Oh The Ruddiness of Xavier

Yet another busy weekend in May. Between Mother's Day, our anniversary, Clairview' family camp, and the Xavier Rudd concert last night I'm really looking forward to next weekend "off". Don't get me wrong. All those things were great, but I could use some down time.

The family camp this past weekend was fantastic. More physical activity than I've seen in months, combined with late nights of poker and stock ticker, and sleep on a dorm mattress. Oh, the weariness. They say neccessity is the mother of invention, well in this case it led to a new sport called hit Kenny with a ball as hard as you can. The neccessity? 3 guys, 3 hockey sticks, 3 balls. Enough said.

Erika and I led worship at the camp, which was great aside from the first night when we arrived at 8:00 to lead at 8:00 - no practice, no overhead machine, no problem! Dave joined us on Saturday and we had tons of fun working on some oldies like the disco version of Lord I Lift Your Name on High and King of Kings, complete with blistering guitar and drum work and a call and response section with the group.

After camp it was home for a much needed nap and then off to the Xavier Rudd concert, which was amazing! Such a great one-man show. It was really amazing to see what kind of guy he is. A little into the new age/hippy thing, but hey, so am I (minus most of the new age stuff). But it did get me thinking about a lot of the new age and even native religious beliefs. While I don't lean as far towards the spirit force being present in all things equally I do think that there is more to our connection with nature than we might presently believe in our culture. The fact is that the same Creator who crafted us also made the rest of creation. We are the jewel in the crown of creation, charged with ruling over it. I'm sure as soon as you read the word "rule" there was an objection raised because it conjures up ideas of dominance and the raping and pillaging of earth's resources that is so commonplace and even condoned in our societies (whether by outright acceptance of such practices or by abject apathy towards it we condone these actions...tangent complete). But our roles as rulers of creation is supposed to be one of care, nurishment, sustainability. We're supposed to tend and foster growth becuase the same designer who made us made creation for us to live in. Also, by caring for creation we have the distinct priviledge of taking part in God's creative aspects, which are inherent in us as made in His image.

So, while I may not completely resonate with Xavier sentiments of "being stroked by the trees of Edmonton," I am beginning to understand more and more my connection with my fellow created.