SAFE AND RISK FREE / Part 351 / For Love and For Justice / Zabeth and Paul Bayne

The transcripts have been delivered to the Baynes.

Within days their legal counsel will present a compelling refutation to Judge Thomas Crabtree. Upon reviewing all court reports including this last document, Justice Crabtree will deliver a ruling that will determine the future of a family. It will be a just ruling when he clearly discerns the truth. We are trusting that Mr. Crabtree will not be influenced by the name, education, position or reputation of the information source but rather, be passionate to distinguish truth regardless of who stated it. I have sometime commented on actions outside and inside court because that is all we can see. We cannot know motives despite the certainty with which some of my readers speculate.

Through this long ordeal Paul and Zabeth have exhibited tranquillity despite the accusations directed at them. That spontaneous deportment of peace and contentment is unsurprising from people whose consciences are pure. They will not be better people if Judge Crabtree awards them their own children. Nor are they unworthy parents because Finn Jensen told the Judge that they are. They are who they are. And for them, it matters that God sees them. Understandably their attention is on their own family and the outcome of Judge Crabtree's deliberations, but I can tell you this. When peace controls their futures, Paul and Zabeth are the kind of people who will speak peace to other sufferers.

Only love can lighten heavy burdens like this and Paul and Zabeth not only have love for each other but have an abundance of it from an army of people. All of that love helps to carry the heavy burden. They are fortunate that is true.

I assure you that both Paul and Zabeth have improved their lives during the past three years – not financially of course. Yet they have stared fear in the face and have battled for family and in that brave effort have attained skills and virtues they never considered before. Perhaps some of the greatest victories have already been won. When these children get their parents back, this will be one great family. Three children will have diligent and sincere parents like few others because they have already made progress in these important areas. These parents have lived peaceably while facing people who do not like them and have not cared for them and their three children will be entirely safe and risk free in their biological family home.

TURPEL-LAFOND: ESTEEMED BURR UNDER THE SADDLE / Part 298 / For Love and For Justice / Zabeth and Paul Bayne/

She is a bit of a burr under the saddle of the MCFD. It doesn't need to be that way. MCFD could regard her as an advantage. Her work has potential to make MCFD better.

In November 2006, Dr. Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond was appointed British Columbia's first Representative for Children and Youth. It is a five-year term and her responsibilities include; advocating for children and youth, protecting their rights and improving the system for their protection and support, particularly those who are most vulnerable. She serves all British Columbians under the age of 19, with an emphasis on young people in government care – such as those in foster homes, group homes or youth custody. These children and youth face greater challenges than those in the general population, especially related to health and education, incarceration and dependence on income assistance.

Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond, S.J.D. (born 1963 in Norway House, Manitoba) the youngest of four girls born to a Cree father and Scottish mother on a reserve in northern Manitoba. She is a member of the Muskeg Lake Cree Nation. She grew up in poverty, endured harsh physical mistreatment, and was surrounded by domestic violence and alcoholism in her home—a mirror of the upbringing experienced by many of the children she now encounters.

She is a Canadian lawyer and advocate for children's rights, and a judge on leave of the Provincial Court of Saskatchewan. At age 35 Turpel-Lafond was the first Treaty Indian to be named to the bench in Saskatchewan. She was the Administrative Judge for Saskatoon, involved in the administration of the Provincial Court of Saskatchewan in relation to access to justice, judicial independence projects, technology and public outreach. She has also worked as a criminal law judge in youth and adult courts, which led her to work at developing partnerships to better serve the needs of young people in the justice system, particularly sexually exploited children and youth, and children and youth with disabilities, such as fetal alcohol spectrum disorder.

As a practicing lawyer, she appeared before all levels of Courts in Canada, including the Supreme Court of Canada. Turpel-Lafond has worked on land claims with the Indian Law Resource Center in Washington, D.C., and served as a key legal and constitutional adviser to aboriginal leaders. She has been touted for a seat on the Supreme Court of Canada.

By age 16, she was already at Carleton University, Ottawa, gravitating from math and science to politics, philosophy and eventually the law. Turpel-Lafond holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Carleton University, a law degree from Osgoode Hall, a master’s degree in international law from the University of Cambridge and a doctorate of law from Harvard Law School. She also holds a certificate in the international and comparative law of human rights from the University of Strasbourg in Strasbourg, Alsace, France.
Time magazine has twice bestowed honours upon Turpel-Lafond, naming her one of the '100 Global Leaders of Tomorrow' in 1994, and in 1999 as one of the 'Top 20 Canadian Leaders for the 21st Century'.
Prior to her judicial appointment, Turpel-Lafond was a lawyer in Nova Scotia and Saskatchewan and a tenured professor of law at Dalhousie University Faculty of Law. She taught law at the University of Toronto, the University of Notre Dame and other universities, and held the position of Aboriginal Scholar at the University of Saskatchewan. She has been a visiting professor at the University of British Columbia and the University of Victoria law schools.

As the Representative, she doesn’t work for the government. Rather, the Representative for Children and Youth is an independent office of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia and does not report through a provincial ministry. Their work is based on the United Nations' Convention on the Rights of the Child, and upholds the following values:
– Children have a right to be protected and kept safe
– Families are the best environment for raising a child
– Parents and extended family have the primary responsibility for a child
– Decisions made about a child should include their own views and input

Bio Information from her website
and from Wikipedia

HON. MARY POLAK / Part 297 / For Love and For Justice / Zabeth and Paul Bayne/

MLA Hon. Mary Polak Langley Minister of Children and Family Development and Minister Responsible for Child Care

As recently as June 2010, Times Colonist columnist Lindsay Kines reported that the NDP was calling for Mary Polak to resign as Minister of Children and Family Development. Frankly, that is no solution to anything about which we have been writing for months. Ministers come and go with regularity as it is. This opposition attack against a Liberal Minister came as a result of the tensions between MCFD and Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond, the Representative for Children and Youth. More specifically it related to the safety of children in the Child in the Home of a Relative program. Turpel-Lafond's claim was that a great many of the children could be at risk within the program. Maurine Karagianis, NDP children's critic jumped on this, saying that Turpel-Lafond had provided convincing evidence that many caregivers were never background checked and some have criminal records and that one in three children might be at risk. Polak pointed out that while the program is subsumed by her ministry, these are really not children in the care of the province. They are in the care of family, some of whom require income assistance. Further, in any specific case where risk is indicated, the Ministry is quick to do assessment and respond appropriately. I found interesting the response by the B.C. Association of Social Workers who echoed Karagianis's concern over what it called Polak's “dismissive” response to the Representative's report. That was in June and of course Mary Polak did not resign in the face of that political manoeuvre nor should she have.

