My oldest turned to entitled, “Will COVID-19 Kill with two preschool-aged little little about the first Christmas was way forward. Psalm 23 reminds us me and asked, as she does every Christmas?” The article refer- girls morphed into a strange new typical, even for New Testament God is with us through the dark- year when the calendar marks enced people who were not cele- routine of driving to the hospital culture. est of valleys. And in turn, we are November. If you’ve read my col- brating the season, due to finan- every day, for six weeks. Welcom- Mary and Joseph were not called to community, to be with umn in the past, you’ll know she’s cial constraints, as well as others ing our third daughter, born with alone when they welcomed their each other in the uncomfortable also the one who programs my lamenting the loss of holiday complex care issues, meant wel- baby, God With Us (Immanuel). and comfortable spaces. When we kitchen radio to every station that parties and family gatherings. If coming a new way forward. We Soon after the shepherds got the are with each other, there is com- only plays Christmas music. The COVID-19 isn’t killing Christ- were definitely out of our comfort message from the heavenly hosts, fort in the companioning. kid has an addiction to all things mas, perhaps it’s kindling a desire zone. A small bit of (well, actually they crowded the manger scene. Perhaps Christmas will look tinsel and jingle. to celebrate a little something? extra large) familiarity came with I’m going to venture a guess and very different for you this Decem- Though it seems we just Maybe my neighbours are decor- ordering coffee-to-go en route to suggest the space was not exactly ber. The sense of “with” may have finished a long month of March, ating because they long for some the hospital. Now 14 years later, comfortable, as much as our greet- to be filled with phone calls and it is already mid-December. As familiar cheer while they mask up video chats. Don’t let COVID-19 with my daughter, I sensed the for errands and stock up on toilet completely overshadow your neighbours were also anxious to paper. Christmas. Let us hold to the decorate for Christmas; inflatable Being thrust into a new experi- hope, as we do each year, that we snowmen and elves were on sev- ence without warning is unsettling are not alone. God With Us comes eral front lawns by the first week- for most. Overnight, your routine alongside as a companion, bring- end of November. falls apart, and you have to figure ing familiarity to our uncomfort- out a new way forward. Some able spaces. As dark as these times SEEKING CHEER of us might balk at the changes: may feel with a global pandemic, I wonder if the COVID-19 pan- “I’m not wearing a mask!” I’m re- take heart, for we rest in the shad- demic has prompted the ear- minded of Old Testament Naaman ow of His wings. lier-than-usual holiday habits. and his words: “I’m not dipping in Blessed be your Christmas.

