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Movie Review: Dead on Arrival?

Brett Fish
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Movie Review: Dead on Arrival?

A few of us watched the movie ‘Arrival’ last night.

If you haven’t heard of it, don’t be too surprised. It was one of those movies I expected to sneak in and out without too much attention, after I saw the trailer a week ago. Starring Amy ‘Enchanted’ Adams and Jeremy ‘Hawkeye’ Renner and directed by a relative unknown in Denis Villeneuve [Prisoners and Sicario] it didn’t have the draw power of the similar space-themed looking Chris Pratt/Jennifer Lawrence vehicle ‘Passengers’ that is coming soon.

When I watched the trailer, my response was ‘Meh!’ and I didn’t give it a second thought.

HOW I ENDED UP WATCHING IT

On Monday I bumped into Spling, a friend of mine who happens to be one of Cape Town’s frontline movie reviewers. After catching up, I asked him if there were any movies he’d seen recently that jumped out at him. He instantly went to ‘Arrival’ saying that it had kind of an ‘Interstellar’ vibe. I was really surprised because the trailer had not done anything for me at all, and I said so, but he was convincing in how good it was.

When I arrived at home I googled the movie and found a second trailer which actually did look a bit better. I then made a Facebook status inviting friends to come watch with us tonight. So many people jumped on to say they had seen it and it was amazing. One friend said that one of his friends had seen it and immediately added it to her list of top five movies EVER. Well, you can’t argue with that science. So we organised some friends and family and went to go watch.

ARRIVAL

The premise of the movie is that 12 mysterious pod-shaped spaceships arrive in random cities around the world (the closest they can come to finding a pattern is that Shania Twain scored a hit in every one of them). The chief focus becomes trying to communicate with the hand-like (I kid you not) creatures that inhabit the ships, which seem at least related to the aliens from Independence Day

Louise Banks (Adams) is a linguist of note who is brought in to try to figure out communication with the extraterrestrial beings before the imminent global war takes place. Ian Donnelly (Renner) is a scientist and we’re never quite sure why he is there except as a possible love interest for Banks.

There is also a related back story concerning Louise’s daughter who is inflicted with an unknown disease and therein lies the premise for the movie’s twist.

UM

That was the sum total of the Facebook status I posted after the movie had finished – “Um.” It does give a pretty good summary of how I experienced the movie. There were five of us who saw it together and I’m not convinced any of us will be rushing it on to our top five lists any time soon. Top five movies I saw last night, definitely, but beyond that? Meh.

Not that it was particularly bad. I have seen a lot worse than ‘Arrival’ and imagine that I will continue to see movies that are not at the same level. For me it felt like a similar feeling I had when I watched ‘Contact’ with Jodie Foster, which was similar in theme in so many ways.

It’s just that it was quite slow and held together a number of implausible moments which didn’t feel particularly well explained. And the little twist moment, everyone saw coming a mile away.

When I posted my initial reflections on Facebook, once again people jumped in with their “but it’s so great” responses and I’m just glad that all five of us that saw it together had similar response to the movie, so I know it’s not just me.

But if you haven’t seen Contact and you really enjoy sci-fi mystery character development movies then Arrival just may be your thing. Who knows? Maybe this will make its way on to your top five of all time list? I just know that for me it’s going to take more than 12 mystery space pods to dislodge Guardians of the Galaxy and the other four that are firmly stationed on mine.

 

Are you going to the Justice Conference 2017?

Brett Fish
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Are you going to the Justice Conference 2017?

In a world crying out for justice, where do you find yourself?

In South Africa in 1994, many people around the world called it a miracle when our first free and fair elections went off pretty peacefully. We were lulled into a false sense of security with the image of a Rainbow Nation making us all think everything was okay.

But 21 years later, things are not okay. Many people around our country (and across the world it must be said) are in desperate need of justice. Race incidents and inequality, poverty and a huge and growing gap between the haves and have-nots threaten to challenge the miracle transition we celebrated so long ago.

It feels like Revolution is coming, but how will that look? And what can we do to help our country head towards better and stronger days.

WHAT DO WE DO?

Well one exciting thing that is going to be happening in South Africa in 2017 is the Justice Conference that is taking place in March.

