Changing the way that change happens - Social Innovation through Vocational Freedom

Today I had the joy of meeting with Francois Malherbe - an amazing guy who is facilitating a social revolution with 100 cups of coffee.  You can read about his '100 Conversations for Social Innovation' here.

I was deeply challenged by Francois' passion for seeing people flourish through discovering their passion and finding the tools, resources, and most importantly the relationships, to bring those passions to bear on the needs of the world.

When our coffee was done I was left with the feeling that he, and those who he will be meeting with over the next year, will be part of a revolution of change that changes how change happens.  What impressed me most was his focus on empathetic listening - a core value of people and relationships.  I experienced it as quite close to the idea of ubuntu that we hear so much about in Africa (if you're interested in a few other posts I've written on ubuntu follow this link).

Francois referred me to the TED talk of Ernesto Sirolli entitled 'Want to help someone? Shut up and listen!' Some of the rationale behind Francois' approach to social transformation and human flourishing stems from Sirolli's work and thought.  It is well worth watching the talk.

Thanks to @eksjaco and @findingfrancois - this has been the best cup of coffee this year!

Becoming more fully human through relationships

Archbishop Desmond Tutu once said "A self-sufficient human being is sub human. God has made us for a delicate network of interdependence." ~Desmond Tutu

It is difficult to describe how much relationships have meant to our family over the last two months. We have been so richly and deeply blessed by the love and support of friends, family and even strangers.

Our lives are fuller because of the love and care of others.

The subject of my PhD (a lifetime ago!) was consciousness and identity. In the concluding chapters of that volume of research I developed a model of identity and 'human-ness' based on the African philosophy of Ubuntu. 'A person is a person through other people'. This concept of intersubjective growth is an essential part of what it means to grow and develop in community.

This weekend I spent three days with the 7 men that make up my forum group (the photo above shows four of the guys on the rocks at Hermanus where we had a closing communion service today). These guys journey together at a very deep and trusting level. We share everything about our lives, our struggles, our joys, and the challenges and opportunities that lie before us. We are committed to honesty, authenticity, and care. We have each other and our families at heart.

I have come to realise anew that life gets so busy, relationships become so superficial, and we end up living past one another, and as a result we live 'past' our true selves.

You can read more about forums at http://www.forumnetwork.co.za

Who do you rely on for companionship in life's journey? Is that circle of significant relationships wide enough to support you to be your best, and to become more fully human? I believe we all need a few deep and significant relationships to help us in this regard.

Have a blessed week!

Peace and belonging...

If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other. - Mother Teresa

Please see this link for more on 'identity', belonging, community and identity (ubuntu).  

Please aslso see this article, entitled, 'Do South Africans exist?'.  It is an academic article on identity, relationship and the African philosophy of ubuntu that I prepared for the Theological Society of Southern Africa.  It gives a fairly good introduction to the African philisophical and theological perspective on identity. 

I would love to hear what your perspective is on the notion of belonging and peace!

[You may have arrived here from a link on Ron Martoia's VelocityCulture site - if not, then please visit Ron's site for the context to my comment written below on 2 March 2010]

Hi Ron,

This is a challenging question indeed!

I think that part of what has made the Church such a significant place of community is the reality of life’s diversity. Joy, sorrow, life and death. When I was still a pastor of a local church I often used to stand in front of the communion table in the sacramental area and marvel at all of the stages of life that are marked in that space.

I would celebrate life and baptise the children of my members there, I would confirm the faith of young people who had discovered Christ since their baptism, I married many of those young people in that same space, and I even had occasion to bury one or two who had passed away at far too young an age.

However, the gravity of that sacred space was seldom recognised. I certainly overlooked it frequently, and I think the members of our congregation (much less the members of our city) hardly ever saw its significance!

In Africa there is a wonderful saying ‘umuntu ngumuntu ngamantu’ [roughly translated it says 'a person becomes more fully human through other people', or 'I am who I am because of who you are']. I have written about the African philosophy of ubuntu extensively (see this link for an introductory articlehttp://www.dionforster.com/blog/2009/7/17/peace-and-belonging.html ). I think there is a critical link between relationships and true identity. We can only become more fully human when we live our lives with others.