18 DECEMBER 14, 2020 | CHRISTIAN COURIER Columns

exile Daniel interprets Nebuchadnezzar’s vision of the statue-crush- A STONE FOR CHRISTMAS ing rock as the coming victorious establishment of God’s everlasting worldwide kingdom (Dan. 2). In the New Testament, Jesus designates Peter and his confession Tom Wolthuis | [email protected] of Jesus as the Messiah as the “Rock” upon which he will build his Tom is a minister in the Christian Reformed Church and the Di- church (Matt. 16). Luke tells us at the Triumphal Entry that if the dis- rector of Geneva Campus Ministry at the University of Iowa. ciples are silent the stones will cry out (Luke 19:40). Peter celebrates Jesus as the Living Stone rejected, but now the cornerstone of God’s new temple, to which we, like living stones, are being added (1 Peter I AM GIVING STONES for Christ- in 1 Corinthians 10:2–4, “They 2). Even the stones of the New Jerusalem envision the beauty of the mas. No, not lumps of coal for were all baptized into Moses in new creation (Rev. 21). the naughty, although 2020 might the cloud and in the sea. They all And there’s more – the stones of the original creation, David’s sling deserve it. I am giving geodes ate the same spiritual food and stones of victory, the Temple stone, and the stones of Jerusalem’s wall. – plain-looking rocks on the drank the same spiritual drink; outside, with hollow centers of for they drank from the spiritual SPLIT-OPEN beautiful crystalline structures. rock that accompanied them, and Most of all, the split-open geode reminds us of the empty tomb. Mat- Geodes have been significant that rock was Christ” (NIV). The author holds a geode. thew tells us already at Jesus’ death there is an earthshaking foretaste in my ministry. As the first pastor of the victory. “The earth shook, the rocks split and the tombs broke of Pathway Ministries in Byron THE ROCK witnessed the tribes of Israel in open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to Center, Michigan, I purchased The hidden beauty of geodes the high priest’s robe (Ex. 28). life” (Matt. 27:51b–52). Then on the first day of the week, “There a medium-sized geode for our reminds me of the blessings of Joshua remembers the Jordan was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from baptismal font. The inner cavity God in rocky times. For example, crossing and the renewal of the heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it” worked well to hold the water for Jacob sets up the rock at Bethel covenant with stones of witness (Matt. 28:2). sprinkling. We gave each bap- to remember God’s promise as he (Josh. 4 and 24). Samuel set up tized person a small geode as a flees into exile and at Galeed as the stone “Ebenezer,” the stone STONES AND STORIES remembrance of their baptism. he returns (Gen. 28 and 31). The of help, to remember deliverance I found some geodes taken from the Des Moines River near Farming- This connected to God providing stone tablets of the law remem- from the Philistines (1 Sam. 7). ton, Iowa that I will distribute for Christmas. I cannot give all of you Israel water from the rock to meet ber the covenant between God The Psalmists cry out to God their stones, but I offer you these rock-solid stories. May they be for you their need in the wilderness (Ex. and his people represented by Rock to remember them in times this Christmas stones of witness and an Ebenezer, a stone of help, in 17). Paul references this story 12 stone pillars (Ex. 24). Stones of need (Ps. 18, 28, 42 and 62). In these rocky times.

ture could have an impact on the A BUSY YEAR ability of governing institutions to live up to their God-given re- David T. Koyzis | [email protected] sponsibility to do public justice to all Brazilians and not just to ben- David is a Global Scholar with Global Scholars Canada. Anyone efit self-appointed elites. wishing to support him financially is welcome to contact him at [email protected] or find him at globalscholarscanada.ca. The message of the kingdom of God is one that covers the whole of life, as Kuyper under- THE PAST YEAR HAS BEEN A DIFFICULT ONE for many people round stood and spent his life dissem- the globe, including our family. But it has also brought undoubted inating within the Netherlands. blessings, and these have made my life fuller and busier than I could Now Christians around the world have imagined a short time ago. Now I am embarking on a new ven- are inspired by this message and ture for which I hope to raise financial support. are hungry to see its implications Occasionally I had travelled to speak at various places, including the lived out in their own countries. United States, Brazil and Germany. I was all set to fly to Wake Forest, I have been privileged to be a North Carolina, in March to lecture at Southeastern Baptist Seminary part of this with my teaching and when COVID-19 compelled a cancellation amid a global quarantine. of the Reformational Law group come with an honorarium much writing. I should have travelled to Germany and Finland last month, but, once in Brazil, preparing a chapter for less anything close to regular fi- For just over a year I have been again, the pandemic changed our plans. Thus I have spent most of the a book to be published shortly in nancial compensation. I absolute- part of a wonderful organization past year at home, but a huge number of opportunities have come my Finland, speaking to numerous ly love reaching out to people, called Global Scholars Cana- way since the lockdown began. student groups from Hamilton to and I have been especially appre- da. While GSC originally began What happened? Prior to March many of us had not heard of Zoom the United Kingdom, delivering ciative of the positive reception as a means of placing Christian and similar platforms, although I was already using Facetime and a keynote address to the l’Abri my work has received in Brazil. scholars at universities overseas Google Hangouts to talk with friends one-to-one. But suddenly every- Brasil conference in September, Brazil is a country whose politics with financial support coming one was using Zoom, which quickly became almost a generic word to participating in numerous radio is marred by endemic corruption from home, in my case I remain describe the virtual meeting drawing people together online. Not sur- interviews, and so forth. When and injustice. As the evangeli- at home most of the time while prisingly, many people apparently figured out that they could have me pastor and author Tim Keller en- cal Christian population grows, connecting with interested people address public gatherings without having to take the trouble to fly me dorsed my Political Visions and these new believers are increas- remotely and, eventually I hope, in and feed and billet me for several days. That’s when the invitations Illusions in July, it quickly sold ingly dissatisfied with the status in their own countries on a short- began pouring in. out and even more invitations quo and are hungry for change. term basis. With the proper back- piled up, keeping me occupied Many of these are enthusiastic ing, in terms of both financial and GLOBAL INVITATIONS into the next calendar year. about the tradition represented by prayer support, I hope to continue The following months saw me writing an article on Reformed politi- The difficulty with all this is that Abraham Kuyper and his heirs. A to serve God with the gifts he has cal reflection for a journal in Ukraine, addressing an online gathering many of these activities do not radical change in the political cul- seen fit to give me.

