Martin’s Blog
Many Western cultures are very word based and are very suspicious of silence. Yet for the Japanese, in some cases, less talk says more as the pauses and silence communicate much. Some would say that they are even suspicious of words as they are more concerned with actions.
In New Zealand, in certain circumstances the Maori people will meet for discussions on a marae (a community gathering place) in a wharenui (meeting house). There, a speaker will stand and deliver his talk and then sit down and there will be silence, to allow others to contemplate his words before the next speaker.
I once heard a wise man talk about the many words used in religion, he said “Church is a little bit like a swimming pool – all the noise comes from the shallow end.”
When I lived in London, I spent many a weekend volunteering with this wonderful group of people who try to bring a moments encouragement to those that have ended up living on the streets of our capital city. www.aslan.org.uk
Thanks Beth for sending me this video evidence that shows old rockers never die!!
In this season where the media is bombarding us with the financial crisis that is crippling the world my question is what is our response? Interestingly like most Mandarin words, the word “crisis” (wēijī) consists of two syllables that are written with two separate characters, wēi and jī. These separate characters mean “danger” and “opportunity”. Maybe this paradox can point us towards a counter cultural view point. Do we choose to worry about the danger that may be lurking around the corner or do we look for opportunities to be generous?
Drummer friend Steve Urwin has found positive proof that Texans invaded Cornwall and left their mark many years ago !!!! Thanks Steve for this.
Just had a great Easter week helping with the celebrations for Eveshams 1300th year. During that time came across a small rural village on the outskirts where almost all the houses had bizarre house names. Read More
A wonderful organization run by Joseph Anfuso in Vancouver, Washington, whose simple slogan sums up the heart of this amazing group of people ……. Ordinary people > extraordinary purpose. www.forwardedge.org
The legendary Mullah Nasir-ud-Din arrived in the city in the middle of Ramadan. The mullah was very hungry and when he heard that the Emperor was providing a free iftar (meal that breaks Ramadan fasting) to anyone who came to the Red Fort he immeadiately tied up his donkey and went along. However he was so dirty from his ride that the Master of Ceremonies placed him in a distant corner, far from the Emperor, and at the end of the queue for food. Read More
Rowan Atkinson finds and invisible drum set ……..
Our journey started from snow covered Northumbria, skidding down the narrow icy lanes towards the A1 and ended 3 days later (after various forms of public transport – car, plane, taxi, dalai, coach and three wheeler cycle!) in hot and humid Dodoma which is situated in central Tanzania.
Tanzania, although one of the least urbanised, is East Africa’s largest country. With a diverse landscape of savannah, bush, lakes and highland plateau. It is renowned for its wild life, game reserves and Mount Kilimanjaro, (the highest mountain on this continent). Its 126 different tribal groups, each with their own heritage, are welded together by the Kiswahili language, a mix of Arabic and old Bantu originating from Zanzibar. Before 1972 this diverse group of people had no cohesion and lived in scattered pockets throughout the country. Between 1972 and 1974 under the Presidency of Julius Nyerere the Government forced these pockets into village formats. Read More
Early this morning we set off to Mnase village in what can only be described as a metal moving object crammed to absolute capacity with people, chickens and general household objects. This picture gradually got worse as people finding no room through the doors started climbing in through the windows ….. and every once in a while there would be startled looks at the realisation that there were Msungu’s (white people) on the bus! Read More