SOULED-OUT – MY OWN PERSONAL DEUTERONOMY

... with loaves and fishes thrown in

“Someone needs your skills,” a sister in Christ said to me a couple of months ago. I had been cashiered from the job I’d had for the previous seven years and was looking for new opportunities.

As the Israelites were about to cross the Jordan into the Promised Land, Moses gave them a recap of the previous 40 years. That’s what the book of Deuteronomy is: a review of what God had done for them, in order to keep their faith focused. They would need it for the events to come, when they would face the nations that were about to be evicted from that Promised Land after living there for 400 years.

And now, as I head into a new chapter, I have to review how God has led me through that last 10 years or so of my life. Let’s pick it up in 2003, when I lost my job, my family and my home in the space of about 2 weeks.

When I say I “lost my family”, I mean my marriage broke up and I was cut off from my kids. This is not to curry sympathy: I was paying the price for actions in my past, and God was putting me through an intensive de-construction and re-construction. At any rate, I had no place to go and lived in my car for two weeks until my dad found out and practically ordered me to move into my late mother’s room.

There I was, about $150K in debt with only a couple of paper routes to bring in any sort of income. I’d received a severance package from my previous job, but much of that had gone into paying off the most pressing bills. The industry where I had been working – broadcasting —demands youth and good looks and a recent demo reel. I had none of that. (Well, maybe the good looks ...)

But I had Jesus. I had been influenced heavily by “prosperity Gospel” and teaching that I believe is called “Word-faith”. Many Christians are down on that, but applied properly and with a correct heart before God, those teachings are incontrovertible. I clung to that.

I tithed assiduously, read the Bible voraciously and spent a lot of time in prayer. I confessed to God that I was not strong enough to deal with this situation on my own. Like the man in that homily, “Footprints”, God carried me – and He really hasn’t stopped.

Fall of 2003, He made me cross paths with my former radio boss. His son had been general manager at a Christian TV station in Surrey, and (guess what?) I had told my former TV boss that I wanted to be a Christian talk-show host. I talked at length with the son, who – I learned later – had been fired from that station in a rather dubious way, but had the grace to speak well of it and tell me whom I should contact.

That station had an opening for a public-affairs producer and they hired me for it.

Three days after my hiring was confirmed, the job market was suddenly flooded. My old TV station laid off 17 people and several more were blown out at its sister station in Vancouver.

Despite getting praise for my work from upper management at the new TV station, the general manager suddenly informed me that the shows I was producing were looking “worse” than before. A couple of days after that, I was let go, with NO severance pay. As with the previous job, the circumstances seemed so odd – in the initial flush, I thought they were unfair – it could only be a case of God At Work.

As I drove away from the station, the Lord said to me, “I need you in the mainstream: it is better to be a Christian in broadcasting than in Christian broadcasting.”

There followed about six more weeks of prayer, study, paper routes and reaching out to possibly employers.

My estranged wife served me with papers demanding child support – apparently unaware that I was unemployed. Two days before the court hearing, I was hired by CKNW and I was able to tell the judge that I was able to pay.

Because of my job at CKNW and the fact that I was commuting by public transit from Surrey, I came into contact with the panhandlers, addicts and other types who inhabited Granville Mall at the time – the foreshadowing of the people on the Downtown East Side. I never had any spare change to give them, and one day, when I was feeling guilty about it, the Lord said to me, “these people don’t need money; they don’t need programs: they need Me. They need My Son. And you’re going to tell them.” 

Of course, I argued with God, saying, “but my testimony is too white-bread! I’ve never been a drug addict or an alcoholic or homeless ...” 

And God said, “but what did happen to you nearly killed you, right?” 

“Right.” 

“And I got you out of it, right?” 

“Right.” 

“That’s your message.”

And that led to the odyssey that took me to the Downtown East Side.

