Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - November 26, 2000, Winnipeg, Manitoba Sunday Magazine Fogus no Vimbor 2000 Ici Fryk you know where it comes but you never know where a gift will take you i Call it presentation the season for giving gives me the willies As i worry about giving the wrong thing to the wrong a bad gift is worse than bad bad breath or bad politics it raises the darkest do you really know me do you really care i know a an otherwise Good and thoughtful Man who gave his As an anniversary a vacuum the memory of that gift will last a no matter How hard he tries to live it i always gave my Mother Lotus per fume for mothers Day and she always said she loved i kept giving it for 12 until one i discovered her Cache of unopened bottles and she confessed that she didst like she preferred but you always told me to never buy you i there such a waste of she but so at least i didst go to the trouble of three sons whose Mother had raised them in a farmhouse with a decrepit Wood stove they waited until she left for a lengthy then trashed the gutted the Kitchen and built a gleaming High tech mar when she she stared in horror and took to her bed for a she claimed she could never Cook a thing Worth eating after disasters seem inevitable when the season turns to giving because you must give until it hurts either you or someone ill never forget receiving a wed slice of life with Sheldon Oberman Ding gift of a huge stoneware it appeared to be hacked out of Petri fied Pigeon dung and it squatted in the living room for withstand ing my every attempt to accidentally break it was the gift of a relative whom i had never wronged or insult she said it was so Odd and she was certain i would like when Ever i looked at it i thought of but i will not say what i then there was an exercise Bike i found at a garage it was in mint condition not a Click on the dome the an impressively heavy sat on the front stairs eating from a Box of How much for the Bike i ten she i offered and she As i i Why did you sell it so cheaply she looked away with a frown and it was a bad gift giving May be but giving nothing is far when my computer was stolen from my Stu the building custodian said this is the worst time of year for people cruise through the building towards Christmas looking to they need Money for some people will even steal so they can yet there is something miraculous about a truly great a touch of Grace in a world of my grandfathers prayer shawl came to me like a hed carried it out of Russia As a youth and wore it throughout the sacred moments of his when he passed on and passed it on to i Felt that i was holding a sacred part of its Power keeps on at times when i hold it up and let it Sway before i can recall my Grandfather wearing it and its very fabric seems to what a gift my wife gave me when i recently turned 50 a Book of my own she filled an album with photos from All the stages of my life and wrote the words that wove them into a she read it to me at a gathering of my friends who added their own describing special moments that wed shared a great gift can inspire even greater i stayed with Simon an inuit Hunter and artist in Baker Lake near the Arctic Circle and one of the last to live in the ancient through an he told me amazing tales boyhood adventures with his pet Wolf the magic and the Wisdom of his a Blind shaman the skills and customs of his he asked me to Tell his tales so his Peoples ways would not be it would be my gift to him and his gift to the when the Book was 10 years to Koome brought a wonderful gift for my whose Middle name is after to Koome caught a bearded Seal and used the hide to make a dog sled it want a prayer shawl like my grandfathers but it had As powerful a message for my when you Are to Koome told bring this whip and i will teach you to drive the dog my people will also be your we can know where a gift comes from but we can never know where a gift will take Sheldon bermans books include the always prayer by the hanukah the shamans Nephew most the Wisdom Bird a tale of Solomon and letters to the editor the free press welcomes letters from they must include the authors address and Telephone letters May be letters to the 1355 Mountain r2x fax email matters of Faith dont need proof re Geoff cases article scientists Back Days View when individuals attempt to cloak creationism in the Mantle of they do Disser vice to both belief matters of Faith and spirituality do not need scientific i do not for exam what Carbo dating indicates about the shroud of my belief in a god does not require such Valida the Case for scientific creationism very often is built upon pointing out inconsistencies in the theory of rather than on scientific evolution theory is based on of available empirical in my Faith implicitly does not and should not require such and scientific creationism is an intellectually Dishon est and utterly unnecessary attempt to validate i would even if one does not insist on a literalist interpretation of the a personal belief system can encompass both god and unlike i will not suggest that most or even Many theolo Gians scientists agree with my Point of die Ljones Winnipeg sympathy for Man not sympathy for cause in Tom Ole sons religious Dou ble Standard 18 on unfair criticism of Stockwell Days a clarification is needed