Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Oh, Those Things We Should Have Done
[via ThinkChristian.NET]

Deeper Flavors of Diversity

"Many waters cannot quench love," I pondered Solomon's words sitting on a dusty porch in West Africa, the afternoon downpour pounding on the tin roof over my head. "But they certainly do a good job trying to drown it."

....Loving across cultures means that both sides release their grip on familiarity in order to experience deeper flavors of diversity.

While many waters could not quench our love, their rough waves have certainly smoothed our rough edges. In all of these ways, we embrace our own culture while keeping our arms open to the other.
[via The Link Between, HT: a comment from this post]

Fishing For Substance

"Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day….
Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime."

On an international scale, this poignant proverb has moved hearts, opened wallets and enjoyed widespread popularity in relief and development literature. It correctly identifies the temporal quality of much aid work and demonstrates the need for development beyond the limits of most projects in relief situations.

However, this little proverb carries with it inherent assumptions that need to be examined more closely: {continue...}
[via Ministry To The Homeless, HT: The Link Between]

A setback is a set up for a comeback.
[via Hope From Ashes]

Friday, June 20, 2008

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Those Who Stay, Those Who Leave

Great natural disasters, such as hurricanes or tidal waves, strike our world. Where there is warning, a few brave souls usually choose to remain in their homes. The vast majority of the inhabitants flee the coming devastation. After the storm abates, those who are able to do so return home. And at times there is a pattern that emerges between the lines of the news reports that are written for the world to read. Often there is a striking contrast between those who stay and those who leave. The hearts of the survivors are often full of gratitude that they are still alive. The returnees at times see only devastation and feel only anguish. The one who is lashed by the storm is often the one who is grateful.
from Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes: Cultural Studies in the Gospels, by Kenneth E. Bailey, [HT: Radical Womanhood]

Tuesday, June 03, 2008

Never Far Apart

A couple of weeks ago I read an article in the New York Times about a Buddhist couple who chose to live their lives never being separated by more than fifteen feet. They shared food, books, bed, and the rest of their daily existence never far apart.

It struck me that that is a level of committed intimacy that most of us couldn’t handle, and I wondered how we would be different with each other, having shared that level of intimacy on a daily basis. {continue...}
[via Randall Friesen]