Joy to the World

What a wonderful holiday which reminds us of one of the most important events in history: the birth of Christ. I heard a man speaking on the subway yesterday that reminded me what Christmas is all about and why Christ's birth was important. In a nutshell, it was a neccesary step towards his death and suffering. Most importantly his birth, life and death paved the way for his universally conquering death and sin. That's what the man on the subway was talking about (though a bit too loudly, it almost drowned out the message). He was a self-proclaimed crackhead for 7 years, who said he would do anything for his next hit, including steal from his own mother. He somehow caught a glimpse of his own potential and was able to change his life so that he has been clean for many years, and he gives the credit to Jesus Christ. Could he have transformed his life if Christ hadn't been born? Perhaps, but what would have been the motivation? Where would he have drawn hope? How could he possibly face anything but punishment at the judgement day? He related it well, that he was so humbled and grateful that his mom was able to take him back and forgive him of everything; she was thrilled to have her son back. That's how Christ feels towards us, and since he has already borne the penalty for our sins, we can be forgiven and overcome. That's why I love this picture, it's a depiction of him coming out of the tomb. It's as if He's saying to me, "See Dave, I conquered and overcame everything and I'm inviting you to do the same. It'll be hard, but you can toss your unwanted baggage in this empty tomb and I'll help you overcome." As a missionary, I helped people with drug, alcohol and tobacco additions, inmates, people suffering from sadness, loneliness, depression, fear, anxiety, abuse and every other kind of difficulty, overcome these troubles because of their faith and the hope they drew from the life of Jesus Christ (often with professional help of course). That's why the angels rejoiced at his coming, because they knew the impact his life would have on the world. This is what Christmas means to me.

Sunset on the hudson

I got off work early today and got home in time to enjoy the view of this sunset over the hudson river from outside our apt window.

There's no place like home...

I'm so relieved that the subway strike is over, so I don't have to deal with a commute like today's ever again. I left the house with my mom at 6am, at which point we drove up to the Bronx to pick up one of her colleagues. The three of us drove down Broadway and Amsterdam Ave to 113th st in Manhattan, to St. Lukes, one of the hospitals she works at. We couldn't get to Roosevelt on 57th street, the other hospital she works, because of police checkpoints preventing vehicles with less than 4 passengers from going south of 96th street. Our plan was to catch the 7:15 hospital shuttle bus taking passengers from St. Lukes to Roosevelt, but we missed it by 5 minutes. While getting breakfast across the street, one of their colleagues walked in and noticed us sitting down to eat. She had a car, but no passengers, and we were three people needing a ride, so the four of us teamed up and drove past the police barricades and got dropped off at Roosevelt around 8:05. At that point I strapped on my rollerblades and skated approx 5.5 miles down to the southern tip of Manhattan, where I'll be working for the next two weeks (it's the same place I worked at in July, so you can check out the archives to see pictures of it). After missing yesterday, and after 2.5 hours of traveling, I finally showed up to work this morning (let's not forget that it's winter!). I heard the strike has just ended, so I should be just fine tomorrow. What a relief. However, I must admit that the exercise and camaraderie with other New Yorkers rollerblading down the Hudson River Park was exhilarating. It was also great to revisit so many NYC landmarks, like the Empire State Building, where Jon Stewart films the Daily Show, the Intrepid, the Statue of Liberty, Wall St. and Battery Park. Here's a picture of me in front of the NY Stock Exchange on Wall Street. There's no place like home.

A la prochaine

Je veux dire a Montreal, "je t'aime, merci, au revoir." It was an emotional experience to leave Montreal yesterday, driving out on the same bridge I came in on more than 6 years ago. It's humbling to think about how much I've grown and how much I have accomplished in that time. Sincere thanks to everyone who helped make that possible. I am now back in NYC, and it feels nice to be be here voluntarily for a change! I joked with my dad that it feels like I've stepped a month back in time weather wise. Unfortunately my plans are completely messed up by the illegal strike waged by the transit workers. Can you imagine NYC without the subway and buses? I physically cannot get to work today, since it's past Wall St. and I'm up on 186th st, more than 20 miles north. The union has been fined $1 million per day for the strike, and it's not enough if you ask me.

My Young Men

After 2 years of volunteering as President of the organization for young men at my Church's local congregation, I was officially replaced yesterday. It was an extremely emotional experience for me, as I've grown to love the boys tremendously. They are some of the most impressive 12-17 year olds I have ever met, and I look forward to witnessing the force for good they will be in this world. I hope you enjoy these pictures of some recent activities. The pic above is from a sleepover on Dec 10th. I was the first one to fall asleep (at 4am!), and the boys were still playing ping pong at 6am (can you even see me buried in that pile?). The bottom picture is some of us singing Christmas songs on the metro platform with the missionaries. Lots of people took our photos or smiled as they walked by. The young men and women also handed out donated socks last week to the homeless people in the area. Ralph, the new President, overheard Kameron say "Wow, if we could bottle this good feeling, we'd be rich!" Many thanks to Ralph and all the other counselors I've had during these two years. I hope the boys enjoy seeing their pics on my blog, and know how much I love them. I'm gonna miss you guys!