Political gamesmanship does not address our issues with MCFD case stories. The subject of our complaints is the decisions made within communities by MCFD Directors and social workers as they daily interpret their governing ACT.  Our focus is upon the empowerment mandated to MCFD by the ACT that creates such heartache for families which do not require such invasive intervention. Mary Polak needs to sit with troubled parents for many days and just listen. Then she needs to lead the campaign to enact true legislative changes which effectively reduce this constant criticism of MCFD by compelling accountable and compassionate child, youth and family social work. She needs to create dialogue with Turpel-Lafond so that the two agencies harmonize efforts to improve lives. She may need to stand up to some of her colleagues to say, this is the way we are going to do things. Is she up to that task? That's the question. Her credentials are weighty. Do they qualify her or signify the right stuff to truly make a difference to children and families? I sincerely hope so. Minister's don't have much time in these offices to affect great change.

(Bio Material from her site) She was re-elected to the B.C. Legislature in 2009, having represented the constituents of Langley since 2005. On June 10, 2009, Mary Polak was appointed Minister of Children and Family Development and Minister Responsible for Child Care. She serves on the Executive Council of the Government of B.C. Prior to her Cabinet post she served as the Minister of Healthy Living and Sport and Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Health for the Conversation on Health. Ms. Polak previously sat on the Cabinet Committee on New Relationship Coordination and the Government Caucus Committee on Social Development as well as on the Government Caucus Committee for Natural Resources and the Economy, the Select Standing Committees for Children and Youth, Education and Public Accounts, the Cabinet Committee on Agenda Development and the Special Committee to Review the Personal Information Protection Act.

Prior to being elected to the Legislative Assembly, Mary Polak was director of operations for a small polling and research firm and was a trustee and former chair of the Surrey School Board. Under her leadership, Surrey became the first school district in B.C. to balance its books according to generally accepted accounting principles. She led an initiative to make Surrey the first school district in the province to publish school-by-school results for both elementary and secondary schools. Throughout her nine years in local government, Mary worked with many regional and provincial organizations. As a representative to the Lower Mainland Consortium of School Districts for Successful Settlement, she twice presented briefs to the Federal Immigration Commission. In the mid 1990s, Mary chaired the Council of British Columbia School Districts and in 2003, was elected to the board of directors of the British Columbia School Trustees Association. Mary enjoys living in Langley's Willoughby area.

SOCIETY BENEFITS FROM A STABLE FAMILY / Part 289 / For Love and For Justice / Zabeth and Paul Bayne/

Any Family

Life begins at home and wisdom should begin there too. Home and family is where so much time is spent and so much personal interaction occurs. The home is the primary and most vital factor in a child's development into a mature and stable member of society. The family is the basic building block or unit of society, thus the stability of the community depends on the stability of the families that comprise it. In most families the nurturing is genuine and healthy. Sadly in other families, parents have few parental resources or have personal troubles that disable them for parental responsibility.

The parents have been what the child has not yet been – both young and old. Parents should have accrued wisdom from situations that the child has not yet experienced. So it is the parents' responsibility to create an environment in which they can pass wisdom on for the child to readily learn life lessons. It is the parents' responsibility to treat the child with dignity and respect. It is the child's responsibility to honour parents and to listen and to obey and to learn. A child who learns these home life lessons becomes enrichingly wise for a life that can be genuine, wholesome, prosperous. This is the foundation of good family and community relationships.

Given my faith background you will understand why I consider it to be significant that the fifth of ten fundamental commandments given by God to a society of people is this one. Exodus 20:12 "Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you."
Parents are also given direction in Ephesians 6:4 “Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.”

Society benefits from a stable family unit. A person's response to government derives from the parent-child relationship. The lessons and principles learned from honoring, respecting, and obeying parents will result in a society stable enough to promote development of the whole person. That's why forced removal of a child should be employed by social services as the last resort for child neglect or even child abuse, and seldom or never used to enforce any other parental compliance to regulations.

COURT RESUMES TODAY 9:30 AM / Part 274 / For Love and For Justice / Zabeth and Paul Bayne/

This is the day. It's not D-Day yet. The decision does not come down today. But the closing testimonies and arguments from both the MCFD counsel and the Bayne counsel occur this week. The ruling may come at the end of this week or perhaps later as judge Crabtree has time to reflect upon this recent evidence. Most of the week will contain the Bayne opportunity to present their case defense against the accusations of the MCFD. Some of us believe that the decision is already clear. Jensen is an effective lawyer. He simply has not had a good case to represent for the Ministry. He knew that very early in this nasty process. In fact he counselled his client, the Director, that the case to continue care of the boys could not be won. Like most lawyers, he does what his client pays him to do, so we have come all this way, at the expense of the children not in their best interests.

Not this kind of decision.

Closing in on three years that this Bayne family has been ruptured, the case begins yet another week of court days. Hopefully this is the end of it. Hopefully regardless of the legal loopholes and extension ploys that MCFD or Jensen attempt, Judge Crabtree will say “enough.” This meticulous laptop, note-taking judge has promised that he will deliver a written and articulated ruling to this hearing.

This has nothing to do any longer with protecting children. That may have been the early presenting concern. Today is well beyond that. Paul and Zabeth are not a threat to their children, not one, two or three. These many months have exonerated them by the consistency of their behaviour in face of the most adversarial treatment by a service providing agency mandated to administer mercy. Baynes on the other hand, have corresponded and complained and campaigned for good and safe care of their children and ultimately for the return of their children. Of course they have been faulted for that by MCFD. Had they not made this significant effort, that too would have been used by MCFD as evidence of disregard or neglect. That's the way this contest for the lives of children works. This is about winning. There have been countless evidences of this motivation throughout the case data over three years.

Most important this morning is how Paul and Zabeth are doing as they start this day and this week. Remember I told you that they were a couple with faith in God and the value of prayer. They do desire to know that other people of faith are praying for them and the positive outcome. They need some superhuman strength to face what lies ahead. Some of you know what they are feeling. They are afraid and they worry. Yet because of some strong indicators they are filled with optimism. What they dread is hearing once again an onslaught of insinuations and slanders about their character and conduct and family history. It is quite a slurry of emotion that they experience right now. This is the day. This is the Day that the LORD has made.