In this light I have found the following quotes encouraging and challenging:

- ‘My humanity is bound up in yours, for we can only be human together.’ – Desmond Tutu
- ‘The holy task is not about becoming “spiritual” nearly as much as becoming human.’ – Richard Rohr

I agree that congregations are often bad at creating community – a lot of contemporary Christianity tends to present Jesus as a combination of my personal therapist and a stock broker… This is a common thread in just about every country I have visited in the world! Christians tend to seek entertainment rather than truth, we want comfort rather than companionship.

However, what is certain is that we need some form of community to tie our lives to the lives of others. Such ‘intersubjective’ interactions make us more fully human, and in so doing help us to become more like the archetypical person, Jesus.

I suppose that like you I am more committed to helping people connect meaningfully than I am about getting people to join churches. But, I am still committed to a local church.

Your insights are challenging as always!

Dion

Widows, witchcraft, and the abuse of African culture to deny Southern African women their rights...

Culture is a necessary thing - it structures our lives in relationship, it adds meaning and depth to communal practices, it enlivens our history, and shapes our future.

You would know that I ardently encourage the adoption of the ideology of ubuntu as a principle for relationship based justice, harmony, and equity. I do so primarily because there is so much of this ideology that can positively shape society (particularly societies that have become competitive, self obsessed, and disregarding of the rights and responsibilities that we have for one another's wellbeing). In fact, I find many more Gospel values in the principles of ubuntu than I do in Western Capitalist individualism...

However, there is a HUGE disconnect between the ideology of ubuntu and its ethical application in contemporary Southern Africa. Whilst the ideology is touted by many, there are very few who hold it dear enough to actually practice it!

I wrote a paper on this subject that you download and read here.

Sadly, my experience has been that even in traditional African communities, as soon as the individual can afford a BMW, buy a house in the subburbs, and outwit, outlast and outplay other persons, the ideology and philosophy of interdependent identity and harmony in relationship is chucked out of the windows in the pursuit of individual gain!

Sadly, culture is abused by many as a tool to justify abusive practises, and at the same time avoid responsibility. This disturbing article comes from the Mail & Guardian newspaper.

While the United Nations Millennium Development Goals aim to empower women and eradicate poverty, Southern African inheritance practices are having the opposite effect -- leaving widows impoverished, maligned and separated from their own children, says a recent study out of Mozambique.

The study by Save the Children highlights how tradition -- which dictates that the man's family can devolve the deceased's assets among themselves -- leads to widows being made scapegoats for their husbands’ deaths and losing custody of their children.

Maria Delia and Isauru Mandlate, part of the team that conducted the study for the Save the Children Foundation in Mozambique, say that in addition to dealing with bereavement, a widow faces the immediate loss of her home and all her possessions.

Women are commonly accused of bewitching their husbands and causing their deaths, and this is used as a pretext for refusing them their inheritance.

“The family is not interested in negotiating, they just want the goods, "says Delia. “This is revenge for her having 'killed' her husband. They are really rough and don’t leave her with a single penny."

But even more painful than the loss of material possessions, say the researchers, is the way the husband’s family will poison the children’s minds, leading them to believe their mother is responsible for their father's death.

"The children are not allowed to visit their mother -- the children are told to run away from their mother if she comes to visit," says Delia.

Widows who refuse to participate in the ritual of "purification" -- which requires them to have unprotected sexual intercourse with a male member of their husband’s family to dispel bad spirits -- are banished from the family and even the district.
The result is that dispossessed widows turn to sex work or cheap manual labour to survive and are more vulnerable to risky sexual activity and HIV infection.

Delia tells the story of a young widow whose husband died of Aids. "Her husband had gone to South Africa to work on the mines and while he was away she lived with her in-laws. When he became ill he came home and she cared for him. When he died, they [the in-laws] kicked her out."

The woman ended up living in a mud hut, without even a bed to sleep on and just the clothes on her back. She survives on the few stalks of maize and vegetables she can grow.

The study says patrilineal African societies view male heirs as continuing the family line, while women are seen as assuming only the role of temporary guardians of assets. As a result the deceased's family members feel they are entitled to all his material possessions -- even if the widow has worked to contribute to the shared assets.

