2012 in review
December 30, 2012
The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog.
Here’s an excerpt:
About 55,000 tourists visit Liechtenstein every year. This blog was viewed about 190,000 times in 2012. If it were Liechtenstein, it would take about 3 years for that many people to see it. Your blog had more visits than a small country in Europe!
BJ McHugh: Mother’s Day Marathoner
April 15, 2012
By the Rev. Dr. Ed Hird
While working out at a local weight room, I had the privilege of getting to know Betty Jean McHugh, the world’s fastest 83-year old long-distance runner. Interviewed on TV and newspaper, she has been called the flying granny. Jack Taunton, Chief Medical Officer for the Vancouver Winter Olympics, called her one of the most remarkable senior runners we have seen. Betty Jean is so positive and energetic that she inspires the rest of us to not give up on our health goals. Recently I met her at the Parkgate Village right next to the Bean Around the World coffee shop. She told me of her tri-generational plans to run in the December 2012 Hawaiian Marathon, along with her son Brent and her grandchild.
After reading her new book My Road to Rome, I knew that I needed to celebrate BJ’s achievements as a Mother’s Day marathoner. One of her great lifetime highlights which she talked about extensively throughout her book was an all-expense-paid trip to run in the Rome 2009 Marathon. There are now five million North American women running, compared to less than one million in the 1980s. Women, many of whom are mothers, now outnumber men at running events. BJ has run in 14 marathons and over 300 road races. Running four times a week at 5:45am, BJ has broken a dozen Canadian and world records. She started running at age 55, a time when many others were hanging up their running shoes. While BJ has been injured many times over the years, she never gave up, saying that she ‘was not going to accept the ravages of time without a fight.’ Running has become for her as much part of her life as ‘brushing her teeth’.
BJ’s determination is an inspiration to watch. She not only runs and works out at the gym, but also has been an avid North Shore skier since the early 1950s. BJ even climbs the Grouse Grind with her grandchild. Such athletic involvement helped condition her to become a leading octogenarian runner. She acknowledges that there are thousands of times when she felt like not bothering. “Excuses are easy; commitment is hard”, says BJ. But she just keeps putting one foot in front of the other and goes for it regardless. Every marathon, says BJ, is a journey into the unknown. You train and train and train again, and think that you are ready. But you never really know how your body is going to fare over 42 kilometres of running.
One thing that keeps her going are her running partners to whom she is committed. “How can I sleep through an early-morning downpour”, says BJ, “when I know that my friends will be waiting for me at our meeting place in ten minutes?” Running, says BJ, has given her friendships that are powerful and lasting. Through her running with her partners, they experience ‘the elation of reaching the top of a hill, the pain when (they) increase the distance on a training run, the slogging through rain and dancing through a sunlit forest.’
In BJ’s book, she talks about being raised in the poverty of the Great Depression in Stanwood Ontario. The local church was the centre of the community. BJ comments that ‘as a child she liked everything about church but the Sunday service…The minister droned on about subjects I never understood, and I had to sit in the pew with my hands folded politely.’
Once while running in a Vancouver marathon, she became more and more concerned about finishing well: ‘I feared hitting the dreaded ‘wall’, that point at which the body has used up all its reserves.’ Finishing well is a challenge for all of us, whether in a marathon, in our business, or in our family. It is about ultimately facing the question: will my life have made a difference? BJ is an example of someone who is finishing well, whose life is making a difference. She has chosen to give her best into what she believes in and is passionate about. BJ is leaving a legacy that other younger people will be able to tap into.
One of my mentors, Paul, said that he fought the good fight, he finished the race, he kept the faith (2 Timothy 4:7). Even though Paul was tragically killed, he finished well. Paul also recognized that physical exercise was of real value, but he pointed us to the even greater significance of spiritual exercise (1 Timothy 4:8). Part of finishing well is a commitment to being healthy in body, mind and spirit. If we neglect any of those three, we are the poorer for it. Life is a marathon. Life is about discipline. Life is about finishing well. My Mother’s Day prayer for those reading this article is that BJ McHugh’s example will inspire all of us to discipline ourselves in body, mind and spirit so that we may truly finish well.
The Rev. Dr. Ed Hird, Rector, BSW, MDiv, DMin
St. Simon’s Church North Vancouver
Anglican Mission in the Americas (Canada)
http://stsimonschurch.ca
-an article for the May 2012 Deep Cove Crier
-award-winning author of the book ‘Battle for the Soul of Canada’
http://www.battleforthesoulofcanada.blogspot.com
p.s. In order to obtain a copy of the book ‘Battle for the Soul of Canada’, please send a $18.50 cheque to ‘Ed Hird’, #1008-555 West 28th Street, North Vancouver, BC V7N 2J7. For mailing the book to the USA, please send $20.00 USD. This can also be done by PAYPAL using the e-mailed_hird@telus.net . Be sure to list your mailing address. The Battle for the Soul of Canada e-book can be obtained for $9.99 CDN/USD.