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ANNIVERSARIES

SYTSMA, Syd & Joanne (Joke Struik) of King City, Ontario, celebrated the blessing of 60 years of marriage on November 12th. The day was marked by drive-by well wishes (COVID style!), messages and calls as well BICK, Harry & Yellie (Vanderwerff) as a Zoom connection with all children and 1970 December 4 2020 grandchildren online. Happy 50th wedding anniversary! We thank God for His faithfulness and en- during love throughout the years He has giv- “To all these add love to bind everything en you together. Blessings on the continued together in perfect unity” (Col. 3:14). journey. Joanna & Paul, Ben, Phil & Annie, Forrest Congratulations to our parents, Harry and & Emma Battjes; Yellie Bick, on your 50th anniversary! Marty, Ramona, Calvin and Sean Sytsma. Though we can’t celebrate in person this year, we are thankful for the love you show each other and all of us. May God bless you with many more years together. With love from your family: Paul & Kelly Bick, Maddy SIGN UP FOR CC’S FREE Allan & Angela Bick, Robin, Alba, Ben WEEKLY EMAIL Jason & Nancy Bick NEWSLETTER. Daryl & Sarah Bick, Dru, Katie, Tyler Visit christiancourier.ca and find Henri & Roy Piersma, Natasha, Devon, the newsletter sign-up form at Meghan and Skylar the bottom right corner of the Address: [email protected] homepage. PO Box 353, Waterdown ON L0R 2H0

SOUTH COAST BEACH PROJECT

If you or someone you know is 18 – 25 years old, wanting to grow in leadership and discipleship, then check out the SCBP! Make life-long friends. Deepen your faith. Get summer work experience. And do all this while living in Port Dover on the shore of Lake Erie. What a better way to spend this summer 2021. • living in intentional Christian community with your peers • learning opportunities about integrating your faith and life • getting work experience through summer employment • connecting with a local congregation For more information: www.southcoastbeachproject.org or contact Pastor Willemina Zwart at [email protected]. A ministry of Immanuel Christian Reformed Church, Simcoe and in partnership with Resonate Global Mission.

