You go away on a houseboat for a week, come back home, turn on your computer and it's like a paint factory sneezed all over Facebook. Or something like that. Actually the graphic on my buddy Steve Heineman's page expressed it best: And i think enough has been said from either side of the rainbow for me to need to add anything specifically about that, although i definitely have some deep sadness for some of [...]
It has been so great being back in Americaland for a month for a number of reasons. One of those has been finding the opportunity to watch the first Peter Capaldi season of Doctor Who, which i finally finished last night. He can stay. As with the other doctors it felt like it took him a little bit of time to find his feet but i think he has now and so am very much [...]
It was the smallest of deals, it was quite possibly the biggest of deals. This morning i'd been asked to share a little about church at a house church meeting of a friend of mine - never met the group before and only knew the leader through a camp i spoke on last year for his youth. But i'd also spent the last few days feeling very challenged by the tragic events in Charleston and [...]
In Acts 7 in the bible, we read about the stoning of Stephen. Does anyone know what role Stephen had in the early church? Let me give you a clue: In Acts 6.5 we see him described as "a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit". So what did he do? Are we thinking pastor? Elder? Worship leader? Let me give you another clue: In Acts 6.8 we read that Stephen was "a man [...]
i just read a really helpful piece by Brene Brown titled, 'Own our History. Change the story' which is focused on Americaland which has what feels like a completely different story, when it comes to present race issues, in many ways, but also some remarkably similar overlaps. Owning our stories is standing in our truth. It’s transformative in our personal and professional lives AND it’s also critical in our community lives. But we don’t think about history [...]
So last night a group of CEO's got together in Johannesburg for the 702 Sun International CEO Sleepout which took place in Sandton [absolutely no irony there]. As i am in Americaland at the moment i only knew about it from the Twitterer and then was only able to get glimpses of what was happening from the same medium. In some ways it seemed like a good idea - i heard about R24 million being [...]
We are angry. We grieve, mourn, weep. But we also choose to remember these dear sisters and brothers. Rest in peace. Cynthia Hurd [54] Tywanza Sanders [26] Sharonda Singleton [45] Myra Thompson [59] Ethel Lance [70] Susie Jackson [87] DePayne Doctor [49] Rev. Daniel Simmons Sr [74] Rev. Clementa Pinckney [41] [From Eugene Cho, who is a man i greatly respect and admire: @EugeneCho] i think it is strongly significant to start a conversation about the [...]
When tbV [the beautiful Val] and i were living in Oakland about a year ago, we came across a book titled ‘Free’ by a friend of ours we had met over here, Mark Scandrette. The tagline of the book is ‘Spending your Time and Money on What Matters Most’ and that really does sum up the book. We decided to gather some people together and work through the book over an eight week period. [...]
Just before tbV and i left Americaland last year August, i started reading 'The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the age of Colorblindness' by Michelle Alexander, a tough but brilliant read focusing on the system of mass incarceration of black people in Americaland. Then we had to leave and i had to give the book back having only read two or three chapters. But now we're back in Americaland and i saw it lying [...]
SITTING ON THE EDGE OF THE TUB - by brett "Fish" anderson sitting here perched on the edge of this hot tub half in, half out struggling to rationalise my body's capability with the extreme temperature that is bubbling back at me but i've been here for a while and this water sure ain't getting any cooler am i getting any braver? and will i finally slide all the way in? hold that [...]