Following in the footsteps of America, Hong Kong, Australia, The Netherlands, New Zealand and Brazil, South Africa is the first African country to be hosting this exciting event.

In the words of the organisers themselves:

Over the past 18 months, we have seen the emergence of a new generation of young South African activists rising up with a determination to finish what their elders started, to see the spirit of apartheid fall. Young Christian leaders have participated and engaged enthusiastically, and inspirationally, in this movement, speaking out boldly into the economic, educational, social and political realms. They have garnered national attention, have walked boldly in the public space, and have spoken truth to power at every turn.

These young leaders will frame the struggle for justice in South Africa over the next two decades. Over and again, we have heard South African’s young and old alike, struggle to find coherence between their faith and their pursuit of a just world. This disconnect between the theology we hear preached in church and the theology we’re walking into on the streets, has left some disillusioned and discouraged. Many students have struggled to find the language of justice they hear spoken by their peers echoed back to them by their churches, by their pastoral leadership, or in their scripture. We, like them, are thirsty for a faith that has something significant to say – in thought, in word, and in deed – to the fight for justice we’re finding ourselves engaged in day to day.

Is there a connection between the faith so many have and the need for justice in our land? The organisers of the Justice Conference seem to think so and that question will frame the plenaries, conversations, workshops and spaces of creativity over those two days.

TO SOUTH AFRICA AND BEYOND

One hope with the Justice Conference seems to be that the engagements around justice will lead to actions which will impact South Africa and then spread out and affect the rest of the continent as well.

One of the heartbeats of putting this conference together is that the process is going to be as important as the outcome – this is NOT going to be another conference of middle-aged white men speaking at an audience. Young and old, representing a spectrum of background and races, there is a collective energy that is resonating outwards and starting to build massive anticipation from a number of organisations and churches that are entering partnership with the conference.

With Cape Town having hosted the first ever Restitution Conference of South Africa just a couple of weeks ago, it really does seem like we are starting to take important issues seriously and seek out real trasnformative change. The quest for the rainbow that we would all love to see become a reality seems to really be gaining traction in the most positive of ways.

How can you get involved? Well start following the conversations happened on Twitter at @JusticeConfSA and you can also find them on Facebook: @ thejusticeconferenceSA and on Instagram: @thejusticeconferencesa.

Consider grabbing a group of friends and travelling to the conference together. Spread the word and help get other people excited about this. Head on over to the website at http://www.thejusticeconference.co.za/why_south_africa/ and read up more.

It is time that we realised that Jesus and Justice are not competing with each other but are completely intertwined. As much as God is a God of Love, He is definitely a God of Justice as well.

I am committing myself to being at the conference in March. Are you?

Also what are some of the issues of justice you would love to see dealt with at this conference? Let’s hear your ideas in the comments below.

Three ideas for Christmas gifts

Brett Fish
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Three ideas for Christmas gifts

Tis the season for giving and getting gifts?

What does Christmas mean to you? Family, friends, feasts, festivities, fpresents? (we were doing so well with the f words that I had to improvise with that last one, unless my editor caught the f and spelled it ‘presents’ in which case this makes no sense whatsoever. Thanks editor!)

For a lot of people, Christmas can be a very lonely time. And with over a month and a half to go before it hits, I thought this would be a good time to challenge us towards some more exciting opportunities.

Here are just three I thought of, but I’m sure you have others you can share with us in the comments below.

INVITE  A STRANGER

Both my and my wife’s family have a habit of inviting people they know are going to be alone to join us for our Christmas meal. As a child I didn’t really get this (please explain these things to children!!!) because it felt like someone was invading our special family time. But now that I understand how sucky it must be to be alone at a time when most people are celebrating, it is something we have tried to incorporate into our own rhythms.

So look around you – is there someone in the office, a friend you’ve met at the gym or maybe someone at church who always sits by themselves – and find a person or family that you can invite to join you for your big meal. Let your Christmas meal be a time of giving the gift of hospitality to someone who otherwise might have been by themselves.

What about that person on the street corner that you have started building some kind of relationship with? Maybe you buy ‘The Big Issue’ from the same person every week or have found a particular person on  the streets to help out with food. Would it be so revolutionary to invite them into your house?

