Converge Magazine // 19

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the adventure of commitment When the richest of adventures is found in the everyday

is christianity a ‘choose your own adventure’ religion?

Because us postmoderns need to know

feza ertek: from muslim to christ One woman's spiritual journey

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top 10 religious pilgrimages The inner and outer spiritual journeys that remain to this day

get off your smartphone and live your life Although we crave love, we often settle for likes

fall 2014 academic guide

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FALL 2014 | Issue 19

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COURAGE

to think deeply to act justly to live fully

“

I’m a strong believer that the food we eat affects our health. “[My Calvin education] has allowed me to realize that I can’t change everything. But I can make a small difference…and do little things to make things a little bit better— if not great.

–Briella Cumings ’15, public health major

You want to change the world. And you will. At Calvin, you’ll learn to work collaboratively with students and professors toward small, meaningful changes that impact big issues. Improve water filtration techniques for well water in Kenya. Develop cancer therapy techniques that make treatment easier for patients. Learn to make lifestyle choices that demonstrate one of your highest callings—to love your neighbor as yourself, here and around the world.

Explore what it means to think deeply, act justly and live fully at www.calvin.edu/go/courage.

www.calvin.edu 2 | CONVERGE. fall 2014

Calvin College admits students of any race, color and national or ethnic origin.

table of contents

Issue 19: Adventure

photography By kamil lehmann

7

meeting god on adventures abroad Finding the Creator in the most uncomfortable of situations.

17 how to find adventure at home It’s easy to forget how great your own community can actually be.

22 q&a: daniel perrett Why he biked across Canada, raising money and awareness about human trafficking.

30 get off your smartphone and live your life

9

emerge Showcasing innovative and original startups, including Nettle's Tale, Early Entrepreneurs, and Raycroft.

18 top 10 religious pilgrimages

14 Reveal Fraser River: it all starts with a humble, dripping, mountain spring.

20 5 underestimated travel destinations

The inner and outer spiritual

Going off the beaten tourist

journeys that remain active

track to places like Hungary

to this day.

and the Philippines.

24 love’s a mystery How “single-and-not-looking” turned into “in-love-and-engaged” within a matter of months.

32 Higher education

26 feza ertek: from muslim to christ One woman’s spiritual journey: is it woven by God or by the tapestry of chance?

38 is christianity a ‘choose your own adventure’ religion?

Profiles of Christian post-secondary Although we crave love, we often settle for likes.

42 the adventure of commitment Sometimes, the richest of adventures can be found in the everyday.

schools, to help with your education decisions.

48 culture A review of two of the latest Christian "man guides" and album reviews for Hamilton Leithauser, Phox, and Saintseneca.

Because us postmoderns, we want options.

50 predicting the future How taking a risk isn't foolish at all; it actually could be the wise choice.

CONVERGEMAGAZINE.COM | 3

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opinions expressed in converge magazine are not necessarily those of the staff, board, and contributors of converge media inc.

4 | CONVERGE. fall 2014

Editor’s letter

Issue 19: Adventure

nobody cries at the end of a movie about a guy who wants a volvo. donald miller, a million miles in a thousand years

ou can feel the blood drumming its way into your damp fingertips, air barely staying in your lungs. Your insides are wretchedly twisted and clamped in utter agony. And your heart feels way too big for your rib cage.

Adventure. Even though it can be terrifying, there’s something about it that makes you want to come back for more.

A certain element of risk is needed for any adventure; things might not work out the way you expect. But herein lies the thrill: the call to the unknown both unnerves and entices, simultaneously.

Indeed, taking risks is part of the human experience — we are created for it. Dopamine, the chemical in the brain responsible for motivation, gives us that feeling of intense satisfaction when we accomplish something. And the more unpredictable the outcome, the greater the amount of dopamine released.

So I find it interesting that we don’t seek out risks more often. How, instead of exploring uncertainty, we’ve settled into the recesses of our couches. We live vicariously through television characters.

We order takeout rather than try a new recipe. Or, as Donna Chapman explores in “Get off your smartphone and live your life,” we post passive-aggressive comments online instead of actually confronting the situation head-on.

But, every so often, we crave a break in the mundane. We want to experience that sense of conquering the unknown.

So we’ve relegated adventure to a particular time or place: on holiday, climbing a mountain, bungee jumping.

(The adventure tourism industry has increased by 65 per cent every year since 2009, according to the 2013 Adventure Tourism Market Study.

Developing Christian Leaders When the report was published in August of last year, adventure was a $263 billion industry.)

anyone, anywhere, anytime

And so our thrill craving is satiated, if we can afford it. Adventure is a luxury, detached from the everyday, as if it can’t exist amidst the routines of life.

By all means, get stranded in a train station, where all you see are people you can’t communicate with. Jump off a plane. Go, like Peter Woekel, to a school where you know no one, to a place you’ve never been before. Lose your paddle in a glacial river. You will learn more than you ever thought possible about yourself, the world around you, and the God who put you there.

But, as Ryan Cook writes, be cautious of seeing everything — including faith — as something catered for your individual needs and desires.

Instead, challenge yourself to take a risk, even in, as Kyle Stiemsma writes, such a routine undertaking as committing to something or someone. Because adventure can — it must — be infused into our daily realities. Through risk, we experience what it means to be human.

And it’s through risk, through allowing God to guide us to be in situations that are entirely uncomfortable, that we profoundly grow, in trust and in faith.

You don’t come to us— we come to you.

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Leanne Janzen

Rocky Mountain College

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6 | CONVERGE. fall 2014

REFLECT

Adventure

MEETING GOD ON ADVENTURES ABROAD

Written By brett mccracken Illustrated By matthew kim

“and so it was that all were brought safely to land.” acts 27:44

he Apostle Paul had a lot of travelling adventures, perhaps none more harrowing than the shipwreck episode in Acts 27. As Paul and other prisoners are being transported via boat from Caesarea to Rome, they encounter a fierce storm, followed by the boat running aground in a reef, resulting in passengers having to jump overboard and swim or ride pieces of wreckage to land. Everyone makes it to dry land (a miracle!), where the adventure continues. Paul survives a bite from a poisonous viper (miracle again!), heals the father of the island’s governor, then heals the diseases of others on the island. After three months he gets on another boat to complete his journey to Rome, where prison awaits.

Paul’s adventures — whether surviving a shipwreck or escaping out a window in a basket — are part of a long biblical tradition of travel adventures: Noah and his family surviving history’s biggest storm in an ark, Abram leaving his home Ur for a land he knew little about, Moses and the Israelites escaping the Egyptian army and surviving for 40 years in the wilderness.

Movement, travel, journeying: these are central motifs in Scripture, as they are in the Christian life. Why? One reason is that these things jolt us out of what is comfortable, requiring us to step out on faith into the unknown and uncomfortable. In travelling we are stretched, humbled, matured, and reminded that the Christian experience is not meant to be one of “comfort zone” safety and self-reliance, but of faith and dependence on God. I’ve never been in a shipwreck in the Mediterranean, but I’ve had my share of travelling escapades: sleeping on a bench in Osaka and getting woken up by Japanese cops; getting accosted by drunken soccer hooligans on a train from York to Edinburgh; trying to sleep through all

sorts of disturbing things in a Parisian hostel. Though my life was never in danger in any of these situations, they were experiences I wanted to quickly escape. Once I did, the exhilarating mix of “I’m safe” and “what just happened?” ingrained each occurrence in my memory, lessons in gratitude and reliance on God. Another way travelling adventures can enrich our faith is simply by showing us new facets of God’s exotic world, confronting us with its gloriously peculiar variety and terrifying power. Whether hiking in the Patagonian Andes in Argentina, getting drenched on a boat underneath Iguazu Falls in Brazil, or dodging jellyfish on a Malaysian island beach, I’ve been lucky enough to experience God through thrilling encounters with the diversity of His creation.

“In travelling we are stretched, humbled, matured, and reminded that the christian experience is not meant to be one of ‘comfort zone’ safety and self-reliance.”

God can be encountered anywhere, it’s true; even in the safe confines of a gated community in the suburbs. But when we encounter Him on the road, in a foreign land, in cultures and landscapes utterly alien to us, we can know Him in a different way. We can also see ourselves more clearly: as fragile and transitory beings, smaller than we thought, sojourners in a land that’s not our own, called forth like Abram and Paul to leave the familiar and walk on in faith.

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emerge

Innovation & Originality

emerge Showcasing the innovative and original, here are some of the startups that have recently come on the scene.

raycroft

early entrepreneurs hat can a class do with $100? Raise more than five times that amount for charity. Early Entrepreneurs is a social enterprise that educates students in grades 4 to 12 on entrepreneurship while developing financial literacy and social responsibility. Classrooms are entrusted with a $100 microloan and encouraged to turn it into $500 or more through entrepreneurial means. The profits are then donated to local and global charity partners, creating a real impact in the lives of people all around the world.

The idea started as an experiment in Victoria, where 18 classrooms raised over $18,000. It has now expanded to an online platform with teachers all across Canada taking part. The interactive program provides classrooms with curriculum-integrated lesson plans, a $100 microloan, and a mentor to assist in the creation of their social ventures.

for more, visit: earlyentrepreneurs.ca

amed 2013’s Folk Artist of the Year at the Niagara Music Awards, Jordan Raycroft launched his singer-songwriter career in 2010 opening for JUNO nominee Peter Katz.

Over one hundred shows and two demos later, Raycroft released his self-titled debut album in April 2013. On top of a 2014 JUNO nomination, Raycroft has earned two 2013 GMA Canada Covenant Awards nominations including Folk/Roots Album of the Year.

Raycroft’s songs tell stories of real life experiences touching on themes of love, loss, justice, and redemption. And Raycroft isn’t just a solo act anymore, with the recent addition of Aaron Brown (drums), Joe Bonilla (guitar), Brad Barnham (keys), and Cody Poulton (bass). The band looks forward to the future as it works to push the boundaries of its genre.

for more, visit: raycroftmusic.com. the band tweets, facebooks, vines, and instagrams: @raycroftmusic.

CONVERGEMAGAZINE.COM | 9

A Christian University in Hamilton, Ontario

As an undergraduate university that encourages innovative teaching methods, Redeemer supports and promotes this type of student-centred learning that allows students to connect with their material and with their community.

- Dr. Darren Brouwer, Professor of Chemistry

ReAd mORe at MyRedeemer.ca/DrBrouwer

10 | CONVERGE. fall 2014

emerge

Innovation & Originality

nettle's tale

dan law an Law has always been an artist.

Though he chose not to pursue a career in the arts, the relentless desire to think and function artistically ultimately led Law to pursue graduate studies in Arts and Theology at Regent College.

ettle’s Tale, an honest swimwear company, tells the stories of different women. The swimsuits are made in Vancouver and inspired

by Pacific Northwest culture and local women, designed for their unique bodies and lifestyles.

Each woman models her namesake style and personally selects a charity to receive 10 percent of the proceeds from her design.

Nettle’s Tale’s innovative designs, social responsibility and refreshingly honest approach to marketing sparked international interest earlier this year when its Indiegogo campaign reached more than 700 percent of the initial funding goal of $10,000.