22 DECEMBER 14, 2020 | CHRISTIAN COURIER Classifieds

OBITUARIES HIELEMA, Diny (Hilbers) BUISMAN, Albert LAMMERS, Dirk February 13, 1928 – October 23, 2020 Bedum, Groningen Brampton, Ontario May 04, 1930 – October 22, 2020 Diny Hielema died June 7, 1932 November 14, 2020 Dirk was called home peacefully in her sleep The Lord called home Albert Buisman in his 89th year. Albert to his Lord, surrounded at Moira Place in was born in the Netherlands where he met and later married by the love of his fam- Tweed, ON in her 93rd Florence Buisman (nee Vanderschaaf). In 1953, they immigrat- ily on Thursday, Octo- year, dear wife of Bert ed to Canada and eventually settled in Brampton, Ontario where ber 22, 2020 in his 91st for 67 years. Her stur- they raised their family of five children. They were blessed with year. Beloved husband dy faith was shaped 67 years of marriage. He was a man who loved his Lord and of Willemien (Harbers) through suffering: the demonstrated a life of servanthood and leadership. Albert loved for 37 years and the late death of her father his family and was very proud of his 15 grandchildren and 12 Adriana (vandeKoppel) when she was a young great grandchildren. (1980). child, and the Nazi oc- John and Hilda Buisman (Edmonton, AB) Loving father of Nan- cupation of Groningen. cy and Bill Pennings of Peter and Johanna Buisman (St. Albert, AB) As a teen she brought Kitchener, Annette and groceries to the Jewish Aaron and Angela (Elena, Clara) Albert Pennings of St. family across the street, until they were all taken away to Aaron and Erika Maan (Heidi, Frank, Nora) Thomas, Wilma and Jack Joustra of Winchester Springs, their deaths in the extermination camps. Joel and Mandy (Dirk, Gordon) Don and Maaike Grotenhuis of Inkerman, Sylvia and John Family was very important to her; she loved visits, sharing Leistra of Glen Morris and Mary-Joyce and Derrick Grift stories and good jokes. Diny and Bert’s marriage deepened Karin and Travis Weiss (Seth, Alice) of Kitchener. through the years, and during her final weeks (as they lived Jim and Joyce Buisman (Orangeville, ON) Dear grandfather to his 27 grandchildren and 33 great apart), they sang Dutch Psalms together by phone every Melissa † grandchildren. Fondly remembered by his nieces, nephews evening. The prayer that shaped her life comes from the Michael and Jess (Madelyn) and friends. closing verses of Psalm 139: “Search me, God, and know Dirk was born in the Netherlands and was the youngest of my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if Kimberley † his 14 siblings. He immigrated to Canada in 1953 and was there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way Alisha and Jonathan very active in the Drayton Christian Reformed Church, everlasting.” She now continues to live the final phrase of Daniel and Leesha (Elsie, Elliot) serving as an Elder and Clerk. The family received friends that prayer. Diny was predeceased by their infant son, Paul Justin and Nichole at the Drayton Christian Reformed Church, 88 Main Street Alan (1956). Chuck and Joanna Dykstra (Guelph, ON) East, Drayton on Tuesday, October 27, 2020. The family is deeply grateful for the exceptional care pro- A private family service was held in the Drayton Christian vided at Moira Place, especially through the difficulties of Lisa and Francois Reformed Church and was live streamed on the funeral COVID restrictions. Eric