Soul

WATERLOO, Ont. (CUP) —Dante Ryel has lost seven pounds since Parliament resumed. Living only on a diet of water and supplements, he’s fasting until he can get commitment from a senator to sponsor Bill C-311 — the Climate Change Accountability Act.

“I’m extremely concerned about climate change,” said Ryel, “and the issue is becoming more and more critical as time goes on.”

In this post-modern/post-Christian/post-something world, many of us are on a quest for self-discovery. We want to know who we are and what our purpose is. Many of us also want to do this on our own.

Since many of us long to be unique, it makes sense that we look inside ourselves. However, getting to know our inner-self is not the answer to finding our own identities: getting to know God is.

Nearly a month ago, 713 Garner Road East became the home of the Paideia Centre for Public Theology. While the house is owned by Redeemer University College, it is being leased by the Paideia Centre on a long-term contract. To those of you unfamiliar with the Paideia Centre it is 'an academic Christian study centre committed to relating the Gospel to all areas of life'.

“Now when Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua went up to him and asked, ‘Are you for us or for our enemies?’ ‘Neither,’ he replied, ‘but as commander of the army of the LORD I have now come’” (Josh. 5: 13-14).

“As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another” (Prov. 27: 17).

In public high school, I was a Christian. But when I came here, something strange happened: I became a Pentecostal. I mean, I was always Pentecostal, but suddenly that’s how I was introducing myself. And I met other Christians who also strangely introduced themselves as Reformed or Catholic or Baptist and so on. Through these four years of strangeness, I have tried in small ways to get a sense for what these ‘other Christianities’ are, and hopefully these ‘senses’ can help us all to call ourselves Christians again.

Saying the Lord’s prayer has not always been easy for me. I have recited it time and time again, but lately I have been having difficulty finishing it. It is a tough prayer to pray. To say to God, “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven,” can be scary in times of crisis. Praying this line has not always been difficult for me to do. The point in the prayer that goes, “give us this day our daily bread,” is usually where I stop and pause, and question whether or not I should be praying those words.

“I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” (Matt. 5: 44) “Those who live by the sword will die by the sword.” (Matt. 26: 52)

“If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.” (Rom .12: 18)

“How many times must the cannonballs fly before they’re forever banned?

The answer my friend, is blowing in the wind.”  (Bob Dylan)

By Leanna Roy The Lance (University of Windsor) WINDSOR, Ont. (CUP)

In 2008, part time philosophy professor David Peck founded the non-governmental organization called SoChange. Peck describes the purpose of SoChange as “encouraging others to think differently about themselves and about the majority world. It’s about planting seeds of change of various kinds. We teach, we build capacity, we organize public events, we advocate and we assist NGO’s as they try to raise funds.