My Stories
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.”
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?
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
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
I think this is a very difficult term to pin down. I haven’t found a definitive definition, in fact it is interesting to note that the UN has decided that the best approach is to identify rather than define indigenous peoples. Read More
Time at home and Holiday September – October)
September was a time for rest and taking some time to help at the community mother house. It was so good to be home and enjoying the simple community life again www.northumbriacommunity.org …. we feel very fortunate to have such an amazing base that we can call home.
At the beginning of October we gathered family in the south of Spain for Martin’s 50th ….. lots and lots of food, games and laughter ….. also much fun watching the English rugby team beat Australia, in the World Cup finals whilst sitting in the sun!!!
…. and our Stateside adventure. Read More
Once in a far distant country, somewhere to the north of Afghanistan there was a city inhabited entirely by the blind. One day the news came that an elephant was passing outside the walls of the city. Read More
The last stop was North Carolina where another album was recorded this time with Stephen Roach, a percussionist and hammer dulcimer player and a bunch of other young and talented musicians. Stephen and friends belong to a growing community of people www.aplacefortheheart.org who own a wonderful retreat centre in the heart of NC.
A highlight of the recording was impromptu drum pieces with a Cuban style conga player Peter Singles from Florida, Stephen playing Arabic percussion and Martin using African drums, a very special moment. This album should be available through their community and if you want a taster, listen to a couple of tracks at www.myspace.com/closertotheburning
Beloved
In the last few years, as we have spent time in North Carolina, we have really enjoyed the wonderful folk music that emanates from this area. If you have never heard the hammer dulcimer or the Appalachian dulcimer then you have missed out.
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September, England.
Martin has just finished a tour in England with Ruth Fazal from Toronto, Canada….. had a great time, her music is a little different as she is from a more classical background but she loves allowing space for improvisation. She has also written a classical Oratorio piece for the Jewish people, called Oratorio Terezin.
More info www.oratorioterezin.com
She found a book of children’s poems 8 years ago and God told her to weave a story of God’s heart for His people through this story book and the Hebrew scriptures …… it’s an incredibly powerful story and she has some amazing stories of what has happened through this project. It has now been performed with orchestra’s in Canada, the Czech Republic, Austria and in Israel on holocaust day.
29th Dec.-13th Jan 2005 San Diego & L.A., U.S.A.
We flew out to San Diego to be at the “City of Refuge” again (we were with them in Feb. ’04 and also 28th Sept.-4th Oct.). During our time there we led the team on retreat for 5 days and generally got involved with their weekly routine. This included packing up food to be distributed to the poor and homeless and visiting a large night shelter where we played music and chatted with the homeless. There were also two weddings of people who have been part of the project so Martin was seconded to play along with other musicians. The rest of our time was kept busy with helping people move house, drum circles and lots of one to one times with people from the team. As ever we left feeling that we had been amongst people of similar hearts and that we would be back…… Read More
Sing to the Well (Tanzania) CD & DVD - 100% sales to Tanzania 
Stones of Remembrance (Hawaii) CD 
Fragile Warriors (New Zealand) 
Wake Up Sleeping Giant (Stó:Lō Nation) 
Spirit of Four Directions (Native American) CD 
These Things of Love (Hawaii) CD 
Steps and Stones (Hawaii) CD 
We Face into The Wind (Northumbria) 