It was through these studies he was able to unpack many of the roots of conflict between western Christianity and modern art, and came away with a renewed freedom and desire to understand and explore theology through the arts.

to shop for swimsuits or read more about the women who inspired them, visit: nettlestale.com

Though his formal art training focused primarily on conceptual art, his love of theatre, traditional arts, and indigenous materials has led to installations in which narrative and figurative elements play a strong role.

for more on dan law's art, visit: danlaw.ca

Summit Park Retreat & Conference Centre Booking May to August 80 mountainside acres 1 hour from vancouver Call alf Deeley at 604.851.7236

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emerge

Innovation & Originality

ST. PETER'S FIRESIDE

for more, visit: stpetersfireside.org

Written By Michael chase

f you had told me two years ago that I would be pastoring a new Anglican church plant in downtown Vancouver, there is no way I would have believed you. My wife and I are originally from Edmonton, but moved to Vancouver about five years ago so I could study at Regent College. Our plan throughout had been that we would return to Edmonton.

He said we needed to talk. We did. And the rest is history, as they say.

But in my last year at Regent we met Alastair and Julia Sterne, the couple who planted St. Peter’s Fireside. Alastair, a native of Victoria, B.C., and Julia, a Floridian, began praying many years ago about planting a church in the heart of downtown Vancouver.

Their vision was to see Vancouver reclaimed and renewed by the gospel and the work of Christ through His church.

Although it was planted out of a large nondenominational church in Orlando, St. Peter’s is distinctly Anglican. We use a liturgical form of service, which means we sit and stand, say things in unison, and repeat the historic creeds of the church. We do this because we want to be in line with how the church has worshipped for 2,000 years, but more than that, we believe that liturgy shapes us. It helps us to walk through the story of the gospel, reminding us that we are to go out into the world with the gospel on our lips.

Alastair had seen me lead music and services at St.. John’s and had heard that I preached.

St. Peter’s Fireside is a growing and vibrant church in downtown Vancouver. Although we have only been meeting for weekly services since November 2013, people have been gathering in homes and coffee shops for about two years.

Our mission statement serves as a reminder of that outward orientation: “Joining God in the spiritual, social, and cultural renewal of our city, through communities transformed by the gospel, all to the glory of God.” We recognize that we live in an incredibly beautiful and exciting city, filled with wonderful, caring people. But we also know that the city is deeply broken, full of people who desperately need the transforming hope of the gospel.

As we rehearse the gospel on Sunday mornings through prayer and Bible reading, preaching, and music, we believe that people are formed into the likeness of Christ. These people in turn go back to their families, work places, and communities and become agents of Christ’s transformation in those broken places.

We know that when Jesus returns He will make all things new, but He’s in the business of doing that already through His church.

So whatever communities in which we are involved — the arts, sports, education, business, construction, health care — we want more than anything to see God bring renewal to those places.

This vision was one of the major reasons why my wife Carrie and I ended up at St. Peter’s.

It has been a perfect fit in so many ways. I get to do some of my favourite things in the world: leading music, preaching, and teaching.

It has been such an incredible gift to help pastor this community over this last year, and I have been humbled by God’s provision in all of this. But what excites me most about being at St. Peter’s is being allowed to dream of what God might do in and through this little community.

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reveal

FRASER RIVER

photography & words By joel bentley

Just west of the Alberta border in the shadows of Mount Robson, the Fraser River begins its journey. Already rolling through etched banks at a brisk pace, the soda-blue glacial waters have a long way to go: 1,375 km down through the Rocky Mountain Trench, then northwest up past the 54 degree parallel to Prince George, where it takes a sharp turn and heads south, cutting into the Fraser Plateau. Then it churns down, down into the white water rapids of the Fraser Canyon, emerging between the Cascades and the Coastal Mountains through a 35 metre crack known as Hell’s Gate, before rushing through the Fraser Valley, into the Georgia Strait.

But before all that, the river has humble beginnings. Up a bushwhacked trail to the high altitude plains of the Fraser Pass, the river begins as a dripping spring, one small droplet at a time.

The average rate of flow of the Fraser River could fill three swimming pools in one second.

14 | CONVERGE. fall 2014

Photography

Fraser River

CONVERGEMAGAZINE.COM | 15

Traces

Local

how to find adventure at home

Written By Katerina heese illustrated By jennifer ku

When we hear “adventure” we usually think of crossing oceans or continents. But what about finding some excitement closer to home?

When you’ve been in one place for a long time, it’s easy to forget how great that place can actually be.

Maybe your friend invited you check out her Pilates class, or you’ve been curious about vintage car models.

It never hurts to try something new.

Whether it’s books, hiking, home business, or board games, you’re bound to find a group with similar interests to yours in your area. You’ll never know who you’ll meet, or what you’ll discover.

As kids we made the most of empty spaces, so why not as adults as well? Bring a picnic, something to throw, and some friends — maybe a dog or two — and enjoy the simplicity of a good old outdoor excursion.

If everybody’s busy, then just go by yourself and do some micro-habitat exploration, or bring a good book and your imagination and just let yourself relax.

If you’ve got a day to spare and a car in reasonable driving condition, just spend some time being aimless. Take a few wrong turns and discover a café you never knew existed.

If you don’t have a vehicle, the same principle applies to cyclists and pedestrians, though your exploration radius will be considerably smaller.

Our welcoming environment will encourage your growth St. Mary’s University College in South Calgary offers degree studies in Arts, Education, Science and Business in a welcoming setting open to all. With an inclusive learning environment and small class sizes, our professors will get to know you by name and will encourage your growth on both an academic and personal level.

Learn more at stmu.ca/grow

get your university degree in

16 | CONVERGE. fall 2014

SOUTH CALGARY

14500 Bannister Rd. SE Calgary, Alberta

How To Find Adventure At Home

It can be as simple as moving your furniture around or as grand as a new colour on the walls, but nothing makes you feel more accomplished than rearranging your living space. You never know, you might find something that you thought you’d lost forever.

Even just cleaning up can be enlightening as you rediscover space you forgot you had, or finally decide to get rid of something you really don’t need.

Of course summer is the best time for this, but there’s always something going on at any given time of the year.

If you’ve never attended before, all the more reason to go. Check out the community notice board for what’s coming up next.

If you know where to look, you can actually find a lot of worthy local causes looking for a free hand. Food banks, shelters, community centres or even farms and gardens can be a fantastic way to break free from the mundane.

Just because you live somewhere, doesn’t mean you can’t pretend you’re seeing everything for the first time. Go to your local tourist information booth and see what they recommend you check out. Who knows, you might find a place you didn’t know existed, or rekindle your childhood love for the zoo.

kingsu.ca Matt, Bachelor of Education 2012

GREAT TEACHERS MAKE GREAT TEACHERS. Same degree. Better education. King’s small classes, faith-based education and dedicated professors will guide and challenge you to expand your world – and your role in it – while you work towards a career that a Bachelor of Education can lead to.

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traces

Travel

top 10 Religious pilgrimages

9

ST. PAUL'S TRAIL t u r key

Although this is not a terribly well known pilgrimage route — it was, after all, established in 2004 — it does travel along one of the most famous expeditions in Christian history: Paul’s first missionary journey. The trail is 500 km long that covers part of Paul’s journey through the southern Turkish countryside from Perge near Antalya on the Mediterranean, past Lake Egirdir.

Written By paul arnold

“our hearts are restless, until they can find rest in you.” st. augustine 8 PILGRIM'S REGRESS

ow exactly do you go about finding God so you can receive rest?

For better or for worse, the answer remains elusive for many of us. Some choose to ignore it and settle into life’s natural rhythms, but the adventurous among us embark on lifelong journeys to find the answer. We call these adventurous people pilgrims.

The word pilgrimage comes from two Latin words: per ager, which means “to go through the field,” and peregrinus, which means “one from foreign parts.” Therefore, a pilgrim is someone who travels through foreign fields.

But what about the people who never have the opportunity to leave their homeland? Can’t the label “pilgrim” be available to the ordinary person who journeys through life’s peaks and valleys?

This is why the Protestant Reformers in the 16th century chose to emphasize the inner spiritual journey rather than a physical one — which, at the time wreaked of a decadent medieval Christianity that promoted works or shrines above faith.

Not surprisingly, Martin Luther had less than kind things to say about pilgrimages: “All pilgrimages should be stopped. There is no good in them; no commandment enjoins them, 18 | CONVERGE. fall 2014

no obedience attaches to them. Rather do these pilgrimages give countless occasions to commit sin and to despise God’s commandments.”

Though most shrines in Protestant Europe were destroyed in the 16th century, pilgrimages didn’t disappear. Whether outer physical journeys to particular places or inner spiritual journeys, the idea of moving through life as a pilgrim remains as strong as ever.

c . s . l ew i s

Although Pilgrim’s Regress is not one of C.S. Lewis’ greater known works, it is one of his most autobiographical works — second only to Surprised by Joy. The book is a play on John Bunyan’s Pilrgim’s Progress and tells the story of the “Everyman” named John who travels or “regresses” through the worldly philosophies of the North (Reason) and the South (Romanticism), in search of an island that he intensely longs for. Only he finds God instead.

10

FATIMA p o r t u ga l

Pilgrim destinations dedicated to Mary, the mother of Jesus, may be the most common theme among Catholic pilgrimages. Fatima, Portugal is no exception. It is claimed that the Virgin Mary appeared to three shepherd children on the 13th day of the month for six consecutive months in 1917. Fatima has become one of the most popular pilgrimage destinations in the world, with some estimates at four million visitors each year.

7 ST. PETER'S BASILICA rome

There were approximately four million people who travelled to Pope John Paul II’s funeral in St. Peter’s Basilica in April 2005 — the second largest pilgrimage in Christian history — but (apparently) not one reported incidence of pickpocketing.

Top Ten Christian Pilgrimages

6

3

THE WAY OF A PILGRIM

OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE

russia

mexico

The Way of a Pilgrim is the account of an unidentified 19th century crippled Russian who travels across Russia seeking instruction on the spiritual life. It is credited for bringing attention to Western, non-monastic people the practice of continuous and repetitive prayer, as well as the observance of the Jesus Prayer (“Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner”).

Our Lady of Guadalupe is the title given to the Virgin Mary after she was believed to have emblazoned herself on a peasant’s cloak in 1531. Pilgrims who travel to see the image believe that the Virgin of Guadalupe can cure almost any sickness. Many pilgrims also crawl or walk on their knees across Basilica square to the church that was built in honour of Mary’s apparitions.

2 EL CAMINO DEL SANTIAGO

5 LOURDES france

It is purported that the Virgin Mary appeared to a peasant girl in Lourdes on 18 occasions over a period of months in 1858. A grotto in Lourdes where Mary first appeared has accounted for many physical and spiritual healings. Every year about 400,000 pilgrims bathe in the pools.

spain

Also known as “The Way of St. James,” this pilgrimage in the northwestern region of Spain is probably the most famous modern day pilgrimage route. First established in the 9th century, this 900 km route has remained constant for over 1,000 years. The monumental Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela at the end of the route is believed to hold the remains of the apostle St. James after being carried by boat from Jerusalem.

