A New Kind of Protest

Some comments or thoughts simply "stick", eh. I've had this thought from Shane Claiborne camping in my head for some time now and I can't seem to exorcise it from my thinking:

"Protestors are everywhere, but I think the world is desperately in need of prophets, those little voices that can point us toward another future... Most people are aware that something is wrong. The real question is, What are the alternatives?"

(Shane Claiborne, The Irresistible Revolution)

I feel that this is the challenge, or at least its a challenge to me. I have spent too long defining myself and letting myself be defined by what I'm not. There is enough dooms-day prophets clamoring for the headlines with anxious complaints of what can't be done, what has to be managed, whining of scarcity. There is not enough of what Walter Brueggemann calls the practice of the prophetic imagination.... conversations, communities, creative experiments that shift the focus from what is to what could be... practices of renewal, practices of the resurrection... There is not enough hopeful, liberating speech... speech that embodies, energizes, and resources alternatives... or if there is, then, I have to say from where I sit there is definitely not enough sharing of stories.... it could be we're stuck in our own silos... desperately trying to engage with the noble cause of changing history with only what we have and what we know.... unwittingly repeating and reinforcing the same fragmented individualism and isolationism that has caused the mess we're in... is it time for something different... a new kind of protest... is there enough energy left to create some sort of forum that could energize alternatives... not a committee (good God that would simply be "hell on earth")... a movement of people who hang flesh on and speak of better ways... a network of people sharing and telling a different story .... what could you say to this? what do you think?

Fair Trade is Sexy

I know I have to explain the headliner (Sorry if the "sexy" headline meant that you were blocked from coming to this site). I had the privilege last Christmas of going to a Fair Trade plantation in Bribri, Costa Rica. The consistent and fair price that Fair Trade secures for the cocoa farmed in this community has radically altered its future. Firstly, there is the sex. The consistent and fair price means that men no longer have to leave the community to look for employment to compensate for the fluctuating and unfair pricing of "free-markets"; consequently, they get to stay at home for longer periods of time. There is more sex in marriage (and less outside); there is a strengthening of families. Secondly, the community has pooled some of its earnings and constructed its own high school. So what? So now the kids too feel that they have a future in the community, they now know that they no longer have to leave the community to seek further education, they too feel that there is a place in the community for them. See what can happen when you choose Fair Trade? What if Fair trade wasn't simply a case of choosing either this or that? What if we could see that Fair Trade is in fact a sign of the Kingdom of God, a witness of our salvation? What if we started to see that Fair Trade is not a kind of product but the way God wants trade to be organized? Fairly. What difference would that make?

Go Green

East West Organics on West Coast Rd,Glen Eden sell stainless steel bottles and Kathmandu have their own range.
visit these websites:
www.kleankanteen.com
www.ecotanka.com

Dreaming with the Volume UP

A silent community, merely observing the events of the time, would not be a Christian community. (Karl Barth)

Dream up the kind of world you want to live in and dream out loud. (Bono)

What is your dream? Is it possible to be a Christian and be silent? What have you observed that you think we should be making some noise and speaking up about?

In 2008 Fairtrade Farmers across the world recevied $800,000 from NZ'ers through Fairtrade premiums, thats on top of being paid a fairer and stable price for their product. Awesome effort NZ, goes to show that as consumers we have the power to change the world for the better.

Malcolm raised the issue of 25000 children needlessly dying due to poverty every day. How many children will $800,000 save? I dont know the answer, but i do know $1,600,000 would save a lot more.

Thanks to the Salvation Army for endorsing Fairtrade in 2006. And thanks to those in The Salvation Army all across NZ who have been part of a trade revolution. I know there are others out there in our movement who havn't made the change, perhaps now is the time to seriously consider it personally and in our corps and centres.

So weather its a cup of tea, or a pair of jeans or a t-shirt, make it fair!

Happy Fair Trade Fortnight

To read the full report check visit http://www.fairtrade.com.au/files/FTA_6ppPubDocNZ_web.pdf

Pigs on the News: can we get some perspective?

Today, over 25,000 children will die around the world.

"The silent killers are poverty, hunger, and easily preventable diseases and illnesses... In spite of the scale of this daily/ongoing catastrophe, it rarely manages to achieve, much less sustain, prime-time, headline coverage." (www.globalissues.org).

Why isn't this news worthy?

• This page:http://www.globalissues.org/article/715/today-over-25000-children-died-around-the-world.
• To print all information e.g. expanded side notes, shows alternative links, use the print version:
  • http://www.globalissues.org/print/article/715

Heroes of Mine

The crew from nitechurch of The Salvation Army and the community of the North East Valley in Dunedin. Heroes who ran from the peaks of Treble Cone to the surf of Dunedin to fundraise for the local hospice... that's some 250km in the name of justice and neighbourliness.

What is happening where you're at? Who is your hero?

A New Movement of Enough is Enough

Radical, eh. What do you think? Would you join this movement?

Anzac Day

Anzac Day is a day to collectively remember how we think of ourselves and of what makes us interdependently 'us'. We remember a story that is potentially open to each gender, every generation and to both Maori and Pakeha. The Anzac story is a deep story and a multifaceted source of identity that we can share in together. John Bluck says this:

"Our identity as peoples of Aotearoa New Zealand is emerging, for both Maori and Pakeha, and the Anzac story is part of that journey, more thoughtfully, with less jingoism and flag waving than ever before. Increasingly, Anzac is a word that more New Zealanders, young as well as old, can claim. It is a story that acknowledges fear as well as courage, outrage as well as obedience, skepticism as well as idealism, disaster as well as brilliance, horror as well as great beauty. Anzac is no longer a story told to the beat of drums of war."

(John Buck, 1998, Long White and Cloudy).

"Greater love hath no man than this; that a man lay down his life for his friends."

(Jesus, the King James version)

Speechless

What can we say?

What should we be saying to our brothers and sisters in Fiji?

Shifting Sand

I'm encountering everyday a classic debate. Its the historic chicken and egg dilemma. What or who is the agent of causality in society? Should we blame the individual or should we find fault in a sick environment that fosters social problems? Is there an alternative to this dualistic thinking? Does it matter where our thinking starts? What is the interconnection between individual behavior and the nature of the society in which we live? The Salvation Army has tried to stand in the middle of this dualistic debate and has tried to keep it in tension with its mission statement of

- caring for people

- transforming individuals

and

-reforming society.

However, what gets the most air time? Which gets the most emphasis? Why? What is that saying of our own thinking?