In the meantime, God continued to carry me to places I could never have thought of. He led me to a tiny apartment in the 12^th-and-Burrard area, from which I could walk to work and save money. He put me in contact with other people who knew of other jobs I could do on the side. I had prayed for extra work so I could increase my income and He provided that, as well – although there was a heavy price: it was a second part-time job (the CKNW gig was part-time, as well, but there were lots of hours), and sometimes I would work two or three shifts in a row. But when I started to burn out and I told God in a prayer that others my age and younger were working less and earning more, He said, “this is what you prayed for. Re-work your prayer and see what happens.”

So I prayed for a higher income – so I could pay the bills, support my children and still move forward – and He promptly got me fired from CKNW.

The circumstances of the firing were so bizarre, it could only have been God at work. It gave me an opportunity to testify to the station’s HR guy, who had flown in from Edmonton to wield the axe. He had asked me if I was “OK to go home”. “Sure,” I said, “I still have an hour left on my bus ticket!” “No,” he said. “I mean, are you ... OK?” “Look,” I said, “if I didn’t have Jesus Christ in my life, I’d be a basket case. He’s brought me through worse things than this, and He’ll do it again.”

This time, there was severance, which got me through the next few weeks; there followed a short gig that got me through Christmas and paid well, and during that time I got a phone call from TransLink that put me into a significantly higher-paying job, where I stayed for the next seven years.

And when I talk about a higher-paying job, that also means higher tithing, and additional money left over to pay for Ministry work on the Downtown East Side – like buying groceries for meals.

I look at all this and shake my head: there is nothing I have done to deserve the favor of God, and I often think of the Psalm that says He has not rewarded us according to our deeds (Psalm 103:10). If He did, I probably would have been vaporized by a lightning bolt long ago.

Oh, yes: God also got me a car, after over a year of being car-less. It was hammered home to me that I would need a vehicle to help others get around and to transport items for the Mission. So in a total “faith project”, He helped me determine what would be the “perfect car” (a Toyota Matrix) and I set my sights on that. Through a series of circumstances that were also nothing but God at work, the money for the down payment materialized and the deal went through.

My position at TransLink also gave me a greater public profile, which drew more attention to the Ministry; it also helped me make more media contacts, and they have often helped publicize the ministry or something on the DTES, which has helped bridge the gap between that area and the “nicer” parts of the city.

God also blessed me with a wonderful wife, who supports and encourages me; a church where I’m able to bring my gifts to serve Him; and a lovely home in one of the best parts of town. He also blessed us with a condo in Maui – and the way that deal went through was also God At Work – and many others have been similarly blessed by it, both by being able to rent it at a reasonable price and by our simply giving it to people who need the getaway. And when we need to get away, we have a place to go.

My relationship (or lack of) with my children is still a thorn in my side, but I believe that is there to remind me of where I’ve been and how God has worked in my life; God will remove that thorn when He’s good and ready.

In the past year, things started to change at work, and I sensed that my time there was running out. So once again, I put it in the hands of the Lord. Again, there was a severance package, time to reflect and time to see what direction He wants me to go in.

So that’s my “Deuteronomy”, and I need it with less than a month left in the severance. It’s good to remember what He did for me, because I’m again facing a situation where the financial obligations are larger than the income that I can see, so once again, I have to rely on God to carry me.

“Someone needs your skills,” my friend said. Indeed, that “someone” has come along (although I can’t name the “someone” just yet), eager to get my experience into their operation. The hourly rate they can offer is only about a third of what I was making at TransLink. But I don’t believe that’s the point anymore. Last Sunday, Jon Boyd at Westpointe Christian Church preached on the importance of service – placing yourself below others to serve them. In other words, I believe I need to change my mindset from “what can Company X do for me?” to “what can I do for Company X?”, and leave it to God to take care of the things of the world. He always has, and He always will.

Besides, who is paying the kind of money that I was making at TransLink? Not many, in this world, and if I held out for it -- even if I said I was “standing in faith” that that “perfect job” would come along – I’d be on Skid Row before I knew it. It’s not about ME, it’s about HIM, and what He wants me to do is be ready to serve the one who hires me.

