In Russia, just after the 1917 communist revolution, Russia was quite a progressive country! The new Russian leadership had a good idea of how they wished to restructure society for the good of the people and they were intent on using new technologies of the time to do it.
So, they invested in rolling out the infrastructure for a new technology at the time - except they got it all wrong! While the rest of the world was pumping money into rolling out telephone systems (exchanges, cables and handsets), Russia chose to invest in loudspeakers... That's right! They laid cables, planted telephone poles, and fitted loudspeakers to them!
Of course their intention was to motivate the people with patriotic songs, and inspire them with communist propaganda... The one point they missed is that people are far more likely to get behind you if they feel involved. If your opinion gets validated, your idea gets heard and incorporated, then you'll support the system. Nobody likes being 'talked at', much less so through a loudspeaker.
I have come to realise that this is how most companies, and of course many ministries, use the social networking technologies today! In fact you can see what they're going to use it for when their strategy includes the words 'social media' - they are wanting to use social to broadcast their old media (whether it be messages, ideas, sermons, adverts whatever)!
Social networking works because people are more important than technology! My userbase on facebook and twitter swells when I interact with my friends. They tweet and retweet my ideas when I tweet and retweet theirs. When I am interested in them and their ideas I get @ replies and their followers hear about me and my stuff and I meet new people and connect with them...
I'd love to hear what you think about the thoughts I share in this little video about 'The Russian Tale'.
I have a sense that one of the areas in which technology is moving is the mobile space! And in particular accessing the internet through mobile devices. Think about these statements and see if you agree with me:
The number of active internet users is increasing rapidly (in fact I believe that internet usage has increased from 35% to 83% among 19-54 year olds worldwide between 2006-2009).
Most internet users spend the majority of their time on social networking platforms (facebook, myspace, linkedin and a host of others).
For most people under the age of 35 their primary means of going onto the internet is via a mobile device (phone, iPod etc.)
This must change the way we engage and how we do business and share messages! Take a look at this graph below - look at what OS versions dominate the web (Symbian is huge in Africa!)
Please take a few minutes to watch this wonderful TED video featuring Mitchel Besser, a doctor who is doing extraordinary work in supporting some of the most vulnerable people, who undergo immense suffering, with a very simple and effective Mother2Mother HIV AIDS support system.
The title of this post may be shocking - indeed, I it is intended to be so! I believe that if one person suffers we all suffer. So, to understand my statement 'I am positive' please read these posts.
Today is World AIDS day. Today we remember that the Church has AIDS. We do not minister to people who are HIV positive, as if they were people outside of the body of Christ. Rather, we ask God to heal us, for all of us suffer from this disease.
Whether you are HIV+ or not, this disease reminds us that we shall all face death. It reminds us that we shall all be ill at some stage. It reminds us that we need one another to be strengthened and encouraged to face the reality of struggle. It reminds us that society can be cruel and that people can be judged for something that afflicts them. Most of all, this disease reminds us that we have a God who cares and longs to bring us healing and hope.
Prayer of invocation:
Loving God, you are our parent. You look upon us with mercy and compassion. You understand our weakness. Our suffering breaks your heart. Look upon us with love, grace, and compassion today. Father, you know the pain of losing your only son to death. Jesus, you know the pain of dying and leaving those whom you love behind. Spirit you are the giver and sustainer of life. With confidence we approach your throne of grace that there we may receive mercy.
Renew our spirits and draw our hearts, bodies, and minds close to yours. All of us are subject to the frailties of life. Strengthen us in our weakness, bring us wholeness in spite of disease. For those who live under the impending threat of death, offer them comfort and strength in the knowledge that death does not have the final victory and that in you there is true, eternal, and blissful life that lasts for eternity. For those who feel the pain of seeing a loved one die, fill them with courage through the power of your Spirit of life. Surround them with caring and loving people who will show to them the love that you want to give them in their time of need.
Help each of us to strengthen our resolve to obedience and service. Give us courage so that we would not shy away from facing our own frailty and pain. Move us to go to the places of death, like your beloved disciple John went to your cross, so that we may offer love and healing to those whom you love.
Let us delight in doing those acts of mercy that will bring healing and honour Your name.
