Unattended Baggage…

April 28, 2010

I’m just sitting here at the airport. I got here WAY early for my 11:20 AM flight, because the only friend I could find who was able to give me a lift had to take me at 8:00 AM. To be honest, I was looking forward to the chilling time alone at the airport. I actually kind of like it. Now my flight is delayed until 2:30 PM. I have heard the generic airport announcements, spoken by the beautiful robot-like, sensual female voice, about 1,927 times!

“Please do not leave your baggage unattended,” hit me real hard that last time; on a deep philosophical level. Don’t leave your baggage unattended! Wow, that is a pretty good lesson to apply straight to life in general, above and beyond the airport. I mean, we’ve all got baggage! And so many of us, especially males, leave our baggage unattended. And well, from my experience, baggage usually needs proper attention or it just causes bigger problems or heavier baggage. And I don’t think I need to explain the threat of unattended baggage in the airport…BLAM! But yeah, the baggage we gain throughout life, that we carry around, if left unattended, can be just as destructive.

This thought is either really deep, or really, really ridiculous! I have been in the airport by myself for way too long to tell at present!

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Posted by capetownbrown

Random Thought #46

April 21, 2010

Some people have the disposition and facial expression that looks as though they continuously have a terrible taste in their mouth.

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Posted by capetownbrown

Thoughts From a Rainy Day…

April 19, 2010

Imagine what would happen if we stopped blaming God for our circumstances and took personal responsibility!

Think about the power we would live in if we realised this thing called Free Will, the thing we so often see as a curse, was actually a gift, and a powerful one at that.

No one wants to be a puppet but few want to live in the consequences of being able to choose for self.

What if we truly grasped the potential that lies within each of us; the power to literally speak life or death into any situation.

Surely we would not be so lost.

Surely we would not blame God for everything that goes wrong.

Surely we would stop looking up, shouting, “Why did you allow this?!” and rather turn inward and ask the same question.

But alas, it is easier to give a Higher Power all the blame because we are scared of the very same power that lives in us through Him.

We are scared of our potential; our potential to bring life and death to any situation.

We are indeed scared of our failures, but some of us are far more terrified of success.

I choose to acknowledge the power of choice that lies within me, and those around me, being thankful for it, embracing it, and pointing out the glorious task of choosing to do good, one simple, selfless act of kindness, in a world where it is easier to make selfish decisions and blame God and others for our mistakes.

Oh how different our reality would be if we truly understood the reality in which we live!

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Posted by capetownbrown

Christianity: Boring, Untrue and Irrelevant?

April 18, 2010

The title of this blog is the topic I have been asked to speak on at an Alpha Course at a church tonight. The guy who invited me to speak sent me some material about the topic. I read through it and, well, let me just say I was less convinced that Christianity is not boring, untrue and irrelevant after I read it than I was before. Apparently the person teaching this lesson should use clips from famous movies, that have nothing to do with Christianity, and then one Bible verse about Jesus being “the way, the truth, and the life”, and that will automatically prove the point. The material is one page long. The final conclusions in bullet point form are:

• Christianity is not boring – it is about living life to the full.

• Christianity is not untrue – it is the truth.

• Christianity is not irrelevant – it transforms the whole of our lives.

• Jesus can give you life

• Don’t listen to the lies

• Check it out for yourself

I am not trying to be cynical but I do not feel like the point was proven, and I know my agnostic, lawyer brother would tear this argument’s premise apart. The sad thing to me is I have never experienced God to be boring, untrue, or irrelevant, though the way He is portrayed by His followers often casts this kind of light on Him. But that’s not Him. That’s us. And yes, I do feel that many times, in trying to “reach the world” Christians come across as boring and irrelevant. I don’t think it has to be that way though.