And for my own situation, I think of something I remember Creflo Dollar, jr., saying at a conference many years ago: My paycheque is not my Source. My job is not my Source. God is my Source!

Consider the loaves and fishes. The disciples looked at the amount of money they had and said, “we can’t feed all these people with this little money”. And Andrew looked at the child’s lunch – five loaves and two small fishes – and said, “what are they among so many?”

But Jesus thanked God and started handing out the food, and the leftovers filled twelve baskets.

So I thank God that there has always been provision – exactly as and when we’ve needed it. God will take the loaves and fishes I see in front of me now and multiply it so that no one who’s looking to me (including creditors and ministries) will “go hungry”.

He is my Source.

He will supply all my needs according to His riches in glory.

He knows what I need even before I ask Him.

He did it before, and He’s not doing it again: He’s never stopped.

Adélie penguins, BC lemons and Luke 21

A few years ago, maritime lawyer Joe Spears suggested that, if global warming continues to melt Arctic ice, that would open up the Northwest Passage and make for greater movement of goods by ship. At the time, I sneered at the proposition: here we have the earth (I reasoned) hurtling towards destruction, and Joe's talking about improved commercial shipping?

Of course, that was when I was still of the mindset that global warming/climate change was a Bad Thing. But the more I've thought about it -- or, more accurately, the more the Lord has shown me the things that are written in His Word -- the more I've realized that these events are part of His plan, and rather than curse Him for sending a Bad Thing, we are to draw closer to Him and react according to His instructions.

Rather than seeing Joe Spears' prediction as a callous response to a crisis, we should see it as a case of adapting to changing conditions.

And there have been other items in the news about effects of global warming/climate change that may not be Bad Things, after all. Adélie penguins, for example, are actually benefiting from increased habitat due to the receding ice in the Antarctic. The Vancouver Sun reported in May that some growers on Vancouver Island are able to grow lemons and other citrus crops, due to changes in climate.

In my book, A Very Convenient Truth, or, Jesus Told Us There'd Be Days Like These, so Stop Worrying About the Planet and Get With His Program!, I point out that often, God's plan looks bad to us, simply because it can cause pain. But because His plan has been worked out from before the beginning of time, we need to focus not on the things that make us afraid but on what our instructions are -- spelled out for us in the Bible -- for responding to it.

In the Gospels, we read how Jesus forged ahead with the plan He'd been sent to execute, even though it ran against things people of the world thought were "good". When Peter protested that Jesus should not be persecuted and killed, Jesus called out Satan. At another point, "when Jesus perceived that [the people] were about to come and take Him by force to make Him king, He departed again to the mountain by Himself alone." (John 6:15) Wouldn't it have been "good" for Jesus to be declared King of the Jews? Wasn't that why the Messiah was supposed to come?

Yet, that would have kippered God's ongoing plan for our salvation today. If the people had had their way 2,000 years ago, where would we be now? Would we not still be wandering around in our sin, despairing that we had no way out -- assuming mankind would still exist?

As I write this, a report in Le Monde describes the very real threat in Micronesia from the effects of global warming. Livelihoods are in jeopardy, as are whole islands, from rising ocean levels. The article, however, points the blame squarely at industrialized countries and their "environmental irresponsibility". Clearly, there's a lot to fear.

But this is also an opportunity to reach out and help our fellow humans adapt to the changes. Pointing a finger at big bad industrialized countries, however soul-satisfying it might be, won't help anything. Just as we see the  way environmental change is benefiting Adélie penguins, potentially increasing commerce through the Northwest Passage and giving fruit growers on Vancouver Island a new cash crop, we need to look for ways to adapt to these new circumstances.

