Whites in black

This week has seen some history in he making in South Africa. The call for our president Jacob Zuma to step down are not new but we saw them reach a new level during this weeks protest marches which took place on Friday. Social media is a wash with photos,  articles and posts. To march or not to march, this was the question ! Middle class, aging, hippy , (Doug calls me a liberal  and thats ok, christian and wife ... mother of 4 white sons. All these hats collide in this one decision.

Honesty it was painful. I umed and aaed. Jacob Zuma is not a worthy president and I do want him to step down. The complex issues around land and ecconomy and social justice have all  found a home in my indecision. And so I asked God for his insight and direction.

I landed on a prayer meeting in our home to start the day which was attended by a few dear woman. We wresteled and asked our requests of the Lord. As we sat in the comfortable lounge , sipping coffe and praying we could begin to hear the hooting and whooping from main road.

And so we went to check the lay of the land.......

I am no stranger to protest marches. My young adult days were in the heiht of the 80/90 when the country was in chaos . The struggle for freedom had reached its heiht and deals were beeing struck. It was a heady, scary, war time. Dougie was invovled with the NC as a representative on the JHB sub region. We were in the thick of things.  Marching back then was not for sissies but at least our white skin sort of saved us. Soldiers in big, yellow war machines looked on in disgust as we shared the way with the other but the same. These protesters meant business. Collecting stones to defend and break down.
It was always a risk to march pre 1994 . And yet if felt right. It was right.

One Unday afternoon, I remember the radio announced aother bomb...... Do0ugs feelow comrade Susan Keen had been killed. We wept and held each other. We went to the ANC lead funeral and wept some more. Oh cry for our beloved country.

And yet,.... here we are. How did we get here. I mean this collectively and personally.

And so I stood on the road side while Doug stayed away. It felt to me like a rugby game tour or one of those 2010 world football matches or perhaps a concert of sort. It felt like that more than a protest despite the calls and hoots. When it was over, we walked back to comfy suburbia . I did not feel like I personally accomplished much. You see my fellow white people and I have never really been on the same page politically. I have spent much of my life alone in my ideas . Except for Dougie. Of course. It is difficult being white and radical and christian. It is lonely.

This week the most exciting thing that happend was that on FaceBook, I stumbled upon great conversations and challenging conversations. There are in fCt other whiteys who are Christ followers who "get it".

Thank you Lord. The struggle within  and without continues.

A Blessing Indeed

It is that time again. Our third son ,S amuel David Falconer , turned 13. We invited our close and good friends around to share their blessings on being a teenager with Sam. It was a lovley, windy day and the lounge was full of noise and bustle.

We began with our Sam's precious godparents Col and Sam sharing with him.we are enormously priveledged to be in deep community with our brothers and sisters in Christ and I do not take this for granted. Man and women speaking truth over and in our son was a deeply moving and delightful thing. This little cerimony takes a while and yet everyone, including children, sit patiently listening. In reality, Sam might remember , well nothing of what was said. But God was honoured and glorified. SAM was prayed for and we were encouraged. What Sam will remember is the feelkng of that day. Tht people who love hi  shared and cared enoun to speak . He will remember the men who are available for any future time of advice. He will have felt loved.

Thank you to each person who came and shared life with us and thank you Jesus for again being who you are to us and for us.

Top Trump

One of the reasons I decided to start a blog was as a result of wanting to say more on forums such as Facebook and realizing that it was not the right space to do it. People can choose to read my blog posts or not.

So it is with the inauguration and the beginning of the presidency of Donald Trump.

My heart is full of concern and shock as we begin this presidency.
Almost daily he has managed to offend, tell half truths, and justify such things as torture  without reasoned argument but just because "it works!"

Duh! Of course it works but is it legal? 

This is a man who stirs the pot. He causes people to draw a line in the sand and he makes many people angry. Myself included!

He has brought people out in large numbers in protest of the ideals he stands for. 

However, the one thing I think he is that stands head and shoulders above all the issues people have with him is this one.

Danger!

He is dangerous for several reasons.

1. He creates his own truth or alternate truth.

This week we watched an interview with Trump where he over simplifies the issue; didn't manage to answer the questions; attacked the journalist who was interviewing him and twisted the truth. All of these points are concerning but I think the most concerning is his attack on truth.