Today we declare the faith that neither height, nor depth, neither life, nor death, neither angel, nor demon, nor anything in all creation can separate us from Your love. You are the creator God. You make a way where it seems none can be found, your bring forth living waters in the wilderness. We place our trust in You, through Jesus Christ our Lord. AMEN
A meditation to guide your prayers and actions today
Nosipho's story - no greater gift.
Nosipho is just thirteen years old - tonight she is lying awake next to her 8 year old brother and her 5 year old sister. Her father named her Nosipho when she was born. She remembers that tonight. Her name has a very special meaning. Nosipho was born to her proud parents, Mxolisi and Vuyisile, in a remote part of South Africa called northern Kwazulu Natal. There was no work there for Mxolisi so he went to the city to find work as a labourer working on the roads. Mxolisi wanted to live a good life and take care of his family as best as he could. So, he faithfully brought money back to his Vuyisile and Nosipho at every opportunity. He and Vuyisile were blessed with a son who they named Andile (meaning 'the family is growing'). They loved their children very much and had great dreams for their future.
However, with each year that passed it became more difficult for Mxolisi to be alone in the city. The months that Mxolisi and Vuyisile spent living apart took a toll upon their marriage and they would often disagree and argue. Once, when they argued, he told her that 'he had needs', 'like all men do'. And so, he decided to take a 'city wife', as many of his friends had done. Sadly, his city wife was HIV+, and so when Mxolisi returned home one December, himself HIV+ by this time, he gave Vuyisile another child, Thandi (which means 'nurturing love'), but, he also gave her the killer virus that would take both their lives.
Mxolisi and Vuyisile discovered that they were HIV+ in the year that Nosipho turned 8 years old. Andile was 5, and little Thandi was just 2. Thandi had already been infected with the virus her mother was carrying through the milk she drank from her mother?s breast. Sadly, both Mxolisi and Vuyisile died of AIDS within 3 years of discovering their status, Thandi, however, is still alive and now a little girl of 5.
Nosipho is a clever little girl. However, she hasn't been to school since her father died when she was 11 years old. By that stage her mother was already very ill and confined to bed, but at least then Andile and Thandi could stay with their mother while Nosipho begged for food and money at a traffic intersection on the edge of the township. She watched the other children going to school dressed in their smart school uniforms, with book bags that had pencils, paper, and no doubt some lunch to eat. She wished that she could be like them, but that would not happen - her mother eventually died as well.
Tonight as she lay in bed she was no longer a child, but a parent, overnight she had become a 13 year old head of a household of three. She knew that she had a much greater responsibility than other 13 year old children. Each day she has to get enough money from the cars and commuters that come whizzing by to feed her two siblings and herself. She has a small cardboard sign on which she has written in a child's handwriting 'No parents, no food, no work, 3 people to feed. Please help. God bless you'. She also needs to get a few rand extra every month to help pay for Andile's school fees. She wants him to stay in school and learn so that he doesn't have to suffer like his father did. She doesn't want him to suffer like she is suffering now. Whatever money she has left after she has paid his fees, when there is any, is given to the 'aunty' who looks after her sick sister, Thandi, while Andile is at school and she is begging at the traffic lights. She doesn't trust the aunty, she drinks, and she's sure that she hits Thandi. But, she has no option. It is too dangerous for Thandi to be with her at a busy traffic intersection.
There are other girls like Nosipho. In fact most of the child headed households in South Africa are headed by girls under the age of 15. Nosipho knows this because she meets some of them every Sunday at a little group for children like her that is held in the tin church near her shack. They sing songs, some kind ladies read stories to them from the Bible, and then they say prayers and get some food to eat. The church has also given her clothes and shoes for her and for her brother and sister. There is a lady from the government clinic who comes to visit their group once a month. She always asks Nosipho if she is safe, and asks if she and her brother and sister are getting enough to eat. You see, Thandi needs special medicine to keep her healthy, but she can only take her medicine if she eats properly, or else the medicine will make her sick instead of healthy. So on days when Nosipho does not get enough money, or food, to feed all three of them she lets Thandi eat first, so that she can take her medicine. Andile eats next, because he can't learn when his stomach is empty. Nosipho often lies awake at night hungry, but she knows that she is a 'gift' from her parents to Andile and Thandi ? that?s what her name means. Nosipho means 'a gift'. It?s the name her father gave her. She doesn't play anymore, she simply lives to be a gift to her brother and sister. Tonight she prayed to ask God to help her because a man has said he will give her R20 if she takes her clothes off and sleeps with him. She's praying because she is afraid. She has been told at church, and she has seen the posters, and heard the stories - Nosipho knows that's how little girls get sick and die ? but she needs the money. She wants to be a gift. She doesn't know what to do. Maybe God will do something to help her tomorrow? It is Sunday, she will ask one of the ladies to help her.