The report notes that despite Mozambique being a signatory to instruments such as the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, the UN Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women and the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, the government has yet to produce comprehensive legislation on inheritance.

In South Africa this tradition has been challenged by progressive human rights legislation, where a precedent was set by the Constitutional Court in 2004.

Nontupheko Bhe, a widowed Khayelitsha woman, approached the court to have the Black Administration Act -- which provided that if Africans died intestate their estate would be devolved according to customary law -- declared unconstitutional.

The court ruled that the Act was an "anachronistic piece of legislation which ossified 'official' customary law and caused egregious violations of the right of black African persons” and found that "whatever the role of male primogeniture may have played in traditional society, it can no longer be justified".

Despite this landmark ruling, the law is often at odds with deep-seated cultural norms and many women remain unaware of their rights.
"In many instances the widow is made aware of her rights too late and the assets have been claimed by the in-laws or the livestock is already sold," says Busi Motshana, a para­legal at Tshwaranang Legal Advocacy Centre in Acornhoek, Limpopo.

In addition to ignorance of their rights, there is also a culture of silence among women and children -- who are generally passive participants in traditional society. In rural areas access to facilities and institutions of justice is an added obstacle. The drawing up of a formal will is rare, in part due to issues of access, but also due to the fear that doing so is tantamount to inviting an early death.

"This is becoming an issue as more people die of HIV/Aids," says Delia.

"More needs to be done in the communities to educate and inform these women on their rights and also encourage community reform."

Technorati tags: ubuntu, human rights, responsibility, African, culture, widow

Home where I belong, and feeling postliminal (if there is such a thing)...

It is incredible to be back home!

If I was not so jet lagged I would have mustered all of my creative juices to write something as poetic and profound as my friend Pete did about his return home. All I can say (like many of my first year students do), is that I agree with him, and with what he said, and I wish I could say it the same way. Megie, Courts and Liam - I love you, and coming home to you is the best possible feeling in the world!

I arrived home just before 8pm last night after being on the road for 28 hours... The coach, the tube, an express train, two aeroplanes, a few airport buses, and the car home. Whilst I didn't ride a single Vespa to get back, I did wear my favourite Vespa T-Shirt! The trip was great, and even with missing my family, and having to travel so far, I would do it all over again. I have been challenged and stretched to grow.

I slept well last night. I didn't mind getting out of bed just before 6am to make breakfast and coffee for the family. I had daydreamed about that simple act of service, one of my daily routines, quite a few times while I was away. After taking Courtney to school - and having a good chat about her party, her friends, and her recent conquests in Shrek (on her gameboy) I rejoiced to worship in the College chapel. The idiom of worship was truly African, we sang, danced, played the bell and the beat, and used many of our 11 official languages to do so.... and I knew that I was home!

I have often felt that liminal feeling, common to many white Africans, of being too white to be truly African, but too African to be European. However, this morning I knew that I belonged. These are my people - I am, because they are. Here it is not because of my race that I belong. Rather, it is because we are a community that I feel truly human, located, understood, appreciated, and loved.

Here's one of the last photos that I took before leaving Christ Church in Oxford. From left to right are myself, Dr Mercy Amba Odoyuye, Dr Richardson, and Dr Colin Smith. Auntie Mercy is one of our mother's in the faith. She has done so much to highlight the concerns and struggles of African Christians, and in particular the concerns of African Christian women. She is one of the most prophetic and Christ-like people I have ever met - gentle, yet just. Colin is a circuit Superintendent from the UK and was one of the co-chairs of the Oxford institute. I learned so much about the kind of calm leadership that is required to manage important processes, and people who sometimes imagine themselves to be more important than they are. He handled the institute with such dignity, respect, and care. It is with much thanks to him that we got such good work done over the 10 days in Oxford.

Now, of course, I need to get my head around what I shall be sharing in Malaysia at STM. The presentation and preparation for the Church conference is all but done. Most of the preparatory work for the seminary is also done, and so now it is just a matter of putting the final touches to it.