When you get married, Christmas can become a bit of a logistically tricky time as you now have two families plus your new one to figure out Christmas for. So this year my wife and I will be doing Christmas Eve with our folks and Christmas day with hers. But then we have chosen to do something on the night of Christmas where we can invite others into our home. Some who are good friends and others who might have otherwise spent that time by themselves.

GIVE TO SOMEONE IN NEED

One thing I absolutely hate about Christmas is the notion of spending huge amounts of money on things people don’t need. And often don’t even really want. The popular purpose of Christmas seems to be for us to not be  wise in our spending but to “go a little wild” and buy things we would never consider the rest of the year.

Which is why my wife and I decided we are not going to do Christmas presents this year. At least not to family and friends. We are on the lookout for a giving opportunity that will be significant to whoever receives it. A person who is struggling financially or a family in need.

I remember one Christmas a few years ago when I worked out all the money I was going to spend on Christmas presents and instead divided it up between two families that I found who were struggling to make ends meet. To my friends and family it was one less nice thing, but to those people it was something that made a difference.

How would your country look if everyone decided that instead of giving to those who already have so much, we look instead to those in need.

COMMIT TO A LONGER TERM INVESTMENT

Lastly, a powerful gift we can give this year for Christmas is the gift of commitment. You might be sitting there thinking, “But I don’t have any money, I can’t do this.” But there are things beyond money that we can give. Time, energy, expertise, stuff and even presence are five things that come to mind.

What is a commitment I can make to a need that will be ongoing in 2017? Perhaps it is committing to tutor a high school or varsity student who is struggling with a subject I am skilled in. Maybe it’s finding an old person in a home who doesn’t get any visitors and popping in once a week to listen to their stories or take them a small gift. It could be offering to mow your neighbour’s lawn because you know they don’t have a lawn mower or the time. And a hundred other things.

Two of the things Val and I have committed money to are a person and a project. We give money with some friends of ours to help someone we know finish their studies. We give some money to a place of safety for children. Neither of those amounts are all that huge, but alongside other people who have made the same commitment, it starts to make a difference.

Instead of letting Christmas bankrupt us this year for largely meaningless or unnecessary things people don’t need, how about we take a few moments to really consider where we are going to spend and invest this year. That will have an impact on many lives heading into 2017.

Who is with me?

Let your friends know you love them: a tribute to Rob Lloyd

Brett Fish
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Let your friends know you love them: a tribute to Rob Lloyd

Do your friends know how you feel about them?

Tomorrow, the 15th of November 2016, it will be exactly a year since my best mate, Rob Lloyd, died.

At 33 years of age, he was taken early by the beast that cancer was. That it is.

I remember a moment we shared in the hospital, just him and me, about a week or two before he died, where we took the time to say some stuff. That had to be one of the hardest moments of my life because it is acknowledging the worst possible outcome. But far better than missing out on it completely, he said some stuff, I said some stuff, and it was just between him and me. And it was so so special.

WE DON’T ALWAYS GET WARNINGS

When I was in my last year at high school, my friend Matthew Beamish went for a cycle on the night of his 18th birthday. He was knocked over by a drunk driver and he died. Completely out of the blue, no time for anyone to have any last-minute conversations. A whole lot of people stood up at his funeral and said a bunch of stuff, but as far as Matt was concerned, it was all a little late. Especially because his life had had a huge impact on so many people, but the majority of them only realised it after he was gone.

But Rob battled with cancer for a couple of years. So while we never wanted to face the possibility that it would be terminal, we still had many opportunities to let him know how much we loved him.

I miss Rob far more than I ever thought I would. Because as much as he meant to me, I tend to be someone who moves on, who lives in the now, who doesn’t dwell much on the past. But I think about Rob pretty much every single day. (I never believed people who lost someone who said that, but now I really know it to be true).

TELL THOSE AROUND YOU

For the first few years of our marriage I would joke with my wife Val about things I wanted at my funeral. Some of them were really silly things that were more a case of me wanting to be a little controversial now that I was no longer there. But some of them were things I really wanted to see.

So on my 40th birthday, she hosted a party for me and filled it with a bunch of things I had asked for at my funeral. The best of those was three of my good friends, including Rob, performing a slightly changed version of Mumford’s ‘Hopeless Wanderer’ (one of my favourite songs).  I watched the video of that performance again this morning to remind me of the life and fun and amazingness of my best mate.