Reflection: Stories such as this are common in South Africa. In KwaZulu Natal the death rate is higher than the birth rate because of AIDS. Recent statistics from UNICEF have suggested that up to 50% of children are HIV+ and an increasing number of children are growing up without their parents. Children like Nosipho face a stark and dreary existence. They are robbed of their childhood and dignity in a quest to survive. Very often their only support comes from community organisations such as churches and civic groups. For most children the lack of access to food, or poor nutrition and feeding practises, coupled with infection, leads to their untimely death. Children who are born in rural areas who do not have 'bar-coded' South African Identity documents do not qualify for medical care, schooling, or any form of government grant. Sometimes the most basic of help, like helping children register for an ID Book, or offering children a daily meal, and seeing that they take their medication can mean the difference between life and death. Methodist Churches in Southern Africa train all of their ministers to offer support and care to persons who are infected and affected by HIV. It is a central part of their training for ministry. In the region of the world that has the highest rate of HIV infection it cannot be any different. The Gospel demands that we bring healing and transformation. Perhaps the work of the Church near Nosipho could keep her from turning to prostitution at the age of 13? All that is needed is a courageous group of caring people who will see her plight, understand what she needs, and help her to find it - food, shelter, and loving adult support. This is what Jesus would do.
[I wrote this story as a case study for a book that is in publication in the Cambridge Theological federation, UK. Please do not copy it without contacting me. I shall put you in touch with the publishers to get permission. Thank you.]
Silent reflection and prayer.
What do you feel? What do these feelings tell you about yourself?
What does this story tell you about the world, and others in the world?
What do you think God feels? What would God want you, or your Church, to do?
Knowing this, what do you need to pray to have the courage to do?
What will you do today? What will you plan to do tomorrow? What will you want to achieve by next year this time?
A benediction for today
Almighty God, by the power of your Holy Spirit open my eyes to see the world as You see it, my ears to hear the cries that You hear, my heart to have the courage to feel what You feel, and my life to be present to You and all those whom You love this day. Give me the courage to worship and serve you in faithfulness, to be a blessed and healing reminder of Your love to all whose lives I will touch. I offer this prayer in the name of Jesus Christ, to the glory of God the Father, and in the power of the Holy Spirit. AMEN.
If you're looking for some facts on HIV / AIDS here are a few that may be of interest:
Have you ever taken time to consider the relationship between faith, economics, globalization and the suffering of people
?
Well, recently I did a post about the neurological causes of greed, and how these can be managed as a 'value transaction' in order to address some of the economic inequalities that we face across the world.
Let me show you a few basic analogous maps of the world to illustrate the economic inequalities that exist in the world.
First, here is a basic map of the world based on geographical land mass (i.e., this is the traditional manner in which maps are drawn - the area of each land mass is a represented equivalent of the actual land mass drawn to scale).
Now, take a look at this next map - this map is analogous of the world's wealth. In other words, the more wealth a nation has the larger it will appear on the map. Look how large North America and Europe are in relation to the rest of the world - it is also worth noting how rich Japan is on this map. Clearly, the world's wealth is concentrated in the Northern Hemisphere, and it is largely concentrated in the West. I shall, however, say something about the shifts that are taking place in the world's economy at a later stage.
Next, take a look at this map which analogous of poverty across the world. It is almost an inverse representation of the wealth map above - this map shows nations that are poorer as larger masses on the map.
Now, take a look at this map which shows HIV / AIDS infection across the world - it is interesting to note that 68% of all HIV+ people live in Southern Africa (that is 22.8 million out of the 33 million persons who are HIV+). I have just written a study on this for a new book on a Christian response to HIV / AIDS - it is shocking to see the prevelance of AIDS deaths in Africa. But please do take a look at the last map in this series.
This last map gives an analogous representation of where the world's Christian population lives. Isn't it sad to see that Christians live in most of the places where wealth, poverty and HIV / AIDS are significant problems? Clearly we have a few things to learn about money, God's economy, health care, reproductive care, women's rights, and sex!