Look at what he said about his own inauguration and the numbers.


. http://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/1/21/14347952/trump-spicer-press-conference-crowd-size-inauguration

This is a very helpful watch and I agree with this premise that it is TRUTH that is under attack.

Trump seems to be a bumbling man who does not  know his left from his right but perhaps there is more at stake here and his path is quite clear and direct. If only to him.


2. Donald Trump has managed , in is inaugural speech, to create confusion around who and what Christianity actually is. 

http://www.desiringgod.org/interviews/john-piper-s-prayer-for-donald-trump

I found This prayer for Trump extremely helpful.
I feel strongly that we, who are believers in Jesus, need to speak out against the misunderstanding that Trump and America represents Christianity.
America is NOT Gods Kingdom come on earth and Trump is not the saviour.

Jesus is for ALL people - Muslims and Mexicans, gay and lesbian people, black people and yes even women. God wants ALL people to come to a saving knowledge of Jesus and in repentance and faith come to know the living God and be saved from the consequence of sin.

ALL people.

The us and them speak." The we will sort you out " bully speak of his speech was not only deeply concerning but also deeply saddening.

3. The influence that his actions and words have do not just stay in America.

His sexist and racist ideas create a space for sexism and racism to raise their evil heads and thrive. Living in a country where we are desperately trying to work through the painful , destructive past where these ideals flourished, I find this reality extremely concerning. It is as if because he says it out loud  and with some authority , it makes it ok.

The way forward.

 *Pray for Donald Trump and his government.
 *Trust God because he is sovereign and nothing has slipped from his loving control and plan, even this.
* speak out- protest and do not be silent against evil
* be grateful for all that is good and those glimmers of heaven we see on earth

Civil War is not Very relaxing!

I write this post with a very heavy and fearful heart. I know I must face the truth and turn and face our great God in whom I trust, and yet my heart is quickening as I write these words.

What in the world is causing all this turmoil?

Well, I know I am not alone in my angst and fear and who knows what other emotion. I know that countless fellow South Africans sit in my seat and share my thoughts and fears. even if they have not voiced them aloud.

I have written of my childhood and my views and activism in the days preceding post Apartheid . My activist heart still beats strongly within myself and yet I find myself stumbling and faltering.

This weekend , a dear friend invited me to Stellenberg and to the open garden on show. It was a beautiful day and the gardens were absolutely, uniquely spectacular and thoughtful. We wallked and talked and walked some more. We covered many deep subjects and amongst them was the state of play in South Africa.

She works in the NGO sector and had recently been in a Restitution workshop.  And so we talked.......

The conclusions we drew from her workshop ( which saw the likes of Thuli Madonsela and the like) went as follows...

1. What happened when we had free and fair elections in 1997 was indeed a travesty for the future of our country. We had peace THEN but the cost was and is being felt now because in reality NO ONe paid for their crimes against black South Africa . More than that we ALL sat back inder the rainbow nation sky and did..... well nothing. 

#Problem- reconciliation takes hard work

2. People in South Africa are angry and the #feesmustfall protests are an indication of this anger. This will not go away and we need to sit up and take note.

3. What can we do , as white South Africans , who benefited from the system of Apartheid, to show, give or do restitution?

4. I am viewed as a Settler - when will I become a native?

As I listen to the ramblings of the politicians of the day, I begin to despair all the more. What can be done by those who have power and or financial will, to show and act in a way that helps and builds into the lives of South Africans - broken by our past and present reality.

I came home feeling afraid and low.

Today, Jet and I watched CNN student news and we watched the state of Syria. The visuals show a city destroyed by a 5 year civil war. The images are amongst the mot disturbing I have seen.  Not because they were gross or bloody but because they showed the city, broken and desolate. We watched a BBC history of Syria and tried to get to grips with the pain and struggle of our fellow human beings.

Civil War is not very relaxing!

This was a poster Doug had in the days of Apartheid. Indeed it is not!

Do we approach a similar future?

I dare to ask?

I asked my friend what the workshop proposed. Go and tell white people that they need to stop being in active and they need to realise that they have to give back.