1 PILGRIM'S PROGRESS j o h n b u nya n

4 JERUSALEM israel

The Holy Land is probably the most famous and most controversial pilgrimage destination in the world.

It has always been a place pilgrims have travelled to and fought over. Perhaps the most damning of these fights were the medieval Crusades, sparked by the mistreatment of Christian pilgrims to the Holy Land.

Published in 1678, Pilgrim’s Progress allegorizes the story of the everyman named Christian who travels through the Slough of Despond, Vanity Fair, and the Shadow of the Valley of Death (among other places) to eventually arrive at the Gate of the Celestial City. John Bunyan, the book’s author, spent 12 years in prison because he refused to stop preaching the gospel; he was a layman who was deemed unfit to teach, but of course that didn’t stop him. Even though he was a ferocious preacher, his greatest impact came from his writing, particularly with his emphasis on the literacy of the layperson.

CONVERGEMAGAZINE.COM | 19

traces

Travel

5 underestimated travel destinations

Written By chelsea frischknecht images from flickr

Take a street poll of dream travel destinations, and you may begin to think the only countries worth visiting are France and Italy. But do you ever wonder what else there is for you to discover?

stockholm, sweden: Capital city of a country routinely deemed

as one of the happiest in the world, Stockholm is a paradigm of pristine Nordic design. Spread across 14 islands of the Stockholm archipelago, the city is marked by its water thoroughfares and green spaces. Rich in culture, it is not uncommon to stumble across free outdoor concerts on summer nights, or a café that is reinventing the notion of Swedish dining.

boracay, philippines: When you think of stilted cabanas

hovering over warm crystalline water, you probably are not thinking “Philippines.” While all the tourists flock to Fiji, those in the know head to Boracay, an island paradise just a stopover from Manila. Stop on the mainland for a visit to the night fish markets — an unforgettable cultural experience — before hopping over to Boracay for 75-cent beer, sailing, and the ultimate in island relaxation.

stockholm, sweden

boracay, philippines

Edward stojakovic

ren kuo

budapest, hungary: Hungary’s capital city, Budapest sits astride

the Danube River, with traditional Buda on one side, and artsy Pest on the other. Cited as one of the most beautiful cities in the world, Budapest is rich with history, opulent Austro-Hungarian architecture, and a thriving nightlife. If the city alone, with its charming cafés and thermal baths is not enough to entice you, there’s also the added benefit of Prague and Vienna just a stone’s throw away. cappadocia, turkey: Situated in central Turkey and surrounded

by three dormant volcanoes, Cappadocia is a playground for Indiana Jones wannabes. The unique geology has resulted in a landscape of caves and “fairy chimneys,” pillars of rock eroded by the elements and hollowed out by ancient inhabitants. Once a haven for persecuted Christians, the area is riddled with abandoned churches, homes, and cities, all hidden and accessible only by slipping through a gap in the rock.

budapest, hungary le parlement

bocas del toro, panama: Costa Rica’s lesser-known neighbour,

Panama is a diverse tropical destination with one foot in the Pacific and one in the Caribbean. Bocas de Toro, on the northeastern side of Panama, boasts of idyllic Caribbean living, sans the tourists and mega-resorts. White sand beaches, snorkelling, inexpensive seafood, and solar powered eco-lodges: it’s only a matter of time before Bocas del Toro tops everyone’s “dream holiday” list.

20 | CONVERGE. fall 2014

bocas del toro, panama rita willaert

5 Underestimated Travel Destinations

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Inter view

Q&A daniel perrett

written By leanne janzen & hannah lin photography from daniel perrett illustrated by matthew kim 2

3

1

For more information about Chab Dai and its Freedom Registry, visit chabdai.ca

22 | CONVERGE. fall 2014

n May 9, Daniel Perrett set out to bike from Montreal to Vancouver to raise $10,000 for Chab Dai Canada’s Freedom Registry. Chab Dai, which means “joining of hands” in Khmer, is working to create a database of organizations, projects, agencies, and institutions in Canada that address human trafficking. Within 16 days, donations reached $10,000 and the target was doubled. By the time the campaign ended on June 30, The Freedom Registry Ride raised $20,646.

Born and raised in Vancouver, Perrett recently graduated from McGill University in geography and Arabic. He is returning home

in hopes of finding a job in social enterprise.

We were able to catch up with him in the middle of his ride, in Winnipeg, M.B. had you wanted to ride across canada before, and just wanted a reason?

As I’ve learned in the last year or so about the issue of human trafficking, I’ve been able to talk to some women who have worked in the sex industry. Understanding the nature of the problem broke my heart initially, and [it has been] a dream of mine to ride across the country.

My goal really was to find an organization who’s fighting human trafficking that I could raise money for. So when I found

Daniel Perrett

Daniel Perrett rode almost 5,000 km in 51 days across Canada. His campaign raised $20,646.

Chab Dai and heard about the freedom registry, I thought, “Well, that’s perfect.” have you felt like your campaign has raised awareness?

The goal of my ride — yes, obviously it’s about raising awareness for human trafficking and all that — but the freedom registry will speak for itself and will be a tool for people to figure out what’s happening in their community with regards to prevention, awareness, and victim care. The goal is really to raise money for Chab Dai so that they can really do what they’re best at, which is connecting different organizations together. And so if I can be telling people about the issues of human trafficking along the way, that’s wonderful. what is one thing that people should know about human trafficking?

Understanding that human trafficking looks like different things but that it does exist, and that there are really good organizations doing really good work across the country. There’s a real spectrum in regards to awareness of it. I think people are learning more, and understanding that it’s something that’s going on. So I think there’s growing awareness, but nowhere near the level that it needs to be. The beautiful thing about the freedom registry is that it will allow people to get inspired by what people are doing. what does a typical day look like?

1 daniel perrett 2 the freedom registry ride 3 montreal: starting point

Really I try to ride about 100 km a day, sometimes longer, 140, 150. And it kind of depends on where I’m staying. I’ve connected with friends, friends of friends, people through couch surfing, anyone willing to host travellers like myself. So I generally try to leave around 8:30 or 9 [a.m.], and then often, it will be a seven, eight-hour day with a break for lunch. Then it’s blogging, and keeping people up to date, keeping in touch with my family and my girlfriend in the evening. So they’re long days. what is one thing you’ve learned about yourself?

I’ve learned that loneliness is real, but when I feel alone, I’m actually not alone. And I’m riding with Jesus. And that’s really nice, because I spend a lot of time by myself, particularly during the day when I’m riding. Also learning to have the mental strength to get up and go every morning, even when some days you just don’t feel like biking. It’s just one of those things, just getting over that mental hurtle, and getting back in the saddle.

CONVERGEMAGAZINE.COM | 23

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Love

Love’s a mystery

Written By michael morelli photo By nate harrison

“we took time along the way to be vulnerable, to ask the questions that needed to be asked, and to be honest with each other.”

day after convergemagazine.com published an article I wrote called “Why I’m not dating,” I met the woman I’ll be marrying this September. How does a person like me go from being a reclusive single-andnot-looking, to in-love-and-engaged within four months’ time?

To be honest, I don’t know. All I did was make a cup of peppermint tea in my kitchen on an evening in December when people were visiting my roommate.

I wasn’t trying to meet Jayne that night. In fact, I was trying to avoid her and everyone else in the kitchen. I wanted to go back to my room, hide from the world, and bury my nose in a book. But after being introduced to her by a mutual friend, something strange happened.

A window I’d kept shut in my heart for a very long time started to open.

I stood at the counter. She stood by the washing machine. We talked, laughed, and ate cheese sandwiches. The rest was soon to be history. After two weeks of seeing Jayne in groups of mutual friends, and weighing the possibility of whether or not she’d laugh at me for asking her out, I finally took my fears out back, shot them dead, and buried them in

24 | CONVERGE. fall 2014

my yard behind the shed. I worked up the courage to ask Jayne out. And she said yes.

orchestrated our meeting. And we’re content leaving it at that.

After that, all the lights on love’s grand highway turned green and we drove down that boulevard at a steady rate. We took time along the way to be vulnerable, to ask the questions that needed to be asked, and to be honest with each other about where we’ve been, where we are, and where we want to be in a few year’s time. And then all of a sudden I was pulling a ring out of my raincoat pocket, down on one knee, saying crazy things, asking Jayne to marry me. And she said yes.

So if you’re reading this and you happen to be single, don’t despair. Likewise, don’t read what I’m writing as a promise that what happened to me will happen to you. Just read this as an encouragement. Love like this is a grand mystery, and there’s no formula to solve or code to crack. I just kept making peppermint tea and reading books — doing what I love — until love like this found me.

As someone who’s turning 28 this year, who has been a black sheep in the Christian dating pen for years, I used to get really frustrated when people told me there is no formula for love. Because from my perspective, there had to be a formula. But after meeting Jayne and falling in love, I can honestly say there just isn’t any formula.

“Love like this is a grand mystery, and there’s no formula to solve or code to crack.”

I’m sorry if that’s a let down. There are many things this side of heaven that will remain a mystery — and I think love is definitely one of them. Neither Jayne nor I can explain why we were brought together, but we do know that it was God who

The average length of courtship before marriage is 2.5 years.

the mystery of love around the world

“Spooning” meant something ver y dif ferent in 17th centur y Wales.

Young men would spend hours car ving intricate wooden spoons to present to the girls they admired as a symbol of romantic intention. If she accepted the love spoon, cour tship ensued.

In colonial times, Puritans considered rings of any sor t to be frivolous. Instead, engaged couples exchanged thimbles, which were practical and inexpensive, and could later be modified to for m a wedding band.

In some par ts of Brazil, a man has to tame an unbridled donkey before proposing, in order to prove his capabilities as a husband and protector. The practice, known as Bumba-MeuBoi, demonstrates masculinity, dominance, and responsibility.

According to Scottish tradition, the bride and groom must be covered with tar, rotten eggs, pillow stuf fing, and other disgusting substances before their wedding. The couple is then paraded through the streets, as their friends and family make a lot of noise and announce their upcoming wedding. Some say the ritual wards of f bad luck and evil spirits, and others believe that the blackening prepares newlyweds for any humiliation or dif ficulties that life and mar riage may bring.

When a wedding ceremony ends in South Korea, friends may tie up the groom by the ankles, remove his shoes and socks, and beat the bottom of his feet with a fish — dried yellow cor vina.

This process is called “balaka,” and supposedly makes the groom stronger for his first night as a mar ried man.

CONVERGEMAGAZINE.COM | 25

angles

Culture

feza ertek: from muslim to christ

Written By julia cheung Illustrated By jace junggyu kim

“the story of her life unfolds like a series of surreal dream sequences. it’s a life rife with poetic justice, moment upon moment dripping with narrative meaning.”

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26 | CONVERGE. fall 2014

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Feza Er tek: From Muslim to Christ

eza Ertek eludes description. The sheer density of her spirituality either attracts or repels. She’s direct in the way that really spiritual people are, as if she has somehow transcended the earthly concerns of the body.

