******

It’s almost a year since we took our family to the U2 Concert in Edmonton. We had ‘floor’ tickets so we lined up early to be near the stage. While we were waiting a well-trained and well-supplied army of young, cool volunteers were signing up fans electronically for the ONE campaign, giving out wristbands to those who signed, and having us enroll to receive Amnesty International emails. In addition to this impressively organized effort, 10 minutes of the concert were devoted to a personal video address from Burma’s pro-democracy leader, Aung San Suu Kyi made especially for U2 fans. Bono even gave a shout-out to the people of Slave Lake who had just a week before, suffered the second most costly natural disaster in Canadian history.

I was happy that the money that thousands of us around the world had spent on tickets wasn’t going entirely to enrich the musicians (even though it is U2 – they deserve to be rich), buy a ridiculously elaborate (and amazing) stage and pay for the many, many semi-trailers in the parking lot together with the diesel bill and road crew of each. It was neat that we were invited to be part of something much bigger than the coolest rock and roll show of all time. But the questions have rung for a year… does it matter that I signed that petition? Does it help? To make a difference where should I have sent the significant amount of money it cost us to buy the tickets and get the family to Edmonton and back? What did I actually sign based on Bono’s endorsement without really reading it? Do I agree with it? Is this what we’ve come to – that fundamental Human Rights issues have become a side-show to rampantly materialistic pursuits? Is U2 dignifying these issues or using them? Are they sincere? Am I?

In a country like Canada the fact that we can take our rights for granted is a gorgeous thing. It frees us to broaden our skills, improve our employment prospects, beautify our homes, neighborhoods, workplaces and communities, get fit, play sports, visit with friends, learn to cook, paint or play music, enjoy concerts in the park, worship (or not, as we choose) and find ways to reduce our environmental impact. I believe those who have died for our freedoms would want us to enjoy them and use them well; we must be grateful and not guilty. So I say, God Bless Bono and the members of U2 for staying together, making beautiful and profound music for decades, using their fame to defend the defenseless and for creating the wonderful, exciting, absurd 360° concert experience that made me think a little harder about these questions.

But the questions have continued to ring because obviously going to a U2 concert is awesome, but not enough. Going forward I intend to follow U2’s example more closely. Though the number and scale of issues and abuses can be overwhelming, it does matter that I inform myself and use at least some of my freedom, creativity, skills, time, and money to show in peaceful and persistent ways, from my place in the body of humankind, “I care.”

Last month I was asked by my faith community to organize a public event in Kelowna in defense of the Bahá’ís in Iran, to advertise it widely and to invite local dignitaries. The systematic persecution of the Bahá’ís in Iran is an issue that is receiving a growing amount of international attention from well-known leaders such as Bishop Desmond Tutu and Senator Romeo Dallaire.

On behalf of the Bahá’í Community of Kelowna, I invite you to attend a brief information session on May 26^th from 2:30 – 3:30 pm at the UBCO Ballroom UNC200 to learn more and find out what you can do.  Our friends in Iran inspire us every day and we believe their story will inspire you, too. The event will also include the personal stories of Central Okanagan citizens, a brief talk by MLA Norm Letnick and the screening of the powerful short film, “Education Under Fire”.  Whether or not you can attend we invite you to learn more through our companion website at http://faithandsacrifice.org. We sincerely believe that large numbers of people around the world being informed about the issues and making whatever statements they can to say, “I care” will make a difference.

Cindy Snedden
Event Coordinator
sneddens@telus.net 

I love the vibe (and marketing) of how Miller is approaching this topic in the form of his movie, Hellbound, and asked for permission to repost this latest article posted on the Hellbound Movie blog entitled

GOD LOVES YOU AND HAS A WONDERFUL PLAN FOR YOUR LIFE, BUT…

Here it is, from the horsie’s mouth, Kevin Miller writes…

A while back it occurred to me that I should always be suspicious of a theology that arises from the suburbs of North America, because its comfortable surroundings is bound to have a distorting effect.