It was funny because as I was waiting for this internet cafe to open I was hanging out with a kid who begs for money outside the shops in the area. He was telling me about this lady who takes him and other kids surfing some times. Apparently she also invited him and a group of his friends with her to church. The kid told her he was not interested. On that note she offered to pay him to go with her to church! He spoke on behalf of his brothers, and she agreed to pay the entire group of kids to come with her to church. They went, and got paid.

Though this is one of the funniest things I have heard in a long, long time it also disturbs me. If the kid saw what the Christian was offering as an non-boring truth which is relevant to his life, the Christian would not have had to PAY him to go to church with her. But I guess all I can do is laugh, and try be that change I would like to see. And it would also help for me to stop procrastinating and figure out how I am going to convince these people that Christianity is not Boring, untrue and irrelevant! Wait!!! Maybe I should just pay them!

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Posted by capetownbrown

Random Thought #45

April 18, 2010

I always felt that the lemon was the strongest smelling fruit, but this morning when the smell of guava invaded my nostrils and refused to leave, I gave the title of the strongest smelling fruit to guava.

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Posted by capetownbrown

Random Thought #44

April 14, 2010

Locking the door behind you in a public toilet is for others’ benefit, not your own! Please do it!! No one wants to walk in on you while you Free Willy.

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Posted by capetownbrown

The Skin We’re In

April 12, 2010

We have had several incidents in the past few weeks which has stirred up much debate and discussion about racism. From Julius Malema singing “shoot the boer” to the death of Eugene Terre’Blanche, along with the recent information that this racist right wing extremist was allegedly involved in homosexual cross-racial pedophilia. It is interesting to hear different people speak about situations like these. It is often shocking to me how people who I see as “not so racist”, moving towards liberal, can make some of the most racist comments when news headlines such as these stir up the muck that still lies on the bottom of this lake. Times like these show that, as far as South Africa has come, we still have miles to go. But I am also reminded that Apartheid was a brilliant set-up in the sense that it affectively kept people separate, hating each other, fearing each other, and ignorant to “the other”; it took years to create and will take years to break down.

Seeming somewhat appropriate, I watched the movie Skin last night. For those of you who don’t know, Skin is a true story about a white Afrikaner couple who gave birth to a daughter (Sandra) of a darker skin pigment, right smack dab in the middle of Apartheid. Sandra was discriminated against and classified by the government as “coloured” even though her biological parents were white. Her father fought for her reclassification as “white” and succeeded” only to later cause greater trouble and ostracization when she falls in love with a black man.

Movie-wise it was not the best film I have ever seen. I found the dialogue on the nose at times and some of the scenes just seemed awkwardly forced in to prove a point (e.g. a ten second sex scene randomly taking place between two totally unrelated scenes, just to prove that the white couple indeed have sexual intercourse). It, however, is a powerful story and an emotionally moving film. I believe the film’s biggest success is showing the stupidity, ignorance and simple-mindedness of the Apartheid government, and the brainwashing which came along with it. And we know that much of the emotion, discussion, and defensiveness stirred up by recent headlines, not to mention the events themselves, branch out of this very system, as the residue of Apartheid still drips in most sectors of society. I recommend looking for it in your local video shop and checking it out!

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Posted by capetownbrown

My South Africa

April 10, 2010

My friend Lindsay had to go to home affairs yesterday to sort out some paperwork for her newborn baby. Right when she left she called me to share a funny experience. It was too classic not to pass on…

Like may institutions in South Africa, as you enter Home Affairs you have to go through a big medal detector, after you have handed over your wallet, cell phone, keys, loose coins, and bags to the security guard, and before you risk a possible search and or “wanding” by the next security guard. It’s pretty standard practice. Everyone is used to it by now.

So my friend Lindsay was waiting in line for her opportunity to walk through the plastic-gateway-to-where-ever, but the line was being held up by the gentleman in front of her. He was scruffy, unkempt, possibly homeless, pretty dirty, maybe in his mid-fifties, and just had the general look of having been beat down by life. The man walked through the medal detector and it beeped. The security guard motioned for him to walk back through to the other side, whilst reiterating the need for the man to empty his pockets.