We mortals of flesh and blood trade in a currency that Feza seems to transcend. And yet she wasn’t always that way.

Flesh and blood have played a brutal part in the transformation of this Muslim-turnedChristian woman. The story of her life unfolds like a series of surreal dream sequences. It’s a life rife with poetic justice, moment upon moment dripping with narrative meaning.

Jer Adrian, a pastor from Feza’s church, has known her for a year now. “She’s been on a mission trip to Africa with us, she is involved in our community settings, and in serving on a ministry team,” he says. “The first time I heard her story, I literally felt that I was in the presence of one of God’s elect.”

So. A story woven by God or by the tapestry of chance?

Feza grew up with a strange sensitivity to the spiritual. She distinctly remembers feeling goosebumps when she first heard about Jesus.

It was in Turkey where she grew up, in standard Islamic teaching: Jesus as a prophet. “I then felt Jesus is my boyfriend,” she insists. She speaks in present tense but is referring to the past. “I truly felt that way, even though I was only five years old.”

Her childhood-self’s reaction to Allah, on the other hand, was the complete opposite.

“I wanted to see Allah, so I prayed and asked him to show his face.” A dream ensued — one with an ugly, creepy figure with long fingernails, leering at the young Feza in grotesque lust. “I knew that was Allah,” she says, “and that he is not God. Because a true God would never make me afraid like that.”

Yet despite her categorical denial of Allah’s deity and of Islam, fear followed her throughout childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. She lived as a spiritual/secular Muslim, denying the faith inwardly, not practicing it outwardly, yet absorbing its spiritism through and through.

She knew, she says, that there was a God. She just didn’t know why he kept leaving her.

“I was so angry at God. Every night of my life, I felt that I would go to sleep, holding God’s hand. But that if I let go of his hand, he wouldn’t be with me. Then every morning, I would feel that God left me because I let go of his hand while I was asleep. I was so afraid.”

By 12, Feza had become the community fortune teller. She would read the dregs of Turkish coffee to tell the future with alarming accuracy. “I would describe peoples’ houses, terrace, furniture, light without even seeing it.

And I would always be right.”

Her gift haunted her. She felt spirits in every corner, darkness and demons (“as Muslims, we believed they were good demons”) lurking in every room and in empty houses. At night, she says they pushed down on her body and physically suffocated her.

By 2001, despite a successful government-

“i knew that was Allah, and that he is not god. because a true god would never make me afraid like that.”

1% 96 per cent of the population in Turkey identify as Muslim and less than one per cent identify as Christian.

CONVERGEMAGAZINE.COM | 27

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“fear not: for i have redeemed thee, i have called thee by thy name; thou art mine.” isaiah 43:1

level career in advertising, she was depressed and anxious beyond compare. The hyperspirituality took its toll. She left her 10 and 11 year-old sons in Turkey with her ex-husband and his new wife, and she fled to New York City, where she began working as a diamond appraiser. “I was so miserable. I felt like I’m not from this earth,” she says.

In New York, Feza came to a fork in the road.

A new American friend of hers, Monika, wanted to set her up with a friend, a radical AlgerianMuslim. The initial meeting would go down inside a Catholic church — at a Christmas Eve Mass. Monika was a Catholic. This was Feza’s first ever direct exposure to Christianity. “Jesus takes care of me,” Monika told Feza as they walked to mass to meet the Algerian-Muslim.

“I can close my eyes and walk forward and He’ll catch me.”

Or at least that’s what Feza understood with her limited grasp of English at the time.

She says she lifted her hands that night and uttered an off-the-cuff prayer, “OK Jesus, if you’re really God, then come meet me in my backyard!” She says He did.

That night, after mass, Feza was sitting alone in her private basement suite. All of a sudden, she says she saw a flash of light out the basement window, and heard a huge crash. She waited a few seconds for the sound of sirens or for a signal that the electricity had gone out.

Nothing.

The next morning, Feza went outside to take out the trash. Her door led into a backyard patio that was ringed with trees. But two of the trees had fallen to the ground, when all the others remained standing. They were the two

28 | CONVERGE. fall 2014

Culture

trees that were directly in front of her basement window, and had broken at the trunk and crashed onto the ground. The two trees had been so close to her window that it would have been physically impossible for anyone to push them to the ground, away from the building.

It appeared to be a supernatural intervention.

Feza says her landlord was flummoxed. A crowd gathered, and people started taking pictures. “I read much later on in Psalm 19 that “God’s Word can cut trees to the ground,” says Feza.

Jesus had indeed shown up in her backyard; Feza, however, moved on. She had fallen in love with the radical Algerian-Muslim she had met at Catholic mass.

Feza moved in with her new boyfriend, and for the first time in her life, caved in to radical Muslim practices. She donned a hijab, quit her job, and let her boyfriend beat her.

Her life, she says, became an unholy trio of beating, sex, and worship. “My boyfriend would be praying in the corner to Allah with his prayer mat. Then he would look over and see that I had eaten the last piece of balaclava on the table.

He would tell Allah — I’m going to put you on hold, Allah, I’ll be right back — and he would come over and beat me until my blue robe was no longer blue, but soaked in blood. Then he would go back and continue praying.”

When asked why she didn’t leave, especially when she considered herself a free-thinking, emancipated, modern woman, she says, “I couldn’t leave. I thought I was in love.”

Feza became obsessively jealous over her new boyfriend, worrying over an absent “wife” (whom he had married to obtain a green card), over his broken promises to marry Feza, and over his threats to take another younger, second wife.

Compelled by frantic suspicion, she turned their apartment inside out, searching for signs of his infidelity.

“When I finally found myself on the floor, digging through dirty toilet paper, sniffing it for semen,” she says, “at that moment, God came to me. And I admitted I was really sick.”

But admission didn’t grant her freedom. She says she decided to poison her boyfriend’s food, eat it with him, and die together.

She did buy the poison. She did cook the food.

But when it came time for her boyfriend to eat, she told him the truth. “I’ve never been able to lie,” she says. She told him everything.

He left.

This, she says, was God’s mercy to her. He left her in that apartment and never came back.

She went back to work. In a low and lonely moment, she ran into a co-worker of hers.

Pierre, a Lebanese diamond trader. Pierre gave her a Bible.

Feza says she flipped the King James Bible open and it landed on Isaiah 43:1: “Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine.”

Feza Er tek: From Muslim to Christ

“when I cry, I am crying for the people who do not know god.”

This, Feza says, blew her mind. She had lived her entire life in fear. Unconditional love and acceptance were the things that she had been hungering for. “When I opened another page, it came to 1 Corinthians 13. God was talking about love. There isn’t even one letter about love in the Qur’an.” From that point on, her spiritual journey took a wild turn.

heidi de waal abbotsford, bc

She had met the Christian God. Feza’s journey of faith brought her back to Turkey, then to Canada. Earlier this year, she flew to New York for the first time since her conversion and went to find Pierre to thank him for giving her a Bible.

She’s in tears as she reflects on her journey of faith. “I don’t feel pain anymore. I don’t understand depression. I am so thankful to Jesus for saving me. And when I cry, I am crying for the people who do not know God.”

The first two letters in our name say a lot about the people and the purpose of Dordt College. We DO. We come here to be shaped and nurtured and challenged— infused with knowledge and wisdom in order to go out and work for God’s glory in all areas of his world. It’s our mission and mandate, and that’s how we do college at Dordt.

She dabs at her eyes with tissue. “He showed me how humble He was and He came to my backyard. He proved everything to me. And I just want to spend the rest of my life telling others that.”

HowWeDoCollege.com

CONVERGEMAGAZINE.COM | 29

angles

Culture

get off your smartphone and live your life

Written By donna chapman Illustrated By jace junggyu kim

“what feels like social connectivity can sometimes look a lot like loneliness.”

’m at a dinner with my friends.

I momentarily glance up from my mushroom risotto, only to see everyone else glued to their phones. They’re busily picking the best filter to accompany the latest upload of the food they’re about to eat.

And then I wonder: if I enjoy a meal and none of my Insta followers see it — did it really happen?

Social media and smartphone technology are amazing, powerful, and helpful tools: I’m able to receive videos of my nephews taking their first steps, FaceTime my mom from across the country, and search for hostels on the other side of the world. All while I’m sprawled across my living room couch.

Although technology continues to advance rapidly, the change in social interaction has been more of a gradual process. Technological progress has impacted users in ways which we are just becoming aware of. So how does this all affect the Christian community? How can we, as Christians, use social media and smartphone technology well?

We’re relational people, meant for deep and sacrificial relationships with one another.

But the tricky thing with social media and smartphone technology is that what feels like social connectivity can sometimes look a lot like loneliness.

74 per cent of smartphone users have at least one social networking app.

A 2013 study by Ethan Kross from the University of Michigan confirms that rather than fulfilling the need to be connected, excessive Facebook use may undermine one’s feelings of well-being and satisfaction. The individuals in the study who checked Facebook constantly were more likely to feel unsatisfied with their own lives than those who didn’t check it as often.

To mask these feelings of loneliness, the

30 | CONVERGE. fall 2014

anonymity of social media lets us present the best version of ourselves to our friends and followers. The more time we spend engaged with one another through our screens, the more inward-focused we become. We obsess over ourselves: our image, our connections, our time, and our comfort.

And so the endless scroll gives way to insidious comparisons: we measure our own worth against our friends’ public displays of affirmation. Hanna Krasnova, a researcher who led a study on the phenomenon, says that passively consuming all of this information creates envy through “comparison with a person or group who possess” (or at least seem to possess) “something we desire.” We’re jealous, because we want to be cared for in a real and meaningful way.

Although we crave love, we often settle for likes.

Frankly it’s embarrassing how long it can take me to choose a profile picture. And doubly embarrassing: how many times I check back to see what people are saying about it.

We’re constantly documenting what we’re doing, promoting ourselves with images, statements, and articles that we think are worthy of attention. But what about the life behind the perfectly positioned profile picture?

Because we are made to be loved and to be known, we are also supposed to be vulnerable with one another, to be held accountable to one another. It’s so easy to both present and protect ourselves through our phones.

Social media has become our quick fix for a desire to be accepted and emotionally supported.

Despite being able to stay up-to-date, our constant access to a wide network of friends fools us into thinking that it’s good enough.

Get Off Your Smar tphone and Live Your Life

»

Outtatown is an adventure to prepare you for the future.

Knowing God Knowing Yourself Knowing the World

A DISCIPLESHIP SCHOOL

www.outtatown.com Being a true friend takes time. Apps like Skype and FaceTime are the closest thing we have to face-to-face interaction, and they can be used to maintain a deep friendship when loved ones are apart. But most often, we use a like on a photo or a re-tweet as a substitute for actually talking to friends in person.

Hedges says in her recent article in Forbes, FOMO leads to second-guessing the decisions we’ve made, ranging from our down time to what career we choose or when we decide to have kids. But here’s the irony: the fear of missing out means we’re actually missing out on our own tangible experiences.

I’ve become really good at being passively engaged in friendships. I have forgotten (and am desperately trying to remember) what it’s like to be present with people, to offer them the dignity they deserve by simply paying attention.

