This is an interesting psalm: the heading in my bible says, 'Of Solomon' and yet verse 29 says 'this concludes the prayers of David, son of Jesse' so who actually wrote it? And if you read the psalm it is talking about the king and how great he is going to be, so if Solomon did write this himself then it seems to smack of a little bit of 'Look at me! Look how great [...]
i am almost overwhelmed by the amount of posts i have been discovering or people have been linking me to when it comes to race. What has been amazing has been so many of them have been so incredibly good. i imagine there are a lot of people who see 'Anothe ace post by Brett Fish' and roll their eyes or reach for the unsubscribe. But i am confident that there are enough people following [...]
i never particularly wanted to go to Robben Island. in fact, to be honest, for a time i particularly didn't want to go to Robben Island. Something about growing up in a not too politicized environment perhaps and then later not really seeing the point or perhaps thinking it was a 'flavour of the month' kind of vibe with everyone going and it being such a touristy thing. But then somewhere along the line [maybe [...]
This morning i was browsing Facebook and i came upon a status from my friend Nkosivumile Gola [who has written a number of posts for this blog] that read like this: The land question is very personal, the land includes my whole being it is the very me. The land question is very emotional its not an intellectual talk. I don't have a nice way of saying we want the land, I can't smile when [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
'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 [...]
It's true, i am the Grinch of all things Christmas. Well, maybe not all things. But christmas carols in October? i literally count the success of my year [in one way] by how late in the year i manage to hear my first christmas carol [Disclaimer: This obviously excludes the Boney M version of 'Drummer Boy' and anyone who says otherwise is clearly lying through their teeth, or maybe their barumpumpum-bum] But between all the [...]
When it comes to money and using it well, i believe this is something that relates to everyone, not exclusively Christ followers. But, writing as a Christ follower, i will give Biblical backing for the things i am wanting to share here, as i believe they are rooted in God's heart for humanity which looks very different to when we just let mankind get on with it by themselves. Two powerful stories comes to mind [...]