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...a beautiful day today. If it wasn't -23C (-4F) with the wind chill, you would think we lived at the beach! (No, that's not a factory that we have in our view, nor is it Tibet's Potala Palace, it's St. Joseph's Hospital, which isn't, in case you were wondering, where we are going to have our baby. We're traveling all the way across town instead!)
Ms. Wendy just woke up (11:45 a.m.), she needs her sleep, but otherwise she's fine. And I mean fine.
Ok, I'm cutting myself off...no more blogging!
...and new strange pains. Is it the full moon or the beginnings of labour? We spent a day filled with a new burst of energy (or is it anxiety?) to get together the never-ending final details. It's hard to believe that we will ever be completely ready for the new baby, but one thing for sure, he or she is coming very soon...
For more about Jeanie, see below.
Rev. Eugene Rivers came and kicked Toronto's ass on the gangs and guns issue.
For the past three days Eugene (above with Ontario's premier...um, Eugene's the guy on the right in case you couldn't figure that out already) has been the lead story on just about every Toronto news program and newspaper. I've never seen a preacher take a town like this since Pope John Paul II came to Toronto a couple of years ago for what some called "Popestock."
Rev. Eugene can be controversial and over the top (note his new glasses), but ever since I first met him some years ago through Sojourners, I've always thought he was basically right on in his "we're all in this together" approach to stopping urban violence.
Here's some of what was reported in The Toronto Star this week:
Rivers, one of the architects of the "Boston miracle," which dramatically reduced gun crime there, was brought to Toronto by the faith community.
"We come out of the meeting with an understanding that there are mutual obligations," Rivers said. "Now it is incumbent on the black leadership, represented in the meeting, to generate the kinds of politically and programmatically viable proposals that can be over the long term produced to correct a correctable problem."
Boston's strategy succeeded because pastors, like Rivers, moved in and began mentoring drug dealers and young men at risk of joining gangs.
Strengthening the capacity of faith-based organizations to "mentor the most violent young people in the poorest neighbourhoods," is one element of a possible proposal for Toronto, Rivers said.
"Ministering, mentoring, monitoring," needs to be part of a broader strategy of "prevention, intervention and enforcement," Rivers said, echoing comments he made earlier in the day to a dozen local city councillors.
While Rivers said he was very encouraged by the response he got from the premier, he said there is only so much the government can do.
"This is a family conversation. It requires that the black community come together, stop making excuses, move beyond rhetoric, race card and focuses on how do we as a community become more accountable?" Rivers said.
"We are simply asking the government to help us in developing programs that serve young people," he said.
Here's just one of many links on Rev. Rivers' visit.
“...were we led all that way for Birth or Death? There was a Birth, certainly, We had evidence and no doubt. I had seen birth and death, But had thought they were different”
As you can see, New Year's Eve brought Toronto a nice little snowstorm. We're still waiting for the big one though (Editor's note for the Californians reading: I mean big snowstorm, not big earthquake). Today it's 2006, but the weather is still pretty much the same. Well, what do you know?
Last night Ms. Wendy and I ordered a pizza from Vesuvios and watched not one but two DVDs (this on the biggest party night of the year--are we almost ready to be parents or what?), "Kinsey," a movie we rented three times, even paid late fees on once, but just got around to watching. Very interesting. We also watched a movie called "Pancho Villa" with Antonio Banderas--who else?--that was kind of dumb like most Antonio Banderas films are. Then, having just barely been able to withstand boring Banderas without falling asleep, Ms. Wendy and I stood out on the balcony pictured above to greet the new year. It was amazing to hear people screaming "Happy New Year!" from all these balconies around here. "What a strange custom," Ms. Wendy said. I agreed.
I always feel fresh and filled with potential on New Year's Day. Don't you? The other things I always do is watch the Rose Bowl (well, at least I did before it was moved to January 4...and the Rose Parade now on Jan. 2? Wow, how postmodern is that?) and remember the time (or times) my grandmother BamBea made French Onion soup with a piece of toast floating in it. This would have been around 1969 or 1970. I seem to remember her saying it's the tradition. Now I'm not sure who's tradition it is...but even though I haven't had any French Onion soup on New Year's Day since then, I do think of it as my tradition. Yum.
Happy New Year!