But then I heard the voice of one of my mentors saying that when we feel the boat tipping in one direction, the natural human tendency is to run to the opposite side. So I probably shouldn’t put any more faith in a theology that arises from the dusty shantytowns of Soweto, because the conditions of deprivation are bound to have a distorting effect. No matter which direction I run, the boat is still going to capsize.

But who is content to sit in the middle, especially when everyone else is running from one side to the other? And who can sit still with all of this rocking? Maybe the solution is to run back and forth so quickly we create the illusion of stability…

I don’t know the answer to that, but I do know that right now, I live a pretty comfortable life. I look out the window of my spacious office and see a few cows lounging in a lush, green field spotted with yellow dandelions. Beyond them, a farmer harvests his first cut of hay. My doors are unlocked and my windows are open. My four-year-old daughter runs back and forth from our house to the neighbors, and I never worry about anything bad happening to her in between. When I go to bed at night, I don’t fret about someone breaking in while we’re asleep. The most powerful weapon I own–a BB gun–couldn’t penetrate a pair of jeans at 10 feet, and the reason I own it has nothing to do with personal protection.

I make note of this, because I realize my present state of peace and security is bound to distort the way I look at hell. Even though my city was the murder capital of Canada a few years back, I rarely come face-to-face with human depravity in its most chilling forms. Like most people, I have the luxury of merely reading about it in the newspaper. So when I express my discomfort with the idea of God punishing people in hell forever, perhaps you could accuse me of being glib, because I’ve never been victimized to the point where the desire to see someone suffer forever would arise in my heart. Maybe if my daughter disappeared on her way to my neighbor’s house, and her mutilated body showed up in the Fraser River a few weeks later, I’d feel differently.

I hope I never have to answer that question from personal experience. But I recognize that many thousands of people are in the thick of such situations every day. If they have a window, their view is distorted by security bars and stone walls topped by shards of glass. And rather than a few cows lounging in a field of lush grass spotted by dandelions, they see a few scraggly chickens pecking at a stream of raw sewage that runs unnoticed down a street packed with smoke-spewing mopeds, crowds of people and mounds of rotting trash. They live in constant fear of human traffickers seducing or abducting their children. And when they go to bed at night, they’re plagued cold, hunger and fear for their personal security.

Somehow in the face of all this, Louis Armstrong had the gall to sing “What a Wonderful World.” Centuries before him, Gottfried Leibniz dared to call this “the best of all possible worlds.” And today, we hear countless Christian witnessing attempts begin with the words, “God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life.”

Really? Then how do you explain this:

One response would be to say God loves these children, and though the evil they suffered was tragic, it ultimately served a greater good. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard Christians argue that evil is necessary in order to preserve free will. If we’re to freely choose God,we need a viable option. Hence the need for evil. The problem is, that pretty much reduces the children in the picture to collateral damage. They paid the price so that someone else could freely choose God–or not.

Another option would be to say that God doesn’t actually love these children–at least not in the same way he loves HIS children. From before the foundation of the world, he chose a remnant for himself. But then he went ahead and created the rest of the people anyway, knowing they were essentially hardwired to choose evil. But their rejection of God, and the subsequent destruction they committed, would merely be the dark cloth against which God’s goodness would shine all the brighter. So you could say the evil these children suffered ultimately brings glory to God–or not.

I don’t see any easy way out of this. In fact, my worst fear is having to face the same question Martin Bashir threw at Rob Bell last spring when he interviewed him about Love Wins: “Which of these is true, either God is all-powerful and, therefore, doesn’t care about the people in Japan and their suffering [from the earthquake], or he does care about the people of Japan but he’s not all-powerful. Which one is it?”

If we’re going to talk about hell, the problem of evil is front and center. And what is our theology of hell if not a way of coming to termswith the ultimate paradox–a universe supposedly created by an all-loving, all-knowing, all-powerful God, but which is also rampant with all sorts of pain, death and destruction?

