Clarion: Journal of Spirituality and Justice

"All" Will Be Restored: Dream of the Broken Glasses - Brad Jersak

Last night I had a dream in two parts.

In part 1, I was citing a catena of biblical texts to a congregation of open-hearted people. In the dream, I was consciously aware of the critical difference between a catena and proof-texting or 'text-mining,' as some like to call it. A catena, in this case, was a chain of Scriptures strung together as commentary on the theme of Christ's saving work for all people, all things, the cosmos. Far from proof-texting to prove a narrow point, the effect was to paint a grand rainbow arc of God's drama of redemption.

I remember that in the dream, I was quoting actual Scriptures by memory and that there were thirty of them (I found thirty-one such passages when I awoke)., flowing one after another, as follows. If the reader will refrain from skimming these, you may get the impression of momentum that left the congregation gasping in awe, which will take you to the end of part 1:

And then all flesh shall see the salvation of God. (Lk. 3:6)

This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that through him all might believe. (John 1:7)

Behold, the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29)

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. (John 3:17)

The Father loves the Son, and has given all things into His hand. (John 3:35)

We no longer believe because of what you said, for we have heard for ourselves and know that this really is the Savior of the world. (John 4:42)

For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world. (John 6:33)

I am the light of the world. (John 8:12)

Gospel to the Nones - Walter Brueggemann (with Brad Jersak)

Secular or Sacred Time? - Brian Zahnd

What is time? Time is the measurement of motion through space.

A day is the revolution of the earth.
A month is the revolution of the moon around the earth.
A year is the revolution of the earth around the sun.

But time as such is without any apparent meaning. Just a spinning planet with an orbiting moon orbiting a star…repeating the process for the past four and a half billion years.

To give time meaning we need a story. Without a story time is pointless and nihilism beckons. (I am of the opinion that the violence that goes under the guise of Islamic terrorism is more likely a form of nihilist rage disguised in religious robes…but that is another subject.)

For almost two thousand years the church has had the wisdom and creativity to mark time by the gospel story of Jesus. This is time made sacred. Thus the church calendar.

Advent anticipates the coming of Messiah.
Christmas celebrates the birth of Jesus.
Epiphany remembers the revelation of Christ to Gentiles.
Lent is the solemn journey to the cross.
Easter is the celebration of the resurrection.
Pentecost marks the birth of the church.
Ordinary Time (or Kingdom Time) leads us through the year and back to Advent.

How we tell time determines who we are. If you expect fireworks on the fourth day of the seventh month you are an American. Calendar creates culture.

The Greek calendar told the Greek story.
The Roman calendar told the Roman story.
The American calendar tells the American story.
The Jewish calendar tells the Jewish story.
The Christian calendar tells the Christian story.
The Islamic calendar tells the Islamic story.
The Secular calendar says there is no story — only politics and commerce.

I make a big deal about the church calendar because I want my life and the lives of my children and grandchildren to be formed by the gospel story of Jesus. To reduce the Christian calendar to a day for Christmas (a day when we don’t go to church) and a single Sunday for Easter is an almost total capitulation to secularism.

The fact that we are far more formed by the Fourth of July than by Trinity Sunday is ample evidence of our de facto secularism. The sad truth is that most Christians (myself included) are really secularists trying in varying degrees not to be secularists. If we hope to successfully swim against the overwhelming tide of secularism we need to return to the Great Tradition. For me the door back into the Great Tradition was the church calendar. The church calendar was the wardrobe that led me into the Narnia of the lost sacred.

So at Word of Life Church you can be sure we will be doing all we can to emphasize the four weeks of Advent and the twelve days of Christmas that lead to Epiphany, Ash Wednesday, Lent, Holy Week, Easter, and Pentecost. We believe the Jesus story is the true story that saves the world. We believe this so deeply that it’s how we tell time.

Today is not Black Friday. Today is the Friday before Advent.

Come, Lord Jesus.

Happy Holy Days.

BZ

This post first appeared at www.brianzahnd.com

Jesus, the Refugee Crisis & the Sanitization of Christmas - Ron Dart

Martin Buber, Zionism & New Perspectives of Paul - Ron Dart

Jesus' Dysfunctional Family - Doug Schroeder

Matthew 1:1-16

When Matthew records Jesus’ family tree in the opening words of his gospel, he is writing to his Jewish neighbors who were asking, “What qualifies Jesus to be this Messiah we have been awaiting so long?”  Qualifications are everything.  Does Jesus have the right pedigree? 