and Marie home website on Tuesday, October 27 at 2:30 p.m. Inter- Grieving with gratitude: Michelle and Lynden ment in Drayton Cemetery. As expressions of sympathy, Bert (Tweed, ON) Peter and Stephanie donations to the charity of your choice would be appreci- Syd and Evelyn Hielema (Ancaster, ON) Ray and Shirley Buisman (Ottawa, ON) ated by the family. Joya and Igor (Tacoma, WA) Leanna and Osnaider Arrangements entrusted to the Heritage Funeral Home, Drayton. www.heritagefuneralhomes.ca Justin and Trish (Wausau, WI), Lyric Address – Florence Buisman, 35 Kingknoll Drive, Apt 1003, Adrian (Los Angeles, CA) Brampton, Ontario, L6Y 5G5 FREE Pauline and Rick Budding (New Hamburg, ON) Erica and Dave (Toronto, ON), Claire, VANDERPLOEG, John FREE to a good home: 1 box of Dutch language Audrey John VanderPloeg went to be with his Lord on Thursday, No- theology books (Ridderbos, Dooyeweerd, Feenstra, Andrea and Kevin (Waterloo, ON), Teddy, vember 12th, 2020. He passed away peacefully at Kelso Villa Kuyper and others.) From Owen Sound, ON area. Eloise with his loving family by his side in his 94th year. Call 226-668-3330 to arrange. Alex and Ina (Toronto, ON) Dearly loved husband of Anna VanderPloeg (nee Miedema) for Gobind Kaur and Siri Atma Singh Khalsa 66 years. Loving father of Florence Ingerson (Tom) of Florida, VACATIONS (Santa Barbara, CA) Agnes Cruz (Beau) of Arizona, Stuart VanderPloeg (Rosemary) Holiday accommodation in Holland of Alberta and Wesley VanderPloeg (Glenda) of Alberta, late with vehicle Sirisumpuran (Switzerland) Cliff VanderPloeg (Marilyn), of Harriston, Tom VanderPloeg rentals and tours. Website: chestnutlane.nl Harkrishan (Switzerland) (Pat) of Alberta, Janice VanderPloeg of Shallow Lake, Glenn Denise and John Deen (Minneapolis, MN) VanderPloeg (Rhonda) of Owen Sound, Edward VanderPloeg Tobin and Sia (Minneapolis) (Jennifer) of Shallow Lake, Richard VanderPloeg (Tania) and Looking for a meaningful gift? Harold VanderPloeg (Helena) both of Alberta. Bronwyn and Joey (Minneapolis) Proud grandfather of 30 grandchildren and 15 great-grandchil- Aiden and Elizabeth (Stillwater, MN), Lucy dren. Dear brother of Ray VanderPloeg (Helen), of Woodstock Edgar and Karen Hielema (Toronto, ON), Peytra and brother-in-law of Alice VanderPloeg of Shallow Lake and and James Elisabeth VanderPloeg of Georgian Bluffs. John will be missed Condolences are welcome; please contact Bert at bert@ by many nieces and nephews. Predeceased by his parents, Sape hielema.ca or 8010A Hwy 37, Tweed, ON K0K 3J0 and Antje VanderPloeg; his grandson; Curtis VanderPloeg; his siblings, Ralph, Gerrit (Elizabeth), Dirk, Cornelius (Renske) VanderPloeg and Janna Dykstra (Jan). CLASSIFIEDS A private family visitation was held at the Brian E. Wood Funer- For information and to submit an ad, email ads@chris- al Home on Wednesday evening and a private funeral service Give your loved ones a subscription was held at the First Christian Reformed Church, on Thursday, tiancourier.ca or submit online at christiancourier.ca. to CC – a gift that lasts all year! November 19th, 2020 with Pastor Sid Couperus officiating. Next issue date: January 11, 2021 Condolences may be sent to Anna VanderPloeg c/o Ed and Jen- Deadlines: December 16, 2020 Use code “Gift” at checkout for $10 off! nifer VanderPloeg 759031 Concession 1 RR#1 Shallow Lake christiancourier.ca or call 1-800-275-9185 On N0H 2K0.

