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I’m one who loves the future – the hope, the creativity, the renewal.

I’m also a bit of a historian – the past carries valuable lessons, searched out solutions and just plain fun illustrations.

And the now?  Well here I am – the present is . . . and the choices we make are a weaving of the past and future.  And joy and rest are found in the threads we weave that intersect with right now.

So, think ahead, think back and plunge into the canvas you are weaving – use a palette of many colours and wear the coat with pleasure and enjoyment.

Oh, by the way – God has got you.  If you start from there and look for where God is working the fireworks will not explode in your face but will light up you sky.

To my wife and friends – yes, I do like a bit of poetry every once in a while.

My mother passed away the morning of January 11, 2023.  She was 90 years old, a pioneer of hospitality, “million watt smile (Cal Ross)”, artistic, generous, loving and sometimes a bit OCD.   I loved her as a person of opinion and integrity.  Thank you for you care and concern over the decades.  I will miss my mom!!!

I’ve been challenged by a recent article in Christianity Today.  The subject was Sabbath – what does a day of rest mean.

In simple terms:  as part of a creation story in the middle and near East, the king would create his kingdom.  When the creating was done – the labour was finished – the king then went about ruling the kingdom.  The rest was in the ability to enjoy the finished project.  When the infrastructure was completed, you begin to reign.

Which is somewhat opposite to many views of the Sabbath.  Prominent is the idea of leisure – escaping the current situation to dismiss responsibility.  Or the idea of sleep and inactivity.  Or perhaps even becoming deeply “selfish” and abandoning the world around to find yourself.

If I read this interpretation rightly, what you are building during the week should be that which provides you the most enjoyable activity on the Sabbath.  To work righteously, to be merciful, to love justice then requires on the Sabbath a way to see that work of creation come to the enjoyment of those work hours by reigning within those areas.  Settling in to the creation and loving it!

Will that look like work?  To those around you – probably!  To yourself = not at all.

I am a newly re-minted librarian this past while.  I’m enjoying a return to the librarianship field. 

In 1986 I graduated with a Master of Library Science.  At that time the discussion was about whether the title should include the word “Information”.  Those thinking ahead were prophetic.  In our current world we are about the task of being literate about information.  The library was originally the warehouse of “books”, then also included other media.  In deference to the increasing amount of books, reference librarians helped to point out where in the warehouse a book could be found. The art of reference librarianship was to be able to point out credible and useful sources for a searcher.

As the world moved into a digital age the proliferation of published (public) works became overwhelming.  The masters of information began a tedious task of helping people to know which information to choose.  The titles of misinformation, disinformation and fake news arose. 

But one of the tenets of librarianship was under attack.  The library was to provide access to the world of information.  This has largely been taken over, in a digital age, by information/archival servers such as Google, Facebook, Twitter and a host of others.  As with the music industry a half century ago, the book world had to adjust.

The librarian elite responded with “information literacy”.  The cry discerned in the listening was – “tell me what to read/see/hear”.   As a start, the searcher was to discern their subject/desire of information.  Clarify this and then search out information sources effectively and efficiently.  The information must be evaluated critically before incorporating this information into his or her knowledge base and value system.  A final caveat is that, in the information search, there are economic, legal and social issues that surround the use of information.  Thus the searcher must use information ethically and legally.  [This is a paraphrase of standards on information literacy competency as put forth by the Association of College and Research Libraries]

Which brings us to the statement that information literacy is censorship.  In the broadest sense of the word.  Don’t use information to oppress the poor, don’t use information to find loopholes, don’t use information to undermine a righteous society.  Step with me one step further.  If we know there are lies out there (and many euphemisms to describe them), information literacy requires a truth base to decide what the lies are.  Plainly put, a truth base then censors un-truth.

Information literacy is censorship.  And that’s OK.