(It's worth noting that the blame is being fixed after the fact. The Word of God, however, also tells us what's going to happen, and enough of Its prophecies have already come to pass that we really need to take note.) Jesus says, "There will be signs in the sun, in the moon and in the stars; and on earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring; men's hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken." (Luke 21:25-26)

This is not a time for our hearts to fail us and for us to worry about what the future will bring (the "expectation of things coming"). Jesus tells us what happens next -- "the Son of Man [will come] in a cloud with power and great glory" (Luke 21:27) -- and we need to be prepared.

A Very Convenient Truth; or Jesus told us there'd be days like these, so stop worrying about the planet and get with His program! is an ebook, available for US$3.99 through online bookstores like Chapters/Indigo or Barnes and Noble.

Meatless Monday - environmental and health benefits -- and it's Biblical!

Today's Vancouver Sun has an item on a concept that's getting some traction: Meatless Monday. Author Eleanor Boyle says the idea is being picked up in various jurisdictions around the world -- promoting the idea of going one day of the week without meat (although the City of Vancouver is only proclaiming one meatless day so far -- June 10).

(Eleanor has already milked gags like "steakholder engagement", so I'll spare you. Thank Heaven for small mercies.)

The concept is being pitched as a step towards solving some environmental and health problems. There are issues like land use and obesity that are connected with meat-eating, and while experts figure Canadians, Americans and Australians would have to cut their meat consumption in half to allow truly sustainable livestock production, the concept is a start. Kind of like an 8-hour fast or going without coffee for a week, it's a foot in the door and (egad!) one may even like it.

(We have friends on Vancouver Island who are vegetarians, and I'm not exaggerating when I say that the way they cook, you don't really notice that there's no meat.)

But there's another upside to Meatless Monday: it's Biblical.

I don't mean Religious -- as in the dictum that you can only eat fish on Friday -- I mean Biblical in that there's actually a commandment relating to it. It's called the Land Sabbath.

When you come into the land which I give you, then the land shall keep a Sabbath to the Lord.

Six years you shall sow your field, and six years you shall prune your vineyard, and gather its fruit;

But in the seventh year there shall be a Sabbath of solemn rest for the land, a Sabbath to the Lord: you shall neither sow your field, nor prune your vineyard.

What grows of its own accord of your harvest you shall not reap, nor gather the grapes of your untended vine: for it is a year of rest for the land.

-- Lev. 25:2-5 (NKJV)

Later, the Lord states that, in the sixth year, the land will produce enough food to last through the seventh year and all the way up to harvest time in Year Eight -- the first year of the new cycle.

Talk about counter-intuitive: have "normal" harvests for five years, then production triples in the sixth year, and then you're supposed shut down production for a full year?

But the idea is to give the land rest for one-seventh of the time, just as we're supposed to devote one day out of seven to rest and the Lord. It's sustainability -- God's version.

But in our urban society, how do we observe the Land Sabbath, ourselves? Meatless Monday is one way to do it. Reduce our food consumption by one-seventh, and we're taking that much pressure off the land. Reduce demand, and there's more food to go around and less "demand" for production-increasing techniques, like growth hormones and genetic modification. 

Of course, God always gives us the choice of whether to follow His commandments or not -- but He makes it clear what the benefits are of obeying. So if people commit to following the Land Sabbath -- and Meatless Monday is a good way to start -- it is written that they'll reap rewards and blessings beyond anything they could have thought of. 

I discuss the Land Sabbath and other ways to look past fears of Global Warming or Climate Change and see how God expects us to behave in Chapter 7 of my book, A Very Convenient Truth -- or, Jesus Told Us There'd Be Days Like These, so Stop Worrying About The Environment And Get With His Program! 

Available as an e-book, US$3.99 at Chapters/Indigo, Barnes and Noble and other online booksellers.

Stompin' Tom for the Hall?