OK, now I made mention of the fact that the world's wealth is concentrated predominantly in the North and the West - this is changing! Within the next 10 years the economies of the USA (North America), and most of Europe will show negative growth in some instances, and decline in others. The economies that are on the rise are China, India and Brazil (Australia is also a Southern Hemisphere economy that is growing at a significant rate). In other words, by 2020 we will see a completely different picture in global economic power! My advice is that you send your kids for a 'gap year' in China! As for me, I'm starting to study Mandarin!
Sadly, Africa's economy will only show marginal growth since it is crippled by the impact of AIDS, political instability, underdevelopment and international debt. However, if we play our cards carefully the continent could be the next economic powerhouse after China and India since we are one of the only continents on earth that still has natural resources!
So, here's the point - did you realise that if we spent just 10% (190bn US$) of the annual world budget for military expenditure (1235bn US$) we could BOTH restore the earth's natural resources (cleaning up our water, replanting trees, creating environmentally friendly and more sustainable energy source), AND meet the basic water, sanitation, education and health care needs of the whole world! Just 10%... You can read about that research from Brown 2008 (entitled Plan B 3.0: Mobilizing to save civilization) here.
Christians make up more than 40% of the world's population - surely we could take up our responsibility to manage the 'household of God' (oikosnomos - economy) for the transformation of the world?
What do you think? How do we do it? What practical steps can you suggest to start making a difference within your sphere of influence... As I've been doing this research in recent weeks I've been praying one text consistently:
The earth is the Lord's, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it. (Psalm 24.1 NIV)
If you're interested in an article / chapter that I have published on the subject of the environment and earthkeeping you can read
More red than green ? a response to global warming and the environment from within the Methodist Church of Southern Africa. Forster, DA in The Epworth Review - the Journal of Methodist ecclesiology and mission Vol 35, No 2 (2008). This paper was also published in
Forster DA, 'More red than Green', in What are we thinking? Reflections on Church and Society from Southern African Methodists. Forster, DA and Bentley, W. 2008. Methodist Publishing House, Cape Town. ISBN: 978-91988352-6. (2008:117ff. Chapter 7)
(This is not my area of expertise by the way, I am far more interested in justice and economics, but there was not much being written on this topic from our perspective so I took it upon myself to do some research in the area).
If you're interested in reading a chapter that I wrote on the Christian's response to Greed and Economics please see:
Upon the Lord's sermon on the mount - discourse 8 (a contemporary exposition of John Wesley's sermon on stewardship and the use of money from an African Liberation Theology perspective) in Shier Jones, A and Reisman, KD 44 Sermons to serve the present age (2007), London: Methodist Publishing house. ISBN: 97807162063
Oh, and if you're looking for my 'other' post on maps of the world please go here. This is the MOST clicked linked on my blog - isn't that amazing!?
Indeed, this was what the internet looked like in 1993 when I was at Rhodes University. I would spend hours in the computer lab using TELNET and SLIP clients to 'browse' the web. ELM was used for email. I also had a 9600 baud modem that I used to use to dial into the modem rack at the university to get my 'snupm' email! If I remember I had a Oliveti 386 SX computer with a 160MB hard drive and 4 MB of Ram. I did most of my work in MS Dos since it was quick and nasty. But I also had a copy of Windows 3.0 on there and later installed Red Hat Linux 1. Of course it didn't realy matter what OS was on the machine since most of what I did was via a TELNET client on dialup... I had a little 'trick' (shall we say) to step the telphone company from metering my dialup calls ;-)
Steve Hayes was one of my first 'internet' connections in the Theology / Christian world. Of course I had a few other friends - at that stage mainly hackers, from across the world, that I would connect with.
Yup, good old Archie to find files, Gopher for search and Mosaic and Netscape 1 for browsing!
Was anyone else using the internet on or before 1993? I'd love to hear your stories!
Wow, Mynhardt is posting some REALY thought provoking stuff at the moment! His question about whether one should switch off one's technology for a day made me think.
However, I would like to post my response to him below - it expresses some of my current thinking on an 'integrated' spirituality that does not negate or escape my daily life, but rather embraces it, filling it with greater depth and meaning.
