Once again about 200 men, women, and children gathered in Alix, Alberta during the August long weekend to confer, renew, and rejoice with old and new friends. Of the +110 adults 24 were first time conferees. With warm days and cool nights, the weather co-operated to keep most people outside when they were not listening to either Dr. Syd Hielema from Dordt College or the Copper Coins band from Neerlandia. The theme of the conference was Virtuous Faith in a Virtual World and every aspect of the conference, from the dynamic singing led by Glenda Hull, to the introductory and concluding devotions by Henk Bestman and Harry Femhout; from the creative participatory worship service with Fred Heslinga's dramatic message, to the lectures and workshops, highlighted the virtues of a faith that stands firm while responding to change in our virtual reality world.
 
For those of us who prefer to remain Luddites, and nourish our technophobias with ignorance, Syd Hielema's message was an undeniable challenge: we cannot stop the ever growing pervasiveness of our virtual reality world. However, we can and ought to cultivate a prophetic mindset that strives to observe, discern, ponder, and take risks in developing patterns of living that cultivate habits of being fruitful, faithful and communal. In our virtual reality context, the speed with which that world changes inevitably affects our identities and practices. We become that which we love the most; our idols shape and reshape us. Television programming, Internet surfing, e-mail communicating, and advertising bombardments subvert family and community activities and distort truth and normalcy.
 
Syd Hielema called us to affirm gladly that Christians are a persecuted minority in North America. He challenged us to adopt a Biblical realism which goes deeper than the naming of superficial sins such as sex and violence in the media. Biblical realism recognises the utter and all-pervasive hopelessness of sin in the world while it simultaneously mandates a declaration of God's faithfulness. How large is our god? If we remain mired in the bog of hopelessness then we have made our god much too small. Cultivating habits of worship, personal, familial and communal activity, may be no more than tiny steps in a direction that wishes to redefine business, success and power but, because they declare the presence of God, they are the building blocks of His Kingdom. To stand firm is not to stand still; standing firm is an active dynamic and prophetic way of creating space for God's faithfulness to be known.