I don't know if anyone's collecting Memories of Stompin' Tom Connors, but I have one. I have to confess, I was not a fan and after "Hockey Night", I can't recall any of his other songs, aside for one about bugs that I heard when I was in Nova Scotia in 1974. But there was something one couldn't help liking about his music and the things he wrote about: his love for the country was genuine and contagious.

I'll tell you this much: I'd love to write a song that practically everybody in an entire country knows and will sing at the drop of a hat, and that's the basis of my "Stompin' Tom Memory".

It was the 2006 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship, and I was the French-language PA announcer. (I've spent the years since then, trying to convince Hockey Canada that I actually can speak French, and indeed, my ability in that has improved greatly, thanks in large part to my being the porte-parole for TransLink, as far as Radio-Canada was concerned. But I digress ...) In the Gold Medal Final, Canada absolutely shut down the Russians (including Evgeny Malkin), and bulled their way to a 5-0 win.

Of course, General Motors Place (as Rogers Arena was called at the time) was rocking, and during a play stoppage late in the game, the DJ, Dave Levinsohn, put on "Hockey Night". 18,000 fans clapped and sang along. The puck was dropped, and Dave killed the music, as he was required to. The singing continued, unabated, long after play had resumed. It was a very cool moment and got me thinking about the song itself: there are few songs in this country as recognizable and singable, and that make total strangers bond, as the "Hockey Song" -- and that's a legacy to which just about every songwriter aspires. 

In the outpouring that usually accompanies the passing of someone most people just plain liked, there's a movement afoot to honor Tom in the Hockey Hall of Fame. That might be a bit arch, but it got me thinking: maybe the Hall should have a section that showcases the ways hockey has been included in our culture. I remember back in the 70s, Hockey Night in Canada serialized a ghastly 1930s movie called "The King of Hockey" and that pretty much summed up the extent of hockey in the movies. But there's been a lot since then, and if I were to put the exhibit together (I CALL DIBS!), it would include:

• Stompin' Tom (of course)
• Dolores Claman, composer of the Hockey Night in Canada theme (now TSN's hockey theme -- don't start me on that one!)
• Paul Newman and Slap Shot
• Roch Carrier and "The Hockey Sweater"

OK, those are the obvious ones. I might add the movie "The Rocket/Le Rocket" to the list, if only for its terrific hockey action scenes, but sadly, it veered off into a theme of "look how rotten les maudits anglais are towards French-Canadians", and I don't know how relevant that theme is anymore -- and do we really need to be re-educated about that?

Anyway, there are others, like:

• Tom Cochrane for "Big League" (a song about Brian Spencer)
• The Tragically Hip for "Mission 50 Cap" (a song that makes reference to Bill Barilko and the Leafs)
• Meryl Streep and Michael Moriarty in the TV Movie "The Deadliest Season" (how many people know that was Meryl's first lead role?)
• Gordon Pinsent and Julie Christie in "Away From Her" -- one of the residents in an extended-care home where Julie's character goes to live is a former Winnipeg Jets play-by-play announcer, and when they watch hockey on TV, they turn down the audio and let him call the action.

(Actually, Dolores Claman scores twice in the category of Iconic Compositions. Not only do 99 44/100% of Canadians know "dum-da-DUM-da-dum/dum-da-DUM-da-dum", but people from Ontario still know "A Place To Stand/A Place To Grow (Ontari-ari-ari-o)" -- even those who weren't even born when the song came out for the 1967 Centennial.)

Anyway, those are just the ones off the top of my head. With some more research, there may be other cultural references to hockey -- maybe Alex Colville or someone in the Group of 7 painted either a hockey scene or something with hockey in the background?

Might be worth some thought at the Hall.

Pink shirts and an elephant in the room

It's not often that I agree with Province columnist Jon Ferry, but his piece in yesterday's paper raised some interesting points about the annual "Pink Shirt Day", the day to show solidarity in the "war on bullying".

