Thursday February 17, 2022
Editorial note: I’m feeling mentally lethargic these days, so rather than try to write about an entirely new subject, I thought it worth repeating last year’s column about “Pink Shirt Day,” which is coming up next Wednesday
Anti-Bullying Day started in Canada. I’m proud of that fact, as proud as an apologetic Canadian can be about anything.
Two teenagers in Nova Scotia, David Shepherd and Travis Price, objected to another student being ridiculed for wearing a pink shirt on the first day of school. So they bought 50 pink shirts and handed them out to other students, to wear in solidarity with the bullying victim.
Because their act coincided with the school year, Nova Scotia first set Anti-Bullying Day in September. The day moved around a little, as other provinces climbed on the bandwagon. The government of Canada now defines the last Wednesday of February as Anti-Bullying Day.
So when I took the dog out for her morning walk yesterday, I was wearing a pink T-shirt. Also, red-and-white socks, a thank-you gift from the Canadian Red Cross for a donation in my wife’s memory. A blue tuque from my church’s Thrift Shop. A Rotary pin.
And I thought to myself, I’m a walking billboard!
Embodied beliefs
It was a new way of thinking about my clothing. And my behaviour, too.
That what I wear, and what I do, attests to my convictions, my beliefs, about what I believe in.
Billboards have long been banned along B.C. highways. We used to joke that we could always tell what country we were in, because U.S. highways had billboards, and we didn’t.
The ubiquity of billboards led Ogden Nash to pen one of his terser poems:
“I think that I shall never see
a billboard lovely as a tree,
In fact, unless the billboards fall
I’ll never see a tree at all.”
Today, a flotilla of billboards along any Canadian highway instantly tells you that you’re passing through a different jurisdiction – through what is still officially termed, I believe, an “Indian Reserve.”
The dearth of billboards led advertisers to seek new territories to display their slogans and brands. T-shirts. In summer, it’s almost impossible not to be bombarded with messages about soft drinks, fast food, and running shoes. To say nothing of political slogans, satirical cartoons, and offensive suggestions.
I still wonder what a girl – she couldn’t have been more than 13 – thought she was advertising, as she and her family strolled along a park trail in northern Ontario. Her T-shirt declared, in big bold letters, “I’m a Virgin.” And beneath, in smaller letters, “This is a very old T-shirt.”
My Rotary pin serves as a mini-billboard. Many Rotary clubs end their meetings with members reciting Rotary’s Four Way Test “of the things we think, say, and do.” The phrase recognizes that Rotary is not just about attending meetings and paying dues. Everything that one does reflects one’s identity.
In that sense, we are all walking billboards. We embody our beliefs.
I may wear a pink shirt only one day a year. But if I oppose bullying – by anyone, anywhere, anytime – I need to live that conviction every day.
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Copyright © 2021 by Jim Taylor. Non-profit use in congregations and study groups, and links from other blogs, welcomed; all other rights reserved.
To comment on this column, write jimt@quixotic.ca
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YOUR TURN
As I expected (and hoped) several of you sent me digital Valentine’s Day cards. Thanks to Maggie Rogers, June Tink. Irene Hendry, David, Mary-Margaret Boone, and Pauline Finch. Stewart and Shauna Detjen stuck a real hand-made card on my door!
Fran Schultz found that the column “Conjured up many memories of sending homemade cards. I hope you get a flood of love coming your way, via post, via air waves, or the social media!”
Tom Watson agreed: “You bring back two distinct memories. One is from elementary school days. The boys and the girls all traded valentines. I don't know if there was anything to it other than some kind of mutual acceptance.
