John Calvin`s 500th Birthday: glimpses…of his 21st centuery presence

John Calvin’s 500th Birthday:
glimpses…of his 21st century visit
to Canada
Our thankful, serious playfulness
with bobblehead John, from
Edmonton to Banff, to Emo, to
Thunder Bay and back.
Calvin’s BANNER PIC’s:
April, Jan., and Mar. ‘09.
Kingdom Flickers:
Not Switzerland, but Castle Mt.
transfixed Calvin.
Sea to Sea 2008 Cyclists
dip into the Pacific
Harvesting inNeerlandia, Alberta –
along with Elton Wieringa who’s
a John Deere advocate.
C
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B
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:
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“How
small we
are.”
John in the Valley of the Ten Peaks, Moraine Lake, Alberta.
Off Lake, N. of Emo, Ont.: “How do I look?
This lifejacket might not hold up my
waterlogged robe. I think I could handle the
one blade of a canoe paddle, but which end of
this kayak paddle do you use first?
Those frogs down left … they’re friendly and
encouraging, but (after all) they can swim. ”
“He’ll do
it!”
Kingdom Flicker: There
was a lot of voluminous
encouragement, and
promises to pull him out
if his Eskimo roll
floundered.
Kayaking sounded like it
could be fun and safe.
But it was just too new.
So….
“Let’s go
sing!”
No, Geneva is not a girl’s
name, it’s a ‘tune’. But if
Geneva sang a Geneva
tune, she would set a
steady beat and subdue
her vocal joy.
“I love the Lord for he has heard my voice. He turned to me and
heard my cry for mercy….” Psalm 116
“Pretty
mellow, eh
Dr. Cal?”
Well done. Nature sings!
Kingdom Flicker: A day with a woodsman steward is
more than felling trees.
“Perfect! You missed all of the saplings!”
How do you bring down a mature tree without ravaging other plant
and creature habitats?
Time for a break: “If I take all these clothes off,
there’s not much left of me. My beard masks a very
skinny face that matches my scrawny body. I’ll
freeze in that water!”
Kingdom Flicker:
“Tranquil water. It
makes me think of
baptism. That’s a
complicated topic here in
the 21st century. I think
I’ll just stand here and
reflect. This water really
isn’t as cold as it looked.
Oh dear. Here come
three of those swim-keen
frogs.”
Deafening encouragements,
but did Calvin swim?
“The sun’s right; must be
close to coffee time.”
“I died in 1564, you know; so, do you think
Canon of Dordt ‘words’ like T.U.L.I.P. are
fair? To be honest, my ‘u’ did make me
think of the awesome grace of the Canon’s
defence of ‘unconditional election’. Uh, is
there any more coffee?”
“I really appreciate being at your
cottage, Marian. Did you hear a fish
jump? In modern English, what do you
do with an ‘x’? What’s a Sleeping
Giant?”
Off to Thunder Bay to see
the Ojibwa’s mythic
Sleeping Giant.
Grand Rapids,
Mich.:
CALVIN’s
home town
The Precambrian Giant sleeps in Thunder Bay.
“I’d like to meet and talk with some Ojibwa about the Giant.
Actually, I’d like to know more about First Nations responses
to the creation. There’s a ‘stewardship’ in their perspective
that I appreciate.”
Kingdom Flicker: There’s a Creator richness
in the diversity here – a Sleeping Giant and a
modern, multi-cultural city. Regarding
diversity, how do/should Canadian Christians
read the Scriptures?
So this is Island Lake. I wonder what we’ll do this afternoon.
Let’s Pretend: “I can walk on water. Only my feet and my robe’s
hem got wet. And there were no ‘Jump Cal; Jump!’ cheerleader
frogs.”
“Yes, this shot was posed. My sea legs
were mush, and this Hobie’s miniature
bow was slippery wet! Being told to,
‘Stand still!’ did not help.”
I know I’m a little close; but
there’s a fascinating physics
in the swing of an axe.
“It’s a combination of the head’s weight, the blow’s
momentum, the strike’s angle, the wood’s grain
and dryness: I’ve seen enough. Sorry I made you
nervous.”