Simply stated, we entrench a dualism between life and spirituality. We think, like the Gnostics did, that in order to truly discover God and ourselves in God we need to escape the world and its demands, intrusions and expectations. I'm not sure that this is healthy.
I think that they way of Jesus was to come into the world, not to escape it - this is the essence of the incarnation. It is costly, difficult and requires great discipline to remain focused, committed and connected to God in the midst of the everyday hustle and bustle.
So, here's what I'm thinking - indeed, we need to find ways to manage our technologies so that they don't end up managing us. But, my iPhone, blackberry, and iPad are all tools that I use to cultivate relationships, facilitate engagement and reflection, and even to consume life giving 'content'.
I think that it would be much more important for me to find ways to encounter people, places and the God of people and places within this daily rhythm, rather than escaping it...
That being said, I still take a 4 day directed silent retreat each year to 'silence the noise' in my spirit...
Conspiring for Hope!
Dion
As always I would love to hear your views, inputs, and perspective!
My friend Mynhardt posted the wonderful reflection below on how a few technologies are changing the way in which people work. Here's a part of his post.
The very nature of business has changed.
Where before the successful businessman was a company orientated person, skilled in the management of policies, deadlines and documents, now the future of business lies more in being a community focused and relationally intelligent person, mastering the arts of connection, contributing and sharing.
Obviously, the tools needed to do the job well looks very different on opposite ends of this spectrum.
We're moving away from spreadsheets, email, printed documents and telephone conversations, as these ways of communicating become increasingly slow, cumbersome and, dare I say weird, to an emerging group of young professionals in the workplace.
Here are 3 of the top tools transforming the way we relate to each other professionally:
Social networks - undermining our reliance on email and voice telephony for communicating, and also creating a new culture of always-on connection;
Mobile technology - fostering a whole generation of young people who are getting to know the internet through their phones, long before they find it anywhere else; and
Geo location services - as our connections are getting more global through our online links, they are also getting more local through the use of location based services, letting you know what's happening just around the corner.
I agree with Mynhardt - indeed, I have experienced what he is talking about. Most of my daily work life (and mission) is 'run' through my iPhone and iPad. A large part of what I do as a coach, mentor and spiritual guide is done through social networking services. I engage with friends and fellow sojourners through social networking services, instant messaging, skype and email.
This got me thinking about a comment that was made by someone the day before Mynhardt's post. We were talking about what the internet was like when it first began (yup, I was at University before the internet! and in fact, I was also at University when the first Mosaic and later Netscape Browsers were launched!). The conversation turned to how the internet was in 2005 - I asked her what was so different from then to now and she commented 'I can hardly imagine the internet without tabbed browsing and twiter'!
Indeed, the internet, and the new generation that were born after the birth of the internet, have grown up with short attention spans, multiple pages loading at the same time, a myriad of tasks being done all at one. Together with this, there has been a radical paradigm shift on the internet from information to social. I remember when I could visit just about every site on the internet (yes, all 100 or so sites) in a single day! The first browsers only loaded text and they were realy just 'pushing' information onto the web. Now, it is all about social interaction, curating information, finding what your peers and social circle find interesting and integrating that into your life. Twitter, facebook, Yelp, Foursquare, Ping these are all social curation tools that personalize the internet to your social and geographical setting.
Indeed, the new world is changing. I foresee a few changes in the world of work in the years to come.
Tasks rather than careers: We are raising people to be task focussed rather than career focussed. Most young people will gain a skill that they will apply for various settings, clients, and locations. For example you may be an editor that lives in Cape Town taking on editing work from all over the world, working on a project by project basis.
Location is criticial: I mean this in two senses, first, the new generation is wanting context relevant applications for their lifestyle and needs - location is critical for one's personal life. For example, if I search for Pizza, I want results that relate to the town in which I live, not some far off place like Chicago! Second, location is also less important in other settings of life, like your work life. I constantly hear young people bemoaning the fact that they have to 'go into the office' or 'go to work'. Because they are used to work on individual tasks (and sometimes multiple tasks at the same time) they want to do it where and when their energy, attention and equipment best allows it.
Stimulation is key: This is the first generation that I know of who have grown up on overstimulation. Since, as Mynhardt points out above, most internet access is gained through a personal, portable, device (smart phone etc.) most young people are accustomed to being constantly connected, having all their information at their fingertips, and being constantly engaged and 'entertained'. I think that we shall find that fewer and fewer people will take on tasks that don't constantly keep them stimulated, challenged and engaged.