“The other, and far more important, memory is that Valentine's Day was Janice's favourite day of the year.” \
For Penny Kirk, Valentine’s Day had mixed emotions: “I gave my co-worker and friend an early Valentine card and a small gift. It turns out she got me the exact same card from the store. We laughed about it. She now lies in the Vernon ICU with complications from her chemotherapy. I’m so glad we exchanged cards early. A small expression of our loyal friendship. It gives me hope that she will come out of this…
Bob Rollwagen: “Love is frequently described as ‘Chemistry’ -- a neat way to describe the combination of emotion and hormones. Apparently, while this may be the case, research has identified three different chemicals generated in the human body that are a result of being attracted to another. It has developed and evolved as has the human condition. I am glad this aspect has influenced our evolution. I am not sure what life would be like without LOVE. It is the adrenaline that drives the circle of life for most living creatures.”
Ted Spencer noted my delineation of the stages of love: “There was a pop song in the 60s or 70s which went through what love meant at various ages: “As the years go by" by the one-hit wonders Mashmakhan. It goes through, in the frenetic voice of the day, several of the stages of love. Yours was a more thoughtful enumeration...”
Ted added comments about my computer repairs: “It was determined somewhere along the line that liberals had Apple Macs and conservatives had the other things. If you’re not sure where you are on the political spectrum, look at your screen.”
Jane Wallbrown thought I was a “brave man trying to describe love universally agreed upon! You described yourself really well. Just the other day it was discussed in our family. I mentioned The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman. Have you read that? I have found it to be sound. There do seem to be five distinct ways that people feel and experience what is love for them. Words of affirmation, acts of service, receiving gifts, quality time and physical touch.”
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Psalm paraphrase
I have done only one paraphrase of Psalm 37. My notes on it comment that the psalms come out of an agricultural era. But images of God do not have to be agricultural. In today's world, people chart their prosperity by economic factors.
1 Don't worry that others seem more successful than you are.
2 Their short-term gains won't last;
the market will turn against them again.
3 For long-term confidence, invest in God.
Then you can count on continuing prosperity and security.
4 An unconditional investment in God can lead to everything you ever wanted, but could never afford any other way.
5 But your investment must be unconditional.
You can't hold anything back;
you can't hedge your bets.
First turn everything over to God --
then you will see how God acts for you.
6 You cannot manipulate God for your own gain.
Make God your manager, and free yourself forever from cycles of boom and bust.
7a Be patient. Wait until God is ready.
8 Avoid impatience or anger; they will affect your judgement adversely.
7b Do not envy those who glory in short-term gains, or who profit from crooked practices.
9 They'll get what they deserve, in God's good time.
10 In time, corrupt politicians will be voted out;
corner-cutting businesses will run out of room;
drug dealers will destroy themselves;
unjust laws will be lifted from the books.
They will all dissipate like morning fog;
you'll wonder how they could foster fear for so long.
11 But those who put their faith in God will continue to flourish;
They will live life abundantly.
You can find paraphrases of most of the psalms in the Revised Common Lectionary in my book Everyday Psalmsavailable from Wood Lake Publishing, info@woodlake.com.
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TECHNICAL STUFF
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PROMOTION STUFF
To use the links in this section, you’ll have to insert the necessary symbols. Some spam filters have blocked my posts because they’re suspicious of some of the web links.
Wayne Irwin's “Churchweb Canada,” an inexpensive service for any congregation wanting to develop a web presence, with free consultation. http://wwwDOTchurchwebcanadaDOTca He’s also relatively inexpensive!
I recommend Isabel Gibson’s thoughtful and well-written blog, wwwDOTtraditionaliconoclastDOTcom. She also has lots of beautiful photos. Especially of birds.
Tom Watson writes a weekly blog called “The View from Grandpa Tom’s Balcony” -- ruminations on various subjects, and feedback from Tom’s readers. Write him at tomwatsoATgmailDOTcom (NB that’s “watso” not “watson”)
ALVA WOOD’S ARCHIVE
I have acquired (don’t ask how) the complete archive of the late Alva Wood’s collection of satiric and sometimes wildly funny columns about a mythical village’s misadventures. I’ve put them on my website: http://quixotic.ca/Alva-Wood-Archive. You’re welcome to browse. No charge. (Although maybe if I charged a fee, more people would find the archive worth visiting.)