Jhb/Ct?

I love Jozi


But i love the Cape too!

A mystic, an evangelical and a fundamentalist die…

I found this wonderful anecdote in Pete Rollins’ How (not) to Speak of God today:

A mystic, an evangelical pastor and a fundamentalist preacher die on the same day and awake to find themselves by the pearly gates. Upon reaching the gates they are promptly greeted by Peter, who informs them that before entering heaven they must be interviewed by Jesus concerning the state of their doctrine. The first to be called forward is the mystic, who is quietly ushered into a room. Five hours later the mystic reappears with a smile, saying, “I thought I had got it all wrong.” Then Peter signals to the evangelical pastor, who stands up and enters the room. After a full day has passed the pastor reappears with a frown and says to himself, H“how could I have been so foolish!” Finally Peter asks the fundamentalist to follow him. The fundamentalist picks up his well-worn Bible and walks into the room. A few days pass with no sign of the preacher, then finally a door swings open and Jesus himself appears, exclaiming, “How could I have got it all wrong!”

Just a liitle jab! Teehee! :)

Need arms?

US and Israel agree $30bn arms deal

I read this article last week and was offended. For some reason I find this news horribly disturbing, biased and un-Christian. I’ve heard somewhere (and hope it isn’t correct) that HALF of the US’s foreign aid goes to Israel already. Now, here’s another 30 BILLION for arms, with a few more billions offered to Egypt and Saudi Arabia too. I laughed at the fine print that stipulated that 75% of it must be spent with American manufacturers.

Is it just me or is this kind of international ‘trade’ appalling on many levels?

• Military spending doesn’t make the world safer;
• the Christian Zionism that uncritically supports Israel is distorted;
• and the co-option of whole countries into the US Empire by lending them money is alarming.

This may be a direct move against Iran, but a bigger Israeli military means even more bad news for the displaced and oppressed Palestinians, and bigger guns watching the Wall.

Just thought I’d get that off my chest. It is a tad refreshing to be in a country that sees the plight of Palestine rather than thinking Israel needs a bigger military.

(oh, and as to me: I’m in Cape Town training as a monitor with PMG, and negotiating some work with the SACC Parliamentary Office. Went to the beach and swam and played Frisbee this weekend - I like this city already!)

life is full of starts and finishes

So, this week sees the start (and finish) of another chapter in life. I've finally moved my clothes and some books down to Cape Town. Today i'll be unpacking them into my new room in Mowbray with Guy Chennels. Looks like a great setup and i'm excited about the whole thing. Julie lives about a 10 minute drive away, and i'm right by the train station and taxi rank in Mowbray if i need to move around. (Footnote- last week i caught a notorious mini-bus taxi into the centre of Jo'burg and back, so after that i think i can handle the CT transport systems).

The few weeks at home were great (and too cold and short). Life seems to be going on merrily and humourously in the Beyer's household in Midrand. This friday my mom deserves a huge party in her honour: Vicki and Jane finish high school - for the last 17 years my mom has been taking children to school and back. Well done! Next year the twins (Vicki and Jane) may be coming to Cape Town for YWAM, so it will be neat to have them in town. Matt is finishing his film and media school and trying to travel, and Bron is enjoying her Montessori teaching. Aaah, how we grow and mature!

And me? Well, hopefully i'll settle in soon, find a good fresh produce store, join a frisbee team and get a job! Parliament is back in session so i'll start the monitoring work next week. I'm still waiting to hear from the SACC Parliamentary office. When i get a set office i should be able to post here some more. My dad is in town for the long weekend, and Julie and i will join him up the West Coast at a friends house. Hopefully the weather is nice - SA has been having some revolting cold snaps, winds and floods lately. Climate change is to blame again!

Well, that's me, over and out. Hopefully next time it will be from an office, with a set job!