Did you ever lose your head? I mean,
really lose it! Not in a blur of anger, the
frustrations of having lost your wallet
(again), the ecstasy of a totally
unexpected visit: none of these.
It was one thing to be a made-in-China
Bobblehead, but the real “made in
China” weakness was being shipped in
a made-in-China box!
A last minute dash for the Williams’
van torpedoed me through the flimsy
lid. After just one bounce, I was
headless!
Plasticine ‘glue’ made me look like I
had a goitre; Epoxy failed; Contact
Cement let go.
Actually, I’ve been headless several
times: right now, I’ve got a toothpick,
match stick, carpenter glue neck. The
result: John Calvin’s stiff neck!
Kingdom Flicker: Evelyn Martin,
artist, designed and coordinated a
team to create a symbol and colour
rich commemorative banner for
director Rein Selles and his Joyful
Noise Choirs’ 30 years of fund raising
for the Rehoboth Christian Ministries.
Evelyn’s banner, “Let the Children Come” and The Joyful
Noise Children’s Choir with a thousand celebrants fill
Edmonton’s West End CRC with the visual and musical
thankfulness for 30 years of Rehoboth Christian Ministries
service to people with mental challenges.
Kingdom Flickers:
Rehoboth Christian
Ministries
Rein Selles, Director
Ken Medema
Christian song writer
Kingdom Flicker: we visited
earth keeper (farmer) and
artist Jim Visser
as he moved acrylics across
canvas in his home studio
(Horse Hills, Alberta).
Christmas with T. S. Elliot’s
“Journey of the Magi”
Stepping out into the December
snow I had no difficulty imagining
the Magi’s lumbering, snow
burdened camels, or relating to
the drop dead fatigue caught in
the poem’s slurred opening: “A
hard time coming we had of it
….”
Kingdom Flicker: raisins, yeast, flour, milk
and beer; patience for dough rising; a
deep fryer; and a turn-style to control the
friends and relatives who have asked,
“Are you making Oliebollen on the first?”
“It was an afternoon of feast and
fellowship: cocoa, tea, hot cider oliebollen
and bowls of icing sugar to dip them in!”
Edith Sinnema
welcomed and chatted with Calvin: it was
coffee time. Then, she
demonstrated how she
kneads (and kneads
!) and finally gives
aesthetic life to her
clay. Upon leaving,
Calvin commented,
“With her infectious
de-light, knowledge,
and ingenuity, one of
the things that Edith is,
is a potter.”
Kingdom Flicker:
There is a humbling, open freedom
in our artisticaesthetic abilities to
“pot”; it may be
rooted within our
human being and
the earth itself.
Kingdom Flickers: playfulness
Finding Calvin
Battleford Saskatchewan
Finding Calvin
Not in Regina but in Battleford, Saskatchewan:
Finding Calvin
Calvin’s academic interests: law, philosophy,
theology
Dr. Brian Martin
invited Calvin to
The King’s
University
College
telescope (near
Sherwood Park,
Alberta).
Shoulder to shoulder, Calvin
had post-service coffee with
fully robed Dr. Randy Blacketer,
a Calvin Scholar, pastor of the
Neerlandia, Alberta, CRC.
“We hope you
enjoyed our
glimpses of John
Calvin at 500.”
Credits / Acknowledgements
•
•
•
•
Photography and story line: Stuart Williams
Design consultant and assistant editor: Marian Williams
Tech consultant: Joel Veldhuisen
Guests and encouragers:
– John Calvin, bobblehead from China
– Evelyn Martin, Sherwood Park, Alberta
– Drawings, The Banner, cover, pp. 18 & 32, January 2009
– Rein Selles, Joyful Noise Choir, director, Edmonton, Alberta
– Ken Medema, Christian song writer, performed at the 30th anniversary
Rehoboth Christian Ministries concert, Edmonton, Alberta
– Jim Visser, Horse Hills, Alberta
– Nico Veldhuisen, Emo, Ontario
– Vocal, cerami-frogs: Off Lake, Ont.
– Bob DeMoor, editor of The Banner (The Magazine of the Christian
Reformed Church) who for January, 2009, editorialized:
“John Calvin is the last person who’d want us to make a big deal about his
500th birthday.”
So, we didn’t! ☺