My phone is my time-filler. Whenever there is a moment of free time, I jump to check my email, Facebook, or the news. I also pull out my phone in any social situation that starts to feel mildly uncomfortable. Real social interaction can be awkward and messy, but my phone has become a source of both comfort and control in these settings. And let’s be honest, we all like to control things. If we need space or alone-time, we can physically and symbolically create that distance.

Social media and phone interaction do not exempt us from spending time with our friends. But what does the word “friend” mean anymore? Is there any intimacy or investment involved?

As Christians we are called to participate in radically different kinds of relationships. This connection can only be found face-to-face.

Social media encourages a culture of constant access to a wide network of people and allconsuming entertainment. Our fear of missing out (FOMO) is fueled by social media; so we‘re consumed by our phones, catching up on all the fun things other people are doing. As Kristi

accidental thing: it is an intentional and personal connection. Be present enough to engage with what God is putting before you. Be present enough to let things get awkward sometimes, to put yourself out there, to love those around you more boldly and more sacrificially than you are comfortable with.

Because that’s community. It’s messy, it’s a bit scary, but it’s what’s real.

“As Christians we are called to participate in radically different kinds of relationships. this connection can only be found face-to-face.”

Our society has created expectations of being constantly available, of being informed about the latest happenings online, and of establishing a presence on social media. This makes it that much more difficult to unplug. It’s hard to imagine that only 10 years ago people often left their homes without a phone, without any way of staying in touch.

The love we want to receive and the love we are supposed to offer is not a simple,

CONVERGEMAGAZINE.COM | 31

education section

Fall 2014

higher education guide

photography By aleks dorohovich

Making your post-secondary decisions a little bit easier, we’ve compiled information on various Christian schools across North America.

“An intelligent heart acquires knowledge, and the ear of the wise seeks knowledge.”

Proverbs 18:15

acts seminaries

calvin college

calvin theological seminary

Langley, BC Canada

Grand Rapids, MI USA

Grand Rapids, MI USA

Acts.twu.ca

calvin.edu

calvinseminary.edu

Graduate level degrees

Undergraduate & Graduate level degrees

tuition $440 per credit hour extracurricular Forums, debates, student life leadership,

tuition $29,400 per year extracurricular Dance guild, Bible studies, Chimes

Graduate and Doctoral level degrees, diplomas and certificates

missions week, chapel, and TWU Spartan Athletic team games.

Missions Opportunities Some program internships involve overseas experience. school motto Be Prepared. founding date 1985 student faculty ratio 14:1 full-time students 120

student newspaper, Environmental Stewardship Coalition, student senate, Global Business Brigades.

Missions Opportunities 10+ Spring Break trips per year. school motto My heart I offer to you, Lord, promptly and sincerely. founding date 1876 student faculty ratio 13:1 full-time students 4,034

32 | CONVERGE. fall 2014

tuition $430 per credit hour extracurricular Student Senate, Seminarians for Social Justice, Korean Student Association, Church Planting Club, and more.

Missions Opportunities N/A school motto My heart I offer to you, Lord, promptly and sincerely. founding date 1876 student faculty ratio 18:1 full-time students 306

Higher Education Guide

canada institute of linguistics

canadian mennonite university

columbia bible college

Langley, BC Canada

Winnipeg, MB Canada

Abbotsford, BC Canada

canil.ca

cmu.ca

columbiabc.edu

Undergraduate and Graduate level degrees

Undergraduate & Graduate level degrees

Undergraduate level degrees, diplomas & certificates

tuition (Per credit) Undergrad: $742, Graduate: $436-$535 (more info online). Schorlarships offered. extracurricular Monthly luncheon with Bible translators, weekly potlucks, chapels at ACTS and TWU, ultimate frisbee and volleyball, group cycling.

Missions Opportunities Offered through TWU, Wycliffe Bible Translators, other Bible translation and linguistic orgs. school motto Training translators, transforming lives. founding date 1985 student faculty ratio 8:1 full-time students 100

tuition $233 per credit hour extracurricular Student Council, faith and life fellowship

tuition $321 per credit hour extracurricular Student leadership opportunities for both

groups, varsity athletics, Business Club, Psychology and English Student Associations, CMU Community Farm, MPK Folk Festival, Soul in Paraphrase Missions Opportunities Practicum placements, Mennonite Disaster Service Trip every reading week. school motto Learn to see differently. founding date 2000 student faculty ratio 18:1 full-time students 481

resident and commuter students. Various student council committees, as well as worship team opportunities.

Missions Opportunities Some programs involve missions opportunities. school motto Explore Your Calling. founding date 1936 student faculty ratio 18:1 full-time students 322

dordt college

heritage college and seminary

the king's university

Sioux Center, IA USA

Cambridge, ON Canada

Edmonton, AB Canada

dordt.edu

heritagecambridge.com

kingsu.ca

Undergraduate level degrees, Master of Education

Undergraduate & Graduate level degrees

Undergraduate level degrees

tuition $1,100 USD per credit extracurricular Future Active Christian Teachers (FACT),

tuition $310 per credit hour extracurricular Men’s and women’s groups, choir, travel

tuition $353 per credit extracurricular Students' Association, Honduras Water

Future Physicians Club, Justice Matters, Non-Partisan Politics, Nursing Club, Sioux Falls Prison Ministry, Students Without Borders, Theology Club, several engineering & creative clubs.

Missions Opportunities Various local, national, and international mission opportunities. school motto Soli Deo Gloria (To God alone be the glory) founding date 1955 student faculty ratio 15:1 full-time students 1,345

teams, student council, yearbook, activities committee, arts committee, newspaper committee, local outreach committee, missions committee, resident assistant team, etc.

Missions Opportunities Annually, and through the SERVE. experience. school motto Pursuing God with passion and excellence. founding date 1949 student faculty ratio 11:1 full-time students 150

Project, Student Ambassador Program, Commerce Students' Association.

Missions Opportunities N/A school motto Same degree. Better education. founding date 1979 student faculty ratio 9:1 full-time students 650

CONVERGEMAGAZINE.COM | 33

education section

Fall 2014

the beginning of a journey

Written By Peter Woekel image from twu.ca

n 2012 I was a jobless, 22-year-old video-game addicted recluse with the littlest amount of life direction a college student could be expected to have. I was going nowhere fast. But I knew something had to change, so I decided to enroll at Trinity Western University. And it was the best thing I could’ve done.

have possibly given me. The knowledge that you and I as individuals are at the heart of God’s plan, and that our siblings and our friends and the people we pass on the street every day matter. And I have learned that we have to be willing to see our own lives as extraordinary, and start living like we believe it.

Before university, I wasn’t really a part of anything — and that was my choice. Yes, I helped out at my church, I went to school, and I hung out with my friends. But I kept myself from getting involved in anything that had the slightest chance of pushing me to where I needed to go.

Going to university isn’t about getting a big paycheque in the future, and it’s definitely not about finding the career that will make your life perfect.

I was completely unwilling to let God interfere in my life.

As far as I was concerned, my story belonged to me, even though I was too scared to do anything meaningful with it.

I didn’t really know much about the school when I came, which turned out to be exactly what I needed. Instead of heading into a place I knew all about, a place where I knew what to expect, I was flying blindly into a situation that was completely out of my hands. At the time I couldn’t have told anyone exactly why I wanted to go there. It was a leap of faith moment, and it was one that paid off.

When I first showed up I knew one person at the whole school. Shoved into a dorm full of complete strangers, I was forced to begin to create a life in a totally new place.

I arrived as a nervous, self-critical boy, completely unable to imagine God’s plans for my life. Two and a half years later I am walking confidently in the knowledge that He has created me — and everyone else — to be fully alive.

That is the greatest thing that my post-secondary experience could

34 | CONVERGE. fall 2014

My time at school has shown me that my identity isn’t tied up in what I do, but in who I am, and who God has made me to be. The professors, the staff and the incredible friends I’ve made have all taught me to balance faith and reason, how to seek after what God wants for me, and how to show myself some grace when I get a little off track.

“going to university isn't about getting a big paycheque in the future, and it’s definitely not about finding the career that will make your life perfect.”

I still have a year to go in my undergrad, but my education has already been completed. It was done the day I was able to look inside myself and say, “I am good because He has made me good.” It was done the day I realized that no matter which career I choose, which house I buy, and which church I attend, God’s plan in my life is being part of the adventure of restoration He has intended for me and for the rest of the world.

Higher Education Guide

mcmaster university

nipawin bible college

Hamilton, ON Canada

Nipawin, SK Canada

mcmasterdivinity.ca

nipawin.org

Graduate level degrees, diplomas and certificates

Undergraduate level degrees & certificates

tuition $200 per unit extracurricular Divinity Student Association Missions Opportunities Partnerships with local churches,

tuition $6,335 per year or $10,964 with dorm room & meals. extracurricular Music, drama.

Missions Opportunities Vancouver Missions Practicum,

missions, and para-church organizations. school motto Knowing...being...doing... founding date 1957 student faculty ratio 18:1 full-time students 152

First Nations Practicum, Student Ministry, Worldview Discovery Certificate. school motto Developing passionate followers of Jesus Christ with a heart to serve. founding date 1934 student faculty ratio 8:1 full-time students 45-55

providence university college

redeemer university college

Otterburne, MB Canada

Hamilton, ON Canada

providenceuc.ca

myredeemer.ca

Undergraduate level degrees

Undergraduate level degrees

tuition $247 per credit extracurricular Student Council, theatre performances,

tuition $15,162 per year extracurricular Clubs and activities centred around arts

music concerts, coffeehouses, touring groups, pilot games, and other student events.

Missions Opportunities Missions conference on campus, annual mission trip, local outreach, practicum opportunities. school motto Christ-centred university education. founding date 1925 student faculty ratio 14:1 full-time students 300

and culture, social justice, student government, worship, and recreation.

Missions Opportunities Partnerships with local community organizations throughout the term. Also, each reading week, students can participate in off-campus mission trips. school motto Discover all things in Him. founding date 1982 student faculty ratio 15:1 full-time students 821

Christ Centred Education 10 College Crescent, Otterburne, MB R0A 1G0 Tel: 1.800.668.7768 | info@prov.ca

CONVERGEMAGAZINE.COM | 35

education section

Fall 2014

procrastination: pros & cons

Written By hannah lin photography By veronika pilÁtovÁ

croll through a student’s newsfeed, and within seconds you’ll likely come across a status update bemoaning the vices of procrastination. According to business blogger Brandon Gaille, this putting off of one task in favour of doing something of lesser importance affects more than 20 per cent of the population; it’s virtually ubiquitous among millennials.

Procrastination can be detrimental when it goes unrecognized as a coping mechanism for deeper rooted issues — like perfectionism, insecurity or apathy — but it can be put to good use.

Pressure aids productivity. The adrenaline of an impending due date supplies extra oxygen to the brain, allowing it to operate more quickly.

