"My name is Brett "Fish" and i am gifted in doing things that don't produce money." Sounds like it could be the opening words of a 12-step meeting, or a brag, or else a confession. Maybe a bit of all of those. Or i guess it could be a slight frustration. Especially in a world that seems to expect you to at least be good at some things which bring in enough money. Whatever [...]
Lumka Mkhethwa and Michael Komape are names we should know and probably don't. In 2015 Michael, aged 5, drowned in a pit latrine 'toilet' and in 2018 the same thing happened to Lumka. Those are absolute tragedies and should never have been allowed to happen to any human beings and the idea that we get outraged for a moment and then get back to our lives and just carry on feels a little overwhelming [...]
How much money is too much money? While the question is always going to be somewhat relative, i feel like sometimes it's quite an easy one to answer. When i saw this list of bank boss salaries yesterday it made me super sad and angry. While not all that surprised. This representation along [that i discovered comes from this article on the BusinessTech website] could be this whole blog post. It says more than [...]
Blessed are the rich... for they shall be spared sermons! Rene August [preaching at St Johns Anglican church yesterday] didn't quite say those words, but she might as well have. And they feel largely true. One thing Rene did say was this: 'The church has so many programs to help alleviate poverty. The church has no programs to help people alleviate greed.' [which i think was a quote of Bishop Zac Niringiye] Two other [...]
There is a beautiful story in the Jewish Scriptures of Moses leading the Israelites out of Egypt towards the Promised Land God had called them towards. The Israelites were being seriously oppressed in Egypt and so God called on Moses to rescue them and lead them towards a place of refuge, safety and abundance. Their journey ended up being a forty year ordeal through reasons of their own making, and despite continually turning against [...]
This past week has been tough. Sitting with a R40 000 bill over our heads [alongside the more manageable R12000 to fix our car] for driving into a BMW is not to be found on the list of 'Ten Ways to De-Stress your life'. But, we are surrounded by people who know and love us and there is no way conceivable to us that tbV [the beautiful Val] and i are going to find ourselves [...]
About a week ago i was hanging out with a group of friends discussing some quite incredible stories of generosity that we had all been involved in this past year. Each person in the group was connected to a person in the story of generosity although the majority of the group didn't know the people involved. The stories ranged from educational assistance to helping start up a township business to paying for a vehicle to [...]
i am busy reading a book called 'The Prophetic Imagination' for my Leadership in Urban Transformation studies course and this passage jumped out at me: 'The prophet is the one, who, by use of these tools of hope, contradicts the presumed world of the kings, showing both that that presumed world does not square with the facts and that we have been taught a lie and have believed it because the people with the hardware [...]
What does how we give our money say about us? There is a beautiful short story hidden at the end of Mark 12 that doesn't get enough attention. 41 Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. 42 But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents. 43 Calling his [...]
It was the best of Social Medias, it was the worst of Social Medias. i mean, let's be honest, i don't tend towards being a 'go gently into that good night' kind of person when it comes to the online. Or the offline. Or an unattended chocolate fountain, to be honest, but that's just your fault wedding reception i wasn't even invited to! MMmm, cho-co-late fountain.... now, where was i? Oh yes, social media. Well [...]
