wow, finally got to the end of that book that i promised to share with you about two weeks ago, it's not that i am a slow reader but i have had to process a lot of thoughts which came up in the book and i think i will have to reread a few chapters, if not the whole thing to get a real handle on all that was said....however the book was brian d mclarens 'everything must change'...and w hat a read it was, challenging not only our whole world outlook but the systems which 'currently' hold our world together.
i am afraid that i won't do the book justice by trying to expand or explain any of the deep thoughts that it has provoked in me, i am not that eloquent and besides i wouldn't know where to start, but there is enough to say that brian spent a lot of time talking with the poor and needy of our world to try to get an overview of the way they have been oppressed by the current system and to read a chapter about his trip to khayelitsha, meaning new home, a township in cape town....(it would be easy to say a township on the edge of cape town, but townships, especially ones of the size of khayelitsha are part of the towns and cities in south africa, so i say 'in')....where we at thembalitsha are working, was interesting to say the least.
i would urge all of you to read this wonderful book, many of brian's thoughts have been things that i have been working through for years, but to have them held together with such insight was very helpful, i just need to digest it and put these challenges into action....something that will come easier as we make our move to south africa in the autumn but some points should be dealt with right now here in my western lifestyle in england.
i was touched by a few short passages towards the end of the book as brian talked about the story of a south american family who went to help some indigenous people in argentina, the thoughts and deeds of this family certainly touched a cord in my heart, here are some extracts from that short chapter, which i hope won't be so out of context that you miss the point, but if they only speak to me again as i type them out then hey maybe its for me to hear and for you to read when you have read the other 32 chapters of the book!
"for followers to believe in him (Jesus) meant - and means - not only that we have faith 'in' Jesus, but also that we share the faith 'of' Jesus: that our world is on a suicidal trajectory, and that our lives can make a difference. whilst most of us won't be called to sacrifice our physical lives (but many may), having faith 'in' Jesus and sharing the faith 'of' Jesus will lead all of us to make what an early disciple called 'a living sacrifice'. we will give up the life we could have lived, the life we would have lived - pursuing pleasure, leisure, treasure, security, whatever. and instead, we live a life dedicated to replacing the suicide machine with a sacred ecosystem, a beautiful community, an insurgency of healing and peace, a creative global family, an unterror movement of faith, hope and love."
speaking of the family and their work with the people group they were called to brian writes..."their family were careful not to do what too many whites do: they didn't want to 'assist' the people in paternalizing ways that would only wound their dignity even further, fostering dependence and humiliation. so instead, they asked the people what their biggest problem was, and they offered to join them as helpers solving it"...amen (my amen).....further on he writes his question as to why the locals hadn't started to help themselves before the 'whites' had come to help, the reply from the small charity was "the people had no hope", "when people have no hope, all they think about is scraping by for one more day. there is no tomorrow, there is no creativity, there is no will to organise, people can't even think straight, because they have no hope"....and to conclude the charity worker finishes by saying "no, we were there because we genuinely loved them - no, not just that - we liked them.....it wasn't the resource we bought that made a difference. it was our presence. we were simply among them as people with hope, among them as people with love, and that made the difference. they caught our hope"
then speaking of Jesus brian brings this whole thinking and way of living together "he simply let the people know he liked them - and so did God, that he was interested in them, that they didn't have to be ashamed of who they were. he came close to them in their illness, wept with them at the graves of their loved ones, ate at their tables, drank their wine, listened to their words, let himself be injured by their pain - and, although it isn't recorded in any of the gospels, i imagine he laughed at some of their jokes too'.
i loved the whole book, but this chapter really spoke to me, this is what we want to do in the small town in south africa as we seek to serve that community, which is already being loved and cared for by the thembacare team, may we be Jesus to those people and help change their lives as we serve them.....
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