mm 6TERRACE STANDARD. OMMUNITY ... _JUST A- THOUGHT EV BISHOP Why try? Y UNCLE placed a dime on his palm and said, “Try to remove it from my hand.” 1 looked at him with raised eye- brows. “Try to get it,” he repeated.” Shrugging my shoulders, J silently analyzed the situation. I assumed that if I reached for it, he would make a fist. Feeling that this was too easy and wandering what exactly his point was anyway, I reached slowly towards his outstret- ched hand. He remained motionless but ] was not tricked. I knew that the second my fingers hovered over the coin, his would clamp shut. I was very near the dime now. My hand jerked beneath his, slapping it up, sending the dime flying. [ retrieved it and held it up. He looked a little shocked by the slap but unperturbed otherwise. “You didn't try,” he said loftily. “You suc- ceeded. You got the dime out of my hand. Ei- ther you would’ve succeeded or you would've failed. There’s really no such thing as trying.” Aha! His point at last. “Very clever,” J laughed and agreed that I saw his point. This demonstration led into a discussion about how one of the many problems with people taday (although I always wonder about these types of “people today” conversations. Are there really “people today” or are their traits ones humans have always had and each generation just thinks they’re some new deve- lopment?) is that we’re always trying which automatically lets us give ourselves credit, when none is due, simply for trying. We don’t . ‘care if we fail so long as we’ve tried. This spun into “One should decide to do or not to do. To succeed or to fail: Period.” 1 admit that the control freak part of me - ‘The control freak part of me | thought this was pretty solid.’ thought this opinion was pretty solid. But since then I’ve come back to the conversation many times in my mind, Initially the line, “Don’t try. Succeed or fail!” sounds like a great philosophy. It might even have some good use as motivational fod- der but in essence, I completely disagree with it. it’s too harsh. Too quick to assign blame and labels. By that way of thinking, one’s ei- ther a success or a failure. Period. That doesn’t fit with my vision of people. Behind most successes are many, many at- tempts (many tries!) that first resulted in fail- ure, Our world would be a harder, sadder place if past people with dreams of peace, of tech- nology, of stories, only tried to see their dreams come into being once and called it quits after their first failure. ] appreciate the words and truth of the in- spired person who first said, “If your life is only filled with successes, you're not challen- ging yourself enough.” Often the continued trying and trying after repeated failures is the success, - My pondering culminated in a question. Why are we so afraid of failure? Maybe it has something to do with our pre- dominant culture and the way it assigns worth ‘Why are we so afraid. of failure?’ based on pocessions and accomplishments. Can we stop letting fear of failure prevent us from following our secret ambitions? I hope so. First we need to slop buying into our cul- ture’s myth that you are what you have. We probably won't regret not purchasing another stupid plaything, a bigger house or a sportier vehicle. We probably will regret not taking ho- lidays with our kids, not learning to paint, not Jearning a second language, not volunteering in the community or whatever it is for each of us that would follow in the sentence, “I really wish I could...” There is no shame in having high ideals or big dreams and falling short of them. There is lots of shame in not even trying to reach them. We need to break through fear of what others will think and say, “I have this dream, I might fail but I want to...” and then move from saying tt 1o doing the work it takes to help our dreams become reality. And if we fail? Well, actually, so long as we try again, we haven't! My uncle’s words. prove true if slighily amended. We can only try to succeed or fail to try. ' Spiritual journey A local clergyman who's moving on reflects on his 10 years in Terrace By JENNIFER LANG TERRACE’S MOST prominent Anglican is leaving after a decade at his post at St. Matthews Church. Rev. Dean Houghton and his family are moving to Calgary, He delivered his last sermon here on Sunday. Houghton is heading to St. George's Anglican Church in the culturally diverse northeast part of the city, a burgeoning prairie me- tropolis that grew by 20,000 people last year - more than the entire population of greater Ter- race. It’s nothing personal, Terrace. When God calls, you listen. “I’m leaving because God has said my work here is finished and it’s time to move on,” Houghton says. Since arriving here from the east Kootenays in 1993, Houghton has been an active church leader and an active force in the com- munity. He sat on Nisga’a treaty advi- sory commission and the board of the Skeena Kalum affordable housing project on Haugland Ave., for example. But it’s his spiritual work he’s telished the most. After the Taliban, a. garden will flourish ‘Rarely have | seen such desperation,’ says the coordinator of an aid project in Afghanistan packed earth that was once a beautiful women’s park, the complaints started to build. Most of the women were under- nourished and aged beyond their years. We decided to add a nutritious tea break to the program. Even I felt sore feet from pushing on the shovel as we began to plan and dig the flower beds, but it was By ROD LINK AN AID worker from Terrace now living in Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, says one portion of a project aimed at women and children is nearly complete, Twelve women fave been hired and trained in plant starts, soil preparation, composting and other horticultural pur- “My role as priest is to journey with people through their lives,” the 52-year-old says, “Whatever happens to them, happens to me. {n one sense, [ was happy to be able to journey with people this long. I’ve watched children grow up. I’ve seen the highlights of people’s lives and their travails, with the congregation — and the commun- ity.” The local economy, he says, has had a devastating impact on the town. The anxiety can man- ifest itself in unexpected, troub- ling ways, such as divisive de- bates on homosexuality and other hot-button issues. World events have touched his congregation, too; when Princess Diana died, Houghton found him- self delivering a memorial ser- vice, “You can choose ta ignore it or you can try to guide people in dealing with it," Houghton ex- plains. “We live in an age of hype, The challenge for the priest or the spiritual leader is to try to give Spiritual guidance - corporate spiritual direction, That’s one of the joys of my work. Helping the community deal with the chal- the fishing. REV. DEAN HOUGHTON: He won't miss the rain. But he'll miss JENNIFER LANG PHOTO lenges that life brings.” Houghton has also been an ac- tive force in civic side of his du- ‘ ties. He served on the ministerial association, a group comprised of local church leaders. Houghton was also the pastoral care coordinator for Mills Memor- ial Hospital, jointly run with the cooperation of 10 different local churches that provide on call cler- gy and duty chaplains. He and his wife Anne have two children. Anne sang with the Rusty Angels, a church chair, and works as an accountant for the Salvation Army.