On deadline, our body’s natural survival instincts can curb those perfectionist tendencies and finish a paper more quickly and efficiently. Certain people are wired to perform better under pressure and produce a better result for it.

con

Procrastination can become a bad habit. Like trying to stop at watching just one episode of an exciting TV show, controlling the length and frequency of study breaks can be challenging.

Procrastination quickly becomes a necessary step in the process of doing work. When it trickles into other areas of our lives, such as making appointments, or filing taxes, the consequences could be more significant.

pro Ideas get better with time. When

con Excessive stress is physically and

pro Procrastination gets other things

con Good ideas take time to realize.

mentally damaging. Doing everything at the last minute can be overwhelming.

When work piles up, the accompanying stress throws off our diet, sleep patterns, and immune system, leading to hormonal imbalances or anxiety. Giving in to procrastination also weakens our self-control and encourages the brain to make impulsive decisions.

done. Unproductivity is not always the default mode. Often times, when avoiding homework, completing smaller mundane tasks, such as reading e-mails or washing the dishes, become the distraction. Then, once a few things are checked off the to-do list, there is motivation to keep going.

Starting on something too close to the deadline leaves little margin for error, troubleshooting, or refinement.

An ambitious project is bound to run into problems, or require a few additional steps along the way. Without ample time, it may fall short of the original vision.

pro

36 | CONVERGE. fall 2014

it comes to creative projects, inspiration, like good writing, typically goes through a few “drafts” before it is ready. Sitting on an idea may seem pointless, but taking a break and coming back with fresh eyes is crucial to the development process.

Sometimes the mind needs a change of scenery in order to see problems in a new light and find solutions.

Higher Education Guide

rocky mountain college

rosebud school of the arts

st. mary’s university

Calgary, AB Canada

Rosebud, AB Canada

Calgary, AB Canada

rockymountaincollege.ca

rosebudschoolofthearts.com

stmu.ca

Undergraduate level degrees, diplomas and certificates

Undergraduate level degrees

Undergraduate level degrees & certificates

tuition $325 per credit extracurricular Health and wellness activities.

Missions Opportunities Some programs (WHIP, FYi, Global

tuition $230 per credit extracurricular Improv, jam nights, late night music

tuition $748 per credit hour extracurricular Student Legislative Council, Social Justice

lounge, xtreme workout.

Studies, Intercultural Studies, Global Leadership) have this built in. school motto Be change. founding date 1982 student faculty ratio N/A full-time students N/A

Missions Opportunities [Trip opportunities] Theatre trips to the West Coast; London, England; and New York City. school motto Live the Theatre! founding date 1988 student faculty ratio 2:1 full-time students 30

Club, Historical Society, Ethics Club, weekly mass.

Missions Opportunities N/A school motto In your light we shall see the light (Psalm 36:9). founding date 1986 student faculty ratio 8:1 full-time students 588

trinity western university

vanguard college

wycliffe college

Langley, BC Canada

Edmonton, AB Canada

Toronto, ON Canada

twu.ca

vanguardcollege.com

wycliffecollege.ca

Undergraduate & Graduate level degrees

Undergraduate level degrees, diplomas and certificates, Graduate level certificates

Masters and Doctoral degree programs conjointly with U of T, diploma and certificate programs

tuition $213 per credit hour extracurricular Student Council, SisterhoodYEG, choir,

tuition $580 per course extracurricular Student Council organized social events and

Council of Student Ambassadors, department retreats & events all year, Vanguard on ice, community discipleship seminars.

Missions Opportunities Southeast Asia, NYC, Northwest Territories, Vancouver, Alberta & global leadership opportunities. school motto Developing innovative, Spirit-filled leaders. founding date 1946 student faculty ratio 11:1 full-time students 225

sporting activities, access to the many U of T campus groups.

Missions Opportunities Bi-annual trip to an African country, MTSD student internships, in the past, students have gone to various countries in Africa, Asia and South America. school motto Verbum Domini manet (The word of the Lord endureth). founding date 1877 student faculty ratio 10:1 full-time students 140

tuition $742 per credit extracurricular Mars’ Hill student newspaper, Student Life leadership positions, International Social Justice Club, Independent Musicians Initiative, Student Business Association, TWU Outdoor Club, etc.

Missions Opportunities Local outreach & Fall/Spring global projects. school motto Education. Transformation.

Impact. founding date 1962 student faculty ratio 15:1 full-time students 2,198

CONVERGEMAGAZINE.COM | 37

38 | CONVERGE. fall 2014

feature

Issue 19: Adventure

IS christianity a ‘choose Your own adventure’ religion?

Written By ryan cook Illustrated By jacob kownacki

“consumeristic, individualized spirituality seems to be as much a part of church culture as it is of popular culture.”

o you want the villain to live another day, or die in a fiery pit of lava near the remote village of Cholula, Mexico? Or maybe your lifelong enemy should live the rest of his days in solitary confinement in an inner city prison? It’s your choice, because it’s a “choose your own adventure” book.

I remember reading these books as a kid, loving the sense of power and control that comes with having the freedom to choose where the story goes — even if 90 per cent of the time my character would die by dragon fire or a poisoned sword or wizard magic.

“Choose your own adventure.” The mantra has expanded into our postmodern understanding of the world; it has seeped into every orifice of our culture and sensibilities, including how we view spirituality. People want options on this journey towards self-actualization. We want to determine our own course, our own pathway towards the transcendent.

The idea of our spiritual path being dictated by something other than our own desires is unpalatable. Spirituality is a product to be consumed, a product “I” control. And this ethos affects the church more than we would like to admit.

I’m not saying we can’t have preferences regarding our personal spirituality, or styles of worship that we enjoy more than others. It is wonderful when a particular style of worship connects deeply with us. I also don’t want to write off the missional benefits of various expressions of church.

But I do want to push back on the rampant consumeristic, individualistic spirituality that seems to be as much a part of church culture as it is part of popular culture.

The average ‘Choose Your Own Adventure’ protagonist has a 45 per cent chance of ending up dead.

In a world that is set on hyper-individualized spirituality, the church is called to be a radically diverse, multi-ethnic, multi-generational community of people who are hesitant to define ourself by our differences, because we are unified by our common allegiance to Jesus. Christian spirituality is less about “choosing our own adventure” — an adventure that suits me — than it is about submission to Christ and journeying with His peculiar people.

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table of contents

Issue 19: Adventure

“‘PICK AND MIX’ SPIRITUALITY IS IN THE AIR — WE BREATHE IT WITHOUT KNOWING.”

for everyone. We are a long way from monolithic Christendom of the medieval world.

god is dead

In the 1960s, philosophers prophesied the “Death of God.” Bryan Wilson and Peter Berger (among others) formulated a hip theory called the secularization thesis, arguing that because of the rise of modern science, globalization, and the spread of knowledge, people would eventuality throw off the constraints of religion and spirituality. Many other philosophers and sociologists then hypothesized that as a result of secularization, we would soon live in a world with no need for the transcendent. God would soon be understood as an antiquated concept of primitive thinkers. One day the majority of humanity would wake up to the fact that we are material girls in a material world, and it’s time to get on with our lives. God is dead.

Turns out, they were wrong. We don’t live in a world that has given up on spirituality. Today, becoming a mindful-zen-hindu-Buddhistgluten-free-coffee worshipper adds a certain mystique to your persona.

Spirituality is all the rage. Choosing one’s individual spirituality has become an ordinary part of our quest at self-definition.

In the Project Canada survey, over 70 per cent of those questioned identified spirituality as important in their lives, and three out of four Canadians claimed to have spiritual needs. 50 per cent of those who never attend religious services and have no religious affiliation still rate spirituality as important. In the Newsweek/Beliefnet poll in the United States, 79 per cent claimed to be spiritual and 84 per cent claimed that spirituality was important in their daily lives.

Instead, we are “spiritual but not religious;” we believe there must be a higher power or something out there, but do not feel the need, or see the logic, of submitting our lives to an outdated, outmoded institution. We no longer rely on historical institutions (churches, mosques, temples) as trustworthy guides on well-worn paths. Structured or dictated spirituality is not appealing.

Canadian philosopher Charles Taylor describes modern spiritual people in these words: “The religious life or practice that I become a part of must not only be my choice, but it must speak to me, it must make sense in terms of my spiritual development as I under-stand [it ].” The key word here is “I.” In a world of skinny-extra-hot-caramel-americanomisto-with-chocolatesprinkles — a world where life pivots around our pleasures — why should spirituality be anything different? The spiritual life, for the secular-spiritual person, is without a doubt a “choose your own adventure” story with “I” as the hero — and sometimes villain — but always the centre.

Spirituality in the postmodern world is defined by the individual, and this individualism is in the air that we as Christians breathe.

‘choose your own adventure’ and the church

To be sure, “choose your own adventure” spirituality is not just a trait of “them” (the-big-bad-secular-world) but it is deeply inside “us” (Trinity-Bible-loving-church-attending-saints). I mean, look no further than the variety of subculture churches on offer. There are now goth churches, metal churches, man churches, café churches, vegan churches, and just about any other style that you can imagine. Not to mention the 33,000 Christian denominations that exist today. We no longer go to church with the flesh and blood that live in our neighbourhood, we travel across the city to get our custom-made fix.

“is it possible what we want from church is not what we need?”

spiritual but not religious

Though spirituality is not in decline as predicted, there is no doubt that what it means to be “spiritual” in the modern world is different than what it meant a couple hundred years ago.

Western society used to be dominated by the Christian faith. Options for personal spirituality were limited. The difference today: a plethora of options. In the global community everything is within arms reach.

A quick search for meet-ups in the Vancouver area reveals such niche groups as the “BC Rosicrucians,” “Bnei Baruch Kabbala Society,” and the “Diamond Way Buddhist Meditation Group.” There is something

40 | CONVERGE. fall 2014

In my work as a university chaplain in a multicultural, pluralistic city, students new to the city often ask my advice regarding churches they can “test-drive.” They often have their hopes and desires set on a particular style of church and spirituality: “I am looking for something with contemporary music,” they say. “But, not flashy loud music, not the kind with lights and smoke; I need something more simple — maybe just

Is Christianity a 'Choose Your Own Adventure' Religion?

an acoustic guitar and a jambe; maybe a little Taize on the side? Also, I like a ‘thick’ sermon, lots of content, but not more than 15 minutes. I need a preacher that really applies the Bible to my life, but not all the time. Sometimes I just want to sit and reflect without being told what to do. Oh, and, I am a liberal, not a conservative (or vice versa). What church do you think I should I try out?” Of course, I am being hyperbolic to some extent, but this conversation has occurred in different forms, countless times.

This need or hope for tailor-made Christian spirituality creeps into our lives in subtle ways. Like when we say, “I just can’t get into that kind of worship, it’s just not me.” Is this thinking evidence of an assumption that we only worship Christ when the stars of spirituality are aligned in a way that fulfills our desires? But let’s not beat ourselves up about this. After all, “pick and mix” spirituality is in the air — we breathe it in without knowing. This is the world we inhabit. But, we cannot deny that even amongst Christians — like our “spiritual but not religious” counterparts — there is a proclivity to demand a custom spiritual experience.