Pretty agitated at this point, the man said, “I don’t HAVE a cell phone, wallet or keys!” as he threw his hands into the air. The security guard insisted that something was setting off the detector. At that note, totally frustrated with the bureaucracy of Home Affairs “cell phone, wallet and keys checking system”, the man reached in his pants, pulled out an object, threw his other hand in the air as if to say “this is no big deal and it’s definitely not a cell phone, wallet, keys, or coins”, and huffed, “All I have is this!” as if to prove his point that the security guard was being ridiculous, and possibly even discriminating against a poor man who has nothing, cruelly rubbing it in that he does not own a set of keys or a cell or a stuffed wallet.

At this point Lindsay looked at the item the man was holding and she could not hold back her laughter.

The item that set off the medal detector was a six-inch butcher knife.

I love this country!!

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Posted by capetownbrown

ONE SIMPLE ACT MOVEMENT

April 7, 2010

Join the Sidewalk Talk team and become a part of the ONE SIMPLE ACT MOVEMENT!!! Post simple acts of kindness done by or to you here, on the facebook fan page or on the Sidewalk Talk page.

ONE SIMPLE ACT MOVEMENT:

The One Simple Act Movement will be the theme of the entire month of April. Listeners will be challenged to take the One Simple Act Challenge and to join the Movement.

  • We can change the community around us by stepping outside our comfort zones and performing daily, intentional, simple acts of kindness. I am not talking about big things life giving your entire life savings to charity, or developing an entire informal settlement! I’m talking about small, simple, random acts. Things like…
    • Tipping your waitron or petrol attendant with fifty Rand.
    • Randomly baking muffins for your neighbor.
    • Sticking up for the kid at school who always gets picked on.
    • Buying coffee for the person behind you in the line at the coffee shop.
    • Writing an encouraging note, totally out of the blue, to a friend, colleague, or family member.
    • Inviting a homeless person to eat a meal with you.
    • Any random, simple act for another person, with no strings attached and no ulterior motives.
  • We will link up with four different youth groups who are serving as agents of change in their communities, and hear about how they have taken up the One Simple Act Challenge.
  • We will also encourage the listeners who have taken the challenge to phone in and share about their experience of being a part of the One Simple Act Movement.

6 April – One Simple Act Movement WEEK ONE: We will be speaking with Turn247 from AFM Bontehewel about their involvement in their community, and how they experienced the One Simple Act Movement. We will also be hearing from the listeners’ experiences in taking up the challenge.

13 April – One Simple Act Movement WEEK TWO: We will be speaking with Patrick Fann from Frontline Foundation in Rustenberg about his foundation’s involvement in their community, and how they experienced the One Simple Act Movement. We will also speak to Patrick about his recent Great Act of riding his bike from Johannesburg to Cape Town in order to raise awareness for his foundation. We will also be hearing from the listeners’ experiences in taking up the challenge.

20 April – One Simple Act Movement WEEK THREE: We will be speaking with G-Cubed Youth Ministry from St. Johns Church in Wynberg about their involvement in their community, and how they experienced the One Simple Act Movement. We will also be hearing from the listeners’ experiences in taking up the challenge.

27 April – One Simple Act Movement WEEK FOUR: We will be speaking with FreeZone Youth Group from Life Church in Seapoint about their involvement in their community, and how they experienced the One Simple Act Movement. We will also be hearing from the listeners’ experiences in taking up the challenge.

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Posted by capetownbrown

Snuggie World Record

April 7, 2010

I could not resist blogging about this! So, my mom and little brother are visiting my other brother and his wife out in California…and they went to an Angels game…and it just so happened to be Everyone-gets-a-free-Snuggie Night…AND they broke the world record for the most people wearing Snuggies at the same place at the same time!!

This is one of the most awesome things I have ever heard of. The only thing that could have made it MORE awesome is if I would have personally gotten to take part!!

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Posted by capetownbrown

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