DOES MCFD SPY ON PEOPLE? / Part 269 / For Love and For Justice / Zabeth and Paul Bayne/

This anonymous comment was written this morning in response to a challenge issued to another commenter named CW with regard to a comment under the Part 211 entry of June 7, 2010 1:58 PM. It is assumed that CW is a social worker presently employed somewhere in the MCFD system. It revisits the subject of MCFD Launched Surveillance of Parents.

Anonymous wrote this:
“CW, I have given you almost two months to seek confirmation from your superior whether MCFD mounts surveillance on parents under scrutiny. You refused and alleged that you can only speak for the Fraser Valley Region (see your posting on June 16, 2010 in Part 222), hence setting up a stage for your sweet double talk once I prove my case.

I have accepted your unilaterally imposed rules of engagement like not relying on PAPA’s surveillance page and information or video from outside British Columbia. Since you refused to provide the confirmation I seek, I will not provide the evidence to prove my case. You are quite right that I have evidence, but I am not itchy. Rest assured that evidence against such intrusive and other hideous activities will be made public in a platform that your Ministry will find much harder to deal with at a time of my choice.

You tactfully raised the following issues that render MCFD mounted surveillance on oppressed parents seemingly impossible:
1. after hours support services may be the province-wide Children's Helpline (your comment sent on June 7, 2010 1:58 PM in June 6, 2010 Part 211);
2. there is no budget in conducting surveillance (same as above);
3. Mr. Ray Ferris stated clearly that MCFD does not use "spies" (your comment sent on June 7, 2010 10:52 PM in June 6, 2010 Part 211)

For the benefit of scrutinized families and the advance of knowledge on MCFD activities, I affirm that MCFD does mount surveillance. They do not put up surveillance in every case and only do this if there is incriminating evidence to gain. For instance, surveillance is often mounted when there is a supervision order prohibiting unauthorized contact of one parent with children who must leave his/her family home to exchange for return of children under the custody of the other parent. If there is no surveillance mounted as CW alleged, then MCFD is not doing its to protect children by not policing the supervision order. Be at ease, damage control. In fact, they often send their undercover agents to stalk parents and stake out residence in the aforesaid scenario.

Although I am not going to provide tangible evidence, I will respond to the above allegations that CW had shrewdly alleged to mislead people:
1. After hours support service constituted 45.7% of total child removal costs, which amounts to $6,917,931 in 2007/08 (data source: Freedom of Information application). Is it likely that a 24-hour phone line cost almost $7 millions per year to run? No. After hour “service” mainly comprises of MCFD agents who remove children and respond to “child protection” calls after hours. I have seen them on fishing expedition outside family homes hunting for reasons to re-remove children even after midnight.
2. It is true that there is no account in MCFD’s budget to support surveillance activity. If you read their budget carefully, there is no account for their legal expenses as well. MCFD lawyers do not provide pro bono services. Likewise, no surveillance budget does not mean that they don’t mount surveillance. MCFD’s legal expenses are in the Attorney General’s budget. As for surveillance, I would direct readers to read the Consolidated Revenue Fund Extracts (Unaudited).
Starting from page 141 of this 402-page document, there are many individuals and number companies received over $25,000 from MCFD for unspecified reasons. Like foster parents, some of these surveillance agents may not be government employees and are third parties hired by CP SW. One of the duties of SW is to authorize expenditures for support services (read MCFD SW job description page 1 of job store # 174 posted in June 2010). Be mindful that payment recipients receiving less than $25,000 in a fiscal year are not listed in this document. God knows which and how many of these recipients provide surveillance service.
3. I do not recognize that Mr. Ray Ferris, an ex-service provider, is authoritative. Nor do I believe that his solutions will solve problems created by state-sponsored child removal. Although I appreciate his effort to unveil the corruption by writing extensively on “child protection” issues, he has told me nothing new so far. Mr. Ferris can speak critically now because he had retired. If he did this while he was still employed, he would have been fired. CW is banking on the trust that many bloggers have on Mr. Ferris. His disbelief on the surveillance issue does not mean that it does not exist.

In today’s blog,* Mr. Ferris suggested that abuse will continue if social work professors, B.C. Association of Social Workers and MLA don’t speak up. MCFD’s SW need not to register with the British Columbia College of Social Workers (Mr. Ferris erred on the name of the College). What does this has to do with the College? I guarantee that this sort of abuse will continue if government still retains the power to remove children from parents. (*A Ferris post appeared briefly today. Recovery later).

These allegations even fool oppressed parents who have not experienced MCFD mounted surveillance. This ministry can compel teens to do penile sex tests and kept it well hidden for decades. What else they are not capable of doing?

PS: Regarding your remark “teachers are not MCFD watchdogs”. Indeed, every person in the province is obliged by law to be MCFD watchdog and the entire province is their hunting ground. Listing teachers only as MCFD watchdog understates the witch hunt network."

MCFD HAS A VESTED INTEREST IN SBS / Part 267 / For Love and For Justice / Zabeth and Paul Bayne/

Before you begin, I apologize for the length of this piece.

Here is something to think about. As you know by now, the MCFD did not, and does not accept Paul's and Zabeth's denial of inflicting harm on their third child nor their explanation of a domestic accident that involved a toddler sibling and the infant daughter in an impact collision, one child falling on the other, head against head. Dr. Colbourne diagnosed a probable shaken baby syndrome origin for the child's injuries in 2007. She made that assessment based upon her knowledge and experience. She then did what she must do in the event of such a diagnosis and that was to notify the MCFD. The MCFD accepted her diagnosis not merely as probable cause but the definitive cause of the girl's injuries. Today, twenty eight months after removing all three children, MCFD cites in its affidavit in support of a Continuing Care Order that it rests its case soundly upon Dr. Colbourne's conclusion.