When you write a resume you don’t want any smudges in your personal or employment history.  But who does Matthew include in Jesus’ resume?  The inclusions are stunning.

Included are 5 women. Shocking. Women had no status back then.  They were excluded from any genealogy.  But here, in the genealogy of Jesus, there are five women – not all of them “respectable”.  I can imagine Matthew’s editor leaning over his shoulder saying, “Matthew you’re crazy!  If you’re going to include women, why not the respectable ones – Sarah, Rebekah, Rachel”.  I hear Matthew replying, “I have something else up my sleeve”.

Three of these women are Gentiles – racial outsiders. Tamar, a Canaanite; Rahab, a Jericho prostitute; Ruth a Moabitess. Deuteronomy 23:3: No Moabite or any descendant may enter the assembly of the LORD, even down to the tenth generation.Moabites are clearly not welcome.  But Matthew includes Ruth in the story.  Rahab is the Canaanite prostitute from Jericho.  Matthew includes a prostitute in Messiah’s family tree.

Tamar tricked her father-in-law, Judah into having sex with her because Judah did not fulfil his family obligations. The whole crazy story is in Genesis 38.  Tamar became pregnant with Judah’s twin boys.  Matthew mentions Perez, Jesus’ ancestor and his twin brother Zerah and Tamar and Judah.  Matthew deliberately showcases the whole incestuous story.

Matthew 1:6 mentions Jesse the father of king David.  Great!  Now we’re getting to the respectable bloodlines. But Matthew didn’t write: "David, the hero – the king – the psalmist – the man after God’s own heart.”  Instead he writes “”uc">David, father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah’s wife.  Matthew profiles David’s lust and betrayal, covetousness and murder.   Other historians might bury these details.  Matthew highlights them.

So what do you have in this genealogy?  Prostitution – adultery – betrayal – incest – murder – the scandalous and dysfunctional family history Matthew wanted his readers to see.  How does this qualify Jesus to be Messiah?  The only reason I can think of is that Matthew wanted us to know that no one is excluded from grace.

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Doug Schroeder is the Executive Director of SoulStream, a dispersed contemplative community.

 

Erasmus, Islam and the Paris Attacks - Ron Dart

Review of Jeffrey T. Babcock's "Death on Denali: Climbing Disasters on Mount McKinley" - by Ron Dart

Jeffrey T. Babcock, Death on Denali: Climbing Disasters on Mount McKinley (DVD)

I saw the mountains where the unchanging sunrise lay

- C.S. Lewis, The Great Divorce

Death on Denali is a fit and fine companion to Jeffrey Babcock’s charmer and suspense packed non-fiction novel, Should I Not Return (2012). In fact, the finely tuned and wisely orchestrated telling of the various Denali expeditions in Death on Denali (running time 106 minutes) elicits many a sit down and see as mountaineering tales unfold from multiple angles.

There are many layers to ponder in this DVD. Those who are mountaineering history buffs (with an interest in the many attempts to summit Denali) are offered a generous and informed aerial overview of the many attempts, in the early decades of the 20^th century, by the dishonest Dr. Cook, the Sourdough Expedition, Brown, Stuck and the formidable Bradford Washburn to summit Denali (some more successful than others). The different routes are highlighted and illustrated in precise detail. The DVD is worth the watching if for no other reason than the early attempts (some more tragic than others) to stand on the South Peak of Denali has its own magnetic attraction.

There are others with an abiding interest in understanding why 7 of the 12 on the Wilcox climb died on Denali on July 1967. Jeffrey Babcock, to his meticulous credit, points the way to must read books to get a fix and feel for different interpretive approaches to the 1967 disaster: Snyder (1973), Wilcox (1981), Tabor (2007), Babcock (2012) and Hall (2014)—there is even Sheldon’s Wager in the Wind. The listed books are yet another convincing reason why Death on Denali is a keeper and must see DVD.

But, there is yet more to entice the curious mountain keener. Jeffrey was on the 1967 climb of Denali when 7 of the 12 of the Wilcox group died in a relentless storm—he was part of another climbing team, but he was also part of the search and rescue (there were, sadly so, none to rescue) team. Death on Denali has plenty of graphic photos of both the sheer beauty and cathedral like magnificence of Denali but also the remnants and remains of those who perished---sights not for the faint of heart. A significant part of the DVD lingers on this needful core issue—always of prime importance when actual witnesses recount and record their impressions.

