i was privileged enough to get to visit Lavender Hill High School three times last week. Now i imagine that sentence will make some people curious. Heading into Lavender Hill is not something that most people might connect to the idea of privilege. But i will wager that those people have never pulled up at the gates and been welcomed to: The Best School in the Western Cape. Is it the best school in [...]
Some thoughts about being different: It is okay to be different. After all, we all are. i have spent a lot of time over the last few weeks doing a lot of self-reflection. The in-your-face realities of a deadly worldwide pandemic, my dad about to turn 80 [this Saturday], hearing of a new colleague on a board i just joined losing his life in a car accident, are all things which can make you [...]
Are you a good listener or a committed speaker? Take a few moments to think back to the last three proper meaty conversations you had with friends or family. If someone had been holding down a timer every time you spoke and releasing it every time you listened, which would be the bigger number? Take a moment to imagine if the people you have last spoken to were asked that same question. How might [...]
We have slowly moved from the pain of Good Friday, through the eerie silence of Easter Saturday to find ourselves present on Easter Sunday. My invitation to you on this day is to lean into the real and authentic, however that may look and feel for you. This is what it looks like for me: An Easter reflection: Easter reflection: "Jesus is risen - Hallelujah!" is the cry ringing out from the church around [...]
Who are the Invisible People in and around your life? This has been something that has been on my mind a lot since last week Friday and i want to share the thought through the medium of two simple stories that took place on the same day. In the morning i had a story-telling session with Heartlines at a primary school in Mitchell's Plain. As far as i knew, i was walking in to facilitate [...]
Have you taken a moment away from church, christianity, and religion to simply focus for a moment on Jesus? Pandemic time, and i would probably add American election time, has been a hard one for christians. How do you continue to follow God when the world is on fire? When church leaders around the world are being exposed for secret, often devastating sins? When churches fight tooth and nail to keep Sunday meetings happening [...]
Have you considered making anti-racist disciples? This is something we don't hear too much about. When we hear the term 'disciples' we might think religious context and christianity in particular. The last recorded command we have from Jesus was: 'Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them... and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.' But there is definitely something in there worth paying attention to, even if you are [...]
As i reflect back on what has been the most bizarre year for the world in my lifetime, one person's name pops up a lot more than most: Megan Furniss Choritz. We have been friends since 1999 - well, that's the year we met and i stepped into her Improv world and so friends probably happened a year or two later. Especially as one of my final moves before leaving for an 18-month journey [...]
To move forward in South Africa, and, let's be honest, the world, we have to learn to own it. Making a mistake is not the end of the world. Getting it wrong sucks but it doesn't have to be the end. Messing up horribly or completely putting your foot in it in the very worst of ways can also be recovered from. BUT you absolutely have to own it! This means humility, honesty, vulnerability, [...]
One person gently pushes over one domino. Before you know it, all the dominoes are knocked over. The UK Zoom Last night i was part of a Zoom call with around twenty people, mostly from the UK. Alongside a new friend, Shabazz [filmmaker, rapper, goatee wearer extraordinaire] and hosted brilliantly by another new friend Andrew, the two of us answered questions around the topic 'Jesus, Race and Change' and engaged with each other and [...]