But the other highlight was some of my favourite people taking moments to tell stories about me and remind me publicly of reasons they really, really like me. I was completely moved to tears on a number of occasions.

DON’T WAIT TIL IT’S TOO LATE

Firepools, Brexit and now Donald Trump as president of America. The world certainly seems to have gone a little bit mad in the last few years and there is not a lot of certainty as to where to from here. But maybe those things can help give us the push we need in terms of making the most of the opportunities we have with the people we love.

But above all, I want this to be a reminder to you to find ways to tell the people who are important to you that you love them and why. With Christmas just around the corner, one way of saving money on gifts is by writing letters to people, creating a card, making a short video – telling someone you think they are special. I know that I would appreciate that kind of thing more than any gift you could spend money on.

Even as you read this though, stop and pause and think of three people who you really care about but haven’t told lately. Grab your phone and just send them, even just a one liner, via text of Whatsapp saying, “You are important to me because…”

Don’t wait until you’re standing at someone’s funeral to say the words they could really use hearing today.

The books I read: how can man try better?

Brett Fish
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The books I read: how can man try better?

I arrived late at my country’s history.

That is to say, I grew up being fed a very specific history at school, one that favoured the white colonists and made it seem like we were the heroes and main players in our country’s past.

The truth is that the same thing has happened around the world. “When did Columbus discover America?” We ask. Conveniently ‘forgetting’ that he and his men bartered with the indigenous people who were there, as well as butchering and enslaving the locals for their own end and purposes.

The saying ‘History is written by the winners’ gives us some background to this idea. Maybe more telling is that when I googled the statement to see who said it, the answer was Winston Churchill.

The answer was also Walter Benjamin and Dan Brown [author of ‘The Da Vinci Code’ and other bestsellers. It may even have been Hermann Göring, Napoleon Bonaparte and George Orwell. Another layer that has been added to the fact that the victors generally narrate the story of how events unfolded (deciding who the hero is as well as the villains) is that we can’t even trust the online ‘facts’.

One of my favourite online quote memes is this beauty from Abraham Lincoln (who died well before the internet was born):

Lincoln Meme

CATCHING UP

So when my wife and I returned to South Africa, I realised that I needed to have a more rounded version of the history of my country. I especially needed to hear the voices of people of colour telling the story of what had happened in the past from their perspective.

The first book I got my hands on, which still rates as my most helpful book, was the Robert Sobukwe book, ‘How can man die better?’ What followed for me was Steve Biko’s ‘I write what I like’. Other books that helped fill in some of the gaps were Antjie Krog ‘Country of my skull’ and ‘Begging to be black’, Frank Chikane’s ‘No life of my own’ and Desmond Tutu’s ‘No future without forgiveness’. I am busy working my way through Rian Malan’s ‘My traitor’s heart’ with the tagline ‘A South African exile returns to face his country, his tribe, and his conscience.’

Next up I am hoping to read Frantz Fanon’s ‘Black Skin, White Masks’ which apparently gives insight into a more broader African perspective.

LET OTHER VOICES IN

The point is this – that if we continue to read the things we’ve always read and continue to only listen to voices like us (whoever they may be) then we are only likely to have our present ideas confirmed to us. The moment I invite voices that are different to what I am used to into the conversation, that is when learning, challenge and a perspective shift are more likely to happen.

So for me that has become voices of woman, it has become writers of colour, it has even become authors who subscribe to a different faith than I do. Not so that I will agree with them on everything they say or think, but so that I can stick the things I hold to under a microscope and see if they hold up. So that I can entertain new ideas from fresh perspectives, with different insights and hopefully learn a more accurate truth about the world and myself.

This extends beyond books to podcasts and blogs and articles and videos. It even plays out in the types of people I choose to follow on Twitter and the friends I connect with on Facebook and so on. By enlarging my boundaries, I increase the size of my world and the opportunities to learn and grow and transform are endless.

How are you doing in this? What are some of the books you have read that have shifted your perspectives on things? Who are some of the people you listen to who are different from you but have helped give you a fresh perspective on life, politics, religion or another area? Please share some examples with us in the comments. 