A Call to Arms: Weapons of the Spirit in the Face of Violence & Terror - Bob Ekblad

Last week when I heard the news about the attacks in Paris, I was outraged and deeply saddened—a sentiment that has increased as the week’s events have continued to unfold, giving way to a clarification of Jesus’ distinct and compelling call.

Familiarity with the theatre and the cafes where people were shot has made these attacks close and personal, disturbing me to the point of occupying most of my thinking this past week. Five of the six attacks happened quite close to the neighborhood and church where we lived and served in 2011 and 2012. Our then 16-year-old daughter Anna and I attended a Jesus Culture concert at the Bataclan Theatre—the same venue where 89 people attending the Eagles of Death concert were gunned down a week ago today.

One French friend told me that what most unsettled her was that six attacks happened simultaneously, setting off a cloud of insecurity and fear across all of Paris. This fear has now spread across Europe and North America—catching us up with much of the rest of the world.

Fear and insecurity had already overwhelmed Lebanon and Turkey in recent weeks due to suicide bombers, and the Russians have now officially attributed the downing of their flight over the Sinai Peninsula to a bomb. Refugees continue to flee Afghanistan, Iraq, Sudan, Somalia, Eritrea and other places due to war, and Palestinians and Israelis live with threats and violence every day. Everywhere we look, violence produces terror, begets acts of vengeance, and accelerates the cycle of killing.

How are we to respond? My first reaction was a longing to be there in Paris with our friends and the church communities we know and love. I emailed friends, struggled to pray, poured over the news, and prayed some more. A few thoughts come to mind as I seek God’s wisdom regarding responses to current events, combined with links to articles I hope you find useful.

1) Love and worship the One God, Father, Jesus the Son and Holy Spirit with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. Find your security in God’s unfailing love and care. Jesus says: “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon (money, security, safety)(Matthew 6:24). Let God’s perfect love drive out all fear.

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Praying the Lord's Prayer in Violent Times - Brad Jersak

You've noticed that we're living in very violent times. At home, abroad ... to the point of exhaustion, hopelessness and/or numbness. I see no reprieve in sight and every reason to expect further escalation. I find myself in daily need of prayers that guard my heart and mind from both despair and the vengeance fantasies of repressed rage. 

In that context, I have begun to pray the Lord's Prayer in a focused way on a daily basis with some new (to me) understanding about Christ's strategy in ordering the phrases in series as he does. Here is the part that seems super-relevant to us all right now:

 

Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us

 

This phrase calls me to forgive the sins of my enemies. And if we want to be a little technical, at least with the olde English, I think particularly of "trespassing sins." I remember wandering the gravel backroads of Manitoba, occasionally seeing signs that said, "Trespassers will be prosecuted" or less frequently, "Trespassers will be shot." 

 

'Trespasses' brings to mind the violation of boundaries by intruders. It can include everything from military incursions and occupation to a rash of local break-and-entries to the pettiness of feeling someone push my buttons with an intrusive word or look or social media posting. 'Trespasses' are about crossing boundaries. My boundaries. Jesus knows how trespassers threaten us, offend us, tempt us to react ...

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Restorative Justice Week, 2015. Nov. 15-22 - Henry Smidstra

Internationally, the third week of November has for a number of decades now been designated as Restorative Justice Week. The website for CSC (Correctional Service Canada), http://www.csc-scc.gc.ca/restorative-justice/003005-2000-eng.shtml, implies that it supports this perspective, and informs us that this year’s theme is, Inspiring Innovation, and continues:

Restorative justice (RJ) is a philosophy and an approach that views crime and conflict as harm done to people and relationships. It is a non-adversarial, non-retributive approach to justice that emphasizes healing in victims, accountability of offenders, and the involvement of citizens in creating healthier, safer communities. The goal is to reach meaningful, satisfying, and fair outcomes through inclusion, open communication, and truth.

This perspective may seem radical applied to criminal justice, but it is not new, and it is really common sense and should hit a responsive chord, especially for Christians should it not? Returning evil for evil just does not sound biblical; not reflecting anything Christ would stand for. Yet a popular ancient notion of reciprocal retributive justice has persistently dominated: simply put, “wrongdoers get what they deserve: evil due for evil done.”