God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life, but… Somehow it’s all gone to shit.

All of humanity screams “Why?”

And what does your theology of hell have to say in response?

As always, this will be hosted at the Streaming Cafe
596 Leon Ave.
Kelowna, BC
Website: http://streamingcafe.net

Full lineup TBA but so far we have:

Bjorn Kriel
Seth MacGregor

As Canadian artist Corin Raymond puts it in his liner notes from “There Will Always Be A Small Time”, “Nowadays some of the best songs being written, anywhere, by anyone, are being sold out of the trunks of cars. They’re making the rounds of festival stores, stage-side merch tables, house concert sideboards, and consequently truck stereos, CD players and iPods.”

I also love what Sexton is saying here in terms of music being a unifying force. This was something that has impressed me even from the early days of my songwriting when I noticed that a good song was one of the few things that truly brought people from different walks of life into the same room for awhile to hear something that could be meaningful together.

Peace, flowers and grooviness to you too Mr. Sexton.

TribeHouse: How many pictures did this take to complete?

Jimmy Balfour: I think it was around 2,000 pictures, 1 every 5 seconds.

TH: How long did it take?

JB: It was about 3 hours of actual shooting.

TH: What’s the inspiration behind this song?

JB: This song came spontaneously out of trying to finish a completely different song. It was really like a breath of fresh air. It captures the feeling of anticipation right before a new journey begins. It’s like standing right at the edge of the sea, knowing that others have gone before you, and that your time is about to come. It also has to do with the idea of transformation, and grace I suppose, but grace with a bit of angst if that’s possible.

TH: Was this painting spontaneous or mapped out beforehand?

JB: The actual painting process was spontaneous, but the timing was mapped out through the editing process to fit the song.

TH: What do you hope to communicate with this video / song?

JB: When we get it right, the fusion of music and painting is a powerful thing. It’s something we don’t even really understand, but that mystery is also what we love about it. The idea is that something can be beautiful and inspiring without the need for an explanation. It just is what it is. It’s not that the song or the painting are void of meaning, it’s just that the meaning can change and grow from one person to the next. Everyone looks at it differently, and everyone informs it with something different from their own unique perspective. So in a way it’s an interactive experience. That aspect of it brings us a lot of joy.

Jimmy Balfour & Nikki Balfour will be playing at the Lille Gard Festival this summer if you’d like to hear / see them: lillegardfestival.com
Visit Jimmy Balfour’s website: http://www.jimmybalfour.com

Obama told ABC News’ Robin Roberts that he had an “evolution” on the issue and he came to the decision after conversations with his family, staff members and openly gay and lesbian members of the military.

“When I think about those soldiers or airmen or marines or sailors who are out there fighting on my behalf and yet feel constrained, even now that ‘Don’t Ask Don’t Tell’ is gone, because they are not able to commit themselves in a marriage, at a certain point I’ve just concluded that for me personally it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same sex couples should be able to get married,” Obama said in the interview.

In 2004, as a candidate for the US Senate, he cited his own religion in framing his views: “I’m a Christian. I do believe that tradition and my religious beliefs say that marriage is something sanctified between a man and a woman.”

Here is the evolution of President Barack Obama’s views on gay marriage. First, here’s an interview with him in 2004.

Then, today on ABC, here are his new views…

President Barack Obama supports gay marriage

Obviously there have been a lot of reactions in the political world (both for and against) with his new declaration but the big question is, how will this affect our culture?

What are your views on this whole topic? Do you think a significant cultural shift will take place because of it or does it even matter?

It’s fascinating to hear her explain about the power of design and how, in the 1800s, Dr. John Snow used it to stop the spread of cholera.

“I always love the power of design to take something that is complex and use visuals to make it compelling… and in this case it changed the world.”

