Well, right off the bat I have to admit I fibbed. I have been married 38 years - just not all to the same guy. But I thought the tale of two marriages might be helpful. I've been married to Shelby for 28 years and we are still going strong. Sure, there have been rough spots. I mean, it can't be easy for any man to raise someone else's kids. Nor be the homemaker supporting [...]
i read this blog post by Austin Channing on Black on Black violence in which she stated, Racism is White-on-Black violence. In 1619, the first twenty Africans were brought over as labor for the new colonies. Within one generation the white majority had defined black people as permanent slaves and non-human property. This created a social order in which black people were only valuable for their ability to support a white dominated society that was economically [...]
Being a bloggerist [as i like to call myself] can be a roller-coaster whirlwind of emotions, and often is. The tension that exists between writing what you want to, what feels like it might be importantly significant, or giving in to the little red guy on your shoulder of page view stats where you slide into writing what the people want to hear. Sometimes those things line up and it is easy. Any time [...]
After last week's fairly quiet week on the internet, this week seems to be right back up there with issues or race and transformation taking centre stage, with a sweet injection of Christmas in between. Here are the blog posts, links and stories that have been catching my attention this week - which one was yours? MOST EXCITING My friend Dalene Reyburn finally launched her book, 'Dragons and Dirt: The Truth about changing the world [...]
10 years ago, I was never going to get married. I was a single mom, had my own house, my own business and my own car. I had the freedom to do what I wanted, when I wanted, and with whom I wanted. I was happy. Until one day I wasn’t. I had broken up with a man whom I thought I loved, and I was just so tired of hurting and fighting. Frustrated I [...]
So yesterday's cave time was pretty productive. Have now largely sorted out the beginning of the book and was trying to sit with the chapters and sections and work on a bigger overview of the book as a whole - how it all fits together and have i left anything out. Also got an email from one of my friends who was reading the book to review it for me and felt i had left [...]
'Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses.' [Proverbs 27.6] i preached on this verse on Sunday. i got this email from a good friend in Americaland on Monday. I did not want to call you out in public, but remember when we met her at the subway? I don't think either one of us handled that very well--I don't remember that argument being violent when we were there but I [...]
My name is Michael and I'm married to Deborah. We both grew up in the Cape Town southern suburbs where people are generally wealthy and generally white. We don't really remember anything before 1994 and so we've basically grown up in the "New South Africa". This year we've been living in rural Mpumalanga while Deborah does her community service as a dietitian. Although we've been involved in projects and work in Mfuleni, Heideveld, Nyanga, and [...]
Where do you even begin to describe the real challenges associated with singleness vs. marriage? I run the risk of making myself incredibly vulnerable by the detail I share in this post, but to most of your readers I am a “relative stranger”, so whilst there may be some risk, I believe sharing may benefit some and in turn out-weight the associated risk. I’ve been reading through your, and everybody else’s posts and have found [...]
Yesterday was just a half day in the cave. Today was meant to be a full day, but i am having an early morning breakfast with the staff of Westville Baptist who are pretty much all friends of mine so that feels like a pleasant interruption to the day. And then later i do have an airport trip to make which will end with me having access to the hired car which is great for tomorrow [...]