-Click to download a complimentary PDF copy of the Battle for the Soul study guide : Seeking God’s Solution for a Spirit-Filled Canada
You can also download the complimentary Leader’s Guide PDF: Battle for the Soul Leaders Guide
King of Hearts on Valentine’s Day
January 8, 2012
By the Rev. Dr. Ed Hird
The symbol of Valentine’s Day is the red heart, symbolizing love, passion, and affection. Recently I was sent by a good friend Rod Ellis his new book entitled ‘King of Hearts’. Rod comments in the book “Where is our heart?…It is my hope that we discover where our heart is by the true meaning of devotion and know a life filled with passion, power and purpose.”
Until something touches our heart, it has not reached the core of our being. Until the heart is engaged, little will change. As Nicky Gumbel of the Alpha Course puts it, our spouse will not be impressed, if after our being away, we merely shake their hand and say ‘I love you with my head’. Valentine’s Day is about the heart. Spirituality is about connecting the head with the heart, only eight inches away, yet what someone called the greatest distance in the universe.
When learning about the power of the Holy Spirit in the early 1970’s, I got it at a head level very quickly, but was more cautious at the heart level. It was not for another seven years in 1979 that I had a heart-felt encounter with the Holy Spirit. I remember in 1975 going to the Sign of the Fish bookstore on Lonsdale, devouring their books on the Holy Spirit and asking for prayer from the store owners. While touched at a deep level, I still had the brakes on. So I left that bookstore inspired but still stuck.
My Rector Ernie Eldridge became involved in a Renewal Mission/Festival of Faith with the Rev David Watson from York, England. I had no intention of going to it as I feared that they might be ‘swinging from the chandeliers’. Because I respected Ernie, I decided to go once, but to sit in the back of the church where I would be safe. To my surprise, David Watson was very sensible, down-to-earth, and even a little boring. This made me want to come back for the rest of the week. By Friday, I decided to give it another try, and went up for prayer. Not much seemed to happen, but on my way home, I was touched by the Holy Spirit on a deep heart level, and began praising in the Holy Spirit. My hardened heart opened up. My head and heart connected at a profound level.
For the past almost 33 years, I have been on a daily journey with the Holy Spirit. By having a daily time of prayer and bible reading, my intimacy is deepened. Only 10% of church goers have a daily quiet time in our busy, frantic culture. Our Bishop Silas Ng has been writing two online blogs to help people deepen their intimacy with our Lord.
http://bishopsilas2.blogspot.ca
The Good Book says that above all else, we are to guard our hearts, for everything flows from the heart. It also says that our hearts are deceitful. We are amazingly gifted at conning ourselves and believing our own press. That is why King David prayed: ‘Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me and lead me in the way everlasting.’ King David was known as a man after God’s heart. I want to be like King David, to have an open heart and an open mind to the Father’s heart of love.
For twenty-five years, St. Simon’s NV has been offering annual Renewal Missions bringing in top Renewal speakers from across North America and around the world. Renewal is about connecting our heart and head, about deepening intimacy with our maker and one another. We are so grateful this past Feb 24th-26th as Rev Dr Bob Grant from South Carolina led us in a journey of heart-felt renewal through the Holy Spirit.
This Valentine’s Day, my prayer is that each of us may come out of hiding and share our heart with God and with those we care for.
The Rev. Dr. Ed Hird, Rector, BSW, MDiv, DMin
St. Simon’s Church North Vancouver
Anglican Mission in the Americas (Canada)
http://stsimonschurch.ca
-an article for the February 2012 Deep Cove Crier
-award-winning author of the book ‘Battle for the Soul of Canada’
http://www.battleforthesoulofcanada.blogspot.com
p.s. In order to obtain a copy of the book ‘Battle for the Soul of Canada’, please send a $18.50 cheque to ‘Ed Hird’, #1008-555 West 28th Street, North Vancouver, BC V7N 2J7. For mailing the book to the USA, please send $20.00 USD. This can also be done by PAYPAL using the e-mail ed_hird@telus.net . Be sure to list your mailing address. The Battle for the Soul of Canada e-book can be obtained for $9.99 CDN/USD.