With her Covaga project she points out that many projects are created and designed by the experts and sent out to the people who need them. She proposes that ”…we need to look at many of us as the expert. You are the expert of your own experience and the reason you don’t take action on things is because sometimes you don’t even feel you have a place at the table.”

Have you got any ideas you’re working on that need to be brought into action?

About Kara Pecknold:

Kara Pecknold graduated with a degree in English Literature, taught business communications in Eastern Europe and led educational teams in Thailand. But it was her ongoing fascination with language, design and the global impacts of each that led her to return to Vancouver and pursue an MAA in Design at Emily Carr, where she focused her research on cross-cultural design process. Her graduate work in Rwanda has been included as a case study in IDEO’s Human-Centered Design Toolkit. Kara can be found at Dossier creating design research tools or at Emily Carr University teaching a course she has developed that connects diverse students to the idea of designing for social innovation.

You agree or disagree with him?

After loosing everything, Joshua Smith on a whim, drove to a small BC town, walked into a dusty old pawn shop and bought a beat up little guitar (Ellie). He brought Ellie home, fixed her up and wrote these 6 songs. Ellie and this EP represent a new life, a new start and thoughts from the past with inspiring lyrics and catchy hum along melodies.

TRIBEHOUSE: What was the biggest inspiration for this latest album for you?

JOSHUA SMITH: Ellie (my guitar) represents life for me, when I found Ellie beat up and unplayable but beautiful and interesting, I saw myself in the guitar. Bringing Ellie back to life was a turning point for me. Each song I wrote with her brought me back to life a little, it’s kinda like Ellie was returning the favor :0)

TH: What types of responses are you getting from the album?

JS: I have had great responses! I am getting feedback from all over North America. I had a guy in Arkansas say it is one his fave albums this year. Another lady from New York said the lyrics have caused her to look at her life and reevaluate, it gave her hope! Pretty deep feedback but I have lots of folks saying it’s a great “on your way to work” album too :0)

TH: Pain seems to be something that has triggered songwriting for you… how do you think walking through these hard times will affect your style and audience?

JS: I think style wise I will always have my own flavor. Developing as an artist is a gradual thing, there are events and places where an artist’s style is affected and they add a little something to their craft. This past year has stretched me as an artist both lyrically and musically. My lyrics have matured a lot, so I think I have opened myself up to a different fan group. I am still who I was, I have just added more to who I am now, I’m all growed up :0)

TH: What’s the best gig you’ve played in the last 6 months and which one are you looking forward to the most?

JS: Playing for the Paul Young evening was by far the highlight of the year so far. To have 250 people silent and listening to my music, my message was beyond words, I mean, that’s what it is all about as a songwriter, to have people stop what they are doing and listening to what I have to say. An honorable mention would have to be playing a gig at Good Omens Coffee House a while back, it was so great, because it was a cozy room with 25 – 30 people in it who were there to listen.

As for gigs I am looking forward to, Lille Gard is going to be a hoot! Of all the festivals I have performed at, Lille Gard is by far the most friendly, most intimate and has amazing talented musicians/bands.

Joshua Smith’s new album is available now on iTunes here.
Follow Joshua Smith on all the popular sites like Twitter & Facebook.

“Dust of Famous people is a deconstruction where we take elements of humanity and break them down into their basic forms of dust and water.” This project raises some foundational questions for us as humans: Who are we? What are we? How are we valuable in comparison to another person?

The inspiration for this project:

Imagine a group of life-size and fully transparent people from all walks of life, from a world-class star to a prominent and middle class person to a nobody (someone who has struggled or even been rejected by the world). They all face and behold the dust of their mortality, that they hold in their hands. Is this not a metaphor that visualizes a very simple but basic ancient truth of our humanity? For if we engage ourselves with the fact of our mortality, we can come to a realization that positions people of various stature and class on the same level and humbles every hidden human arrogance.

For more about Bryan Haab & the Soul Works Foundation check out their website: www.soulworks.ch