Retribution has come to mean the formal state-applied-pain to the wrongdoer proportional to the pain inflicted by the wrongdoer. (How does one measure pain and harm anyway?) In this scheme, victims have little directly to say in the process, and the psychic-spiritual-social harm done to people and relationships has little evidentiary value. Crime in this scheme is not essentially against the victim, but against the state. This perspective is not very inspiring, nor creative, nor does it bring essential healing and restoration; not even necessarily just. Restorative justice on the other hand has its creative innovative eye on the need for healing and for restored relations; shalom.

Q&A with David Goa, Chester Ronning Centre

I work at serious and sustained conversation with religious people. This way of exploring the pathways of meaning has resulted in teaching, writing and museum exhibitions—all born of story, and the deep desire we have as human beings for a meaningful life.

by David J. Goa

Inspired by the interviews in the Paris Review and Bomb magazine, "The Questions" in Sports Illustrated, and the regular interviews on the blogs of Tom Peters and Guy Kawasaki, Comment has asked a diverse group of mentors for their stories.

Comment: How would you explain what you do to an interested nine-year-old child?

David J. Goa: I have a granddaughter who is now your age. Shortly after she learned to talk, she spent a hot summer afternoon playing inside. Her father came home, found her in the living room, knelt down, and asked her if she would like to go outside and play in the balmy sunshine. She said, "Yes."

"Well, you will have to put your clothes on, then," her father said. (She had spent the day playing in her diaper, as little children sometimes do.)

She looked at him in the most peculiar way and said as she pointed to various parts of her body, "I have the Emperor's new shirt on. I have the Emperor's new pants on." She grabbed hold of her diaper and pulled it off saying, "And, now, I have the Emperor's new diaper on."

I have spent my life seeking to understand how we who are the faithful learn to see and understand, through religious tradition, what is being asked of us by the ideas that "clothe" each cultural epoch. I work at serious and sustained conversation with religious people—women and men and children—thinking with them about how we understand the stories of religious tradition. How do these treasured stories speak about the meaning life has, or ought to have? How do they speak about the human struggles that form so much of modern culture? How do we come to live faithful and grace-filled lives? The result of this way of exploring the pathways of meaning has been my teaching, writing and museum exhibitions. All of them are born of story and the deep desire we have as human beings for a meaningful life.

"We are called always and everywhere to spiritual friendship, for the sake of our own salvation."
—David J. Goa

Comment: What first drew you to this work?

DJG: We don't know who said it first, but a number of scholars many times over the last four decades have said, "Tradition is the living faith of the dead. Traditionalism is the dead faith of the living." I was raised in the narrative landscape of the Bible. These narratives provided us with everyday ways of engaging meaning and shedding light on our experience of struggle and joy—both that which gave life and that which threatened to deal death.

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What should *WE* have done? Undermining the Myth of 'Us' and 'Them' - Andrew Klager

People regularly ask me the question (often in an attempt to trick me without taking the time to find real answers to it first), “What should we do in the face of ISIS?” underpinned by the ubiquitous ostensibly silver-bullet question, "What should have we done in the face of the Nazis?" But this implies that our side is the good side and their side is evil; it perpetuates the “us” vs. “them” myth that not only fuels animosity and rivalry and dehumanizes the Other so that their lives—and therefore deaths—have less value, but it also forces us to choose one of only two options, however deplorable they both are, while distracting us from considering other legitimate options more seriously.

Therefore, an equally legitimate question is, “What should Germany in the 30s and 40s have done in the face of Allied powers” and “What should Middle Easterners do in the face of Western occupying forces?”

With respect to WWII, of those countries that eventually formed the Allied forces, Britain and France controlled 30% of the world through ruthless and predatory colonization, “taking over the world” in ways that Hitler could only dream of; the British prime minister, Neville Chamberlain, had Nazi sympathies as did much of Wall Street; anti-Semitism—with its medieval roots—was just as pernicious in Allied nations as it was in Germany, never mind that the extent of the Holocaust wasn’t yet known when Allied forces intervened; Germany was forced to contend with the completely unjust and retributive conditions of the post-WWI Treaty of Versailles; Allied forces senselessly firebombed Dresden after the war was all but won and incinerated Hiroshima and Nagasaki in the only uses of nuclear weaponry in world history; and one of the Allied nations—Soviet Russia under Joseph Stalin—was, if we go by numbers alone, at least 5 times more murderous than Nazi Germany. With this in mind, who is the “we” in the question, “What should have *we* done?” Why should we align ourselves with this “we,” especially if it looks like the above description?