Social Worker Loren Humeny's recorded notes submitted in court indicate that in 2007 Dr. Colbourne was almost certain that this was a shaking 'type' of injury. Her own testimony clarifies that she believed that it was distinctly a shaking injury and her 2009 in court testimony expressed that it was an impact/shaking induced injury. During that two year interval the National Center for Shaken Baby added 'impact' as a causal link to shaking. Further, NCSBS changed the name from shaken baby syndrome to 'traumatic head injury', which implies impact. Ongoing research revealed that unless there is an underlying illness, impact is necessary to effect this type of injury. The organization that claimed this type of injury is caused by shaking now incorporated 'impact' into its definition. Even so, those making this diagnosis punctuate felony rather than accepting accidental cause. I am not saying that the linkage of shaking and impact are inaccurate. I am saying that it may be unwise to assume that a specific constellation of signs and symptoms are always the result of criminality rather than accident. See  White Paper: Shaken Baby Syndrome/Abusive Head Trauma Prevention

Neither Dr. Colbourne nor MCFD has accepted the association between the Baynes' impact accident story and the altered SBS causation which now accommodates to impact.

Dr. Colbourne was for some time listed on the international board of directors for the Center and that relationship was actual at the time that the Bayne children were apprehended. Dr. Colbourne's name was removed from the Center's web page some time in the past two years.

MCFD encourages training of caseworkers on the subject of SBS. MCFD's website states: "...Team members have completed a number of other MCFD sponsored educational and training courses, including sessions on Shaken Baby Syndrome, Alternative Dispute Resolution, Mediation, Attachment Theory and Community Living Services." This is available in the report called Director's Case Practice Audit Report, Vancouver Coastal Region, Pemberton Integrated Family Services RYH 2009.

Berhe Gulbot has been a key MCFD figure associated with the apprehension and ongoing custody of the three Bayne children and he himself has testified that he was one of the Ministry personnel who attended the Shaken Baby Conference organized by the National Center For Shaken Baby in Oct 2007. The Ministry believes in and trusts this theory and has injected ??? dollars into the promotion of this theory. I have sought to read both sides of this controversial diagnosis and I surmise that it may be foolhardy to rest reputations on a theory with a growing discreditation. There is an avalanche of contradictory medical and expert opinions concerning the value and validity of SBS. That it can be disputed bothers me because hundreds of children have been removed from their parents on the basis of this theory with the resultant affects in some cases of criminal prosecution and conviction. Presently, 1500 people are serving sentences in the United States because they were convicted on the basis of this impugnable theory. How many have been convicted in Canada? And even if not convicted because there was insufficient evidence as far as the RCMP was concerned, how many children have been taken away forever? MCFD wants to do this with the Bayne children. That to me will be the ultimate injustice.

Be perfectly clear. I believe that people who shake, impact or harm a child are responsible before the law because this is a grievous act of violence against a vulnerable person. I approve and respect every program designed to prevent such abusive conduct. I believe that the MCFD must become more discerning about SBS diagnoses to consider the variant possibilities so that inaccurate accusations do not destroy innocent families.

DO YOU THINK CHANGE CAN BE AFFECTED TO MCFD? / Part 266 / For Love and For Justice / Zabeth and Paul Bayne/

MCFD asserts that it is in the midst of a transformation program. Change is being enacted so the announcements claim. Yet here we are still telling these stories of families embattled by local MCFD caseworkers and their supervisors. I suppose it is right to say that if true transformation is to occur, the orchestrators must first know what needs changing. Someone is not getting it. Or, the change makers are pleased with the theory of transformation and how it appears in digital and printed documents but the continued flesh and blood interaction by MCFD workers with clients is not being affected by the lofty goals from Victoria.

I do believe that great change is coming to this MCFD organization in the future. It has more to do with you and me and the thousands who will yet become vocal and visible as we advocate for what we know to be right and good. So much of this expected organizational and social transformation will occur because of the technological innovations that have made easier and faster the accessing of information, sharing stories and ideas and connecting with people than at any time before.

We are able to share opinions, organize campaigns, sign petitions, and start discussions with people all over this province, across the country and around the world. Children, youth and family welfare change activists are able to mobilize more people and coordinate action with a simple internet connection and an e-mail list. This is a connected world and in it there is an ever evolving role for social change organizations and perhaps this dialogue forum is one of those.

There is little to be gained in remaining in a silo, thinking that this one avenue is the only or the best. That is why you read me embracing other writer's initiatives and blogs and website and petitions. Linking arms is essential. As we position ourselves within broader networks of people all in pursuit of a common goal, we will be able to leverage our combined strength of voice in new and effective ways. This is how we build and become a movement.

Perhaps as we become engaged in what we are reading and writing with regard to the issues that swirl around the improvement of the Ministry of Children and Family Development we can inspire one another to take action. Of what that action consists I cannot yet say but perhaps passionate people will step forward to become real change agents. Most of all we need people of influence with leverage and expertise and credential and respect to give impetus to these efforts to change a social agency and the legalities surrounding its work and decisions.

PIVOT LEGAL SOCIETY / Part 264 / For Love and For Justice / Zabeth and Paul Bayne/

Consider these thoughts please.

Since posting this today, a couple of comments by others cause me to ask those of you reading this, whether you have had helpful or disappointing experiences with your appeal to Pivot.

"Outreach: At Pivot, we know that the fight for social justice can’t stop at the courthouse – real change happens when people come together to get things done. There are all kinds of ways that you can spread the word and mobilize others where you live, work, or go to school.”
"Act Now!: When important things are happening, speak out. Government and policy makers need to be held accountable and forced to act. Take action today! Send a postcard here.”
"Join the Movement: Join the growing numbers of people who are standing up for progressive social change! Get information about the issues that matter to you, keep up-to-date on breaking developments and events, and create ways to make change happen.”
"Events: Get together, celebrate successes, have fun, and build community. Whether you come out to one of our annual events or host your own party for Pivot, events are a great way to meet new people, get your friends involved, and become part of the movement for social change.”
"Donate: Your contribution puts power behind our campaigns and strengthens our hand giving us the necessary resources to overcome injustice and create a community of fairness and equality. You don’t have to be a high roller to make change happen – each contribution goes a long way.”

I surmise that most of you respond favourably to those sentiments. In light of the communications within the forum of this blog, you might be saying, “I want to be part of an effective voice for fairness and justice and equity.” All of the above statements were made on the home web page of PIVOT. I am not specifically promoting Pivot but I am agreeing with the convictions I read here.
It is worth your while to spend some time on the online pages of this organization to increase your own awareness and perhaps to generate some creative juices with regard to the changes that are required to turn our present Ministry of Children into one that deserves citation rather than complaint. Perhaps as well, a community of compassion can emerge for so many of you.

