Sunday, August 15, 2010

Sunday in Halifax town...

This is our last day in one of our new FAVORITE places: Halifax, Nova Scotia. We've been at BuskerFest 2010 and it has been a delight. Yesterday was a mostly "schleping" day of checking out more street performers before heading to the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia. This is a creative and diverse collection of fine art alongside folk art and First Nation creations. Additionally, the gallery has sponsored a hands-on artistic creation component for children with autism as well as a small gallery for local high school students. I was particularly moved by the exhibit called "A View from the Atlantic" as it gave me a feel for the importance the ocean on this little port city. (check it out @ www.artgalleryofnovascotia.ca/en/landing.aspx)

Later in the evening we headed out to Niche - a great dinner jazz club - and sat out under the stars taking in a sweet piano, bass and drums trio. Tonight we'll head off to the "blues jam" at Bearly's House of Blues and Ribs which the young proprietor of a new tea shop describes as "... um... well let's just say it is great but not high end!" Hmmmm.... sounds like just our kind of place. (NOTE: it was either Bearly's or the Madonna Festival Drag Show opening just down the road from out hotel and... well as I told Dianne, "I could go either way on this" it was decided that the blues would be the wiser choice! Check them out @ www.bearlys.ca/)

I just got back from "Busker Sunday" at St. Matthew's United Church of Canada. It was a lively and lovely worship celebration - a solid and engaging sermon re: living as fools for Christ and how counter cultural this really is (sound familiar?) - but the HIGHLIGHT for me was the incorporation of two of the church's ministry: a Brazilian drum ensemble, Samba Nova, and a circus ministry to at risk children called Circus Circle.

As director Mike Hirschback spoke, I was jazzed by the possibilities of the circus ministry back in Pittsfield. The director spoke of how troubled kids understand circus acts because they "are already on the edge just like the carnival." And as the young people learn more skills - and experience receiving attention for good and creative things - they also learn about humility and failure. After all, you can't practice juggling without failing - and your failures are all to visible - so you begin to learn that failure is part of the rhythm of life. And if you learn from your failures you grow in wisdom and skill.

It is a hands on, edgy and creative way of reaching out to some of the most forgotten and misunderstood creatures in God's broken world. I loved it and want to know more... (Check them out @ http://circuscircle.ca/) And now we're off to check out the coastline.

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