on what catholics believe about the catholics believe in the real ence of Irist in the Oleson bread and wine Are literally into the body and blood of Christ he catholics believe also in the real presence of Christ in the living word of and we believe in the real pres ence of Christ in the Community of gods i dont think the word literal carries the same meaning in any of these we Are dealing with what might be called Sacra mental realities with 4 with the presence of the which try to explain theologically with words like poes this tread upon the territory of the Nat ural sciences it does on the other we would not say that Day believes in the real interpretation of but in its literal he has his own theological reasons for so and these could be i on theological the problem arises when this literal interpretation leads to conflicts with the vast body of evidence that scientists have for about the age of the nowhere in the Book of genesis Are we told How old the Earth the figure years is attained partly by adding up the numbers Given for the age of various persons named in the genealogies of could those numbers be interpreted symbolically the literal interpreter they must be interpreted such literal interpreters of genesis have been ingenious in developing the theory called but while a scientist can believe in god and Many scientists no scientist can accept creationism because creation ism is simply the lit eral interpreters of genesis Are not but they Are certainly intellectually and they can easily be made to look like How when someone is attacked unfair that when someone is not permitted to answer questions or defend himself witness the Csc Jour nals presentation on Days he gains our our sympathy for the should not be confused with sympathy for All or Many of his to return to the question of is it fair to As a Catholic prime Jean Chretien presides with Equanis unify Over the abortion of children a year in Chretien May govern but docs not preside Over he governs a country that no longer has any legislation to Deal with thanks in some measure to those who opposed imperfect Laws and preferred to have no Law in this imperfect legislation can eventually be but it is difficult to see How Chretien or Day or anyone else will be Able to introduce any legislation to Deal with a situation which catholics and Many others feel is in grateful to Tom Oleson for having the courage to raise the Eric Jensen Ignatius Church Tom Hanson Canadian press archives Stockwell Days religious beliefs continue to be subject of debate during the election Day dodged own court Date dont get me wrong i dont approve of politicians who stray off the sunny Side of the criminal and if that is what prime minister Jean Chretien has he deserves to be spanked hard at the on the other Stockwell Days posture would not seem so hypocritical and self serving if he had not been ducking his own court Date for defamation during the and if his lawyers we rent planning to use special privilege for politicians As a Day should have gone Home to face his own be it que Sera or i fought the Law and the Law Kevin Longfield Winnipeg free press unfair to Day in adding my voice to the others that say Stockwell Day has been unfairly attacked by the free Nicholas in his column the accusation of Media Bias says the free press has a proud tradition of being then goes on to say that Days religious views Are important and of interest because Hes made them they Arent shared by a vast majority of canadians and they reject modern proud tradition of being Liberal indeed it seems ironic that above the editorial Page is printed Freedom of Liberty of Equality of civil it seems that firsts along with those of some other free press has joined a lot of Liberal voices in making unfair and unfounded accusations about Bil Leckie Winnipeg Clark left with character assassination during my career As a former senior executive with the Ontario develop ment my office was approached on numerous occasions by provincial and municipal offi including members and City councillors requesting the Sta Tus of loan applications submitted by applicants doing business in their i am also aware that the Bdl received queries of a similar my office always received these contacts As a matter of interest by the callers in the economic development of their in my it was a natural occur rence and one which demonstrates the degree of responsibility that an elected official for Joe Clarks inform i have vivid recollection of contacts Matefy his colleagues when they Formeck the during my 16year experience with Crown corporations involved with financial assistance to private Enterprise in i have not sensed any pres sure from the political Arena to deviate from the decision to lend or not to lend following due Diligence by the lending it is Clear in my mind that the allegations have been made by Stockwell and supported by in other issues in the cur rent Campaign have been beaten to All they have left is character Arne Sorensen Winnipeg t Winnipeg free press Winnipeg free press est 1872 Winnipeg tribute est 1890 vol 128 no 336 2000 Winnipeg free a division of newspapers division of Thomson Canada limited published seven Days a week at 1355 Mountain Manitoba r2x pm 6977000 a member of the Manitoba press Council Rudy email Nicholas Patrick Flynn Deputy editor ;