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economist suntribune faith saturday march 30 2002 15 from page 14 ues in addition to a singleminded focus on gods wisdom is at the heart of missionary work missionaries say their adher ence to holy books such as the bible or koran enables them to counter societal myths such as beauty being merely physical or selfgratifi cation being valued above all else echoing maxims they maintain come from god missionaries believe appearances are irrelevant when placed next to character and action it is character and action that reinforce the duty to carry out gods will as outlined in the holy books which teach indulging in earthly pleasures often prevents humans focusing on the most right eous task of serving others mr mirza revealed a plethora of parallels between christian and muslim missionary doctrine he talked about harzat mirza ghulam ahmad the spiritual originator of islams ahmadiyya movement with the reverence a teenager reserves for the latest pop star people found him so pious and dedicated to islam in his lifetime he asked followers to come forward and devote their lives completely to islam mr mirza said seated in the mosques library next to a giant map of dozens of cities in which ahmadiyya muslims have set up missionary outposts locales include rome moscow and beijing between 1889 and 1908 it is esti mated ahmad converted to islam more than 500000 inhabitants of the indian subcontinent and other areas on two missions in chicago and san francisco between 1981 and 1998 mr mirza converted 30 people to the faith but said that number is irrelevant next to the importance of its aim jesus was obedient so i am obedient it is about the struggle he said you always try your best to convince people the message you have is really good for them anything which really takes your attention away from your spiritual ity damages your soul it doesnt matter if its rock n roll or the tv show survivor if these activities take away from your religious responsibilities that is not good for your spiritual health thats where my struggle comes in father fedele bisceglia a franciscan brother from italy who has worked with lepers in africa and several other areas of the world knows the struggle all too well he has carried out dozens of projects over the past two decades including overseeing a centre for handicapped children in central africa and establishing a soup kitchen in southern italy the lengths to which he went to help one person were so great one family member noted it inspired awe from an anglican priest who called him a true man of god speaking through a translator inside maples divine mercy cathoiic school where students have helped him raise 1750 for an abandoned child for whom hes tar ing father bisceglia said he has no problem forsaking lifes comforts media messages that push hap piness through selfgratification or consumerism he added are false come and do the work that i do because im the happiest man in the world he said family members from woodbridge noted father bisceglia who often leads mass at st margaret fylary roman catholic church became quite rebellious at age six upset over the death of his mother he went to livein christian orphanage and eventual ly became devoted to causes espoused by st francis of assisi father bisceglia said he takes part in missions simply because he loves jesus was obedient so i am obedient he said seeking personal god froin page 14 ality is a term whose vague- ness is one of the reasons for its popularity boomers writes emberley a carleton university professor who spoke to more than 350 canadians across the coun try seek a personal not an institutional god one who is inclusive riot discriminating but because boomers also seek a raw hunger for spiri tual wholeness a hunger for what is real what is in the fullest sense they are at the cutting edge of todays spiri tual searches- it may be easy to lam poon but emberley sepa rates the snakeoil from a sin cere quest for enlighten ment a quest that is not the result of aging or ennui but a quickening way of thinking and being which has lajrr dormant for three decades and its one he argues thaf policymakers both temporal and ecclesiastical ignore at their peril i dont mean to give the next book on the subject short shrift but i havent read it yet reg bibby canadas premier chronicler of reli gious trends has just released restless gods tlte renaissance of religion in canada whose advance notices tell an optimistic story theres a significant rejuvenation of religion in canada both inside and out side the churches either way blame the boomers ron csillag a thornhill resident is a regular contributor to the faith sec tion he may be reached at csillagrogerscom the 7th toronto north womens show the largest show of its kjnd in york region saturday sunder hilton surtes torontomarkham conference centre spa formerly embassy suites hotel hwy 7 markham sat10am5pm sun 10am4pm exhibit hah speakers fashion shows workshops demonstrations 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