The week is capped off with visit #2 to Freedomize Toronto

So today is Sunday–the day that caps off the weekend. What better way to end a week that felt a little weird then by playing it out just a little bit different than the last couple weekends. In previous posts I told you of my Sunday chill work sessions at the Jamie Kennedy cafe (now called Hank's). Today I was supposed to take my nephew to his last indoor soccer session for the season  as winter is now upon us. The fam including the little one just didn't wake up all ready to tackle the -18 with windchill conditions to make it to a 10:30 soccer game so we hung out, ran a few errands and had some lunch before I was to meet up with a dear friend before Freedomize session 2.

End result is that the day was pretty phenomenal. For some reason it seemed to break the blahness of the week that came before and continued in the great vibe of the rest of the weekend. Fabulous!

We showed up at the church a little on the early side when they were still setting up. Pud the TDI was the transport for the day hence the early/on-timeness. Walking into the church this time was a little different than before. Still setting up they needed the lights on to see what they were doing. It wasn't as much of a new and fresh entrance and I thought in my head if I would have as good an experience as the week prior. Church was more about sounds in the background and ambience wasn't it? After a little chatting, they were all set up, the lights went off and a reading begun with ambient sounds, tones and drips of water. Like before, the tone was set quite well and we had most of our attention turned to the front.

The band leading was with a slightly different arrangement of people, same acoustic guitar frontman but instead of drums and bass, there was a ukulele. A sweet one at that. Picture a white glossy Les Paul, double binding, black headstock, but a ukulele. Awesome! Besides the novelty factor it was pretty awesome to hear the combo. Let's focus now people! Remember this is not a show and it is church and I spent my time through the songs listening, reading the words (mostly all new to me as I don't know any of the songs) and listened to those voices beside and around me singing along. Again this was definitely a celebration and I was happy to be there.

The speaker this week was Kevin. He spoke about consumerism and the xmas season and all of the conflicting thoughts Christians may face. I won't really go into it but his delivery was humourous with technical difficulties and it all came across as a good message with questions to discuss further. This is great because at this point in time, how many days before Christmas...? I haven't begun shopping for anyone. I'll be thinking about it through this week as I have to head out to the mall etc. and do that whole shopping thing.

At the end of the service, I find myself taking away a lot and to my surprise, I'll definitely be going back to Freedomize sometime soon. Who know's maybe next week? Say what you will about your own religious or faith experiences, this is definitely something that's good for me right now. In a season where there is so much rushing and worry take some time to reflect a little bit, pause or slow down one night a week. You'll appreciate everything that much more. In terms of my own beliefs I'm going to take it slow. I won't figure out where I stand in a couple weeks after an 8 year or so hiatus. So why rush it. I don't feel the urgency to make Jesus and God the focal point of my life or give them the large roles they once played right at this second so why force something prematurely? Time will tell. But for the moment, I won't hesitate to go to church and perhaps be a little confused. I think that's okay and someone has told me it could be a good thing.

Anyway, time to finish dinner and get all ready for a Monday work and then a meeting after work. I think I'll take some time after my meeting to take some photos of the city. I'm sure I can expect it to be a little chilly but there's always a little bit of accomplishment felt taking pictures and braving the cold. That being said, I'm still sporting my spring jacket a la t-shirt and AA cardigan. I havent' been dying for my winter jacket yet so I figure I'll just roll with it for now.

Soo starting to ramble...

Rock, love and peace,

J