One of Jon's points was that the general groupthink behind the event was a form of bullying, in itself. I was out and about a fair bit yesterday, and can't recall seeing anyone wearing a pink shirt. Does that mean all those people in downtown Vancouver were staunchly in favor of bullying? Yet, was that not the implication of not wearing a pink shirt yesterday?

But the fact is, for all the years of anti-bullying messages -- pink shirts, poignant posters by elementary school kids, songs, plays and YouTube videos -- the situation keeps getting worse. People's lives are still being ruined -- both through traditional playground bullying and lintbrains on the (anti-)social network in this Age of Nasty -- and some children actually commit suicide, hoping to escape it. Maybe the approach needs to be re-thought.

One question I don't hear being addressed is, Why do bullies bully? I was on the receiving end of a fair bit of bullying when I was growing up, but I also bullied back and I believed I was absolutely justified in doing so. I won't go into a litany of excuses, mitigating reasons or extenuating circumstances: the fact is, I could be one mean sonofabitch and only realized what I'd done after I'd grown up and reflected on it.

If I "had my reasons" for bullying, so do others, and they're probably not aware of what they're doing, either. If we're serious about "stopping bullying", the bully's point of view needs to be considered.

That is, unless we don't want to admit that maybe there's a bit of a bully in all of us.

(I would also recommend a column by Stephen Quinn in the Globe and Mail from November, in which he discusses "the Culture of Mean" and the fact that meanness is all around us and children learn what's in their environment. I hope he's kidding when he suggests that "culture of mean" only applies to American talk radio. Canadian talk radio is only slightly better in that regard.

Right around the same time as Stephen's column and the summit he refers to, a billboard turned up from shoemaker John Fluevog. It showed a pair of purple suede high-heeled boots, and the caption, "No, you're weird!" I don't know if John intended this, but it came across as an excellent anti-bullying message: the perfect comeback for someone who gets razzed for the kind of clothes he or she wears -- pink shirt, purple boots, whatever. It was something my mother would have counselled me to say in response to similar ribbing from my peers -- and as a child, I did tend to dress, well, individualistically. I'm still trying to buy up all the negatives. But I digress ...)

Back to Jon's column. A point that really stood out for me was the observation by a school psychologist from New York, who said that the current obsession with bullying creates a victim mentality. While he didn't say it in so many words, the victim mentality provides excuses for one's own wrong behaviour (see "bullied back," above) and promotes weakness in the face of adversity. Once a child grows up and no longer has anyone's skirts to hide behind, won't he or she become a sitting duck for the bullies who have graduated to the business world and brought a subtler, more grown-up form of bullying into the workplace?

Worse, will they not be quick to pull the trigger and claim that others are bullying them when they run into a disagreement? Perhaps those others are simply being strong and forceful with their opinions or actions, but they could become stigmatized because of the accusations.

But the elephant in the room here is that there is a solution to bullying that I don't hear talked-about in the mainstream, and that is love and forgiveness. Love as a response to hate is not preached in the secular world, yet that is exactly what Jesus calls us to do. But God is Love, as the Apostle John writes, and God, sadly, was told to leave the public school system more than 40 years ago.

So, how well has that worked for us?

Maybe it's time to revisit that politically-incorrect approach. "Do not be overcome with evil," the Apostle Paul writes (Romans 12:20), "but overcome evil with good." And Peter cautions against "returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary blessing, knowing that you were called to this, that you may inherit a blessing." (1 Peter 3:9)

(Are there other "religious" philosophies with similar views? Do they involve reaching out to our tormentors in love and calling God's blessing on them, as Jesus' approach does, or simply looking inward to calm our own souls? That's a major point, and I'd suggest that the latter approach simply causes the bullying to intensify and sooner or later, one is bound to crack.)

