Christianity without Christ

That triumphal barnburner of an Easter hymn, Jesus Christ Has Risen Today – Hallelujah, this morning will rock the walls of Toronto's West Hill United Church as it will in most Christian churches across the country.

But at West Hill on the faith's holiest day, it will be done with a huge difference. The words “Jesus Christ” will be excised from what the congregation sings and replaced with “Glorious hope.”

Thus, it will be hope that is declared to be resurrected – an expression of renewal of optimism and the human spirit – but not Jesus, contrary to Christianity's central tenet about the return to life on Easter morning of the crucified divine son of God.

Generally speaking, no divine anybody makes an appearance in West Hill's Sunday service liturgy.

There is no authoritative Big-Godism, as Rev. Gretta Vosper, West Hill's minister for the past 10 years, puts it. No petitionary prayers (“Dear God, step into the world and do good things about global warming and the poor”). No miracles-performing magic Jesus given birth by a virgin and coming back to life. No references to salvation, Christianity's teaching of the final victory over death through belief in Jesus's death as an atonement for sin and the omnipotent love of God. For that matter, no omnipotent God, or god.

Ms. Vosper has written a book, published this week – With or Without God: Why the Way We Live is More Important than What We Believe – in which she argues that the Christian church, in the form in which it exists today, has outlived its viability and either it sheds its no-longer credible myths, doctrines and dogmas, or it's toast.

She is considered one of the bright, if unconventional, minds within the United Church, Canada's largest Protestant Christian denomination. She holds a master of divinity degree from Queen's University and was ordained in 1992. She founded and chairs the Toronto-based Canadian Centre for Progressive Christianity.

Full story here.

Ms Vosper should stop deceiving herself and her followers and just call themselves atheists or anything they like. Anything but Christians.

They do not believe in Jesus Christ or God. So what is the point of calling themselves Christians? Progressive or otherwise?

Library Book

I applied for a library card at the Galt Library when I registered for the Paper Craft class that was offered there recently. The only thing I've borrowed from the library was Andrea Bocelli CD and DVD combo called Under the Desert Sky.

A few days ago I was recommended Adeline Yen Mah's book called Falling Leaves: The True Story of an Unwanted Chinese Daughter. I didn't want to buy another book since I've got a pile of books waiting to be read!

I decided to check online if the local library carries the book. It does not. But I was able to place a request online and the library will get the book for me because there are other libraries that are under the Sacramento Library system that do carry the book. I will be notified by the library once the book becomes available at the local library.

I think that it is neat that I am able to do all this online. At the Sacramento Library website, you can search for any book on their catalog. I don't know if you request for a book that they do not carry, they will order it for you. But what I do know now is that you can request for any book that is available even if your local library does not have it.

The other thing is that you can return your books to any of the libraries that is in their system. You are not confined to one particular library.

Nightwing, who recommended Adeline Mah's book to me, wonders when the libraries in Malaysia will be able to offer such a service. "Next century?" I teased.

Recurring Dreams

Salian has a blog entry describing a dream she had where she lost her luggage. I left a comment telling her how vividly she remembered her dreams.

I don't remember my dreams very well, maybe because on a typical night I have several dreams and I usually remember the last one just before I wake up. Well, not the dream in its entirety, just some of it.

But there are two dreams that I have had several times before.

The first is about being late for an exam because I didn't know where the exam room was. The strange thing about the dream was that the people in my dream were my classmates from secondary school, and college mates while I was at college. There had been times in my dream where I spoke to myself, "I hope this is a dream, because those groups of people shouldn't be in the same room!" When I woke up, I was relieved that it was only a dream. I would hate to think that I had missed an important exam!

Salian has a book on dreams and their meanings, and according to the book the meaning of my dream is: “A feeling of powerlessness to shape our own destiny may be behind a dream in which we hurry - often late - to…the examination room.”

I can so identify with that meaning! I never graduated from college because I just couldn't get over the final two papers. I must have tried at least four times but each time I failed and the results only got worse! There have been times that I regretted never having completed my course of study, but at other times I consoled myself by telling myself I was not cut out for corporate life, unless of course I was the boss and telling others what to do! The other thing is, I would not be where I am today, if I had completed my chosen course of study and went on to climb the corporate ladder.

As I told Salian, I have moved on to other things in life, and there are opportunities available to me now if I am at all interested in furthering my studies.

The other recurring dream is about being spied upon while in the shower. When I was a teenager my family lived in a housing area provided by Shell, and the last house that we lived in was by a road that was used by many people living in the Malay kampung nearby. The house was quite a large house with two bathrooms. However the window to each bathroom was quite low and anyone could easily push it open and peep into the bathroom. Besides the window with the frosted window panes, there was a fixed "window" with wooden louvres. If you had a mind to, you could peep through those louvres even when the louvres were slanted downwards. I am pretty certain that I was a victim of a peeping Tom or two, and I am pretty certain that I was a victim more than once!

According to the book of dreams that Salian has, the dream “…suggests our anxieties about being ‘found out’ - a common neurosis whether or not we genuinely have anything unpleasant to hide. In Freudian terms, the dreamer may also feel frustrated at not finding a proper opportunity for greater creativity.”

Haha, I don't know about being anxious about being "found out", but I do know the emotions that come with being the victim of a peeping Tom especially while you are taking your shower, are embarrassment and anger at the violation of your privacy!

There is one other dream that I often get when I feel cold. That is being in a body water and feeling cold. For me the dream is merely a translation of the state that I was in. I was not warm enough in my bed, and that led to the dream of being in a body of water. I don't want to read anything more into that!

How about you? What sort of recurring dreams do you have?

What's the Ugliest Part of Your Body?

So what is the ugliest part of your body? You don't have one? Good for you!

For me, the ugliest part of my body is my double chin. Errrr ... maybe it is my fat tummy! Ok, ok let's just say that I have more than one part of my body that I think is ugly!

When I think about what I consider is the ugliest part of my body, I am thankful that I don't have uglier looking body parts! Imagine being born with a huge birthmark on your face! I guess with today's make up technology, even that can be hidden.

As for teeth, bad and ugly teeth can be taken out and caps or bridges put in. Look at how good looking Elliot Yamin is now with his new set of pearly whites.

I read some where that a famous fashion designer by the name of Halston once said that a woman's knees are the ugliest part of her body. Come to think about it, knees do look ugly especially if you are skinny! A lot of women think that their feet are ugly. I think where feet are concerned, white people (Asians like to walk barefoot in their homes) who have their footwear on all the time have the ugliest, gnarly looking feet!

What about men? What do men think is the ugliest part of their body? I can think of one part that I consider ugly! Hahahaha.