@ChrCourier ChrCourier CHRISTIANCOURIER.CA | DECEMBER 14, 2020 23 News

themselves up and making things BETTER ANGELS better. It wasn’t first of all about FINDING THE UPSIDE the inner metaphorical angels of Angela Reitsma Bick Peter Schuurman our good behaviour, but outside Peter is Executive Director of Global Scholars Canada, Contribut- help, heavenly hosts appearing to ing Editor of CC and author of The Subversive Evangelical: The the ruddy shepherds in occupied BY A WIDE MARGIN, the most-viewed article on our website this year Ironic Charisma of an Irreligious Megachurch. territory, carolling Good News was Lloyd Rang’s column called “The upside of COVID-19.” Despite of Great Joy that was for All The the title, this was not a feel-good fluff piece; it was an honest exam- People. These are the true better ination of the challenges we were all facing in March. And it clearly angels. resonated with you, as it was read and shared nearly 4,500 times online! As one reader called to say, “Christian Courier provides tremendous WAITING IN THE NIGHT encouragement.” Angels are the King’s messen- “I almost don’t even mind all of the unpronounceable Dutch names,” gers, and they didn’t rescue any- another joked. one that first Advent. They are To close out the year, I asked our columnists a few pandemic-related heralds, sent to announce big questions, and then found my own spirits rising as I scrolled through changes that everyone needs to their answers. May you be similarly blessed! Merry Christmas! know about. They chant the di- vine report: help is on the way. HAS THE PANDEMIC MADE WRITING EASIER OR MORE DIFFICULT? The distressed are going to be happy about this. Just you wait. EASIER: 60% What happened after their grand Fewer distractions HARDER: 40% broadcast? No army swooped into in quarantine; more More challenging to town. No lightning came and dis- time at home; plenty be sensitive to the integrated the Roman overlords. of issues to address situation of readers. No, there wasn’t a sudden rescue with the Gospel. for Israel. This was the news: IF WE CAN’T GET ANGELS, there is nothing anyone on the planet wants a baby was born in a backwater HAS BEING AT HOME MORE HAD ANY UNEXPECTED BENEFITS? more for Christmas this year than a vaccine for the coronavirus. We town, a child of promise. He was More requests for writing and online events – David Koyzis. are told it’s on the way, but we must be patient. A global pandemic hope in a feeding trough. Still, Taking in thought-provoking speakers & diverse worship services can’t be subdued in a day. This is our first COVID Christmas, and they had years to wait for this without travelling – Kathy Vandergrift. hopefully, by God’s mercy, our last. King to rally his peace corps. Having my husband home for lunch is lovely – Katie Munnik. We’ve had distressing recessions in my time, but overall I must As I write today, it’s dark out- Lunchtime food & board games with my wife – Tom Wolthuis. confess I have lived a sheltered life, having never been immediately side, and I’m preparing a eulogy Rediscovering my hobby of ham radio – Derek Schuurman. threatened or even inconvenienced by any sort of natural or social ca- for a colleague’s funeral, a death Even more naps than normal – Curt Gesch. tastrophe. Others have felt the effects of this transnational catastrophe unrelated to COVID. He was a Purging computer files and filing cabinets, long walks with my wife, much more acutely: mental illness, job loss and death. It’s been life gentleman and a scholar, a saint of feeding chickadees, longer emails to friends, less time and money shattering. This year has also seen excruciating social tensions in our the church, a sinner who seemed on driving – Bob Bruinsma. oversized neighbour to the south. On top of a botched response to the in touch with his better angels. He Reduced my carbon footprint without trying too much pandemic, they’ve had racial violence and riots, and one of the most still had much good to do, but his – Kathy Vandergrift. raucous and contested elections I have ever witnessed. All this noise body could not match his aspira- distracts from our own Canadian troubles, not to mention planetary tions. He taught over 4,300 stu- WHAT ARE YOU GRATEFUL FOR RIGHT NOW? perils like climate change. dents through the years, but only Virtually everything. It’s been a difficult year in so many ways, but In the midst of all that, what might Christmas mean this year? 50 people can come to his funeral. some amazing things have happened as well – David Koyzis. There has been talk in the U.S. about turning to “the better angels of Angels come to those keep- Being healthy and having my wife, children and grand-children all our nature” in the spirit of Abraham Lincoln. In fact, charities, books, ing watch out in the field at COVID-free up till now – Bob Bruinsma. films, songs and even a beer have recently been named “Better An- night, whispering hope of radical My family’s health and how technology is keeping us connected with gels.” It’s hope at work. change. Things will be different faraway friends – Katie Munnik. While I realize it is a reference to our own best inclinations, in con- soon. The church, as a herald of A wonderful wife to shelter at home with – Derek Schuurman. trast to our basest instincts, be they tribal or other inner demons we the kingdom, can itself be a bet- Local young couples with children who keep us young-ish may let loose, the first advent was not about human beings picking ter angel that bears witness to – Curt Gesch. such good news. The message, More aware that I am among the very privileged – Kathy Vandergrift. as always, is “Wait. The King has My only comfort in life and death, health and family –Tom Wolthuis. come, and he will come again. Be My wife, my son, and our daughter . . . arriving in March patient.” – Lloyd Rang. There is happiness in gifts, good food, family connections and bright lights. I hope you can enjoy such festivities within the limits of our pandemic. More im- portantly, however, may the warm glow of the Great Joy for All Peo- ple bring light to your dark place, knowing we wait for the return of the King, who is greater than any vaccine. Get ready. Hark! The herald angels sing! Lloyd Rang and his family.

24 DECEMBER 14, 2020 | CHRISTIAN COURIER