After all, Jesus' sacrifice on the Cross was about overcoming, not remaining victims. We are supposed to overcome our own adversity and then help others overcome theirs. We are called to minister to victims, not become one ourselves. As Jesus says, "if the blind leads the blind, they both will fall into a ditch." (Matt. 15:14)

In the book of Revelation, we get an idea of what God has in store for overcomers: 

• To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life. (Rev. 2:7)
• He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death. (Rev. 2:11)
• To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and ... a new name (Rev. 2:17)
• He that overcometh ... to him will I give power over the nations (Rev. 2:26)
• He that overcometh ... shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels (Rev. 3:5)
• Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God (Rev. 3:12)
• To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne (Rev. 3:21)
• He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. (Rev. 21:7) (KJV throughout)

I haven't seen any indication that victims get the same promises as overcomers. Overcomers are victims who have stopped blaming circumstances and/or other people and have chosen to forgive and move ahead in Christ. "If you will not forgive others," Jesus says, "how can My Father in Heaven forgive you?"

Forgiving bullies and loving them is the most effective way to defuse bullying. Turning oneself into a victim gives the bullies more power than they deserve -- and all the power they want. Forgiving them releases God into the situation and He resolves things to His satisfaction -- which means the bullies are brought to repentance.

Which would you prefer: a pink T-shirt or white raiment?

RIP - Johnny Zee

Today's Province contained a small obituary today: John Zwolak, aged 68. To the Victoria radio community, he was Johnny Zee, one of those behind-the-scenes guys who make a radio station work. There are personalities who may be the spirit of a station, but Johnny was one of those fellows who was the heartbeat and muscle of the operation.

I worked with Johnny during all my years at C-FAX -- 1988-2001. He did the occasional on-air turn, but most of his work during the time I knew him was in the production studio, producing and voicing commercials and public service announcements.

He was a great guy: good to be around, and a good example of a professional in the craft. But when I think of him, two incidents stand out. Oddly enough, both happened before I got to C-FAX.

Grey Cup time was particularly notable around C-FAX because the sports director, Ken Dobson, would go to the game, and generally take Johnny with him to do their own brand of "coverage", which sportswriter Jim Taylor described as "some of the zaniest hours in radio". That description -- and the following story -- come from my book, My Shattered Nerves! A Souvenir Program of The Dobber.*

[Ken Dobson narrating] When I first came to Victoria, one of the first C-FAX employees I met was Johnny Zee -- Johnny Zwolak. He is an expert producer,especially when it comes to editing tape. I've met some of the best across the country, and Johnny ranks right there with them. I swear, if Jose Carreras or Pavarotti ever sang a sour note, Johnny could edit that one note out and splice in a good one -- that's how adept I think Johnny is.

We've had our fun times. When we did our first Grey Cup broadcast -- not play-by-play, but a special talk show from Montreal -- Terry Spence was supposed to go, but he couldn't make it,so they took a l-o-o-o-n-g chance on one Ken "Dobber" Dobson. The uestion was, was it safe to send both Dobson and Zee, both well-known imbibers of Labatt Blue and Kokanee, to Montreal? Worse, we were to broadcast from my favourite watering-hole, the original Irish pub, The Hunter's Horn on Peel Street, owned by my good friend, Martin Conroy.

We arrived in Montreal on a Thursday night to get ready for our broadcast fromthe Hunter's Horn on the Friday. We had lined up as our guests Jean Beliveau -- we had thought -- Jim Fanning, then manager of the Montreal Expos, and Danny Gallivan.

Apart from our two-hour broadcast, we had fifteen "cut-ins" that we had to do, talking with people from all over town. Well, in one particular case, Johnny suggested that, even though we were recording them all inthe Hunter's Horn, we should say we're at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel, to make it seem like we're not always at this tavern. So I did that: I said, "This is Ken Dobson with Johnny Zee at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel."

A chap at the bar heard me say, "Queen Elizabeth Hotel", looked around the room, got up, went outside, called a cab and said, "take me to the Hunter's Horn". Thought he was in the Queen Elizabeth Hotel. And being a Montreal cab driver, he drove him all around about five blocks and brought him back to the Hunter's Horn!

