He is Risen - Christ is Risen Indeed!

1971 was a pivotal year in defining my life.

I had been attending St. John's (York Mills) Anglican Church as a young person for a couple of years. The youth group had really come together under the direction of The Reverend Ken Maxted. Friday nights were either sports or entertainment of some sort - but they were fun get-togethers for a fairly large group of young people, providing a sense of community and belonging to those most vulnerable of creatures - teenagers!

Following Maxted's tenure at St. John's came a couple of curates in succession leading to the wonderous creation of a weekend Easter youth Festival called "Resurrection '71".

In the post Woodstock era and the pre-computer age this was a fascinating expression of Easter, juxtaposing folk music, poetry and art with what was then cutting edge communications technology. It was, in fact, a youth festival that examined, defined and celebrated the Easter experience building from the celebrations and commemoration of Holy Week, the pain and ultimate despair of Good Friday culminating in an all night prayer vigil and triumphal sunrise ceremony trumpeting Christ's resurrection and victory over death - over sin - and the salvation of all people.

My life changed forever at that time. I met and befriended the Reverend Tim Foley who would become a good friend and teacher. He would, some years later, kindly agree to deliver the sacrament of marriage to my wife and me.

My life was indellibly changed by my time at St. John's. It provided me with a secure and safe haven, outside of my home, where I could be accepted and loved by a group of my peers - something which all teenagers crave.

My closest friends were similarly impacted by their time at St. John's. Kevin went on to become an Anglican parish priest and eventually a university professor and dean. Brian and Mike answered the call to priesthood. George eventually ended up as a Bishop.

And Easter? My memories of this wonderous time of year are stirred each time it passes by. This morning will be the 36th Easter since that marvelous morning in the Church Yard at St. John's when we gathered as friends, as brothers and sisters, as children of God and welcomed a new day - a new life, as it were - a newly risen and living lord who's ultimate sacrifice was now written on our hearts. Written in such a way, that regardless of the time that would pass - of the history that would be made, of the changes and aging and love felt and tears shed - that a lifetime later, would be remembered as a defining moment in the lives of those who were there.

Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Today is the day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in Him. Alleluia!

An early warning to Canadians

Chinese Gluten appears to be the culprit in the Menu pet food poisonings which has claimed a dozen or so cats and dogs in North America, so far. Of course, we don't know how many more pets have been mortally injured by injesting food tainted with pesticide residue.

I can't help but ask if Canadians would stand up and make a little bit of noise about this scandalous situation if it had been apple juice rather than pet food that was found to contain deadly contaminants? After all, 100% of the reconstituted apple juice we buy (not to mention any other food products made from apple juice concentrate) are now sourced in China, as well.

That's right folks, as we continue to drive our own farmers into bankruptcy our governments and industry lull us into an enormously false sense of security that our food supply is safe and plentiful though they continue to sell their souls to the Chinese government.

Remember when we learned that manufacturing jobs were fleeing Canada in droves for the cheap and completely immoral backdrop of mainland China? We were told not to worry, our government was going to create a kinder and better Canada with high tech jobs for everyone..... H'mm, wasn't it Intel who just announced the replacement of North American operations with a planned new facility in China? So much for that "High Tech" salvation.

We have been deserted by our government. They, of the big, global economic minds, who spend more time worried about how they might look to their counterparts around the world than how they might expose the population of this once proud nation to complete subservience and dependency on the likes of China.

We got a sample of the disasters we can come to expect in the future, as these household pets provided us with a warning sign, of what's to come. It is time to stand up and demand that our governments immediately rethink this entire strategy. It is time that we reconsidered our ongoing sell-out to China and other world powers and instead, put these enormous amounts of public money, being spent in these foolish endeavours, back into Canada and Canadians.

We need our farms. We need the food that they grow. We must begin to support local farms and to pay prices in line with costs of production. We need our farmers to thrive - not barely survive. Why in the world is a country that grows more wheat than most of the rest of the world put together - buying tainted gluten from China - when there are huge stores of surplus wheat waiting to be given away to other foreign interests?

There used to be thousands of acres of apples in Ontario (and in many other parts of this vast land) which have now been ripped out. But for the princely sum of $15.00 per ton - apple growers cannot grow, pick and ready their crops for sale. Of course, all of those modern rules and regulations governing what can and can't be sprayed (which we know are not a part of production in places like China) have put them out of business. It is not that they should be allowed to poison our apples - it is that they should not be forced to compete with people who do!

Apple cider, which originated as the natural use for windfalls (those apples which had blown off the tree before being picked and which were therefore too bruised or otherwise not suitable for sale, as is) were juiced and turned into cider. Fresh cider and juice was a "windfall" for the grower.

Today, interfering governments, with little or no understanding of the industries that they control, prohibit the use of such fruit. If it has touched the ground, it may not be used. I wonder if the same rules are applied to all of that Chinese apple juice concentrate which is welcomed with open arms by these very same, double talking, holier than thou politicans and gladly poured down the throats of every Canadian child. Frankly, I find it despicable, dishonourable and unacceptable.

I would rather feed my children apple juice made from Annapolis Valley windfalls than from any Chinese apples.

3rd 4th and 5th generation apple growers are fighting a losing battle. All Canadians are losing as well.

I wonder which of those among us will lose the use of vital organs next - and I wonder which politicians among us have the guts and the decency to stand up and speak out against this shameful scandal.

The lives of those much loved pets might not have been given in vain if we could just use these events as a catalyst to start rebuilding the agricultural sector of a country which has all but abandoned the most important and essential social service of all - our food supply!