I'd love to hear your thoughts on some of the changes that are taking place in the world of work. Also, I'd love to hear how you access the internet (primarily). Is it on a desktop computer, a laptop, or a portable device? Please also share what generation you are from! I have a sense that 'older' folks like me prefer a screen and keyboard, younger people prefer a cell phone.
Christmas, at least as most of us experience it from year to year; is a season of consumption, when waists grow wider and wallets thinner. One of the most powerful biblical texts on the subject of consumption is Isaiah 55:1-5. However, as we shall see it presents a very different perspective on consumption, wealth, and the identity that we, far to frequently, find in what we possess... Or at least in what possess us:
“Come all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come buy wine and milk without money and without cost. Why spend money what is not bread, and your labour on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare. Give ear and come to me; hear me, that your soul may live. I will make an everlasting covenant with you, my faithful love promised to David. See I have made him a witness to the peoples, a leader and commander of peoples. Surely you will summon nations you know not, and nations that do not know will hasten to you, because of the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, for he has endowed you with splendor”
These words from Isaiah are profoundly revealing and, and in what they reveal they are deeply challenging. "Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy?" Let me try to deal with the prophet's questions by asking one of my own.
Beyond mere survival, to what goal are you most directed? With what do you most concern yourself during the course of your waking hours?
Certainly, a variety of things require our attention: what we'll eat, what we'll wear, how we'll accomplish the tasks before us, what we think of ourselves, what others think about us...
These all concern us, but none of them dominates our lives in quite the way that something else does. That thing is so central that it has been called "The Project."
This is a challenging thought! It is impossible to find satisfaction and peace in transient and insubstantial aspects of life - at least this has been my personal experience.
In this message, which was broadcast on Radio Pulpit this week, I consider the topic of your 'life's project' and some encouragements for finding peace and sufficiency as we approach Christmas.
This may well form part of a resource that you can use as you prepare for Advent and Christmas. Christmas and advent resources that get beyond the superficial elements of the season are quite rare! If you have any suggestions of where to get resources for myself or the other readers of this blog please leave a comment in the comments below!
I can certainly suggest that you take a look at John van de Laar's resources - he is one of the most creative and theologically responsible worship resource developers I have come across. His liturgies, prayers, dramas and songs are exceptional. Please see http://www.sacredise.com.
Download the episode of 'The Ministry and Me' here (16MB MP3). I'd love to hear your comments, thought and feedback!
This is my office at Power. The picture was taken using Pano (an iPhone app that stitches photos together to form a wide angle shot). On the very left you can see a picture of me doing the Argus (my first one back in 2001), then my Ordination Certificate as a minister of the Methodist Church of Southern Africa, then a lovely picture of a cross that my daughter Courtney painted for me. Some family photos - my Sony Vaio UX 180 p lives under the orange dusting cloth (I use it to connect to our large Nashua copier / printer at Power since the Nashua does not have an Apple Mac Printer driver...) Then you'll see some scale models of Vespa scooters.
The book on my desk is 'The Church in a Postliberal Age' (a collection of articles from George A Lindbeck, edited by Stanley Hauerwas). Then you'll see my trusty 13" Macbook and an Apple Mighty Mouse, my 32Gig iPad 3G, a cup of Coffe, a stack of mail for a friend, my bookshelf (that has my most used books on it ... I have HUNDREDS of books on shelves at home).
It's a comfy space, quiet enough for counseling and prayer with colleagues. I get a lot of work done here!
Courtney was born in 1999. Mertyl was born in Italy in 1967. I love both of them! Both of them make me smile! But, I love Courtney so much more than Mertyl!
Courtney also happens to like Mertyl... So it is a winning situation for all of us!
Mertyl is a 1967 Vespa Sprint 150cc, VBB. She has been restored twice.
Some months ago I moved from blogger.com to squarespace when blogger stopped supporting FTP to personal domains. I had been contemplating a move for some time since blogger was getting quite slow and restrictive.
I am so pleased that I made the move - squarespace is a hosted blogging service with incredible templates, great feedback and stats, and it just seems to meet my blogging needs.
