Northern Lights 01_475690-ffirs.qxp 2/27/09 8:08 PM Page viii Northern Lights An Anthology of Contemporary Christian Writing in Canada Editors Byron Rempel-Burkholder Dora Dueck John Wiley & Sons Canada, Ltd. Copyright © 2008 by Byron Rempel-Burkholder and Dora Dueck All rights reserved. No part of this work covered by the copyright herein may be reproduced or used in any form or by any means—graphic, electronic or mechanical without the prior written permission of the publisher. Any request for photocopying, recording, taping or information storage and retrieval sys- tems of any part of this book shall be directed in writing to The Canadian Copy- right Licensing Agency (Access Copyright). For an Access Copyright license, visit www.accesscopyright.ca or call toll free 1-800-893-5777. Care has been taken to trace ownership of copyright material contained in this book. The publisher will gladly receive any information that will enable them to rectify any reference or credit line in subsequent editions. Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication Data Northern lights : an anthology of contemporary Christian writing in Canada / [edited by] Byron Rempel-Burkholder, Dora Dueck. Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 978-0-470-15526-4 1. Christian literature, Canadian (English). 2. Canadian literature (Eng- lish)—21st century. I. Rempel-Burkholder, Byron, 1957- II. Dueck, Dora, 1950- BR53.N67 2008 C810.8’03823 C2008-902159-2 Production Credits Cover design: Adrian So Interior text design and typesetting: Michael Chan Printer: Tri-Graphic Printing Ltd. John Wiley & Sons Canada, Ltd. 6045 Freemont Blvd. Mississauga, Ontario L5R 4J3 This book is printed with biodegradable vegetable-based inks on 55lb. recycled cream paper, 100% post-consumer waste. Printed in Canada 1 2 3 4 5 TRI 12 11 10 09 08 Table of Contents Introduction 1 Acknowledgements 4 1. Dance to Creation Thirty Names ~ John Terpstra 6 Here ~ Susan Fish 8 Love and the Law ~ Molly Wolf 13 The Song of the Paddle ~ R. Paul Stevens 17 Sit, Stay, Listen ~ Hannah Main-van der Kamp 22 Celestial Navigation ~ Linda Hall 25 For the Love of Trees ~ David Waltner-Toews 29 Dancing the Rubber Ice ~ Ralph Milton 32 2. A Place in the World Miss Morley’s Parrot ~ Hugh Cook 36 Why I Enjoy My Job ~ Douglas Todd 45 On Monks, Monsters, and Manuscripts ~ Michael W. Higgins 51 Finding a Prophetic Perspective ~ Bill Blaikie 60 El Marahka IV ~ Trevor Herriot 69 The Making of a Prairie Preacher ~ Brian C. Stiller 77 Christ in the Room ~ Philip Marchand 84 3. Sorrow and the Wild The Aspens ~ Rudy Wiebe 92 Vacancy ~ Diane Tucker 96 Breathe ~ Joanne Gerber 98 The Holes in Our Old, Old Stories ~ Daniel Coleman 108 Atomic Birthday ~ Sally Ito 113 On Bergman ~ John Bentley Mays 120 Where Was God? ~ Joy Kogawa 123 Wild Roses ~ Peter Short 131 V I N O R T H E R N L I G H T S 4. Leaps of Faith On Pioneering ~ Marie-Louise Ternier-Gommers 140 Surprised by Goodness ~ Mary Jo Leddy 147 Crossing to the Other Side ~ James Loney 155 Sacred Encounters with Wolf ~ Anita L. Keith 163 Growing Up Here, and There ~ Mark Buchanan 170 The Cross and the Sword Trial ~ Leonard Desroches 176 Facing Outward, Looking Up ~ Lorna Dueck 182 5. Transformation Accidents of Birth ~ John Fraser 188 The Value of Praying a Doxology ~ Ron Rolheiser 196 The Child in the Midst ~ Preston Manning 199 As Christmas Comes ~ Bob Haverluck 203 Two Seconds from Death ~ James A. Taylor 204 Elegy for the Red River ~ Sarah Klassen 208 Words/Tenebrae ~ Catherine Edward 210 Jesus Jumps into Bed ~ Michael Coren 214 Kissing Mother Oksana ~ Katya Szalasznyj 219 6. Glimpses of Glory Remembering World Youth Day 2002 ~ Thomas Rosica 226 No Hurry in L’Arche ~ Carolyn Whitney-Brown 233 The Day My Father Was Born Again, Again ~ Maxine Hancock 241 Safe in the Dark ~ Ray Aldred 247 The Voice of Silence ~ George W hipple 249 Home ~ Gloria Ostrem Sawai 251 Can I Go with You? ~ Bruce Cockburn 255 Permissions and Sources 257 About the Authors 261 Introduction This collection is an experiment in identity. Its conception occurred almost by accident on a snowy March morning in Winnipeg, near the longitudinal centre of Canada. On his daily walk to the bus stop, Byron found himself mulling over the relationship between spirituality and geog- raphy. That connection had planted itself in his mind a decade earlier through American poet Kathleen Norris’s memoir Dakota, a moving chronicle of Norris’s rediscovery of faith upon her move from New York City to her grandmother’s windswept prairie hometown of Pierre, North