-Click to download a complimentary PDF copy of the Battle for the Soul study guide : Seeking God’s Solution for a Spirit-Filled Canada
You can also download the complimentary Leader’s Guide PDF: Battle for the Soul Leaders Guide
Breaking the 300,000 visitor barrier
December 16, 2011
Thanks for all your support in 2011 through visiting my blog. As of today, 300,000 of you have dropped in to read some of the 385 online articles. Five days ago, almost 1200 people paid the blog a visit, the most in the past two+ years that the blog has existed.
I encourage you to tell your friends about this blog.
Blessings, Ed Hird+
http://edhird.wordpress.com
Over 1,100 visitors yesterday
November 16, 2011
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Views |
|---|---|---|
Motherhood and Apple Pie |
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351 |
Home page |
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345 |
Florence Nightingale: Mother of Nursing |
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145 |
Alexander Graham Bell: Inventing the future |
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36 |
Sir Alexander Fleming: Countless Millions Saved |
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28 |
Dr. James Naismith: Father of Basketball |
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25 |
My Fair Lady |
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16 |
Thomas Edison: Let There Be Light…. |
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15 |
Simon Fraser: Canada’s most successful failure |
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13 |
The Passion of Louis Riel |
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9 |
Other posts |
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134 |
Total views of posts on your blog |
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1,117 |
Yesterday was the most traffic on my blog since I started in just over two years. For the
first time, over 1,100 people dialed in to read the 383 postings. Most of these postings are newspaper articles that I have written over the past twenty-five years for the Deep Cove Crier and the North Shore News. During this past month of October, my blog had for the first time over 25,000 visitors. The first month of the blog in August 2009, I had just over 1,000 visitors. So there has been a 25-fold increase in internet traffic to the site. Thank you so much for your continued interest and support.
Also, as of yesterday, the blog has now had 275,000+ visitors. Here are the favorite articles viewed for the past 30 days. You can read any of them right now by just clicking on the name of a particular article. Your feedback is most welcome. Without readers, writing is not quite the same:
‘I stand’ song by Mark Hird
October 10, 2011
By Mark Hird
I stand
Mark Hird
G
I stand before you Lord and here I stand
D
To be all I am to praise you
G
I stand before you Lord before you I stand
D (G) (last time x2)
To be all I am to praise you
Am
Though trouble come
Bm Em
Your kingdom come
Am G
Because you came for me
Am
The king of days
Bm Em
Know all my ways
Em G D
Yet you still love me
Comment from Mark Hird: A song I wrote. Feel free to pass it on
More photos from the 2nd Cup of Hot Apple Cider booksigning
October 2, 2011
(photos, courtesy of Bill Bonikowsky)
It really was an enjoyable evening at House of James in Abbotsford on Friday night. If you haven’t been there lately, you will want to check it out.
House of James now even offers Gelato Italian Ice Cream, good food and good fellowship.
The HAC2 authors with the Owner: Ed Hird, Lando Klassen, Bill Bonikowsky, and Paul Beckingham
Booksigning in a coffeehouse environment with a warm cup of Hot Apple Cider…
Have you ordered your copy yet of a 2nd Cup of Hot Apple Cider?
The music by the Bonikowsky sons really set the tone for the evening.
Lando Klassen has been faithful in season and out of season.
It was Lando Klassen’s generosity in putting up the money up front that got my book Battle for the Soul of Canada off the ground. I was able to pay him back in just a few short months because the book sales went so well.
An irenic look by Dr Paul Beckingham and Ed Hird, co-authors for the book 2nd Cup of Hot Apple Cider.
Lando really believes in the power of books, and has given HAC2 a strong endorsement. I would recommend that you contact House of James online to purchase ‘A 2nd Cup of Hot Apple Cider’ by clicking on ’2nd Cup’. Lando and House of James deserve our customer support.
Alternately you can dial into Amazon either in the USA or Canada and order a copy.
Why not order your copy right now before you forget about it? Just click here. A Second Cup of Hot Apple Cider is a remarkably well-produced books with many stories that will inspire you and often leave you in grateful tears.
Rev. Ed Hird
The AM–Canada
http://stsimonschurch.ca
-award-winning author of the book ‘Battle for the Soul of Canada’
http://battle
forthesoulofcanada.blogspot.com
-In order to obtain a copy of the book ‘Battle for the Soul of Canada’, please send a $18.50 cheque to ‘Ed Hird’, #1008-555 West 28th Street, North Vancouver, BC V7N 2J7. For mailing the book to the USA, please send $20.00 USD. This can also be done by PAYPAL using the e-mail ed_hird@telus.net . Be sure to list your mailing address. The Battle for the Soul of Canada e-book can be obtained for $9.99CDN/USD.