- “It will be hard to leave friends and the community,” he says. “I'm not sure if I'm going to miss the rain. I am going to miss the: fishing,” Houghton, an avid fly-fisher- man, worked for the forest service for 13 years before deciding in his mid-30s to become a priest. “] believe everyone is on a faith journey,” Houghton says. His salt n' pepper beard and priest’s collar give him a formal bearing. Continued on Page B6 grams. Performance highlights the hospice society TERRACE IS part of a worldwide effort Friday night, when the Terrace Hospice society presents a Coffee Concert at the Best Western Terrace Inn, It’s just one of the Voices for Hospice perfor- mances taking place in dozens of countries across the world this weekend as a way to raise aware- ness and funds for hospice and palliative care pro- Voices for Hospices is an international campaign organized every three years since 199], First up at the Oct. 3 event is guitarist Brad North, followed by musical duo Dr. Fishy, featuring suils by the Gardens Afghani- interesting to see the ow- stan Project, says co-director Heather Bellamy. The garden project is meant to provide a place of quiet and relaxation for women and children, There was a park at the location previously but it fell into dis- use and disrepair during the Taliban years of power in Afghanistan. Training women was the [ first step toward developing the garden itself, Bellamy said, “The women came in cheap plastic sandals in the cold of winter to line up to apply for this program. I] have rarely seen such desperation. One women we found out much later, had just given birth 10 days earlier,” she said. page Heather Bellamy nership and pride in their work developing along with stronger, healthier bodies and minds.” “They were thrilled to be receiving a regular salary for the first lime in their lives. Mid summer we made solar ovens avail- able to them to help them lessen expenses on cook- ing fuel, and they paid these off over two months,” said Beilamy. i Bellamy is supported in the project by Samaritan's Purse Canada. She’s returning to Terrace and will be speaking at the R.E.M, Lee Theatre Oct. 7 beginning at 7:30 p.m. There is no admission and slides will be shown. The evening is sponsored by “As we all attacked the cement hard The Terrace Standard. James Powell and Dr. Greg Linton, An ensemble from the Terrace Symphony Orchestra, an instru- mental trio, harpist and R.E.M. Lee Theatre manager Karla Hennig, and singer Milia Stephens are also performing, Dr. Don Strangway will read out a mes- sage from Terrace § Hospice’s twin sccie- ty, the Hospice Socie- J ty in Thurso, Scotland. The concert starts at 7 p.m. Tickets at Misty River Books, |’ the hospice office at 207-4650 Lazelle Ave., or at the door. James Powell of Dr. Fishy Meanwhile, the Terrace Hospice Society is turn- ing to the community for financial assistance, The society is asking local businesses and indi- viduals to join the Adopt-us program. “It is through the generosily of the citizens of Terrace that our organization continues to exist,” Exploring faith and food By JENNIFER LANG NEARLY 100 people turned out to what was billed as the biggest dinner invitation in the history of Terrace. Local churches have banded together to present the Alpha Course, a 10- week program exploring Christianity through dis- cussions in informal set- tings. An “Alpha dinner" took place in Terrace Sept. 20, kicking off a series of weekly meetings. Each starts with a shared meal follawed by talks and discussion. proups. “There’s no God talk at dinner,” says spokesperson Cheryl Wahl, who's of- fered 10 previous local Alpha courses with hus- band Rob. “It’s sort of like the fa- mily dinner time. It's kind of neat sitting down with people for 10 weeks,” she said, “You get all sorts of backgrounds.” The Alliance, Anglican, Baptist and Pentecostal churches are all participa- ting this time around. The course is also being offered at Kitsumkalum. Participants are encour- aged to ask questions on matters of faith. Commen questions revolve around suffering, and the meaning of life, “Sometimes the simp- lest questions are the hard- est ones to answer,” Wahl said. Nationwids, the course has the support of the major protestant denomi- nations and the Catholic church. The movement began in the United Kingdom in 1997, spearheaded by the Anglican Church. Up to 100,000 Canadians have - already taken the non-de- . nominational program. About dinner” in Kitimat, and - another 60 in Houston, °- Wahl said. 250 people turned out for the “Alpha, , board chair Gertrude Parks writes in a recent ap- peal letter sent out. The society, now in its 11th year of operation, provides end-of-life support to terminally ill pa- tients and their family members, The society also offers a group support group, in aidilion to operating a resource library with vi- deos, books, free pamphlets and oudio tapes. Volunteers are trained, and they work closely with home care nurses, home support workers and physicians. The society receives lithe government funding {a $5,700 annual grant from the Northern Health Authority), instead relying ever more on fundrais- ing events and donations, in additlon to charitable gaming revenues through the Terrace Bingo Asso- ciation. Earlier this year, the society moved into a joint office shared with the Canadian Cancer Society's resource centre, reducing rental costs and improv- ing the link between the two agencies. Call 635-4811 to find oul more.