The same is true of ISIS and other such radicalized groups. Given the much more destructive impact of Western involvement in the Middle East—too much to get into here in any great detail, but civilian deaths of approx. 170,000 in Iraq, 140,000 in Syria, 45,000 in Afghanistan, etc., etc.; billions in transnational corporate profit from blatantly exploitative economic incursions in oil-rich countries; taxpayer-funded billions in profits by munitions and armaments corporations in what Robert Reich has called (riffing off Eisenhower) the military-industrial-congressional complex; allied with some of the most notorious human rights violators (Saudi Arabia, esp.) who are also the biggest financiers of the same terrorism we apparently want eliminated—what should these impoverished Middle Easterners do in the face of *us*? And, perhaps more importantly, why—again—should we align ourselves with this “us” when the damage we’ve caused is near infinitely worse than what they have caused?

For my part, I don’t want to be a part of either “us” or “them”; I want to undermine this us vs. them framework by instead becoming an agent of peace in the midst of the chaos, support those courageous and creative peacebuilders from any and all “sides” who bypass this unholy dichotomy of “us” or “them” in which both choices are at least equally as evil—ours, empirically at least, much worse—all without a weapon in their hands.

So, when considering the Nazis or ISIS, the question of what “we” should do is completely nonsensical; this “we” has no more moral credibility than “them,” and the very question is structured in such a way that it forces us to choose failure.

Are the Gospels Mythical - Rene Girard (1996)

This article links to First Things, where it first appeared almost two decades ago. 

From the earliest days of Christianity, the Gospels’ resemblance to certain myths has been used as an argument against Christian faith. When pagan apologists for the official pantheism of the Roman empire denied that the death-and-resurrection myth of Jesus differed in any significant way from the myths of Dionysus, Osiris, Adonis, Attis, etc., they failed to stem the rising Christian tide. In the last two hundred years, however, as anthropologists have discovered all over the world foundational myths that similarly resemble Jesus’ Passion and Resurrection, the notion of Christianity as a myth seems at last to have taken hold—even among Christian believers.

Beginning with some violent cosmic or social crisis, and culminating in the suffering of a mysterious victim (often at the hands of a furious mob), all these myths conclude with the triumphal return of the sufferer, thereby revealed as a divinity. The kind of anthropological research undertaken before World War II—in which theorists struggled to account for resemblances among myths—is regarded as a hopeless “metaphysical” failure by most anthropologists nowadays. Its failure seems, however, not to have weakened anthropology’s skeptical scientific spirit, but only to have weakened further, in some mysterious way, the plausibility of the dogmatic claims of religion that the earlier theorists had hoped to supersede: if science itself cannot formulate universal truths of human nature, then religion—as manifestly inferior to science—must be even more devalued than we had supposed.

This is the contemporary intellectual situation Christian thinkers face as they read the Scriptures. The Cross is incomparable insofar as its victim is the Son of God, but in every other respect it is a human event. An analysis of that event—exploring the anthropological aspects of the Passion that we cannot neglect if we take the dogma of the Incarnation seriously—not only reveals the falsity of contemporary anthropology’s skepticism about human nature. It also utterly discredits the notion that Christianity is in any sense mythological. The world’s myths do not reveal a way to interpret the Gospels, but exactly the reverse: the Gospels reveal to us the way to interpret myth.

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Introduction to the Philokalia - Lazar Puhalo and Ron Dart

Review of Thomas J. Oord's "The Uncontrolling Love of God" - by Bev Mitchell

Thomas Jay Oord, The Uncontrolling Love of God: An Open and Relational Account of Providence

A theodicy grounded in God’s steadfast love

Summary

For all who are interested in really examining their position on providence, and especially their theodicy, the exercise of following this book’s arguments to their final destination will be beneficial. The book is clearly written and easy to understand. The author has obviously thought and prayed about all of this long and hard, and it is clear that the ideas have been tested many times against very able opposition. This surely accounts for the refreshing clarity of the presentation. There is no obfuscation or failure to directly confront hard issues. This is extremely important in a subject area that is typically full of fog, inconsistency, hedging, avoidance and handwaving when the crunch comes.