-Click to download a complimentary PDF copy of the Battle for the Soul study guide : Seeking God’s Solution for a Spirit-Filled Canada
-You can also download the complimentary Leader’s Guide PDF: Battle for the Soul Leaders Guide
Almost 240,000 visitors later…
September 30, 2011
Dear friends in Christ,
It is such an encouragement that my two-year blog has had almost 240,000 visitors in the past two years. This week there have been around 800 people every day checking out the 372 articles, most of which were previously published in mainstream newspapers.
This month of September has seen over 21,000 people check out the blog, paralleling the previous peak month of February 2011. This response is five times the 4,000 people who visited the blog last September 2010 and ten times the 2,000 people who visited the blog two years ago in September 2009. My next goal is to double this to 500,000 visitors in the next two years.
Thanks for all your support. May the good news of Jesus touch many through the interesting medium of the internet.
In Christ,
Ed Hird+
The AM–Canada
http://stsimonschurch.ca
-award-winning author of the book ‘Battle for the Soul of Canada’
http://battle
forthesoulofcanada.blogspot.com
-In order to obtain a copy of the book ‘Battle for the Soul of Canada’, please send a $18.50 cheque to ‘Ed Hird’, #1008-555 West 28th Street, North Vancouver, BC V7N 2J7. For mailing the book to the USA, please send $20.00 USD. This can also be done by PAYPAL using the e-mail ed_hird@telus.net . Be sure to list your mailing address. The Battle for the Soul of Canada e-book can be obtained for $9.99CDN/USD.
-Click to download a complimentary PDF copy of the Battle for the Soul study guide : Seeking God’s Solution for a Spirit-Filled Canada
-You can also download the complimentary Leader’s Guide PDF: Battle for the Soul Leaders Guide
The Remarkable Legacy of Chief Dan George
September 3, 2011
By The Rev. Dr. Ed Hird
Like Chief Kenny Blacksmith and Chief Joseph Brant, Chief Dan George has left a remarkable legacy across Canada. In the 1990 North Vancouver Centennial book, Chuck Davis describes Chief Dan George as one of North Vancouver’s most famous citizens. Born on July 24th 1899, Chief Dan George died at age 82 on September 12th 1981. His birth name was Gwesanouth/Teswahno Slahoot, meaning ‘thunder coming up over the land from the water.’ He memorably said that “A man who cannot be moved by a child’s sorrow will only be remembered with scorn.” In getting to know and pray with his son Robert/Bob George, I gained a glimpse of the deep spirituality and humanity of his father.
I recently had the privilege of attending the fifth Annual Tsleil-Watuth Nation Cultural Arts Festival held at Cates Park/Whey-ah-Wichen. This year the festival celebrated the 30-year legacy of Chief Dan George. While there, I attended the Legacy tent where I was videoed sharing my understanding of Chief Dan George’s legacy. Afterwards, the Legacy Tent leader Cheyenne Hood agreed to be interviewed for this Deep Cove Crier article: “…My mother is Deborah George, who is the daughter of Robert George, who is the son of Chief Dan George. He is my Great-Grandfather. A lot of people while I was growing up used to ask me what it was like to have Chief Dan George as your Great-Grandfather. To be honest, I never really knew of his fame, the things that he had done, because I was a fairly young child. To me, he was always just Grandpa Dan, or Papa Dan. I didn’t know that he was a movie star. I didn’t know that he went to Hollywood. I didn’t know that he was a writer or a poet. He was just a grandfather.”
“‘My best memory of him’, said Cheyenne, “is after his wife died. He used to take turns with different children and spending time in their homes. His daughter Rosemary used to have an old house that had a steep set of stairs. It faced the Burrard inlet. They had a swing in the backyard. We were over visiting my grandparents and we went trucking over there to see who was at the swing, to see who I could play with for the day. I saw Grandpa Dan sitting on the porch, facing the water. He had his face up to the sun, and he kind of reminded me of a turtle on the rock.”
“My curiosity got the better of me, so I walked up the stairs and said: “Grandpa, what are you doing?’ He took a few minutes to answer me and said: ‘I am sitting’. He said: ‘Do you want to come sit with me?’ So I climbed to the top of the stairs, and sat down there beside his feet. He was sitting there with his face to the sun. I said: “Grandpa, what are you doing?” He said: ‘Do you feel that?’ And he leaned his head back and he had his eyes closed. I kept looking at him: ‘What is he doing?’ So I mimicked him, copied him and closed my eyes with my face to the sun. He said: ‘Do you feel that?’ After a few minutes, I said: ‘Yes, I do.” He said: “What is that?” I said: ‘That is the sun on my face.’ Then he started to talk about the importance of the sun and what it does for mother earth, and what it does for nature, and nature’s cycles. I sat there feeling the warmth of the sun spread across my face.”
