The whole world this weekend waits with bated breath.
Will Malala Yousafzai, the teenager gunned down by the Taliban, awake from her coma?
This eloquent, jaunty, bright-eyed fourteen year old was courageous enough to challenge the cavemen of North Pakistan about her right as a female to receive an education.
She boldly declared, as a spokesman for all her repressed gender, that girls should have equal rights for an education both at high school and university. Furthermore that professional careers should be open to all, regardless of religion, gender or social status.
This was too much for these fanatical followers of Mahomet.
An assassin was dispatched to deal with the child heretic.
This is the result.
Be profoundly thankful if you live in the Christian West and include this little warrior for liberty and justice in your prayers.
Ian
One of the diversions that we took last week was a visit to see our Member of Parliament, Patrick Brown.
It took ten minutes to get through security. This involved passing our I.D. through a bullet-proof glass window to be checked by an agent, an X.Ray screening and a pat-down. All to see a friend who is a member of Pauline's tennis club and who plays hockey with my son-in-law.
Was it a coincidence that on the news the following day there was a statistic on North American Airport Security?
In the last two years there have been NO terrorists apprehended but FOUR HUNDRED airport security personnel have been arrested and charged with theft and misappropriation of passenger's goods.
In their ardor to uphold the commandment "Thou shalt not kill." the authorities have become lax on the law "Thou shalt not steal."
Nevertheless, if you get back home minus your wallet and watch, at least you can be thankful that your next of kin didn't have to cash in your life insurance policy.
Jubilate.
Ian
We arrived in Quebec City to an abrupt Quebecois welcome from our hotelier. In short sentences he plotted a tour of the old city from a small brochure.
When I asked him about the arrangement of Montcalm and Wolfe's troops on the Plains of Abraham he replied:
"Of that I know nothing."
That being the case I certainly wasn't about to teach him.
When Pauline and I toured the battlefield the next day we couldn't find General Wolfe's statue.
Not surprising. He was hidden two kilometer's away at the far end of the park, a simple column topped with a helmet and a sword.
No Wolfe.
Reading the history we discovered that there had been FOUR memorials, two had been broken down (one by a mob in 1963).
The present plinth had been spray painted with a red "X"
Poor General Wolfe. His body is buried in an obscure London Church; his memorial pushed to the rear of Canada's most famous battlefield and defaced.
Don't worry,General. I read that you were a committed Christian. At least you would be rewarded in Heaven.
Jubilate.
Ian
A short walk from the National Art Centre is the Royal Canadian Mint.
We took a guided tour before heading further East into Quebec.
It was quite a place. From elevated platforms we could watch the evolution of our coins from raw metal to negotiable currency.
Of particular interest were the massive gold ingots each worth a cool 15 million dollars just a few feet away behind the observation window.
These had been refined to 999.9, an incredible standard of purity.
Shortly they would heated, extruded and stamped into individual coins.
This all brought to mind words the Apostle Peter hundreds of years ago when he spoke of the "Trial of your faith which is more precious than gold that perisheth."
Take heart if you are going through the fiery heat of temptation or extended in some agonizing test. Think of those numbers 999.9 and the purity that God is achieving in your life. You are in His Royal Mint and all of trials that you endure will bring forth the negotiable currency of faithful daily living here on earth.
Hallelujah we are rich people and we are HIS.
Ian