Thomas Jay Oord rejects neither mystery nor miracles. He does insist on seeking answers at points where many seem more or less content with mystery or paradox. In general, he challenges us to be very reluctant in playing the mystery card. To the believing scientist, and many others, this approach is comfortable and familiar. One may choose not to go as far as Oord goes, but many will appreciate that he is willing to go as far as he does. On the other hand, many followers of Christian theology will not be at all comfortable with where Oord ends up on his journey. Long-held positions and much tradition would suffer for many conservatives and post-conservatives to fully embrace Oord’s essential kenosis model and its utter dependence on God’s perfect love to locate the full source of God’s ultimate ability to bring matters to their full flowering in his creation, and his Kingdom.

In short, he pushes us to consider the possibility that God uses love, perfect love, alone to accomplish his ends. God’s love combined with our loving response to that love, in the power of the Holy Spirit, comprise the toolkit for the fulfillment of ongoing creation and new-creation - no coercion (total control) necessary or even possible. In the postscript, Oord offers a one-sentence summary of his key concept which he calls “essential kenosis”. “The distinguishing feature of essential kenosis is its claim that God cannot deny his own nature of self-giving love.” The book explores how this guiding conviction plays out for relational/open theologies when considering creation, good and evil, miracles and other central issues for twenty-first century post-conservative Christian thought. Oord calls this an adventure model of providence. Anyone up for a theological adventure will not be disappointed, but will almost certainly be challenged. 

CLICK HERE to download the Full Oord Review 2015

"To the Merciful, You Show Yourself Merciful" - Brad Jersak

 

Jeff Turner is a blogger who leads 'Sound of Awakening Ministries' and the author of Saints in the Arms of a Happy God. His provocative zingers are also really quotable. When I saw the above summary online today, it triggered further thoughts for meditation. 

 

My first reaction to the above quote was, I suppose to the red faced, angry preacher, God shows himself (or more technically, allows himself to be seen) as a red face, angry preacher. I was reminded of these lines from Psalm 18. 

 

Psalm 18 (AKJV)

25 With the merciful you will show yourself merciful; with an upright man you will show yourself upright;

26 With the pure you will show yourself pure; and with the fraudulent you will show yourself devious.

Now for the psalmist, this was a matter of straight reward and retribution. In this Psalm, the Lord simply rewards us according to our righteousness (vs 20, 24), and punishes them according to their wickedness. But of course, this becomes problematic for the psalmist, the prophets and especially Job when the recompense appears to be arbitrary, disproportionate or unjustly reversed. Jeremiah, scratching his head and wiping his tears prays,  

You are always righteous, LORD, when I bring a case before you. Yet I would speak with you about your justice: Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why do all the faithless live at ease? (Jer. 12:1 NIV)

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Review of Anna Yin's 'Seven Nights with the Chinese Zodiac' - by Ron Dart

Anna Yin, Seven Nights With The Chinese Zodiac (Black Moss Press, 2015).

Anna Yin is the First Poet Laureate (2015-2017) of Mississauga in Ontario.

Seven Nights With The Chinese Zodiac is Anna Yin at her maturing best. Each poem, like a portal, invites the reader into another sphere and dimension, but the journey to such places illuminates, in an evocative way, the world of matter and history, the flux and thinness of secular time.

Seven Nights With the Chinese Zodiac is thoughtfully divided into four sections: Night Shades, Dried Roses, Life Jars and The Self-Completing Tree. Each of the poetic missives has its own discrete and uncanny message built within a variety of subtle metaphors.

Yin has a unique way of weaving together on the loom of her poetic vision the layered wealth of Chinese thought and culture with the probing demands of Canadian and American poetic visionaries--rare is such a combination and genius. But, there is yet a fuller synthesis. Poets and painters are called forth, in an even more cosmopolitan manner, to inform and shape the literary life of Anna Yin: Dante, Akhmatova, Van Gogh, Burns, Borges, Basho and Yeats step forward on the stage of Anna’s poetic oeuvre and speak, suggestively and wisely, of deeper and more demanding truths.

The seasons and their scents and sensibilities speak with a voice not to be missed in this compact poetic beauty, also. Each meditative read of Seven Nights With the Chinese Zodiac reveals more and more about the human journey and the longing of the human soul, midst many competing and conflicting desires, for deeper meaning and a fuller life.

The best way to fully appreciate this newest poetic gift and offering of Anna Yin is to sit quietly with a poem each day and inwardly digest its suggestive and invitational purpose. The multi-coloured mythic creature that adorns the front cover was wisely chosen as an entrée to this burnished gold book of poetry that welcomes messages from such diverse yet needful places.

Ron Dart