Go to the people
live among them
learn from them
work with them
plan with them
start with what they know
build on what they have
teach by showing
learn by doing
not a showcase but a pattern
not relief but release

But the best leaders
when their work is accomplished
and their work is done
the people all remark
"We have done it ourselves"

Update

Not much time to post here at the moment. End of semester at college means a million essays, reviews, presentations and interviews. Even more so with a short semester such as this one. Still plugging away on this St Antony essay, as well as interviewing various new parents on their experiences, translating John 18 and 19, an exegesis of some sections of Matthew and continuing my college drumming career with Phil and co on Friday night!

Despite all this it was still important to see the newly released Batman Begins DVD with Rod. It remains flawless and brilliant!

And of course the mighty St Matts - we won again yesterday. I was happy with a scratchy 46 not out - not so happy with our captain who declared!

Plenty of posts to come in another week or two.

Great Procrastination Idea No 27 - Mr Picasso Head

As I sit pondering Athanasius and St Antony, what better way to procrastinate than create my own Mr Picasso Head!

To see urban stone's first creation "Waiting for something, to get me out of anything", click here. I await confirmation of my fellow procrastinator's creations.

James Brown, The Gospel of Thomas and a short film festival

Lots of fun last night at the Manning Bar listening to Lyrical Madmen (think lite-punk with a big brass section and a rolling mosh pit), and the appropriately named Johnson - who blew me away. A big funky, soul explosion, like James Brown on speed (which come to think of it he was probably most of the time). Great crowd workers with a big theatrical sense of bringing the crowd in and "movin' it, doin' it" as the Godfather would say.

Now I'm looking forward to the International Short Film and Food Festival down at Sydney Olympic Park in a few weeks (Oct 28-30). If I can drag myself away from the truckload of essays and assignments for a break, this looks like a place to escape for a while.

Hopefully it will make a pleasant change from unpacking the Gospel of Thomas - which is an interesting contrast to the orthodox Gospels. A Gospel with no cross, death or resurrection. In fact the whole focus is not upon Jesus at all, but rather on the inward search for the Kingdom of Heaven, which already exists within each of us and the world. It contains some interesting, and I imagine some more popular sayings for contemporary Western culture...

51 “His disciples asked him: When will the dead rest? When will the new world arrive? He replied: that which you are waiting for has come, but you don’t recognise it.”

67 “One who knows everything else but who does not know himself knows nothing.”

77b “Split wood, I am there. Lift up a rock, you will find me there.”

But ultimately it leaves me a little non-plussed. While I like the sense of seeking to understand yourself, hope for me doesn't rest in the attempt to return to a mythical past paradise. (Not to mention the outrageous misogynist endings!)

Cousin Jimmy on TV

In yet another attempt to prove to all and sundry how precociously talented he is, young cousin Jimmy is set to hit stardom as he and some mates kick off their new TV show, The Ronnie Johns Half Hour, 10pm this Wednesday night on Channel Ten.

The prodigal sunglasses

My favourite, and only ever decent pair, of sunglasses have returned! After travelling with me to PNG, NZ, UK, Canada and the US I thought I'd lost them in the Silverwater RTA three months ago. So distraught have I been, that I couldn't find another pair anywhere that lived up to the old faithfuls.

And yesterday at cricket, they turned up in the jack compartment of the boot! Ah, the little things that make me happy.

(PS we lost the game by a couple of wickets. I took 2-35 off 10. Only 1 wide this time!?)

Serenity

Saw Serenity with Sammy C and Smithy yesterday. Still not sure what to make of this sci-fi/adventure. Very reminiscent of Star Wars and Battlestar Galactica. It's a smart one, but as the great Colin Wiseby would say, not quite right. See frogmouth's review here. My temporary rating is 3 1/2 stars.

Sub question - Director is Joss Wheadon of Buffy and Angel fame. Does his portrayal of strong, kick ass, sexy women empower or exploit (or both)?

A God who suffers

As I write some more personal statements of faith for college (a seemingly endless task), I am struck again by Douglas John Hall's words...

"Ironically, those who most complain of God's failure to act godlike, that is, to exercise unmitigated power, are the very ones who are most affronted by any curtailment of their own freedom...

...If we posit a God who both wills the existence of free creatures and the preservation and redemption of the world, then we must take with great seriousness the biblical narrative of a God whose providence is a mysterious internal and intentional involvement in history; a God therefore, who is obliged by his own love to exercise his power quietly, subtly, and usually, responsively in relation to the always ambiguous and frequently evil deeds of the free creatures; a God who will not impose rectitude upon the world but labor to bring existing wrong into the service of the good; a God, in short, who will suffer."

The Cross in Our Context: Jesus and the Suffering World, p87, 2003.

End of an era

After 11 and a half years, Dad finally finished up his term as General Secretary of the Victorian and Tasmanian Synod of the UCA last week. Up until a week before it looked as though Dave and I would miss the chance to be there. But as it happens, Dave managed to fly in from Brisbane for some hastily convened work, and I managed to reorganise interviews here in Sydney - so we could all be there for his farewell before the whole Synod. (Tiffany and Beth stayed in Brisbane, just too much flying for a 6 month old!)

It turned out to be much more of an occasion than I had realised - marking what has been an incredible time both for Dad and the church. It may sound odd to many people, but the chance to hear your father preach, to stand in public and outline what is most precious and meaningful to him, is quite an experience. It rounds out the private perceptions of him that I have with another side. And then to hear his peers reflect on his ministry - both at the official farewell and at the party that night, gave further depth to this picture I have of him.


Birthdays and Fathers Days come and go- but this was a unique moment to sit back and realise that it's not just you that's proud of the old man. He goes alright. And he's not done just yet...

Little Fish

A much talked about Australian film by director Rowan Woods, with the all-star Australian line-up of Cate Blanchett, Sam Neil, Hugo Weaving, Noni Hazelhurst and others. Little Fish is set in Cabramatta, with the tag line "the past is right here". To me this is a slightly terrifying if somewhat incomplete film.

It follows the story of Tracy (Blanchett), struggling to get her life back together a few years after giving up heroin and a failed relationship with Jonny (Dustin Nguyen). It revolves around her family and its somewhat tortured dynamics - Hugo Weaving is at his absolute best as the junkie father.

But what disturbs me most is the sense in which the film questions all your security. What identity or relationships or jobs do you put in place to keep yourself safe? What stops you from falling away into nothingness and despair? The film seems to suggest that there is not much between a comfortable suburban life, and going under in the (sub)urban emotional wasteland. There are rays of light from a family trying to stick together before they kill each other - but it's a torturous journey.

The film asks the viewer, "where is hope?" Not in a nihilistic challenge, but rather as an almost desperate plea - work out, no really work out, where is your hope? And most dramatically, what would happen if the thing you've pinned this hope to falls through?


3.75 out of 5 stars.

What happens when a ghetto is destroyed?

thoughts from Radio Rebellion in Arizona regarding the destruction of the ghettoes in New Orleans. Who will rebuild the homes of the poor?