Haunting questions still remain. In hindsight we see the patterns, the coincidences, the timing, the repetition, the circling big questions, the impossible and relentless tensions of life. How do we make sense of it? This alone demands faith.
Smiley.....
Why did the chicken of destiny cross the road?
Robert Frost: "To cross the road less traveled by."
Johann Friedrich von Goethe: "The eternal hen-principle made it do it."
Ralph Waldo Emerson: "It didn't cross the road; it TRANSCENDED it."
And the story continues.....
*******************
We were in and out of the Supreme Court so quickly – two hours and it was over. It all seemed unreal.
At the end of it the two hours – we all walked out to the front of the building in kind of a daze.
One of the attractions of the Supreme Court building is the pair of bronze statues, each three-meters high – the iconic statues of Truth and Justice.
I had sculpted Lady Justice. I would have liked to sculpt Lady Truth – she had very beautiful, delicate facial features and wore a long, flowing gown.
Our little group then went to debrief at a unique Ottawa, Ethiopian restaurant, Horn of Africa, which had a picture of Nelson Mandela on the wall.
Over lunch, we took the time to go around the table and ask everyone to predict the outcome of the hearing – and their reasons. There were fourteen of us; ten thought the judges would uphold the guilty verdict, four thought that the judges would rule in favor of the Manitoba Court of Appeal ruling and order a retrial. It turned out that the four were right.
Around this time my wife reminded me that right after that first press conference when they had announced the arrest of the accused, I had said. “It’s going to go the Supreme Court of Canada.”
Now that my prophecy had come true - we were in Ottawa - she wanted to know what that was all about. Did I have an explanation?
I told her that I thought that we were ordinary folk, not really noticed, nor in any way outstanding, but yet whenever it came to Candace the events seemed underlined. She - and her story - always took center stage. I wondered if there was special interest on the part of God to hold this case in the public eyes. Others had noticed this as well and said there seemed to be a sprinkling of pixie dust on her memory – an unusual glow.
There was also a timing in it all - unusual coincidences. One example, the first trial had started on the exact day Candace’s body had been found 26 years earlier to the day.
It just seemed that there was something special about this case that needed to remain front and center. The Supreme Court of Canada was front and center of the justice process and of the country. If the was destined to land up in the front and center of everything - it would end up in Ottawa.
No one could deny my reasoning, my prophetic powers. It had happened just as I predicted.
After we left Ottawa, about four months later, March 5, 2015, the telephone began to ring early in the morning. The decision had just been announced.
Rather than deal with the media separately, Wilma quickly organized a press conference at our house.
The media started to come at ten that morning. When our living room was filled with reporters, and they peppered us with their questions, we told them that we were surprised and shocked at the decision.
The next day reality set in, as I began to see the news reports in the Winnipeg Free Press and other media outlets. The headlines ran, “New Trial for convicted killer.” The articles explained that … the Supreme Court of Canada ordered a new trial for the man convicted of killing her.
When I read the Supreme Court of Canada multi-page judgment for myself, I realized there might never be resolution and I had to grieve that loss of hope.
As it turned out there was another trial that ended in March 24, 2017 with an acquittal.
The entire process, the abduction, murder, investigation charge, arrest, prelim, appeals and two trials, had taken approximately 33 years later. The number itself, thirty-three years is another significant number.
Sometimes it feels there was a plan – there was a destiny.
If so – what was next?
More important, what was it about Candace and her story that held the attention of her God? Was it her commitment - her faith that had been tested so early? Was she a martyr? Was this her blessing?
Was it her ability to connect with so many - her emphasis on "friends" and love?
Was it our response of forgiveness - that had been given so early, wrenched out of us because of that visit? - that presence on the bed? Was it our interest in restorative justice movement - though still flawed and in pioneer stages - a life giving hope in the justice-making process?
Was it our emphasis on creativity through story telling and art as a healing process? What else needed to be accomplished?
My wife waited for another prediction, clarification, but this time I didn't know except that I needed to continue to do art because the story wasn't over.
Smiley.....
Why did the chicken of destiny cross the road?
Robert Frost: "To cross the road less traveled by."