Last Montreal Winter

I woke up this morning to my final Canadian snow storm (I'm assuming it will last the remaining 3 or 4 days I have left up here). I have been feeling nostalgic about leaving Montreal, that is until I opened my balcony door and saw that the snow had piled up well over a foot! That is not a reflection in the bottom picture, that is the imprint of my balcony door on the snowdrift. As for the top photo, I feel for sorry for whoever needs to get that car out. In unrelated news, I took my physio exam yesterday. Let's just say it was the hardest exam I've taken during my 9 semesters at McGill. The first question was so hard that one of the smartest people in the class passed out five minutes into the exam and was taken out in a wheelchair by paramedics after vomiting on the floor!! I'm not making that up.

What I've learned in Canada

I did well on my final yesterday and am now down to 3 more classes, 10 days left in Montreal. How can I sum up 4 1/2 years living north of the border in a blog entry? In no particular order, here are six things I've learned while living in Canada (specifically Quebec):

1) Americans are pretty funny and will say dumb things on tv. Thanks Rick Mercer for teaching me this! My favorite example is when Mercer asked the campaigning George W. Bush how he felt upon hearing that Prime Minister Poutine of Canada had given his endorsement. The response was something to the effect of, "I'm thrilled, he and I have always had a good relationship." If you didn't get the joke, then let me tell you another thing I've learned:

2) Poutine! This Quebecois dish consists of fries, cheese curds (squeaky cheese as they call it out west), and gravy. I personally love the poutine au poulet (chicken poutine) from the restaurant called "The Green Stop" au coin de rue Monk et rue Jolicouer. I know it looks disgusting, but trust me, it's disgustingly delicious.

3) While I'm on the subject of the Quebecois, I've learned that it's possible to speak French in such a way that even natives of France can't understand. "Ouais, c'est vrais, beh, la la."

4) Perhaps the stereotype that Canadians love hockey is a little understated! I love this promo for the Toronto Maple Leafs of a Toronto class photo. In case you can't guess, the kid on the left is a Montreal fan.

5) No matter what you're mad about, the solution involves going on strike. There is a revolving door of major strikes in this city. 2 years ago it was the metro system (imagine if the subways stopped running in NYC for a couple weeks), last year it was college students and this year it's been college teachers. This pic is taken directly in front of my campus.

6) I've learned what -40 degree feels like; it's a lesson I don't need to revisit. That's around the point that Celsius and Fahrenheit cross over and are the same. If you didn't know that, then consider yourself lucky!

More to come as I continue to think about it.

Verstehen

On the eve of my classical sociological theory exam (my third to last final!) I find myself contemplating the words of 3 deep thinkers. Max Weber believed that as a study of society, sociology is well suited to provide "verstehen," in other words understanding/interpretation. I hope I have a little more of this by tom. afternoon! We've also studied the words of French theorist (do you know him Sarah?) Emile Durkheim who often wrote about the effects of living a religious life. I love what he said in his essay The Elementary Forms of Religious life, "The believer who has communicated with his God is not merely a man who sees new truths of which the unbeliever is ignorant; he is a man who is stronger. He feels within him more force, either to endure the trials of existence, or to conquer them. It is as though he were raised above the miseries of the world, because he is raised above his conditions as a mere man." That quote is out of context and doesn't accurately reflect the nuances of Durkheim's attitude towards religion, but I am inspired by the observation nonetheless. This connects well with another quote taken out of context, a thought by the third theorist on tom's final, George Simmel who opened an essay with the line "Knowledge of truth is a weapon in the struggle for existence." Perhaps acquiring knowledge of absolute truths is the goal of our existence, what do you think?

On the first day of Christmas...

Even more than the end of Thanksgiving and the commencement of finals, last night's devotional by the prophet of my Church symoblizes the start of the Christmas season for me. Every year, on the first Sunday of December, the three top leaders give an hour long devotional on the theme of Christmas featuring music by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. I was particularly inspired by the message last night that the most important question we should ask ourselves this season is not "What gifts did I get?" but "What gifts did I give?" You can watch the video of the event at www.lds.org.

World Aids Day

According to the World AIDS Day website AIDS claims the lives 8,000 people per day, and that 5 people have died of AIDS during the time you will spend reading this entry on my blog. There have been more than 3 million new cases of HIV this year making more than 40 million people living with this disease in total. There are apparently only 4 ways you can be infected and having unprotected sex with an infected partner is the number one cause. According to many articles by Nicholas Kristoff of the NY Times, this is also a major aspect of the Darfur genocide currently taking place in the Sudan. Women and girls are systematically being raped and infected, essentially receiving a death sentence because of who they are and where they live. What can we do? I honestly don't know, but you can protect yourself by being abstinent until marriage with a safe partner. At the risk of sounding preachy, that's been God's pandemic protection policy for thousands of years (read Ex 20:14, Matt19:18 & Alma 16:18). It is essential however that we reach out to those suffering from this disease in a spirit of compassion, love and understanding, without the slightest hint of judgment. You should also read this article about how the Church commemorated World Aids Day this year.