***

Here's a photo of Johnny with Ken Dobson in another sports-related incident: Dobber was a big baseball fan and for Opening Day 1977, C-FAX station owner Mel Cooper promised Dobber to get him two Yankee Stadium seats for opening day. Dobber thought it was a cruel joke, but indeed, Mel came through. He never actually said they would be seats at Yankee Stadium: he had gone out and bought two of the old seats that were taken out when The House That Ruth Built was renovated and presented them to Ken -- on air.

Dialogue balloons (provided by Ken's and Johnny's longtime friend, John Bate): Johnny: These old Yankee Stadium seats are great! Dobber: And they come with old Yankee Stadium hot dogs!

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But those two stories are more about Johnny with someone else: the big story I remember of Johnny Zee was his, and his alone. He pulled a Sunday morning shift in May, 1980. In between records, he gave a shout-out to a local black-powder club. In case you're not familiar with them, these are gun enthusiasts who specialize in old-style, load-through-the-muzzle, pour-in-the-gunpowder and tamp it down with the ramrod kind of shooting. They tend to be a rowdy bunch, dressing up in Daniel Boone-style buckskins and coonskin caps.

So Johnny was doing the shout-out when he heard several loud reports -- loud enough to be heard through the studio window and picked up by the on-air mic. He said, "wow ... sounds like they're getting started early!"

Except it wasn't the black-powder club that made the noises. The noises came from Mount St Helen's, some 300 miles away, blowing up.

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It's always tough to say goodbye to a friend and colleague. I hope Johnny knew how much he was appreciated by those who worked with him -- and how much he'll be missed.

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My Shattered Nerves! was a "non-biography" of Ken Dobson that was written when we knew he was dying of cancer. It's a collection of anecdotes both by and about him, which sold fairly well in Victoria, where he had a lot of fans. The experience also taught me the meaning of that dreadful word, "remaindered" -- the term given to books that a bookstore hasn't been able to sell and sends back to the publisher -- in this case, me. If you're interested in getting a copy, there are a few available on Amazon.

It ain't over ...

You gotta love God's timing on things.

Earlier this month, the Quebec government passed a law allowing for assisted suicide and a Japanese cabinet minister opined that the elderly should "hurry up and die", and take pressure off resources for social services. ("If they would rather die," said Scrooge, "they should get on with it, and decrease the surplus population.")

Now, we have two incidents of note that make one think a bit harder. The former Prime Minister of Israel, Ariel Sharon, is showing signs of brain activity, seven years after being felled by a stroke. (Frankly, I thought he had died, but he has been alive ever since, in a vegetative state.) Meanwhile, in China, a 101-year-old woman was declared dead, but woke up as she was being placed in her coffin. The "celebration of life" was quickly re-purposed as ... well ... a celebration of life.

Chalk these up as two more instances where we think we know what's going on and God says, "oh, no, you don't!" We think life and death are things over which we have control, and God reminds us that He's in charge and He has things all planned out. As with anything in life, our attitude should be, "where is God?" rather than, "isn't it awful, what's happening to me?"

Under a "right to die" scenario, Sharon -- who was 77 when he had the stroke -- may well have been buried long ago. Instead, while his doctor says the chances are "very, very slim" that he'll ever get out of bed, he does say his colleagues will be studying the case to learn more about humans in a vegetative state. Besides, when he had the stroke, who would have predicted he would last this long?

Any kind of miracle is worth celebrating, and yet there are those who would talk about "quality of life", as if life is defined by whether we can continue to play tennis, have sex or eat chocolate cake at will. I'm sure that attitude contributed to my dad's going out more with a whimper than a bang when he passed away at age 88: looking at what one can't do, rather than what one can. It's at times like this that we need to remember that Jesus came to bring us abundant life. He didn't say anything about "quality".

Then again, when we remember that 0ur lives -- in whatever form they take -- are gifts from God, what more "quality" could we ask for?