This excerpt is quoted from its website.

• Pivot Legal Society is a non-profit legal advocacy organization located in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside.
• Pivot's mandate is to take a strategic approach to social change, using the law to address the root causes that undermine the quality of life of those most on the margins. We believe that everyone, regardless of income, benefits from a healthy and inclusive community where values such as opportunity, respect and equality are strongly rooted in the law.
• The basic concept underlying Pivot's name and mission is that a critical pressure point of social change is to be found at the lower edge of legal and social boundaries. By systematically challenging the attitudes and institutions of power that enable marginalization, Pivot strives to move us towards a more tolerant, inclusive and compassionate society.
• By aggressively advancing the interests and defending the legal entitlements of the most disenfranchised, Pivot aims for a "trickle-up" effect of respect and acceptance that will ultimately benefit all.

Free Legal Help may be available at Pivot - This page informs you of the possibilities.

"The best test of a civilized society is the way in which it treats its most vulnerable and weakest members." Mahatma Gandhi

WADDIFS AND HOWELLS / Part 253 / For Love and For Justice / Zabeth and Paul Bayne/

I believe that there are social workers who have been connected with the Bayne case who have at times wondered whether they might have handled aspects of this case differently than they did. At the start their office was given a call from the child protection unit of the Children's Hospital. There was an infant girl whose injuries were severe and it was suspected that they were caused by shaking – not may have been caused by shaking but were unmistakably caused by shaking. The social workers responded as they should by going to investigate and then by making a speedy decision to protect the child from the risk of further injury. It was customary to also remove two siblings under the age of five because if one was at risk from one or the other of the two parents, the two other children might also be in jeopardy.

Yet that was only the beginning. There followed mediation meetings when progress seemed negligible because parents would not admit to harming their child and no questioning or coercion could extract that admission. The RCMP dismissed the adequacy of evidence sufficient to proceed with a charge of assault or abuse. The social workers committed themselves to gaining that admission and without that admission no kind of plan or help was forthcoming. Social workers and parents became adversaries. Altruistic spirit, compassion, concern for what the parents were experiencing did not occur at the time. The parents were, or at least one of them was viewed by MCFD as perpetrators responsible for injuring a child. Certainly MCFD had come under fire in recent reviews because ministry responses had come too late to save some children from harm that proved fatal. It is understandable that the Director did not want to repeat such a debacle in his region.

Yet as these months and now years have passed by, as media coverage from time to time has dramatized the claims of the parents that their infant was misdiagnosed and they have been placed falsely under suspicion as abusers, there has been increasing reason for many hundreds of people to believe that this is a miscarriage of justice. The Ministry however was committed initially to the medical diagnosis by a doctor from Children's Hospital and has staunchly maintained that position which means that the Baynes can never deliver themselves from the blacklist of parents who do not deserve their parents. There is a great deal of evidence now that the Ministry has made every effort to cast the parents in the worst possible light by the reports that describe them. That's the way it appears to some of us who observe from outside the system.

I think however that there are social workers who have been second guessing their involvement in this family story. They have followed the directives of their Director in the interpretation of observations and reports and writing of affidavits. I believe there are social workers who wonder even now What If (Waddif) we had done things differently, and How Will (Howell) we make this right? I think consciences are working overtime with regret.

Oh of course there are myriad waddifs and howells now.
Waddif the children are awarded to Paul and Zabeth and they must be returned immediately?
Howell the Director and our lawyer respond?
Waddif the Judge castigates the way MCFD handled our case with the Baynes and mentions specific people by name?<
Howell my peers, friends and family respond to this?
Waddif the censure by the Judge is so pronounced that a recommendation for overhauling the Fraser Region of MCFD is made as part of the ruling?
Howell this affect my job?
Waddif the law permits the Baynes to sue the Ministry and sue individuals into oblivion?
Howell I defend myself and how will I come out of this?

NEWS NETWORK ARTICLE / Part 249 / For Love and For Justice / Zabeth and Paul Bayne/

A news network asked me to submit a summary of the Bayne Campaign for Justice. The article below appeared in a recent July 2010 online edition of BC Christian News.

ZABETH BAYNE was a concert pianist.

Soon she would lose her piano.

She and her husband Paul would lose their home, in payment of legal expenses.

These expenses were incurred as they sought to reverse their greatest misfortune: the loss of their children.

I met Paul and Zabeth in 2000, when they attended the Cloverdale church I was pastoring.

I did pre-marital counselling with them, and officiated at their wedding ceremony.

I found them to be serious, conservative, spiritually keen Christians, whom I was glad to know. When I relocated in 2001 we lost touch with one another.

In autumn 2009, I learned about their story of sadness and loss. Believing they were telling the truth, I began to advocate for them with a daily blog called GPS.

The Baynes enjoyed an almost idyllic life with three children and a new home, in a quiet area of Hope – until autumn 2007, when it all came apart.

Paul and Zabeth are birth parents of three children, who have not lived with them for two and a half years. The Baynes had two sons, and then their daughter was born.

An in-home accident on September 23, 2007 is the only trauma to which the parents can point when assessing the cause for the injuries and health issues that compelled them to take their daughter for medical intervention.

As the seven week old infant lay on a blanket on the floor, one small sibling tumbled on top of her. Initially, the baby experienced no apparent distress. Within hours, she was vomiting, dehydrated, listless and not feeding.

Urgent but inconclusive visits to clinics and hospitals in Hope and Abbotsford led to the Vancouver Children’s Hospital on  September 26.

While the incident happened to the youngest child, all three children were apprehended by the Ministry of Children and Family Development (MCFD) and RCMP October 22 – on the strength of a report from the Hospital’s Child Protection Unit and a diagnosis of Shaken Baby Syndrome (SBS).

At that time, the MCFD action was standard and appropriate procedure. The RCMP arrested both parents; following a brief investigation, the Baynes were released. RCMP concluded there was insufficient evidence to pursue charges of complicity in harming the child.

The Ministry, however, viewed the parents with suspicion – basing its position on one doctor’s diagnosis. This diagnosis has been disputed by 12 other experts.

Paul and Zabeth have asserted their innocence from the start, and have accordingly been deemed as uncooperative. Without further evidence – yet still convinced that the parents pose a risk ­– the MCFD has placed the children in foster care.