Today I added two more features to my blog - a retweet button that will allow readers to easily send a post to twitter and a facebook like button. Social networking and social media sharing are a key part of my communication strategy! As such it is critical to make it as easy as possible for readers to interact with the content on this blog in order to save it, forward it, retweet it, or like it on facebook.
Squarespace has a built in 'share' function (see the bottom of this post for the 'share' button - if you click on it you'll see that it allows you to share a blog post to multiple social networking locations and platforms). However, since it is an embedded service very few people make use of it. Quite simply, most of us look for the familiar blue icons of twitter and facebook to share content.
If you have a squarespace blog (or even a wordpress or blogger blog) you can add these buttons to your blog as well. Simply follow these links:
Now, here's where I would like to ask for your help! Please could I ask you to find one article on my blog and test the facebook 'like' button or the twitter 'retweet' button? I'd love to see how they work! Any feedback is welcome (I made the retweet text a simple reference to my twitter username, the reader can add his or her own text to describe the post).
This week Megan and I went for a session with a local play therapist. It too the form of an interview to prepare the therapist for some time that she will spend with our little girl Courtney.
After Courtney's diagnosis, surgery and treatment for her brain tumor we considered that it may be a good idea for her to have some help in processing what she has been through.
Cancer can be scary for a person of any age, can you imagine what a challenge it is for an 11 year old?
Also, we have picked up that Courts is asking one or two difficult questions and has been working through the events of the past three months.
It was a tough meeting - Megan was quite emotional. It broke my heart. We spoke about our own sense of helplessness as parents. How we had wished to be able to remove the pain, calm her fears, and take the hardship upon ourselves. We also spoke about the joy, and guilt, that we felt with her diagnosis. She is better! Yet, there are some who are not.
But, I do know that this is part of the process of dealing with the wound. It will be better. Nothing worthwhile comes without some struggle. We certainly experienced this, first hand, as we celebrated Liam's 4th birthday this week. Indeed, the first four years of his life have also had their fair share of difficulty.
Then, on Friday evening we visited with some friends. Etienne Piek, a close friend who currently heads up the Global Day of Prayer (he is leaving to work with 24/7 Prayer in London in a few weeks), was there. And so was my friend Cois, the head of Pneumatix (a media and arts training academy in Somerset West). The three of us were sharing some of our challenges around the fire. Etienne is having to be away from his family quite a bit. Cois has faced some challenges with the credit crunch. And I spoke about the session with the play therapist.
Etienne made a remark that has stuck with me. He said 'Be careful that you don't cherish your pain too much.'
These are wise words. I think if I understood his statement correctly he was warning all of us not to become too dependent upon the sympathy that comes from suffering, and the sense of 'righteous suffering' that we often feel when we face hardships. Indeed, I have experienced both in abundant measures. People have lovingly care, and I have felt sorry for myself and my family.
Of course the reality is that there does come a time when one must 'turn one's face into the storm' and sail forward. I feel that this December will be a time for me, and our family, to connect, have fun, and look beyond the challenges of 2010 towards 2011.
I doubt that we shall ever be completely free from the hollow feeling that we felt as we went through the last few months, but I do know that we cannot allow that to stop us from enjoying the blessing of life in abundance! We need to be careful that we don't get stuck in the past, stuck in our struggle, and in so doing miss out on our glorious and blessed present!
I know that there are many others out there who have faced far greater struggle than we have, perhaps the death of a child, the suffering of a wife or husband, or the personal struggle with a terminal illness. How have you coped with the emotions, and fears, that go along with these events? I'd love to hear your input and feedback!
The 3 days of mountainbiking that make up the Contego Wines2Whales was one of the highlights of my year! It was pure bliss to spend more than 20 hours in the saddle over the 3 days, riding 230 or so kilometers.
Today a friend Philip (who also rode the race) sent me some links to the superb highlight videos from the first 2 days of riding!
Take a look at this and you'll see why it was so much fun!
Day 1 video highlights
Day 2 video highlights
As I mentioned in my previous pre (and post) race posting my cycling partner Greg and I had a super ride! We managed 7.30 on the first stage (a very tough day in the mud and rain). On day two we ripped up the single track with a respectable 6.24 and on the final day we braved the long road over the mountains from Grabouw to Hermanus with a time of 6.40.
If you rode the ride, or know someone who did, I'd love to hear your feedback and insights! Drop me a comment below.
Friday, December 3, 2010 at 2:43PM 