This is more or less what I am going to cover at STM:

Methodist Church in Southern Africa's response to oppression, violence and abuse before, during, and after apartheid. I will speak about:

- The effects of the missionaries, and English colonization, on Southern African church and society.
- The heresy of 'apartheid' and the effects of that ideology on Southern African society. I will chart the Church's response to this evil using the work from my paper for the Oxford institute together with papers written by Henk Pieterse, Ted Jennings, Joerg Rieger, and Ivan Abrahams, as well as some information supplied by Demetris Palos (this will probably be the Lion's share of the discussion).
- The challenges of reconstruction and development in post-apartheid Southern Africa (here I shall focus HIV / AIDS, economic development, crime and violence, racial reconciliation. In particular, I will address how the Church has sought to deal with these issues through its mission strategy, and through the training of laity and clergy).

Here's another memorable moment for me -

In this photograph are Aileen and Randy Maddox. Aileen was also one of the Institute organizers. Randy calls her his better two thirds! If that is the case she must be truly remarkable! I look forward to getting to know them much better in the future. Randy should be well known to most Methodists - he is a prominent Wesleyan scholar who now teaches at Duke Divinity school. My students will know him since his book "Rethinking Wesley's theology" is one of their prescribed books. By the way, for those who haven't yet read it, Peter Grassow (referred to above) has an oustanding chapter entitled "Wesley and revolution: A South African perspective" (Chapter 12). It is well worth reading.

The paper I presented at the Theological Society of South Africa.

There are few things quite as boring as sitting through some strange man telling you all about neurons, dendrites, objective and subjective reality, quadrants, hierarchies and a host of things that would normally put the average person to sleep...

However, whilst there are few things as boring as being PRESENT to hear a paper, the one SURE FIRE thing that IS MORE BORING is reading someone else's BORING paper.... Ha ha!

So, I just wanted to announce that there will be a test for all my friends (particularly for those of you on facebook that keep poking me!) So you had better start reading the paper (all 31 pages of it) or else you may not go to heaven! What do you think Wessel, is that a fair soteriology!?

So, click here to download the BORING paper!

Do South Africans exist.doc

Here's the Abstract (hint - study this and you should be able to pass the test ;-)

A generous ontology: Identity as a process of intersubjective discovery - An African theological contribution.

The answer to the question "who am I?" is of fundamental importance to being human. Answers to this question have traditionally been sought from various disciplines and sources, these include empirical sources such as biology and sociology, and phenomenological sources such as psychology and religion. Although the approaches are varied they have the notion of foundational truth, whether from an objective, or subjective, perspective in common. The question in the title of this paper comes from the title of a book by WITS academic, Ivor Chipkin, entitled, "Do South Africans Exist? Nationalism, Democracy and the Identity of 'the People'" (2007). This paper will not discuss Chipkin’s thoughts on nationalism and democracy in any detail, however it will consider the matter of human identity that is raised by his question. The approach that this papers takes on the notion of identity is significantly influenced by Brian McLaren’s postmodernist approach to Christian doctrine as outlined in his book "A generous orthodoxy" (2004) - a term coined by Yale Theologian Hans Frei. The inadequacies of traditional approaches to human identity and consciousness that are based upon 'foundational knowledge' will thus be considered. Both subjective and objective approaches will be touched upon, showing the weaknesses of these approaches in dealing with the complex nature of true human identity. The paper will then go on to present an integrative framework for individual consciousness that is not static or ultimately quantifiable, rather it is formulated in the process of mutual discover that arises from a shared journey. The approach presented here draws strongly upon the groundbreaking work of Ken Wilber and Eugene de Quincey and relates their ontlogical systems to the intersubjective approach to identity that can be found in the African philosophy of ubuntu. This paper will show how the ethics and theology of this indigenous knowledge system can contribute toward overcoming the impasse of validating individual identity and consciousness.

Take a look at this....

This book arrived in my post on Friday... What's so special about it!? Well, isn't it a nice cover?

Check out the last name and title of the chapter on the left hand side page (you may have to click on the image to enlarge it), and the fourth name and description on the right hand side page! ha ha, that's the great thing about this book with the rather 'generic' cover... I have a chapter published in it! I presented a paper on consciousness, identity, and Africa Theology (particularly the ethics of ubuntu) and it was published in the book. It is wonderful (and vain - Lord forgive me) to see one's name in print!

So, there we go! Have a blessed week!