Johann Friedrich von Goethe: "The eternal hen-principle made it do it."
Ralph Waldo Emerson: "It didn't cross the road; it TRANSCENDED it."
And the story continues.....
*******************
We were in and out of the Supreme Court so quickly – two hours and it was over. It all seemed unreal.
At the end of it the two hours – we all walked out to the front of the building in kind of a daze.
One of the attractions of the Supreme Court building is the pair of bronze statues, each three-meters high – the iconic statues of Truth and Justice.
I had sculpted Lady Justice. I would have liked to sculpt Lady Truth – she had very beautiful, delicate facial features and wore a long, flowing gown.
Our little group then went to debrief at a unique Ottawa, Ethiopian restaurant, Horn of Africa, which had a picture of Nelson Mandela on the wall.
Over lunch, we took the time to go around the table and ask everyone to predict the outcome of the hearing – and their reasons. There were fourteen of us; ten thought the judges would uphold the guilty verdict, four thought that the judges would rule in favor of the Manitoba Court of Appeal ruling and order a retrial. It turned out that the four were right.
Around this time my wife reminded me that right after that first press conference when they had announced the arrest of the accused, I had said. “It’s going to go the Supreme Court of Canada.”
Now that my prophecy had come true - we were in Ottawa - she wanted to know what that was all about. Did I have an explanation?
I told her that I thought that we were ordinary folk, not really noticed, nor in any way outstanding, but yet whenever it came to Candace the events seemed underlined. She - and her story - always took center stage. I wondered if there was special interest on the part of God to hold this case in the public eyes. Others had noticed this as well and said there seemed to be a sprinkling of pixie dust on her memory – an unusual glow.
There was also a timing in it all - unusual coincidences. One example, the first trial had started on the exact day Candace’s body had been found 26 years earlier to the day.
It just seemed that there was something special about this case that needed to remain front and center. The Supreme Court of Canada was front and center of the justice process and of the country. If the was destined to land up in the front and center of everything - it would end up in Ottawa.
No one could deny my reasoning, my prophetic powers. It had happened just as I predicted.
After we left Ottawa, about four months later, March 5, 2015, the telephone began to ring early in the morning. The decision had just been announced.
Rather than deal with the media separately, Wilma quickly organized a press conference at our house.
The media started to come at ten that morning. When our living room was filled with reporters, and they peppered us with their questions, we told them that we were surprised and shocked at the decision.
The next day reality set in, as I began to see the news reports in the Winnipeg Free Press and other media outlets. The headlines ran, “New Trial for convicted killer.” The articles explained that … the Supreme Court of Canada ordered a new trial for the man convicted of killing her.
When I read the Supreme Court of Canada multi-page judgment for myself, I realized there might never be resolution and I had to grieve that loss of hope.
As it turned out there was another trial that ended in March 24, 2017 with an acquittal.
The entire process, the abduction, murder, investigation charge, arrest, prelim, appeals and two trials, had taken approximately 33 years later. The number itself, thirty-three years is another significant number.
Sometimes it feels there was a plan – there was a destiny.
If so – what was next?
More important, what was it about Candace and her story that held the attention of her God? Was it her commitment - her faith that had been tested so early? Was she a martyr? Was this her blessing?
Was it her ability to connect with so many - her emphasis on "friends" and love?
Was it our response of forgiveness - that had been given so early, wrenched out of us because of that visit? - that presence on the bed? Was it our interest in restorative justice movement - though still flawed and in pioneer stages - a life giving hope in the justice-making process?
Was it our emphasis on creativity through story telling and art as a healing process? What else needed to be accomplished?
My wife waited for another prediction, clarification, but this time I didn't know except that I needed to continue to do art because the story wasn't over.
We never know what destiny shapes each life.
The script of individual destiny is secret; i
t is hidden behind and beneath
the sequence of happenings that is continually unfolding for us. Each life is a mystery that is never finally available
to the mind’s light or questions.
– John O’Donohue
The script of individual destiny is secret; i
t is hidden behind and beneath
the sequence of happenings that is continually unfolding for us. Each life is a mystery that is never finally available
to the mind’s light or questions.
– John O’Donohue
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