“Grandpa Dan said: ‘Do you hear that?’ So I listened quietly. I said: ‘Yes, I do.’ I said: ‘What is that?’ He said: ‘That is the wind blowing through the trees.’ Grandpa smiled, a really faint kind of smile. Then he started talking about the importance of the wind and the role that it plays with the trees and the music that it makes.”
“Then he said: ‘Do you smell that?’ I am still sitting there with my eyes closed. I said: ‘Yes, I do.’ He said: ‘What do you smell?’ I said: ‘I smell the salt from the inlet.’ Then he started talking about the role that the water and the inlet played for our people and our nation, and how when the tide went out, we were able to go out and feast and eat. We had clams and mussels and crabs and we could fish, and we could harvest sea food. He said: ‘Do you hear that?’ I sat for another few minutes listening, and then I said: ‘Yes, I can hear that.’ He said: ‘What do you hear?’ I said: ‘I hear the waves crashing against the rocks.’ Then he started talking about the history of the Tsleil-Watuth Nation people, and how we came to be, and how we moved through this life and this world. I sat and I listened and we were quiet for a few minutes, and then I opened up my eyes. He was looking down at me and he was smiling. I said: ‘What are we listening for now, Grandpa?’ He said: ‘Nothing’. I said: ‘What are you going to do now, Grandpa?’ I just wanted to be near him, I just wanted to be with him. He said: ‘Now we are going to go inside and have tea and bannocks’. And we did.”
Chief Dan George once said: “I would be a sad man if it were not for the hope I see in my grandchild’s eyes.” Chuck Davis of the Greater Vancouver book commented that Chief Dan George “embodied the dignified elder.” As one of eleven children, he became a longshoreman, working on the waterfront for twenty-seven years until he smashed his leg in a car accident aboard a lumber scow. Chief Dan George also worked as a logger, construction worker, and school bus driver. He formed a small dance band, playing in rodeos and legion halls. His instrument was the double-bass.
In the original Deep Cove Heritage book ‘Echoes Across the Inlet”, it speaks about how Chief Dan George gave his historic Centennial ‘Lament for Confederation’ address in 1967 to 30,000 people at the Empire Stadium in Vancouver. Memorably he commented: “I shall see our young braves and our chiefs sitting in the houses of law and government, ruling and being ruled by the knowledge and freedoms of our great land. So shall we shatter the barriers of our isolation. So shall the next hundred years be the greatest in the proud history of our tribes and nations.” Sent to residential school at age 5, Chief Dan George never lived to see the day when Prime Minister Stephen Harper and the Government of Canada apologized to the First Nations people for the trauma many experienced in the Residential Schools.
He first acted in the 1968 TV Series ‘Cariboo Road’ which became the movie “Smith”. He went on to win the 1970 Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in the hit movie Little Big Man. Chief Dan George made famous the phrase: “It is a good day to die”. Dustin Hoffman commented “I was amazed at his energy (he was in his seventies); he was always prepared with his lines; it was a six-day week; we were shooting thirteen hours a days.” Helmut Hirnschall noted that “His quiet assertion, his whispered voice, his cascading white hair, his furrowed face with the gentle smile became a trademark for celluloid success.”
From there, he went on to act in many films and TV shows, including The Outlaw Josey Wales, Harry and Tonto, and the TV series Centennial.
Many honours have been given to Chief Dan George including being made an Officer of the Order on Canada in 1971. In 2008 Canada Post issued a postage stamp in its “Canadians in Hollywood” series featuring Dan George. Schools and theatres have been named after him. In the opening ceremonies of the Vancouver Olympic Games, his poem “My Heart Soars” was quoted by Actor Donald Sutherland. To me, Chief Dan George wa
s a Benjamin Franklin of the indigenous world.
His poetry and prayers are gripping and unforgettable. As Chief Dan George said; “…I am small and weak. I need your wisdom. May I walk in beauty. Make my eyes ever behold the red and purple sunset. Make my hands respect the things that you have made, and my ears sharp to hear your voice. Make me wise so that I may know the things that you have taught your children, the lessons you have hidden in every leaf and rock. Make me strong not to be superior to my brothers but to fight my greatest enemy –myself. Make me ever ready to come with you with straight eyes so that when life fades as with the fading sunset, my spirit will come to you without shame.”
edhird
