Walk On...

Sunday May 29th, 2011 will stand out as one of the most memorable days of my life thus far.

It all started out with a pretty crumby morning, falling asleep Saturday night fully clothed and in a ridiculously uncomfortable position on the basement couch. After that I managed to wake up only 10 minutes before having to leave the house for church. But despite having terribly messy hair I just tossed on a toque and went from there, perks of being a male I guess.

I was privileged to hear quite the message given by Andy Moore (@AdorePastor) from Victoria BC, talking about Elijah and perseverance through tough times. Andy had stayed with my family over this past weekend during his stay in the Peg, he is a totally solid dude.

Anyways, once the gathering was over and I turned to exit the theatre (yes, we have church in a movie theatre) I looked a few rows up and saw a face that I had only seen on T.V. As many of you know, I have been a die hard Toronto Maple Leafs fan for as long as I can remember. I have put up with more crap than you could dream of, but it all paid off. The Toronto Maple Leafs dignity saver, oh, and starting goaltender was a stones throw away. After some pushing and prodding I was dragged over and shook James Reimer's hand and snapped a picture. A pretty good rebound to the crappy sleep.

After meeting Reimer we took Andy to the airport, sent him on his way and got ready for the U2 concert. I have had my ticket since the day that they went on sale early last fall.

My first memorable exposure to U2 was at a funeral back in 2003. The individual who died was an avid U2 fan and the majority of All That You Can't Leave Behind was played at her funeral. From this point forward I dug out all my Dad's U2 albums, most notably Rattle and Hum, Actung Baby and The Joshua Tree. I listened everyday for quite sometime, and it was at this point where I promised myself that I would see them live before they called it quits.

Sure enough, I fulfilled the vow I made to myself last night at 7pm.

The show started as the Fray came on stage and put together a great set, although it seemed to drone on for moments as they lost my attention more than once. Either way, they rocked it, great guys with great voices.

Once the Fray left the stage it was a solid hour and a bit before we finally saw Bono, the Edge, Larry and Adam. To pass the time, a formation of 3 planes did dives over the 50,000 people packed in Canad Inns Stadium, each time eliciting a loud roar from the crowd.

Now, when I finally saw the 4 men that make up U2, I went nuts. They hit the stage with a roaring thunder and never let up. The most memorable time of the whole show was the last half where they played a series of older tunes such as One, With or Without You and my all time personal favourite; Walk On.

I sang every word as loud as I could, often noticing that a lady one row up from me kept giving me strange looks, but hey, I'm at U2, I could care less. Actually, I think there may have been a tear in my eye when they played Walk On, it was the perfect culmination of listening to All That You Can't Leave Behind a million times.

So for all the hype that surrounded U2 it was more than worth it. The experience of having so many people packed into a stadium and then to see the biggest band in the world walk onto the stage was worth every penny spent. I would do it again in a heart beat.

My love for Bono, the Edge, Larry Mullen Jr. and Adam Clayton has grown more than you know. Such marvellous music, such a brilliant show.

("The Milky Way" from U2 360 in Winnipeg)

(Ending Out the Show in Style, from U2 360 in Winnipeg)

If you have the opportunity to see U2 on the 360 tour, or on any tour for that matter, do it! You will not regret it.

Let me leave you with a U2 lyric...

"And if the darkness is to keep us apart

And if the daylight feels like it's a long way off

And if your glass heart should crack

And for a second you turn back

Oh no, be strong

Walk on..."

This Week in Winnipeg

This last weekend was May long, and what does that mean for Winnipegers? Time to head out to the cottage and get ready for summer. It rained for the majority of the weekend, no surprise as I can't remember a dry May long, but either way, we got together with friends and just had a blast.

Lots of yard work and cottage repairs, oh and we were also impacted by some of the Manitoba flooding. We happened to lose an old church pew that once sat on our now non-existant beach as the waves crashed upon shore and took everything back into the lake. But hey, better a church pew than the whole cottage right?

I have to tell you, I am more than excited for the summer. For the sent of freshly cut grass and the joy of seeing all the pasty whites turn to a golden brown. Summer is a beautiful time in Winnipeg, it seems like when March comes around every person in this city is squirming and waiting for the sun and warm weather.

Oh, and what about the Jets? There is an insane buzz in this town! A few months ago a cousin of mine told me he was 99% convinced that the Jets (Aka: A Winnipeg NHL team) would be coming back for the 2011-12 season. And it seems like this whole idea may just become a reality in the coming weeks. Horray for the Peg!

Yesterday on the Portage and Main Party Facebook page I saw the best comment regarding the Jets yet! The user suggested that during the singing of the National Anthem at all future Jets games the crowd should shout "True North" really loud, like Dallas does for "Stars" and Detroit does for "Red". Of course, True North is the company looking to bring back the NHL to Winnipeg and this term also refers to the cold felt in Winnipeg winters. Either way, I like it.

Seem's like an exciting week to come in this city!

Love and Peace, or else.

It's Bound to Get Dangerous

This whole album is a beauty! Check track #1, it'd be a shame not to share!

These Guys Kill It

Throughout some Youtube browsing I have come across a duo that puts out some seriously wicked covers, it would be a shame not to share.

The intro to this one, Meteor Shower, is beautiful.

Feel free to share some solid Youtube talent!

In Christ Alone

So who is Jesus?

This is a question that I have asked myself over and over again. I have recently been reading the book Love Wins by Rob Bell, while some of you may want to hear a review on the book, we will get around to that some other time as some of the material is quite "controversial" and takes a decent amount of time to sift through and explain.

Anyways, how does Love Wins and Jesus tie into each other?

At the end of the second chapter in Love Wins Rob Bell describes Jesus' actions;

"Jesus invites us,

in this life,

in this broken, beautiful world,

to experience the life of heaven now.

He insisted over and over that God's peace, joy and love

are currently available to us, exactly as we are."

I have been dwelling on the idea of Jesus for so long and I can't say I fully understand who he is. But on the other hand I can say that I do think that in order to believe in Jesus one must believe in the whole of Jesus and not just parts of Him.

Example, many of my friends believe Jesus was just a great teacher from way back in the day. Just some dude who knew how to woo the crowd with friendly messages, although when you take a look at what Jesus really says, there is no way that you could conclude that Jesus was a great teacher but not the Son of God. Jesus made it clear to his followers that he was the Son of God, to discard this idea but to accept Him as some influential teacher would be to accept half the person who Jesus was.

Anyways, just seeing who Jesus really is, although I don't and never will have Him fully figured out, is amazing. I can sincerely say that I love Jesus.

I encourage you to flip through the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John and explore who Jesus was, some of the things that he said and how they impacted the people around Him and how they resonate with us today.

Be Blessed.