This was her answer. 

And so... I write and say, we who were the privileged need to wake up and do what is right.

And then I stop and turn to my beautiful and great God and ask for his help in time of need. His wisdom and grace to face an uncertain future. Where the likes of Julius Malema fuel a fire that is already alight.

I pray for our beloved country. I am viewed as a settler but I am part of the soil. This is my home yet it is a place where I am a foreigner. That is ok. I have a hope and a home in eternity. My real home and this is the great reminder that I need to apply as a salve to my wounded, weeping soul.

Cry the beloved Country indeed!

The Selfishness of Self

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We live at a time in the history of the world where the "self " is what life is about. Self -fulfilment ; self- worth; self -actualisation ; making sure that the self is whole and happy seems to be a core value for most of us.

No where more illustrated in the  obsession with taking the perfect "selfie."

(Not that it is wrong to take a selfie)

Tim Kelller has written a fantastic little book called " the Freedom of Self-forgetfulness. He penned the ideas but actually God is the origional author and designer of the idea.

It is  a deeply challenging read, if you call yourself a Christian.

The key idea here is that man is so occupied with looking after the ego - the self . How do we do this?

well, through Pride and Boasting!

Mmm, doesnt that just hit the nail on the head?

The thing that is so tricky here as I navigate my own heart before the Lord is not just that I have a selfish and sinful ego but that I have children who have selfish- sinful egos. The obsession with taking care of our ego is not just limited to our own self but if we are parents, we are either helping our kids to recognise that pride and boasting or we are fanning it into fame.

That our children are proud and will easily boast or compare and compete is real and all to obviously prevelant in the world. There are so many oportunities to shine offered to modern kids.

What to do about it and how to mannage it is quite another.

I asked a bunch of kids I teach art to to write me some of the things they are grateful for. 

The list was slow in comming and short. Had I asked them to list all the things they are good at or want to get, I wonder what that list would have looked like?

I think we have been duped! I think we have subtly bought the lie that if our kids have lots of good ego boosts in their worlds through sport, academics art and drama etc, then they will be happy. We say out loud, " Oh no we know that this is not true" BUT we act in a way that we believe it is. I see it again and again. I see it in my own heart and in the heart of those around me. 

Social meda is full of parents boasting and prideful posts of the fantastic things their kids do. And they really are fantastic. 

That is not the point.

I wonder how we are helping our children grasp that Jesus has a whole other agenda for their hearts. His call his BIG and true and it will cost. 

I hope that others who read this might wrestle side by side with me in this very treaturous water of fostering pride and boasting versus other centeredness and humility.

After all it is the Lord who gave each and every beautiful talent to our children!!

Comming Home!

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/ig6klFwvSMg/maxresdefault.jpg

He is comming home. We have finally taken the decision to bring him home at the end of the term, not the end of the year. Yipeeee!

He is so thrilled and so am I. 

Life is not exactly straight pathed , now is it?

I am totally not ready - but he is.

I am not settled on anything for certain for our learning journey - he is ok with that.

He is ready!

Thats what counts.

*

Faith enough to stand

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We are covering a series on some of the faithful hero's from Gods word.

Daniel!

A man taken from his home as young teen and lead into captivity where he and his friends remained for the remainder of their lives. Young teenagers offered everything and more that a foreign, godless society had to offer, for Babylon was the center of it all. 

Four young men chosen to sit at the Kings table and share in his delights.

The thing is they already had a king. Their king was and is the king of the universe and so they chose not to submit themselves to the rule of the earthly king but to him who is true and faithful. 

Daniel , a young teenager and his friends, chose to stand for God . First in the small test of food and then later, in the more profound choice of life.

Our teens are not really in a different place. The choices they have to make stand. They have to choose for the king and ruler of this world or they have to choose to stand for God. In the small decisions with their mouths and speech and in the bigger ones of what to do with their feet and hands.

And in the big one which is speaking out about him no matter the cost!

Small choices lead to bigger ones.

Honouring God in the small ones means that he strengthens them in Character and they are able and willing to stand in the bigger ones.

If Daniel could do it  in a hostile world and Gods word proves that both God and Daniel were faithful, then I know modern teens can do it too!!