During our weekend at Robben Island, there were many moments or phrases that stood out in terms of being quick “Aha!” flashes of inspiration and here are some of the ones i captured:
“Man’s potential for justice makes democracy possibly
Man’s inclination to injustice makes democracy necessary.”
[Njongonkulu Ndungane]
# “The Church is so silent these days. The voice of the church is very important. The voice of the youth is very important. God’s word of justice must be heard – Scripture is full of this.” [Njongonkulu Ndungane]
# Luke 9.23 reminds us that we need to take up our cross daily.
# Don’t die for your cross
# Identify it
# Then pray for grace to carry it
[John Rollins]
# Prayer is standing naked before God. [Henri Nouwen]
# A reminder of the assurance that the God who calls is the God who equips.
3 Issues with Church: # Lack of Leadership # Lost Voice # Forgotten Role
On the topic of White Privilege which i’ve been writing so much about:
[1] A reminder to view my privilege as an opportunity to share privilege. Sometimes being a person of privilege means that certain people will listen to your voice and give it credibility whereas other voices they might more easily ignore. That is one area where i need to be aware of my privilege so that i can use it well.
[2] A story one of the guy’s on the weekend told me about having to take public transport to get to the Waterfront to be able to go to Robben Island with us. How he had to budget an extra hour for this which was fine but annoying. And then the realisation he had that most people in this country [especially the poor and marginalised] have to rely on public transport. Another aspect of the privilege i find myself with is the ability to jump into my car to go somewhere i want to. Most people can’t [which is very different from “most people i know can” and so it doesn’t feel like a real thing]
Possibly the most profound statement to me from that weekend, came from my new friend, Nkosi, who reminded me, as a black man, that, “It was not only the blacks that lost at that time [apartheid], we all lost.” Which is probably a whole other post in itself.
Any of these one liners or reflections stand out for you particularly or give you something to reflect on?
Let us know in the comment section…
[For the last part with some reflections on some highlights of my Robben Island time, click here]
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Yesterday Andre and I went to Oudshoorn to get our puppy vacinated and my bike fixed. While we were there we received a call from Dompies, our neighbour, needing a lift back home from Ladismith. Dompie is a coloured woman who works as a domestic in the Touwsberg Nature Reserve. Unfortunately Andre and I were not in the bakkie, had all our shopping in the car / a bike / and a dog. The issue of public transport is a major problem here in the Klein Karoo, especially for those in remote areas.
We simply could not lift the six people in need, with all their groceries, back to Plathuis. We phoned around but could not find anyone to help out. She, and her family, had been standing on the side of the road for almost the entire day… it’s a dreadful dreadful situation.
Usually we fish around when we go to “town” on Tuesdays, collecting shopping lists and little bags of little money, in order to recitify some of this problem. But yesterday must have been a train smash for Dompies and her family. What to do.
Thankx for sharing, Ashley. From what i know you and Andre do a lot for people in your community and beyond and even then it can feel like you’ve failed i guess when there is one case where you can’t help. It does suck and it is good to get conversations going where as a local and broader community we can hopefully find some solutions to those issues. Hopefully the one time you can’t help doesn’t take anything away from the many times you do!