The Baynes have been less than passive in contesting for custody. They have written letters to the Premier, the Minister of MCFD, the Ombudsman, MLAs and the media –   explaining their dilemma and inviting help.

Hundreds of acquaintances and family members have also sent letters of confidence and support for the Baynes to the MCFD in Victoria, and the Fraser Regional offices.

Global TV and CBC (both regional and national) ran stories in 2009.
A support network has held several quiet, placard-holding demonstrations outside Premier Campbell’s Vancouver office.

The Baynes have conducted extensive research, obtaining medical opinions that dispute SBS – and that present alternative diagnoses. Noted  legal counsel Doug Christie, has made himself available to defend them.

Judge Thomas James Crabtree, newly appointed Chief Justice of B.C., recently ordered MCFD to give the Baynes extended visitation opportunities with their children.
 
The conclusion of their court hearing is scheduled for August 9 – 13. There is every hope that Judge Crabtree  will return their children to them.

That is not what the Ministry of Children and Family Development want.

The director of the Fraser Region of MCFD has applied for a Continuing Care Order – which, if granted, would mean the children could be placed with adoptive parents.

It could also mean that Paul and Zabeth Bayne might never see their children again.

Dr. Ron Unruh is a retired pastor and denominational executive, now expressing himself as a visual artist and an author. His blog for the Baynes can be found at this online address: ronunruhGPS.blogspot.com

Article written for the BC Christian News,  which is part of the broader news network Canadian Christianity

ABSENTEE CHILDREN / Part 247 / For Love and For Justice / Zabeth and Paul Bayne/

Each day that Paul and Zabeth awake, they step past rooms in which their children's things are contained and because the children are gone, these clothes and toys are transformed into the signs of their absence. These lonely suffering people begin another day, like so many other days, hundreds of days. It takes their breath away. They start the day with a punch to the gut. Yet graciously the day may be one of the three each week during which three hours are allocated for them to visit with the children who no longer live in their home. The mornings cannot pass soon enough. These afternoon minutes are joy-filled, each treasured and remembered. Children fill Paul's and Zabeth's embrace, climb on their laps, sit astride Paul's shoulders, snuggle into Zabeth's neck. Always, always a supervisor sits as close to this action as possible to hear each verbal exchange, each endearment, each casual comment. A supervisor with the responsibility and the gall to remonstrate these parents if either does or says anything that has previously forbidden. The prohibition may pertain to a conversation topic or taking a child to the washroom. Even the brief snatches of family sanity and wholeness are moderated by an invasion of excessive control. On the other four days each week, Paul and Zabeth live with a reality that should only be a nightmare from which they can awake. The children are not there. They don't sit together for bowls of cereal. They don't ask mom and dad to take them to the beach. They don't make children's sounds at play. Their rooms are silent.

WRONGFUL CONVICTION / Part 246 / For Love and For Justice / Zabeth and Paul Bayne/

Let's be clear about what has been transpiring in Chilliwack court case File 10073 that presently sits on hold until August 9-13^th.  Judge Thomas Crabtree is hearing an application by the Ministry of Children and Family Development for a Continuing Care Order which will authorize the Director of the Fraser Region of the MCFD to permanently keep the three children of Paul and Zabeth Bayne in care until they are adopted by another family.

In order to win this ruling, MCFD is presenting a case that is nothing less than an attempt to wrongfully convict Paul and Zabeth of a criminal act. If you disagree with me, then tell me what I am missing in my appraisal. Please don't say, “the parents' guilt is missing from you assessment,” because guilt is the one thing for which neither you nor MCFD have evidence.

MCFD does not have a case because there is no proof that either Paul or Zabeth physically shook their youngest child, their infant daughter Baby B. If the contested shaken baby syndrome were an iron clad diagnosis, there would still be no evidence other than circumstantial that might implicate Paul or Zabeth. Nevertheless, in the autumn of 2007 following a frightening diagnosis by a reputable Vancouver pediatrician, MCFD was warranted to question the parents and others. The doctor notified MCFD that the baby's condition was consistent with being shaken. MCFD naturally assumed that a probable shaker was one or both parents. MCFD social workers were unconcerned when RCMP found insufficient evidence to proceed with a criminal charge, since the social workers' responsibility was simply to assess risk, not establish guilt. Because MCFD workers did not accept the Baynes' explanation of an accidental impact collision between a toddler brother and the infant sister who lay on a blanketed section of the floor, they have remained suspicious that Paul and Zabeth had caused harm to their child. Suspicion is sufficient legal reason to remove the child for its protection. It's in the child's best interests. The assumption was also made that if the parents are a risk to one child they may be a risk to the other two children. So removing all three children was in their best interests. So goes the rationale and so went the children.

From the initial weeks of this case the MCFD Fraser Region team has maintained a discriminatory opinion about the Baynes. Its legal presentation reveals that all acquired information for the past two and one half years has been processed through a bias and interpreted as corroboration of the Baynes' untrustworthiness and unfitness to parent. The MCFD risk assessment that was entered as evidence is a premier example since the template section which allows for recording positive features or attributes about Paul and Zabeth, was noticeably blank. In the mind of the social worker writing the assessment and director who approved it, this respectable, decent, principled, serious minded, morally and ethically upright, polite and courteous couple, had nothing for which to be commended. Even the fact that Zabeth is an accomplished concert pianist didn't reap a comment as gratuitous as “she plays the piano very well.” In fact under cross examination, the social worker author of the risk assessment admitted that of the hundreds of pieces of correspondence that had been sent by friends and acquaintances over many months to affirm the Baynes as good people and good parents, he had read none.

Already convinced about parental liability, social workers failed to ask greater questions about the reliability not of the pediatrician but of the Shaken Baby assessment, the consistency of the baby's medical conditions with other causes, the credibility of the opinions of the concerned few collaterals whom they solicited, the mechanical medical reasonableness of a domestic accident between siblings, the weight of affirming testimonials by close family members and friends. AND IF THESE SOCIAL WORKERS HAVE NEITHER THE TIME, NOR THE TRAINING AND EXPERTISE TO RESEARCH SUCH MATTERS, THEY ALSO DO NOT HAVE ANY BUSINESS ASSESSING RISK. Instead social workers sought to discover exculpatory connections of abuse within the extended families or of work related and medical stresses that would precipitate abusive behaviour. MCFD stretched whatever thin morsels there were into case content. Whether or not they harmed their child is of little importance when minds are already convinced that they are guilty.