What grieves me is when I hear stories of people not attending, or begrudgingly attending, a church in their town or city because they could not find one that suited them. Either it was too traditional, too Catholic, too Protestant, too Pentecostal, too hot, too cold, not enough young people, or not enough old people. At the end of the day, the options for church were not attractive to their spiritual palette.

I don’t want to make light of the struggle it can be to find a church; but does this tendency towards seeing our individual spiritual desires fulfilled divide us from others who do not share our desires? In Galatians, Paul says: “There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”

The fundamental reality of the church is that we are different, but part of the same family. We are one in Jesus. If we define ourselves by our cultural nuances (age, race, income level, gender, music styles) and personal spiritual tastes, and if we allow these things to become the reasons why we do not “feel comfortable” or “happy” in a church, does this not lead us to divide from people who don’t have similar preferences?

The church is not a place defined by spiritual preferences of individuals, but by diverse people coming together under one Lord. It seems to me that Paul would be rolling in his grave if he heard how some of us talk about the finicky reasons we decided not to attend church.

Is it possible what we want from church is not what we need? Maybe we, like the culture around us, want a spiritual experience that fits our unique shape. But what we really need is a spirituality that rubs against our radical individualism. Maybe we need to get out of our cultural bubbles filled with folks just like us and bump and grind with a more diverse body. And maybe we need to commit to journeying with them.

In my church there is a man named Charlie who routinely shows up to church unshaven (not in a homeless-hipster way, just in a homeless way), emanating body odour. He also drinks too much. Sometimes there is wine offered after the Sunday service and I notice he always goes for seconds. Charlie is not firing on all cylinders, and the fact that he has usually had a bit to drink before attending the service means he is not the greatest conversation partner, to say the least.

Charlie is the guy in the church who I would feel much more comfortable avoiding. I would rather chat to the people who are just like

“christianity, IN MANY WAYS, OFFENDS OUR POSTMODERN NOTIONS OF ‘CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE’ SPIRITUALITY. IT calls us out of ourselves. it calls us to others.”

me, taking Ellen-style group selfies and telling inside jokes. But the truth is that what I need most is not people like me. To become more like Jesus, I need Charlie. I need to feel the selfish pride welling up within me when I look down on Charlie for the things he has done in his life.

In the deepest parts of me I need to feel that sinful urge to walk away when Charlie comes close. I need to bump up against Charlie to better understand the depths of sinfulness in my own heart.

This is the kind of radical community that happens in Christ’s church.

We cross cultural boundaries and embrace each other in the name of Jesus, and in the process we are changed. Christianity, in many ways, offends our postmodern notions of “choose your own adventure” spirituality. It calls us out of ourselves. It calls us to others.

If I was able to choose my own adventure, I surely wouldn’t bring Charlie along. But, this adventure is not about me, it’s about us; and fundamentally it is about the work that Jesus is doing to make one humanity out of the many people and nations on earth.

CONVERGEMAGAZINE.COM | 41

The Issue TheAdventure Adventure 19 ofofCommitment Commitment

42 | CONVERGE. fall 2014

feature

Issue 19

the adventure of commitment

Written By kyle stiemsma photography By kriza borromeo

got married too young. Or so everyone tells me. There are so many things to do and places to see and people to meet. And now I’m going to spend my days cleaning a cramped apartment, arguing with my wife, and trying to pay the bills on time.

I settled. I cashed out. I chose comfort and security over risk and adventure.

Or so everyone tells me.

All my life, I’ve been seeking adventure. But out of all the mountains I’ve hiked, countries I’ve visited, language barriers I’ve manoeuvred, nothing has been more adventurous than my first year of marriage.

Cooking dinner with this girl for the 300th time, watching our favourite movies together on the couch, going for long walks as the sun finds its home behind the mountains — these things, these incredibly simple things, take on more significance than a two-day train ride across Central Asia.

What I’m talking about isn’t romance, not necessarily. More than dedicating my life to one person, I’ve learned what it means to commit: to people, to community, to a neighbourhood, to a church.

For the first time in my adult life, my feet are planted, roots penetrating deeper into the soil, and I’m letting it happen.

we've all got commitment issues

It’s no secret. Millennials have trouble committing. We have watched the generations before us tie themselves down with false notions of progress and the delirium of the American Dream. We saw the divorce rate erupt more intensely than Mount St. Helens, not to mention all the pain and frustration within the marriages that last.

We saw the grey hairs sprouting on the grocery store checker who was content to never move up the ladder. We saw the church sell out, trading its authenticity for what’s trendy and relevant, turning temples into community centres and disciples into spectators.

We saw the majority take the road most often travelled, settling on the easy way out. In reaction, it seems we do everything we can to make our lives more difficult.

Barna Research Group, in “Three Spiritual Journeys of Millennials,” captures the characteristics of millennial life in the image of a traveller.

“They want to wander the world, both in real life and in digital ways.

They want to feel untethered. There is a trend among young adults of delaying the pressures of adult life as long as possible; they want to embrace a lifestyle of risk, exploration and unscripted moments,” writes Barna. “The generation has come to appreciate and take identity from a spiritual version of life on the road. In other words, it is a generation that is spiritually homeless.”

Being the vagabonds that we are, most millennials still cherish loyalty, and we know how to work hard. Most of my peers excel quickly, working their way into management, finding creative ways to boost productivity.

But the second their work plateaus, they jump ship.

Same for relationships, both friendly and romantic. Craving intimacy and transparency, my friends like to open up quickly, learn people’s stories, make grand romantic gestures. But as the interesting stories begin to run out and excitement fades into regularity, most of my friends move on, content to simply add another fling of romance or friendship to their diary of pub stories.

We’ve been led to believe that love is an organic, spontaneous gift that springs upon helpless souls and leads them into the depths of happily ever after. But we forget that love is our duty. This idea is carried out best by Søren Kierkegaard in his book Works of Love. He argues that through the command, “You shall love,” love is set free.

The object of love, after God, is your neighbour. This might mean that adorable face you long to marry, but it might not. It may be your boss. It may be your parents. It may be your sister, or brother, or the stranger down the street. The point is, love is our duty. It’s not an added bonus.

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feature

Issue 19

“when it is a duty to love the people we see, one must first and foremost give up all imaginary and exaggerated ideas about a dreamworld where the object of love should be sought and found —that is, one must become sober, gain actuality and truth by finding and remaining in the world of actuality as the task assigned to one.” sØren kierkegaard, works of love

1

curving outward

Most of us had to learn about inductive and deductive reasoning throughout our education. Here’s a simplistic refresher: inductive reasoning takes an observation, moves in to make generalizations, in order to arrive at knowledge, a theory. Deductive reasoning does the reverse; starting with logic, it moves outward to predictions that lead to an observation.

2

What most people are spouting today, I call “Inductive Joy” — the “follow your heart” way to find fulfilment. You take your desires and your passions and you follow them, through ambition and merit, to some ideal ending which will be an eternal, ethereal fountain of joy.

But there’s another mode of fulfilment. The way of Jesus that goes something like, “Seek first His kingdom (His presence, His leadership, His love) and His righteousness (loving people more than yourself), and all these things (like decent clothes, good food, and a warm bed) will be given to you as well” (Matthew 6:33, my additions in brackets).

I call this “Deductive Joy.” Joy is something you start with, and it’s the joy that comes from being loved by God and others. You’re not searching for security or stability; you’re beginning with it. In this mode, first you commit, and then your commitments fuel your desires and passions.

3 1 2 3 4

snail mail is the best modern indoor garden after a long day's work food tastes better when you share it

Søren Kierkegaard wrote his theology dissertation on "the concept of irony."

44 | CONVERGE. fall 2014

Homo incurvatis in se. Augustine and others in the Christian tradition used this Latin phrase to describe the fundamental human problem, that as humans we are curved in on ourselves. With our undefined desires and passions fuelling us, we often trample over relationships and hurt the people in our lives so that we can find freedom, so that we can find joy.

We millennials have been loaded with the “do what you love” mentality before we actually get a chance to do anything. So we’re all pulling out our hair trying to figure out what it is we love so that we can actually do it. So many of us in our culture are writhing in pain because we’re following our desires out of some distorted moral duty that says we have to be true to ourselves.

The Gospel is all about bending our nature the other way — curving us outward. Through deductive joy, our passions and desires can actually find definition and clarity, stemming from the joy within and the commitments we’ve made. Rather than letting our desires design our identity, our identity, rooted in relationships, spells out our desires.

The Adventure of Commitment

4

“when it is a duty in loving to love the people we see, then in loving the actual individual person it is important that one does not substitute an imaginary idea of how we think or could wish that this person should be. the one who does this does not love the person he sees but again something unseen, his own idea or something similar.” sØren kierkegaard, works of love

settling for grace

I’m not saying you should settle for the first thing that comes your way.

These things come through discernment.

What I am saying is that we need to stop hating on the idea of “settling.” The Gospel does not commission us to be wanderers, but it calls for roots, for real investment in real people and community. People, for better or for worse, are what make life worth living. The heartbeat of human existence lies in good conversation and hearty meals eaten around crowded tables. There’s a reason people flock to pubs and cafés, and yes, even churches.

When you settle for the grace of God, you don’t have to worry about being stuck in a dead-end job or a miserable marriage. You have to worry about investing in a community, in people, as frustrating as they are.

You have to worry about sticking around after the interesting stories have stopped, after the sparks of romance have turned to ash. You have to worry because it is after this where true joy lies. When you can go to bed with a stupid smile on your face because this average day, with all its deadlines and headaches, has been an adventure. When you can see everything in your life as gift, temporary and fragile, and know that even if all the gifts are destroyed, you still have tasted the sweetness of the Kingdom of God. I talked with my grandparents, Harold and Jean Stevens, a few days before their 64th wedding anniversary. They’re cuddled together on the couch as the morning light shines through the window behind them.

Blazing through their 80s, their smiles are vibrant as ever, their minds sharp.

Like me, they got married too young. Harold worked as a military cop after he was drafted at 17 to support the Second World War. On a visit home, he stopped by the church to attend a youth group event. When the lead for the upcoming play dropped out, Harold volunteered to take the role. It was this role which would lead him to the altar to marry Jean.

“I couldn’t have asked for a better partner,” he says.

“We just enjoy each other,” my grandma adds. “We just like being together.”

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feature

The Adventure of Commitment

2

1

1 jax the cat 2 keys to their small, crappy apartment

They go on to tell me they’ve never really been alone. They went from having each other, to having kids, to having more kids, and then grand kids. Now they’re swamped with great grand kids.

I ask them whether they thought they missed out on any adventures.

“No,” my grandma replies quickly. “We never viewed life that way. I can’t think of anything we wanted to do that we didn’t do.”

My grandpa, smiling, adds, “We just lived life one day at a time.”

call of duty

Sometimes I wonder if I’m making all this up and avoiding a truer version of myself. Then I hear the keys jingling as a fidgety lock begins to turn. I see my wife walk through the door of our small, crappy apartment, exhausted from a long day’s work. All she has to do is look at me with those bright eyes of hers, and I know everything else in this world may be a lie, but this is true. She is here, and with her by my side I am reflecting the image of God more fully. We are participating in a love way beyond us.

