After a very long day of travel we touched down in Dar es Salaam and made our way to a guest house for the night. The accomodations were comfortable – always a good thing to have as you adjust to a new place. In the morning we took off for Ifakara in the south central [...]
Archive for August, 2009
Where prayer has been valid…
August 9th, 2009
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The Faiths Act Fellows were invited to privately tour Westminster Abbey. Before our tour we attended Saturday Evensong in the cathedral. We sat right next to the choir, which for all intents and purposes was a squad of angels. I’ve never experienced sound, in any setting, like I did in Westminster. The organ and the [...]
The feeling of common prayer
August 9th, 2009
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I was speaking with a friend about prayer in Islam. For him, praying was a way to put the world and all else out of mind – represented in a somatic sense by the placing of one’s hands to either side of the head as if to say, “Get behind me, world”. Then he would [...]
I don’t mean to brag…Part Deux
August 8th, 2009
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The other day, I wrote about how strange it is that charity workers must be exceptionally vocal about their good works in order to affect policy and, more importantly, fundraise. I sensed an inherent contradiction between selfless service and active self-promotion. The post attracted a number of opinions, and I engaged in a few protracted [...]
Finding a purpose
August 6th, 2009
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There comes a time in the life of a person where they decide that their existence is intimately bound up with all the other people and things on this planet. This is the time when a person becomes more self-aware; it’s the point where people decide that they cannot simply walk through the world without [...]
I don’t mean to brag, I don’t mean to boast…
August 5th, 2009
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…but I’m intercontinental when I eat French toast. In case you don’t know, and I’m sorry if you don’t, that is a lyric from the Beastie Boys, arguably the greatest rappers alive. Ahem. Also, this post attempts to place humanitarian advocacy/media work within the context of Christian scripture. I think this is very interesting. :) [...]
The world doesn’t think we exist…
August 3rd, 2009
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There’s an attitude that we confront pretty often in our discussions of what it means to be a person of faith these days. I’d call it the “religions are stupid and kill people and make everything suck” argument. It’s assumed that religious people are holding the world back. Not everyone feels this way, of course, [...]
Charitable activities
August 2nd, 2009
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During yesterday’s visit to London’s Central Synagogue, we had a meeting with Rabbi Marcus to discuss a few of the things that our team saw during the Shabbat service. One of the Faiths Act Fellows asked the rabbi what manner of charitable activities the synagogue engaged in. Rabbi Marcus paused and inhaled with great gravitas [...]
Faiths Act Fellows Training – Day 2
August 1st, 2009
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For some unknown reason, I’m sleeping absolutely terribly. I won’t blame the mattress – it’s only doing its job – and I have no idea what could be the problem. I woke up this morning difficultly and in pain. That being said, I’m ready for more action! We headed out as a team to London’s [...]