MCFD lacks an evidentiary case against the Baynes. The MCFD attempts to pursue a wrongful conviction. Of course this is not a criminal case but MCFD is essentially seeking to prove that Paul and or Zabeth are criminally responsible for their baby's injuries. How could the parents otherwise be a risk to their children? MCFD must persuade the judge that founded on merely medical opinion, hearsay and suspicion but no evidence, a ruling is warranted that is tantamount to a guilty verdict against the Baynes. I don't think that they have succeeded. I pray that they have not succeeded.

Happy Birthday Sweetheart Christine

My sweetheart is having another birthday today, the 23rd of July. She was hoping that birthdays would stop last year.

Throughout our years of marriage, Christine has been a homemaker and mother, and my encourager and support. We served within the church together but undoubtedly my role, my positions and my educational opportunities cast public light upon my accomplishments more than upon hers. I honour her as a gifted, loving woman who makes a habit of thinking first of someone else before herself.

I echo Bette Midler in her well known ‘The Wind Beneath My Wings.’

It might have appeared to go unnoticed,
but I've got it all here in my heart.
I want you to know I know the truth, of course I know it.
I would be nothing without you.

Did you ever know that you're my hero,
and everything I would like to be?
I can fly higher than an eagle,
'cause you are the wind beneath my wings.

Today I pay tribute to Christine.

GPS Application

Proverbs 12:4 "A wife of noble character is her husband's crown..."
Proverbs 18:22 "He who finds a wife finds what is good and receives favor from the LORD."

Listen to Bette Midler sing 'The Wind Beneath my Wings'

A SIMPLE FAITH

A SIMPLE FAITH - Don’t be Corrupted from The Simplicity in Christ

At its peak in the early 1800’s the Shaker community in the United States had 6000 believers but by 1920 there were only twelve Shakers left and as of 2008 there were only four. Who are the Shakers you are asking. The name ‘Shakers’ was originally an uncomplimentary term applied to this Quaker fringe group who were known for the emotional religion involving singing, trembling, dancing, shaking, speaking in tongues. The composed thousands of songs and dances. Elder Joseph Brackett in 1848 wrote the lyrics of a one verse song that had the music of a quick dance, and the song was entitled, ‘Simple Gifts.’

'Tis the gift to be simple,
'Tis the gift to be simple,
'tis the gift to be free,
'tis the gift to come down
where we ought to be,
and when we find ourselves in the place just right,
'twill be in the valley of love and delight.
When true simplicity is gained
to bow and to bend we shan't be ashamed,
to turn, turn, will be our delight
till by turning, turning we come round right.

In the course of a lifetime in our western urban society we move gradually from a simple childhood with meals, clothes and shelter provided and a few toys that we call “mine,” to the amassing of a house full, and a garage full of possessions and a mortgage and a wish list for other properties. Perhaps occasionally we vacation away from all of the things and we mutter “this is the good life, the simple life.” That exclamation is a confession that the accumulation of stuff which appears to make us happy is not really successful. We concur briefly with that Shaker composer that it actually is a gift to be simple. It’s a gift to be free. It’s a gift to come down where we ought to be. It's such a difficult lesson to apply consistently.

GPS Application

God has gifted humanity with a simple faith which we too easily convert into something complex. We should recover the simplicity of Christ. Noted theologian Karl Barth was asked, "What is the greatest theological thought that has ever crossed your mind?" Some very complicated answer was expected, but his answer was this: "Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so."

Painting by Stephen Sawyer Please enjoy his website

I-Phone Brushes Application

I did not hear about this innovation until Robert Genn apprised me in one of his biweekly e-notes.
Genn learned that the recent cover of the New Yorker bore an image that was produced with an iPhone. No it wasn’t a photograph, strictly speaking. It was a photo conversion using a remarkable creation. Jorge Colombo's cover for the June 1, 2009 issue of The New Yorker was composed entirely in the Brushes iPhone app. It’s called New York City-scapes.

Artists like myself may be initially chagrined that anyone can now produce a piece of art on a handheld device without opening a tube, handling a brush or getting dirty. Of course, people have been doing art on Photoshop and comparable programs for some years and the debate has raged as to whether it is to be considered legitimate art.

Here’s the deal with ‘Brushes.’ You can begin working from a blank canvas or an existing photograph. The application features several different brush-stroke sizes (from slim and fine to rough and wide), high-powered zoom capabilities, and a plethora of color and saturation options to produce works of art that are then immediately available as downloads to any location in the world. People are actually buying the art.

Should traditional artists of pastel, graphite, acrylic, oil and watercolour be concerned that their own work will be devalued? That’s my immediate instinctive response. Yet more objective reflection makes me think that our original art will survive as collectors’ preference.

GPS Application

Beyond that conclusion I am struck by the reality that there are far more important aspects of life with which to be occupied. 1 John 3:17-18 - "If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth."

Profanity

A few evenings ago, the night air was warm and Christine and I sat on our front porch and enjoyed conversation and a cool drink. Across the street a neighbour’s son and his friend worked on their hot cars. Next to them other neighbours had some friends over. Their conversation carried on the quiet night air so that our entire street could listen to the dialogue which was thick with swearing. The ‘F’ word was adverbially and adjectivally used liberally in a friendly conversation about music styles and music artists. For the men and women in that gathering this was normal. Christine and I found the display crude and tasteless.

Gordie Howe is quoted as saying, “All hockey players are bilingual. They know English and profanity.”

We can treat profanity lightly but it affects our social interaction. Our next door neighbours commented to us on the evening of the blue air, that they couldn’t believe the neighbours’ son was so profane. We told them, it was not the teenagers. It was the adults beside him.

Etymologically 'profanity' derives from the word pro (before) and fanum (temple) suggesting that something is outside the temple and therefore not sacred. Profaning language treats it with irreverence and contempt. It debases it. And when the name of God is used in this fashion it is even more offensive because it defiles God’s name.

It can be a hasty exclamation like “Oh God!” that still qualifies as profanity according to this definition and particularly because of God's own prohibitive command. "You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name" (Exodus 20:7)

GPS Application

Colossians 3:8 But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips.
Psalm 19:14: May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.

