“Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, and I -

I took the one less traveled by

And that made all the difference.” – Robert Frost

So on Tuesday we all went up Mont Royal, had lunch and looked over Montreal. After we ate, Pierre told us we were going to walk alone around the mountain – it’s really a hill but I keep that to myself – and think as if we were Adam or Eve, taking in creation for the first time. He asked us to bring back ideas of their reactions and things of significance we found along the way. The idea sounded a little kitschy to me, but I went along with it anyway.

After watching a squirrel for 15 minutes or so, I began walking through the woods. But which way? Then I remembered that poem Mr. Beimers grilled into us in grade eight till our ears bled, along with the fact that The Path is narrow, and began following the smallest, most untrodden paths I could find. And it did make all the difference.

The first path led me under a walking bridge. Someone had made dinner – canned beans – over a fire under there. The words “WISDOM LOVE MAKE PEACE COMMUNITY” were painted on the wall along with “ANDREW + SABRINA” with a heart encircling it. I asked God who Sabrina was. He didn’t answer me.

Along with that, I found some garbage in strange places and made friends with a white squirrel. He was fighting with his brownish gray cousins. They weren’t accepting him for his differences. He seemed lonely, so I stuck around for a bit. 15 or 20 minutes later, a young, French couple caught sight of him and scared him away accidentally. After sharing what I saw with the group, I went back to there. He was still around, and after awhile, another young, but English this time, couple came by and saw him. They weren’t as obtrusive though, so we all looked at him for a bit. I told them about seeing him earlier and then we went our seperate ways.

I was supposed to head back to clean the apartment, but I felt drawn down some side roads instead. I walked through McGill, the big English university in the middle of the city, happened upon the Religious Studies and Music buildings, and made my way to UQAM the French university. For the first time since coming here, I saw a Starbucks, so I walked over and used some of the money on the card mom gave me. Thanks mom.

Last night we watched this movie, “Jesus of Montreal.” It was made here in 1989 by an atheist. Pierre said that in the years preceding the movie, the people of Montreal were realizing the spiritual void left from the Quiet Revolution. The director attempted to redeem Jesus’ story to them through this movie.

The movie accurately shows how so many Quebecers think about the Church and Christianity. By the end of the movie, Jesus was a good man with a good message who possibly lost his marbles near the end and died like a criminal because he upset the authorities of his day. And the Church was instigated by evil to use his message for profit. Depressing, I know. But it’s exactly what people around here think. Upsetting yes, but it was very educational.

I am seeing roads diverge lately. I ran into David Keift, family friend of some, cousin to others, at an emerging church meeting on Sunday. We’re going out for coffee next week to see if I can help Inter Varcity at all. Today two women came in from 24/7 Prayer and talked about what they’re trying to get started in Montreal. I’m going to join them, I believe. Things are falling into play. God’s sliding the pieces together.

Hope all is well back home.

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 16th, 2008 at 2:38 pm and is filed under Montreal, etc.. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.