Let’s Christmas it forward

Brett Fish
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Let’s Christmas it forward

Christmas is just around the corner.

In fact, this article is probably just for men, because if you’re a woman you probably did all your Christmas shopping back in April, right?

If you’re a guy like me, then it’s not the night before, the night before Christmas yet, so it still feels like there is a LOT of time.

This year, my wife tbV [the beautiful Val] and myself came up with a great idea for Christmas presents: Don’t have any!

(Waits for you to stop hyperventilating and pick yourself up off the floor before continuing)

THE PERSON WHO HAS EVERYTHING

Each year there’s always that big question.

“What do you give the person who has everything?”

And while none of us really have everything, I don’t know about you, but we definitely have way more than we need.

Is there stuff we want? Absolutely! Latest board game, Chris Pratt Starlord Funko Pop toy, a big bag of raiSIN-free chocolate… I could go on… But there really isn’t anything that we need.

Same goes for the people we buy presents for, who are typically family. We stress ourselves trying to find “the perfect gift” and we waste money on stuff that people want but don’t need and hope that we get it right.

THE PERSON WHO HAS NOTHING

But there are people in and around our lives who have real needs. People that we know and also people we drive past, or who maybe look after our homes or our children or our cars when we park them out at night. The idea of spending more money (that we don’t at the moment have in excess) on people who are not in need in those ways bothers me.

I was reminded of that Haley Joel Osment movie, ‘Pay it Forward’ which encouraged people to act like a human version of karma. The premise of the movie was a school project where you had to pay forward a favour someone did for you by doing three favours for three other people. The idea was that exponential favour-doing would spread across the country and even the world.

Now imagine if we embraced Christmas with that kind of thinking. Instead of spending money on the people we know have enough, we buy things or give experiences to those who don’t:

# Instead of a once-off gift perhaps there is a child you know whose monthly school fees you could pay for the next 12-months.

# Perhaps there are some people you know are likely to be alone for Christmas who you could invite to spend Christmas dinner with you.

# A year’s worth of once a week after school lessons to someone who is struggling with school in a subject you are good at.

Those are just three examples, but with a bit of creativity I’m sure you can think of 100 more.

Christmas can really provide the opportunity (what with 13th cheques where those happen and the general spirit and vibe of the season) to walk alongside a person or family who don’t have it as good as you and make sure that there is enough for everyone. Your overflow might just be someone else’s enough.

Let’s hear it from you. What are some of the ways that you can think of that you can implement this year to pay it forward to those around you? Write some ideas in the comments and then go and do them.

Are you doing your little bit?

Brett Fish
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Are you doing your little bit?

“Let’s have a talk about what we can do to save water.” Words from my wife, tbV [the beautiful Valerie] to me last night.

We live in Cape Town and our city is about to move to level 3 water restrictions pretty soon. This conversation wasn’t so much a nice idea, but rather a duty and obligation.

You can read all about the water restrictions on this IOL article over here, but briefly level 3 restrictions look like this:

Under Level 3 restrictions, watering or irrigation of gardens, lawns, flower beds, plants, vegetable gardens, sports fields, parks and other open spaces using municipal water is allowed only if using a bucket or watering container. No use of hosepipes or automatic sprinkler systems is allowed.

So one quick step I was able to do to save water, was to post the article link and this paragraph on social media to alert my friends who might not be aware.

Another easy way was to make a Facebook status inviting friends to share ideas of how they save water. For example, we use organic soaps and so we are looking at the possibility of re-using washing water on our gardens. Having a bucket in the shower to at least capture some of that water is another one.

ONCE YOU’RE DONE WITH WATER

There is always going to be more that we can do. We can allow that thought to paralyse us or we can choose to focus on what we can do. Is it better to give all of my money away in this moment and from now on be forced to rely on other people and not be able to give? Or should we try find a balance of giving to specific people, groups or needs in a way that is sustainable and will make more of an ongoing difference?

My wife actually heads up a non-profit in South Africa called Common Change that allows you to do just that. Groups of friends, giving together through relationship.

What about time? Not everyone has a lot of extra money to go around, but is there a way I can use my time to benefit others. For the last few weeks I have been part of the Peace Justice Witness teams that have been observers at the University protests. Our main skill has been showing up and just being a presence there. Something most people can do.

