Cities

grounds for violence–welcome to the wild wild west

/ Craig

Yesterday violence erupted again in my neighbourhood and someone lay dead on the ground for the second time in as many weeks.  For the most part I live my life from the space in between Main and Fraser in Vancouver.  I enjoy these two streets and the different stories they are telling about the City.  However my heart broke yesterday in hearing the account my neighbour told of taking children home and having to walk past the body of a young man absorbed in the darkness of lawlessness.  

This morning I sat a few blocks from the corner where he died and reflected on what grounds for violence he and others in his realm have.  The Lower Mainland is seemingly awash with those who would turn this western edge of the continent into their own wild playground.  What has consumed their conscience and heart?  Why have they abandoned the delight of life?  Have they been deceived by the attraction of power?  What vision of strength have they enshrined?  What honour has been constructed that must be preserved?  Do they truly want a life built on the survival of the strongest?  What lies has the Evil One weaved into the fabric of their hearts?

 Law is the tutor that highlights reality for the deadened conscience to recognize that something is wrong.  But what’s next? Changed hearts and restored relationships are possible from a Christian worldview through the grace of God in Christ Jesus His Son.  Into the grounds of violence God has planted a cross and empty tomb; He is shouting “you matter to me.”

This morning I prayed for our City in the tradition of Jesus a prayer that seeks to take back the ground and the lives of those sullied and sickened by violence, apathy, greed, denial, revenge, selfishness, bravado, and pain.  Perhaps you will join me in voicing again the prayer of all Jesus’ disciples:

Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliever us from the evil one.
Matthew 6:9-13

love main street

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Hey thanks to all of you who helped us “Love Main Street” on Sunday after the service at Cityview.  About 25 of us went out for an hour and did a clean sweep of gargabe on about 3 blocks, passed about 400 Camino fair trade chocolates to the Main Street shoppers, and about 30 tins of goodies for the merchants.  You all were awesome.  Thanks.  And Thanks to Sarah as well for creating the card for us.

Options housing strategy good for Vancouver?

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I really enjoyed an article in the Tyee series A Home for All, on affordable housing.  Toronto developer, Michael Labbe, declares

“Housing is the one area of social need that creates wealth,” he explained. “All the housing solutions we have created to date have tended to bury that wealth. This system makes that wealth available to many, because every purchaser helps expand a permanent solution to housing,” he said.

“I’m absolutely convinced that, either quickly or slowly, we are going to eliminate housing as a problem in Canada.”

I believe the Tyee article, Homes that Cost Less than Rental is a great contribution to the conversation on the home ownership in Vancouver.  What do you think about this concept?

trying to buy a house in Vancouver?

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In case you were still wondering why you are struggling to purchase a house in Vancouver…or if you were wondering why your rent is so high…The Vancouver Sun alerts us that we are one of the five least affordable cities in the world.  Recent conversations with people in the Cityview community have expressed hope that the downward trend in housing prices would prove helpful for them.  However, our friends on fixed incomes and below the poverty line are experiencing more challenges in finding places to live as rents move into the $1500 range for a two-bedroom.  I am currently concerned for some who are looking for new places because of redevelopment plans and in particular for one family that has gotten behind on rent because of less employment in the construction domain.

creating an environment where dyslexics THRIVE

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Jennifer Steffenhagen has an informative article on the THRIVE program in ONE Vancouver public school.  THRIVE, under the leadership of teacher, Tyson Schoeber, seeks to create a learning environment helpful to those children with a languaged based learning difficulty.  

Steffenhagen’s follow-up post in the Vancouver Sun is full of comments calling on the VSB and other school boards in BC to take an aggresive stance on the implementation of the Orten-Gillingham learning system.