"Pagan Christianity" and "Reimagining Church"

I firmly believe that Christ instituted the Church as his body/family/flock on earth. What earth’s inhabitants see when looking at expressions of the Church around the world is a frequent misrepresentation of what the bible prescribes. What they see is disillusioning. It astonishes me how my own view has adjusted by standing back and gaining vital objectivity. Involved in the church as I have been for over forty years as a pastor and a denominational executive I have always been high on the church, defensive of it against critics and cynics. After all, it was my calling and it paid my bills. I sought to upgrade various aspects of church life and operations. My assessment of church has been chiefly positive but spectator observations of pain, dysfunction, legalism,inflexibility and entrenchments within too many churches has informed my opinion now that I have retired from active church work. Now I have to concur with those who dare to critique the church, that there is a lot of room for improvement.

George Barna and Frank Viola have written a prophetic critique of the prevailing forms of church and a positive vision of what the church can become if Christians discard institutional forms of church and embrace more organic forms. "Pagan Christianity" by George Barna and Frank Viola, and "Reimagining Church" by Frank Viola are two books that belong together. Although one preceded the other (January and August 2008), the first was never meant as a stand alone book since it is deconstructive and the second book is the constructive argument. With Pagan Christianity the authors were saying that “the picture on the box has been wrong, and that's why the pieces haven't been fitting together.” With the second book Viola presents a fresh vision of the picture on the box that's rooted in the teachings of Jesus and the apostles.

Evangelicalism has often proudly viewed itself as the correction to lifeless dead formalism and sacramentalism. How scandalous is it for evangelicals to admit that something is wrong with church as they know it. But how redeeming can it be to introduce a new style of responsible, interactive Christianity. These books are easily worth a read.

GPS Application

Luke reported in Acts 2 that 42 …” they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. 43And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. 44And all who believed were together and had all things in common. 45And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. 46And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, 47praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved." God, help us to be today what you intended back then.

* a great site with so much provocative info to challenge your thinking.
* An audio file of an interview with George Barna and Frank Viola

Morrie Schwartz and some Dying Wisdom for Me

I have no idea who gave us this book some years ago but I picked it up again to read portions. Today I have climbed back aboard my hobby horse of feeling sorry for myself. I live each day with pain in my arthritic hands but tonight it seemed to attack my right hand, my painting hand. I cannot grip a pen or a brush. This keyboard doesn’t require a grip so here goes, because Morrie helped me with perspective again.

The book I opened is entitled ‘Tuesdays with Morrie’ and it’s touchingly sad and emotionally educational at the same time. Morrie was a man who suffered and then died from the devastating neurodegenerative disease commonly called Lou Gehrig’s Disease but more clinically by the acronym ALS or Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Morrie, like all other ALS sufferers living with the disease became progressively paralyzed due to degeneration of the upper and lower motor neurons of his brain and spinal cord. Eighty per cent of people with ALS die within two to five years of diagnosis and so did Morrie - unable to breathe or to swallow. ALS has no known cure or effective treatment. For every person diagnosed with ALS a person with ALS dies. Approximately 2,500 - 3,000 Canadians currently live with ALS.

Morrie was a sociologist and a professor at Brandeis University. Mitch Albom, one of his former students, became a columnist for the Detroit Free Press after failing to become a pianist. After seeing Ted Koppel interview Morrie Schwartz on Nightline, Albom visited Morrie and thus began a series of visits on Tuesdays. Albom’s recount became this 1977 best selling book based upon Schwartz wisdom, experiences, quotations and conversations. It became a TV movie starring Jack Lemon in 1999. Morrie Schwartz wrote his own epitaph: "A Teacher to the Last." The excerpts are like everlasting and critical proverbs.

Morrie Schwartz Quotes
• After you have wept and grieved for your physical losses, cherish the functions and the life you have left.
• Dying is only one thing to be sad over... Living unhappily is something else.
• It's not to late to... ask yourself if you really are the person you want to be, and if not, who you do want to be.
• It's not too late to develop new friendships or reconnect with people.
• So many people walk around with a meaningless life. They seem half-asleep, even when they're busy doing things they think are important. This is because they're chasing the wrong things.
• The most important thing in life is to learn how to give out love, and to let it come in.
• When you look at it that way, you can see how absurd it is that we individualize ourselves with our fences and hoarded possessions.
• Learn how to live and you'll know how to die; learn how to die, and you'll know how to live.

GPS Application

James 1:2-4 “Consider it nothing but joy whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not deficient in anything.

ALS Society of Canada
Ted Koppel interview with Morrie
Ted Koppel’s last interview with Morrie

Loneliness, Art, and Understanding Myself

Robert Genn, while explaining artistic creativity yesterday, provided me with an insight that helps me to understand the way I think and behave. Robert is a successful fine artist known internationally to collectors for his landscapes and to artists for his free weekly encouragement. Twice weekly an e-note, 'The Painter's Keys' comes to my mailbox. You can subscribe. Here is an excerpt from yesterday’s piece entitled, ‘Are you lonely this morning?’

“… With the exception of various forms of team art, most of the functioning professional artists I know have come to terms with the strengths and weaknesses of keeping their own company. Although less of a problem for introverts, this art can be learned. The art of effective aloneness includes the understanding that solitude is necessary for creative gain. "Most progress," said self-improvement guru Bruce Barton, "comes out of loneliness." Creative people need to dream and contrive on their own. "Dreams," said Erma Bombeck, "have only one owner at a time. That's why dreamers are lonely."

I spent an entire working career in service to God, Christ, and his church. No apology. No regret. All of that was very public. For half of that time we lived in parsonages owned by the church. One was located beside the church. It was the proverbial goldfish bowl. I did all of the public duties and did them effectively. I was a diligent and creative pastor, crafting words that developed a reputation for predictably good ministry. That required concentration and private time. I received some criticism for the amount of time that required yet I relished such time.

Now as I try to paint, I love being alone. I need to be alone. This is the true me. I train myself to tolerate intrusions. I have struggled to be like most people I know who live to be with people. I have been self critical. Now I understand that innately, my creative DNA has shaped me for loneliness and that’s OK.

GPS Application

Apostle Paul advised, "Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God" (1 Corinthians 10:31). The counsel is to include God rather than leaving him out of something as ordinary as putting paint on canvas. Then even an artistic endeavour is a sanctified activity.