I have some friends who drive into a local township on Fridays to do extra maths with pupils there. My friend Ashley heads up Bottom Up, which is an education enrichment programme offered free of charge to under-resourced schools. Another friend, Unathi, mobilises groups of young people to perform shows to the sick or elderly. And so on. If you have time to offer, there are always places to easily be plugged in.

CHECK THE LIST

So as you read this, why not take a moment and work through this list of four things you have to offer and see how and what you’re doing:

Money

Time

Energy

Resources

Perhaps there is something you need to be doing more of. Maybe there is actually something you need to be reducing or doing less of. What if you committed to one less takeaway coffee a day, or cut out one restaurant visit a month, or spent the money for one date night on another couple you know who could really use it?

No one can really dictate what you should be doing, but the hope is that each of us should be doing something. It’s about being intentional. About choosing to make a difference in the lives of others around us and to help look after the planet as best we can for those who will follow.

What are some of the ideas you have for saving water? Share them in the comments below.

What is your Friday Fun song?

Brett Fish
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What is your Friday Fun song?

Do you ever have a moment where you just want to load up a vibey song and just go wild for a bit? I do, on a regular basis.

Especially on a Friday when the week is dragging a little bit and the weekend is calling you and you just need that extra little push.

This year it started for me with Pink’s ‘Just Like Fire’ from the soundtrack of the Alice in Wonderland sequel. I kept hearing it on the radio when I was driving and it grabbed me straight away until I was like, “I must have that song!” So I discovered the title and bought in on iTunes and my neighbour’s lives were never the same again (I tend to pump the volume and really karaoke it out during the Fun Friday song).

BILLY JOEL SAID WHAT?

I have a decent amount of music that I have bought over the years and my ‘go to’ vibe songs will range from Coldplay to U2 and then from R.E.M. through Bastille, all the way to Mumford and Sons. But every now and then it’s cool to get hold of a song you used to love years ago and stick it on repeat.

So I sent out an inquiry on Facebook. What is your favourite Fun Friday song to just let loose to? And the responses were many and varied. But the winner was ‘We didn’t start the fire’ and I was super surprised when I saw that Billy Joel had originally sung that song. That is pure Fun Friday.

I would completely love to learn all the lyrics to that fast paced random list of words and events and people, but I am trying to increase my poor isiXhosa at the moment and figured committing ‘We didn’t start the fire’ to memory didn’t quite compare in priority.

WHAT ELSE IS THERE? 

Mandoza’s ‘Nkalakatha’ is an obvious choice and has been in the list for years, especially poignant this year with his recent passing, but what else rocks my boat?

Well, the latest one was ‘Are you going to be my girl?’, which was recommended to me by my good friend, Mary Twin. One of those songs that when you hear the title you think, ‘Um, no’ but when you listen to three seconds of the song it’s like, ‘Oh, of course yes. I need that song.’

And before that it’s been songs such as ‘Shut Up and Dance’ by Walk the Moon, Friday I’m in Love (huge surprise to find out The Cure sang this one – music is clearly not my strong point), ‘Honey I’m good’ by Andy Grammer and then the completely different flavour of ACDC’s ‘Thunderstruck’ (which was a song I realised was missing from my list).

So I have a number of different playlists on my computer ranging from Latest Bought (I don’t buy a lot of music so this goes way back) through Current Faves (list one and two) and even Classical, but when Friday rolls around it is usually not long before I click on Fun Songs and pump up the volume and sing away.

How about you? What is a song that you would add to this list? A song that completely vibes you up and invigorates you and you sing at full volume (even if like me you have to look up most of the words)? Leave your answers in the comments below.

Virtual friends: An intro to The UnNamed Ones

Brett Fish
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Virtual friends: An intro to The UnNamed Ones

I have written a few times about the Hashtag Games I run on The Twitterer [as I call it].

You can read some more about that in Get your Hashtag on and The Rise (and rise) of @AFrikkinHashtag.

One aspect which I haven’t written much about is the crew of people who help me run the games. They are officially called The UnNamed Ones and are made up mostly of people who have volunteered to co-host Hashtag Games with me in the past. We have a DM hangout space called AFH on the Twitterer and the joke is that they are paid in buckets of cheerful banter as there really is a lot of that in there.