Dakota. How did living in Canada, he wondered, affect his own identity as a Christian? Whether it was the snow or the barometric pressure of that winter day, the question stuck, and it spawned others. What is the spiritual geography of Canada? The country has many physical geographies—but what are the spiritual ones? And is there such a thing as a Canadian spiritual identity, or do we Canadians simply borrow from the habits, songs, writing, and preaching of our neighbours across the forty-ninth parallel? A generation ago, university halls were abuzz with the discovery of a distinct literary landscape in Canadian novels and poetry. CanLit, as it was called, produced a rich body of reflec- tion and a surge of exciting new writing to further delineate its contours. But what of our spiritual landscape? How was it being mapped into words? And who were our spiritual writers and leaders? That day Byron emailed Dora, another Winnipeg editor. Did these mullings, he asked, have any validity? And might Canadians be interested in a collection of writing that reflected the many faces of being Christian in Canada? Dora was immediately intrigued by the questions and the idea of a book. In her journal that day, she began to jot words in the margin—words that seemed to adhere not only to the earth 2 N O R T H E R N L I G H T S but also to the soul of the northern half of this continent that First Nations people have called “Turtle Island.” North. East and West. Cold and snow. Prairie, city, mountain. Vast. As we [Byron and Dora] brainstormed further, this margina- lia expanded into a chart of words that juxtaposed Canadian geography, history, sense of home, and emotional orientation, with the broad spiritual themes of birth and incarnation, suf- fering and death, transformation and glory. Another list—this one of possible contributors to an an- thology—began to take shape over a series of breakfasts with ChristianWeek editor Doug Koop, who offered his enthusias- tic encouragement and extensive knowledge of the national religious scene. After a string of meetings, emails, Internet searches, and discussions with others, we had a proposal in hand, and then a commitment from Wiley Canada to risk publishing the collection. Byron and Dora would work as edi- tors on the project; Doug would be the marketing contact. We decided early on that this collection would be Chris- tian rather than interfaith. The latter would have been just as rich and would certainly have reflected the diversity of this country. But as Christians nurtured by and familiar with our own traditions, we felt there was also a compelling case for gathering Christians from a broad range of heritage and ex- perience around the theological narrative they share and call “gospel.” Our aim was not to analyze, define, or argue about Christian identity in Canada. Rather, we wanted to explore, express, and showcase it. We wanted to discover it in a variety of genres, from poetry to fiction, memoir to meditation. The writing would come from literary figures, religious leaders, public figures, and activists. Contributors would reflect the many church traditions represented in Canada, from evangeli- I N T R O D U C T I O N 3 cal to Catholic, mainline Protestant to Orthodox, Pentecostal to Anabaptist. Some would still have family connections be- yond our shores; others would have ancestors who were here long before the Europeans came. This anthology is just a beginning of something that may continue to evolve. So we will be honest in our disclaimers. We did not include everyone who could have been included. Some declined our invitation for various reasons; others we learned about too late. We were unable to represent all regions as much as we would have liked, especially Quebec, and we were not equipped to make this a bilingual collection. The writers we were able to bring together, however, are a wonderfully interesting and eclectic group, each one illumi- nating some important aspect of Christian faith and life in this country. For us, this project was a rewarding personal journey as we celebrated writers we already loved and discovered others we had not known before. The best part was reading all their contributions side by side. We were delighted with the mosaic that formed. Does Canada have great writers who express what it means to be Christian in this country? The answer is an un- equivocal yes. And what of our spiritual geographies? They too exist and can be glimpsed, uniquely ours, and shaped by our land, our history, our people. The following pages take a look.