A Person of Escape

Alright, I admit it.  Last day’s post may have been slightly vain and perhaps unnecessary.  Of course I know better than that.  Of course I do.  I know that change – real change, that is, be it physical, mental or spiritual – is not brought about by a resolution – it is sustained by a vision.  A brother once shared that any amount of growth we have is only due to a change in our concepts. Lord, breakthrough my natural concepts!

Today is my last day back home in Toronto!  The past week has seen a few adventures here and there:

A few days ago, Mom bought a new toy and made juice for my Dad (in the background).  I admit I was a wee bit jealous.

The machine that boasts 3 different functions, none of which it performs particularly well -  indeed, the  Magic Bullet Express! (Unbiased product reviews are important, right?) To be fair though, it may have been because Mom tried to juice bananas.  Or that she turned cucumbers into a bloody mess by putting the cukes in after slicing beets.  Either way, I still vote for Green Star.

Chinese bakeries and supermarkets were frequented.

What do you do when extreme hunger befalls you whilst grocery shopping? Take a tip from Mom:

Eat now, pay at checkout. (I think those were sweet taro buns.  Um, I have to stop looking at them because they’re making my stomach grumble as I type this.)

I don’t even have my G1 yet, but if and when I am to drive, I’d like to drive this car, please.

OK so maybe not.  But it’s still pretty cute, isn’t it?!

The usual greenery:

I have now had kale in Montreal, in Waterloo, in Anaheim and in Toronto.  (They may or may not come from the same place, but that’s another story…)   Do you take kale for granted? Don’t.

Um, I guess my style is cold-meets-hobo. I am Canadian, after all.

Remember STU-LIVE? I’m already in preparations for academia-induced positive psychology next term:

We bought these slip-ons at American Eagle yesterday.  I added the buttons myself.  (Creative genius, right?)

Which brings us to today  – 70 or so brothers and sisters will be coming to my house tonight to pray… And then we hit the road tomorrow morning at 7 am for Waterloo!  Back-to-school butterflies…

*************

Looking back at the past few months, after being away at school in Waterloo all term long, coming back to Toronto was more of an escape from Waterloo than it was an escape to Toronto.   Does that make sense?

See, I’ve always been a sort of an escaper. I escape on walks, I escape at campus, I escape when I’m doing nothing else but sitting on my yoga mat and looking out the window.

And I used to think that I needed a reason to escape – I’m going to escape to walk to the grocery store to buy kale. I’m going to escape to school to return my library books (which will not be overdue for a month).

But when did escape necessitate a destination?  If we are escaping to something, is that really an escape?  Can I just be – even if for a fleeting moment – in between the two places, in limbo, without a place to go, without a reason? Can I just escape for escapade’s sake?

Yes, I live in this place.

But it’s not my escape.  And I don’t think physical places will ever be my escape.  I’m dissatisfied with geographical, physical escapades.   I need an escaping life. Who lives in me?  Do I live in a place, or do I live in a Person?

2 Peter 1:4 Through which He has granted us precious and exceedingly great promises that through these you might become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption which is in the world by lust.

Escaping 2009 !

Aletheia