Of course, they missed out on a few things. They haven’t travelled far and wide; they’re not sitting on mountains of money. They never wrote a bestseller or won a Nobel Peace Prize. They sacrificed a lot to be together, to have children together, and to love those children.

Believe it or not, I still get to travel these days. And it’s usually a lot more fun than before because I get to share the experience with someone else. I still have dreams, but now I have someone to dream with. I still have desires, but they’re more defined and they have context.

The point isn’t what they got to do and what they missed out on; the point is that they have reached old age utterly satisfied, and remain in the joy of the life they built together.

No, I don’t get to disappear for days at a time and go off by myself without telling anyone, and sometimes I wish I could. I have to buy double the groceries and raise my standards of cleanliness, and that’s a pain. My wife and I disagree on things, we argue, we get frustrated with each other. We get scared.

“The love we’ve tried to instil in our children,” my grandpa says, “it looks like it’s woven off into our grandchildren and our great grandchildren. The love is still there that we tried to instil in our kids.”

“when it is a duty in loving to love the people we see, there is no limit to love; if the duty is to be fulfilled, love must be limitless, it is unchanged, no matter how the object becomes changed.” sØren kierkegaard, works of love

46 | CONVERGE. fall 2014

But at the end of the day, our commitment to each other wipes out all fear.

Marriage, if you’re doing it right, is anything but comfort and security.

It’s a constant awareness of the gifts you have and of their fragility. It keeps you awake and on the edge; it pushes you to be better and won’t let you settle for anything less than the fullness of joy.

I used to be consumed by worry, longing to know what God was calling me to do with my life. Now, I’m far more concerned with who God has called me to: who to stand next to in friendship and support, who to embrace with grace and love.

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CONVERGEMAGAZINE.COM | 47

culture

Man Guides

culture Written By joel bentley illustrated By kriza borromeo

an Guides are popping up everywhere.

There’s The Art of Manliness and How to Be a Man. There’s even Manskills: How to Avoid Embarrassing Yourself and Impress Everyone Else.

And now there's a Man Guide for you, men of the North American Christian Subculture. Two, in fact: The Dude’s Guide to Manhood (Thomas Nelson, January 2014) by Darrin Patrick, and Book of Manly Men (Thomas Nelson, November 2013) by Stephen Mansfield.

By now, men may be asking, why do I need a guide? Well, it’s because for many of us it is a fairly confusing time to be a man. As women have rightfully been making gains in education and the workplace, men have stood still.

Journalist Hanna Rosin has famously heralded “the end of men” in her divisive 2010 Atlantic article. We’re no longer needed the way we once were.

Our gendered roles used to be much more clearly defined: we brought home the lion’s share of the household income, we maintained our homes and our vehicles, we were better educated than our wives and made decisions on behalf of our family. Now my wife has achieved the same level of education and makes more than I do; I don’t have any handyman skills and know hardly anything about vehicle maintenance; I cook just as much as she does and take just as much an interest in decorating our home (although admittedly I have less desire to clean it). Does this make me less of a man? And as these roles change, what does it take to be a “real man”?

Cue the guides, attempting to answer many of these big identity questions.

The two books are remarkably similar in their goals: both strive to redefine “true manhood,” a phrase they seemingly plucked out of the air and define with authority. They’re men of tradition. They’ve seen the best and worst of their father’s generation, and they want the former for themselves.

48 | CONVERGE. fall 2014

Darrin Patrick, author of The Dude’s Guide to Manhood, is the chaplain for the St. Louis Cardinals, which sounds like a pretty cool gig, but unfortunately baseball culture informs his book much more than Christianity. Without the backing of history, psychology, or Scripture, and without establishing himself as an authority, the book simply becomes one man’s opinion.

He also doesn’t have much sympathy for men who aren’t living up to their potential. Maybe this is all part of his boot camp approach of whipping men into shape, but it causes him to simply scratch the surface of some deep-rooted issues. For example, he brushes off addictions to pornography and substance abuse as “juvenile behaviour,” which doesn’t solve anything or help the men who struggle with these issues overcome them.

When Patrick wishfully longs for a former time when “rituals and rites of passage would have marked the beginning of manhood for boys,” when men “smoked cigars, had epic beards, and drank scotch,” I couldn’t help but think of my own circle of friends, many of whom have taken to cigars and scotch as hobbies, and more than a few of them sport hearty beards.

These symbols of manhood are still present, but they’re just that: symbols. The appearance of manhood does not make a man.

Which brings us to a declaration Stephen Mansfield makes early on in his own Book of Manly Men, “I don’t care about your appearance.

Manliness, in my view, is about doing.” And that’s certainly closer to the truth (although I’ve heard it said that the Lord looks at the heart).

Mansfield’s book is full of almost-truths like this. His Man Guide surpasses Patrick’s in nearly every way by focusing on concrete examples of historical men, including biblical figures, to demonstrate “true manhood.” But he often misses the mark.

He portrays Jesus as a “manly man,” by which he means a macho fighter, extrapolating the few

examples of Jesus portrayed this way in the Bible — He was a carpenter, he must have been buff!

Did you see him throw tables in the temple? — while ignoring all the times he turned the other cheek or showed pacifist restraint (like telling Peter to put away his sword).

In advocating for this macho version of manhood, Mansfield is stuck advocating for a traditional stereotype for its own sake.

Mansfield says, “If this sounds real ‘old school,’ it is. Get used to it. Being a real man in this generation is a great deal about recovering some old ways we should never have thrown aside.” I do believe that there are many values from our father’s generation that we need to recover, but they made their own mistakes and had their own weaknesses, and ours are specific to our time and our generation. Men in our generation must treat their mistakes as their own and hold them up to the examples of character set in Scripture, not to stereotypes of an older generation.

At the end of the day, these Man Guides only offer advice. At times this advice is decent, but it often lacks substance. The books themselves do not respond to questions or critiques. They can only become dynamic if they enter into discussion.

Both of these authors talk about the need to seek out mentors and friendships as examples of manhood. Mansfield says, “We will never become the men we are called to be unless we learn the art of friendship and intentionally cultivate deep, meaningful, rowdy relationships with other men.” This is a truth both authors get right. We need each other much more than we need Man Guides. The idea of manhood is a tricky thing to navigate, and we can’t do it on our own. the dude's guide to manhood darrin patrick book of manly men stephen mansfield

Culture

Music Musings

Written By joel bentley

hamilton leithauser | black hours

phox | phox

saintseneca | dark arc

The Walkmen went on “extreme hiatus” last year after 13 years together. In its aftermath, former lead singer Hamilton Leithauser opens up the doors to a swath of orchestral instrumentation on his solo debut. Leithauser enlists members of Fleet Foxes, The Shins, and Vampire Weekend to enlarge his vision, a blend of doo-wop and foot-stomping pop with a dash of Sinatra mixed into an unusually savoury cocktail. They’re love songs for a converted jazz lounge, sung with the brash confidence of a man about town.

“Don’t know why I need you, I don’t need anyone,” he muses. And later, humbled by love, he begs, “Give me the lion’s share of your love.”

Cinematic in the classic Hollywood sense, with floating strings and swooning romance, newcomers Phox elude genre classification, pulling from pop, folk, and chamber music. Though they cite Feist and Sufjan Stevens as influences, their most apt comparison is Regina Spektor, who possesses the same playful experimentation.

These Wisconsin natives seamlessly blend varied instrumentation like a dancing piano, banjo, and clarinet into a drifting, atmospheric sound. And then there’s the voice of lead singer Monica Martin, which flutters like an uncaged bird soaring with soul. Their debut is marked with the confidence of a band here to stay.

Saintseneca write folk songs of the highest order: frayed, beautiful, and dripping with holy angst. They live at the opposite end of the spectrum from folk rockers Mumford & Sons. While Mumford sing songs of polished hope, Saintseneca delve into the depths to wrestle in the dark. Lead singer Zac Little wails, “If only the good ones die young / I’d pray your corruption would / swift like a thief in the night / Right I pluck my right eye right out.” These existential musings fly straight out from his lungs, his soul. They’re a band interested in the big questions and don’t care how hard it hurts to answer them.

CONVERGEMAGAZINE.COM | 49

last word

Notes

predicting the future

Written By michelle sudduth Illustrated By matthew kim

redicting the future. Many of us spend a considerable amount of energy trying our hand at it, because ultimately we want to create systems that will protect the things we desire, and ward off the things we wish to avoid.

Our constant attempts to direct our lives one way or another often require wisdom; but sometimes wisdom just doesn’t cut it. We end up in a mess that we never planned for, proving that being wise isn’t the same as being in control.

Control. We don’t have a lot of it. Or maybe more accurately, we have a lot of it, but we don’t have control over very much. So, engaging our knowledge-to-date and seeking wisdom to help us survive these conditions, we forge ahead into the great unknown.

Life is, experientially, so two-faced, carrying with it the potential for goodness beyond our imagination and sorrow we never thought we’d have to face. While we long for adventure, we also fear the negative possibilities that come our way. The adventurer within can easily become resigned to walk the familiar and proven path — not out of wisdom, but out of fear. Then we begin to feel stagnant and trapped in the systems we have created, no longer dreaming or taking real risks that would break us into new horizons in relationships, work, health, or involvement in our local and broad communities.

But could the voice of the adventurer within actually be the wise one?

With that thought, we are tempted to ask, “Don’t adventure, exploration, and pushing the limits lead to a life of risk-taking that would change our dependency on the systems that give order and generate safety? How could taking risks be wise for my future?”

My hunch is that the perspective needed lies in the foundation of what we believe existence is all about, and practically, if those convictions win our allegiance as we engage the day-to-day.

At the heart of what theologians call the “meta-narrative,” which is the main storyline of all existence, is the incessant agenda of flourishing — people, dogs, plants, icebergs, and the rest of creation. If we share the conviction that at its core, reality is in a process of renewal, we become participants by purposing our lives to be in harmony with God’s redemptive heart.

50 | CONVERGE. fall 2014

“Life is, experientially, so two-faced, carrying with it the potential for goodness beyond our imagination and sorrow we never thought we’d have to face.”

Aligning ourselves with God in this work entails growth, healing, creating, and a lot of courage because reclaiming everything for good is an adventure — the most purposeful one we can have!

Adventure is becoming fully and only yourself, and subsequently inviting others to do the same. It is taking what is unformed and creating, or what is broken and mending.

Adventure is being present to this moment, not to the future or past in self-protection. It is a life of faith and trust, where getting caught up in God’s loving restoration will take you to regions within yourself you didn’t know existed, and to people and places in the world you had never known before. Adventure is trading control disguised as learning, improvement, systems, and rightness in exchange for trust in the protection that comes from God’s companionship and faithfulness, no matter what happens.

Adventure is an inherent element to living awake. Listen to your desire for it. Consider what may be in the way of freely trusting. Pay attention to the sleeping and the dying in their various forms around you, and join with God to invite them to presence and aliveness. You will need courage to walk into these new horizons. Because God’s heart is to bring life to all things, we can rest, knowing we’re never alone in our adventurous partnership.

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