But it has also been one of the most fun, loving and supportive communities I have been in outside of the church.

YOU CAN’T MAKE VIRTUAL FRIENDS

That’s been the line, right? You can’t really build relationships online. Yet I would strongly disagree with that. Some of my strongest friendships began online, whether on Facebook or the Twitterer. Just a few weeks ago I met my friend Sindile (from Johannesburg) live for the first time after being virtual friends for two years – in that time he wrote posts for my blog, he challenged me on numerous times through his deep thinking on political and spiritual matters and made me laugh countlessly through his musings on life and relationships and more.

But coming back to the AFH room. We have members from South Africa, Holland, Australia, Americaland, Canada and the United Kingdom. I may even be leaving someone out but that’s already six countries right there, and we have built such a tight knit and fun community.

I can’t even keep up most of the time because there is just so much conversation that goes on in there. So it’s kinda become like an online virtual lounge where friends hang out. Just yesterday I wandered in to be confronted with music video link after music video link. Turns out the crew were sharing some of their favourite songs with each other.

When people have been going through rough times there has been concern and prayer (there are people from all walks of life and beliefs and experiences). This group of people who have never met each other have somehow managed to create a space where people feel welcomed and loved, appreciated and celebrated.

FRIENDS WITH SKIN

Don’t get me wrong. I still believe that live beats virtual and I look forward to a day when we can have an Afrikkin Hashtag team reunion in South Africa and get to meet face to face. But I do want to suggest that we shouldn’t limit life and what we see as “more real” to the things that are only in front of us.

Sometimes it can be super helpful to get someone from another country’s perspective on a problem your country is facing.

Sometimes it can be really great to have a space with people you aren’t going to see face to face to just be able to unburden yourself and share your worries or fears.

And like the old TV sitcom, Cheers theme used to belt out, sometimes it is great to have a place “Where everybody knows your name”.

How about you? Have you found a community online that has served as a friendship crew for you? I know some people see that in gaming circles, others through YouTube platforms and still others through Facebook groups or Twitterer lists.

Did you ever meet up with someone face to face that you first became friends with online? Share your story in the comments below. 

Song: Rich Young Ruler – Derek Webb

Brett Fish
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Song: Rich Young Ruler – Derek Webb

I imagine many of you have never heard of Derek Webb. He is a musician I was introduced to when we lived in Americaland (as I call it) for three years. He is really good.

He’s also deeply prophetic. Derek writes songs that make society, and especially the church, uncomfortable. A kind of modern-day Keith Green, if you will, who is also a personal favourite. Keith had a ‘No Compromise’ stance which has strongly challenged me in the way I live. Or at least try to.

A friend shared this with me last night and I was struck once again by how relevant the words are. Reminiscent of Keith Green’s hard-hitting ‘Asleep in the Light’ which contained that uncomfortable line:

Jesus rose from the grave and you, you can’t even get out of bed. 

So take a read of the lyrics and a listen to the song and be challenged and hopefully changed by the call it makes to all of us.

= = = = =

Lyrics to Rich Young Ruler by Derek Webb

(vs. 1)
poverty is so hard to see
when it’s only on your tv and twenty miles across town

where we’re all living so good
that we moved out of Jesus’ neighborhood
where he’s hungry and not feeling so good
from going through our trash
he says, more than just your cash and coin
I want your time, I want your voice
I want the things you just can’t give me

 

(vs. 2)
so what must we do
here in the west we want to follow you
we speak the language and we keep all the rules
even a few we made up
come on and follow me
but sell your house, sell your suv
sell your stocks, sell your security
and give it to the poor
what is this, hey what’s the deal
I don’t sleep around and I don’t steal
I want the things you just can’t give me

(bridge)
because what you do to the least of these
my brother’s, you have done it to me
because I want the things you just can’t give me

= = = = =

Is poverty for you something that is far across town, or do you have people in and around your life that you are walking alongsides, whose names you know, whose stories you are listening to and being a part of:

he says, more than just your cash and coin
I want your time, I want your voice
I want the things you just can’t give me

Let’s help each other get creative about how we give beyond just the easy one of money.

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