A Simple Disciple's Life

Dec 22: I do some massive cleaning in the appartment and in my room. I was getting tired of living in a storeroom for the household, and I had no excuse not to do it, since my semester really was over.

Dec 23:, I spend some time packing, then chatting on the phone with a sister, then its time to leave with a buddy from school to Quebec City.
I find my parents there, and we go home.

Dec 24: We had a Christmas supper with my family
I tried chilling out a bit. I spent my afternoon writing merry christmas emails while watching a Star Trek movie, then a documentary on sugar cane workers in the caribean (here is the summary: they're slaves) on RDI.
We had a Christmas supper as a family. Afterwards, I did a message, and we watched the movie Indochine together. It was nice, but we found flaws in the directing and the story telling. Its a French movie, so most of you won't see it ever. In short, its a tale of the consequences of passionate decision-making: its messy. We see Vietnam during the French rule, how things started getting out of control, the exploitation of locals by the colonists, etc. The central story is about a woman who falls crazy in love with a soldier... to then see her daughter fall in love with him too. She manages to get the soldier assigned far away, but only to see her girl run after him. They become lovers, criminals before French law, hiding with the communists and having a baby. I won't spoil it more!

They also gave me my gift: a hand-carved nativity scene from the caribean, which my mom brought from a cruise there.

Dec 25: Did some ski with my dad, had real fun. We are bonding closer and its great!
My dad and I are the fast skiers, so we did most of the day without my mom. We worked a bit on my technique, especially on straightening my back. I was not too rusty, and my dad was impressed that I wasn't loosing much technique despite the fact I do not ski very often. It also shows that I have been doing some jogging, as I was not tiring quickly. I had a lot of fun. I especially love the feeling of going down the hill pretty fast, and having to battle your skis a bit to have things go your way, instead of theirs.

For those of you who don't know about alpine skiing, please note that the new generation of skis, when used as they were designed to, will more or less operate on their own (its an exageration, but only a minor one). But, let it be known, I am the master of that pair of skis!

Coming back home, I saw on Arttv a recital of Händel's messiah, recorded by Radio Canada in 1999. It was a very good performance done in Quebec City. I enjoyed it very much. We had a good supper as a family while Händel was playing.

Dec 26: Spent some time with a couple of the Quebec City missionnary team. We updated each other about our lives, prayed for each other, though of blessings for 2005 and wishes for 2006. Afterwards, we watched The Downfall . This movie shows the last few days of the Third Reich from the point of view of Hitler's secretary. The images are very strong, but most of it is not battlefield stuff. We see the characters exhausted, in nervous breakdown, lead by a dictator that lost touch with reality

Dec 31: Spent time with sisters from Africa and showed them the Old Port. Then we went to the party in the east end of the city with the disciples. The sister organizing really has a gift for making things fun. We had a few games to play, a wine and cheese, some dancing, etc. I took some time to speak with my evangelist, to tell him I was fully supporting him, and that too I am willing to see repentence in my life.

Jan 1: Went back home and studied Scripture a little bit, watched a few movies with my roomate. One of them was Supersize Me, which I only saw a part. It was really shocking. The guy developped an addiction, destroyed his health physically, mentally, his sex life, etc. Also saw The Divided State, about the controversy Michael Moore caused by accepting to speak in Utah. It is always surprising to see how hardcore conservatives tend to like to impose their viewpoints... no wonder they voted so much for Bush! The overall intolerance and lack of knowledge of the folks involved was making me sick (nearly)... imagine people booing a professor after mentioning that Irak had no weapons of mass destruction.
Note to my reader: no, and its official, there were no weapons of mass destruction: report from The Commission on the Intelligence Capabilities of the United States Regarding Weapons of Mass Destruction , read page 2. If you still support a weasely administration after that, it'll be my pleasure to refer to you some details about a CIA leak and some illegal spying of US citizens...

Afterwards, I had a time with a brother to reflect about the blessings of 2005, and to see together what we'd like to see happening in 2006. I'll put my list on a separate page.

Jan 2: Watched Hotel Rwanda, which was truly inspiring. During the Rwanda genocide, we focus on this hotel manager who takes the decision to use every possible tool he can find to save the life of many. His high-class hotel becomes an unofficial UN refugee camp, and he witnesses first hand the atrocities of it all, and especially the disdain the Western World had for the situation.
Note to my reader: there is something almost as bad happening in Congo right now and you should know about it.

Jan 3: Had a discipling time with my evangelist, had a study with mormon missionaries that did not turn very well, but not bad either. I was glad I was able to hold up as I did. I need to deepen my knowledge and convictions, that is clear. Went to volunteer at the Richardon Centre and had lots of fun dancing and talking with one elderly lady.

Jan 4: Went back to work, had a Bible study with a guy from UQAM. We'll see if he's really interested.

All that I did not document was probably centered around cleanup, study the Bible, and read about mormonism.