Comments on The Harbour of Ourselves: 5am dreaming....

hi sue, yeah monk's a good bloke - i like his take...

2007-08-17T09:20:00.000+01:00

hi sue, yeah monk's a good bloke - i like his take on all things life...

and yes there are many brehaut's here - next time i bump into one i will ask if they know some bohemian writer relative in auz!

your sit looks interesting....i will drop by from time to yime - thanks for your kind words

anna, thanks, been in london town for a few days - posted again earlier this morning....

I am stopping by again to say hello. :)

2007-08-15T12:48:00.000+01:00

I am stopping by again to say hello. :)

Hey there,I came across your blog recently via Urb...

2007-08-15T01:43:00.000+01:00

Hey there,

I came across your blog recently via Urbanmonk's link and I gotta say I find you a great well to drink out of when my own is empty (which feels like a great deal of the time at the moment). So thanks.

I see you live in Guernsey. I have a whole stack of relatives who live there (none of who I know). If you run into a Brehaut, they will be related to me.

I also see you are a freelance writer. That's my aspiration. And I'd like to think I'm a Bohemian bum but I probably watch too much commercial television for that one. I am, however, broke so that must count for something.

Thanks for your beautiful words and your beautiful images.

Dana, I agree - Historical and sociological insigh...

2007-08-14T07:48:00.000+01:00

Dana, I agree - Historical and sociological insights urge theologians to look hard at situations where church praxis is worked out. Ideas in isolation are not enough. Theology needs to be seen in relation to the events that shape it.

Ubuntu, Xhosa expression, is one such example. It is an ancient African word meaning 'humanity to others'. Like many African words it has numerous translations, another is ''I am what I am because of who you are.'

that was a big influence on Bono....hence it resonates with you and has you thinking of a U2 song me thinks....

BMM
good to see you back, and i agree fully, without hope we are lost
The ACT (and so many other partners) are enabling so much good and hope. it allows me to believe in people again - we are after all 'Ubuntu', interconnected, we need one another - we are our brother's and sister's keeper

hope..... without it, i think humans would already...

2007-08-12T22:45:00.000+01:00

hope..... without it, i think humans would already be extinct.

it sounds as if this ACT is bringing some measure of it... and non-apathetic souls such as you, harbour, who remind us of these things way beyond our borders and comfy existence.

may we never cease to pray and petition God on these souls behalf...our brothers and sisters.

yes, justice......

Hi. It took me a long time working in the field t...

2007-08-12T19:01:00.000+01:00

Hi. It took me a long time working in the field to get what it was that individuals responded to. Yancey's quote is exactly right.....and has stated it far more eloquently than I could.
What I find fascinating about human connections is that we don't have to have lived or experienced or suffered the same things.....sorrow is sorrow....pain is pain...tears are tears......it is the compassionate understanding of the underlyling emotions which allow us the "way in"...the way to finding meaning. It's far deeper than empathy, and I am at odds as to whether or not one can teach someone how to respectfully communicate this to another broken person. One has to be very comfortable with their own feelings before one can find the courage and comfort to really listen to another in pain.

The "how to" is certainly not found in a textbook, nor a self help book.

Paul........your explanation and comment to Tara has touched me as well.....it too reminds me of a U2 song (perhaps I'm perseverating?) I can't think of the name of it, but it has the line....."I have a brother......"

I hope my faith will one day be as strongly anchored to the same convictions......there are days when I feel this....that God is suffering with and for me....I would like it to be there always.

as always.....much to ponder from you.......loveitloveitloveit. ;)

dana'Our greatest gift we can offer is our uncondi...

2007-08-12T07:17:00.000+01:00

dana'
Our greatest gift we can offer is our unconditional presence...tears, heart and looking a person right in the eyes and deep into their soul....' - hit it on the head there...i love what yancey says about suffering, that, 'sometimes the only meaning we can offer people is the assurance that their suffering, which has no apparent meaning for them, has meaning for us.

helps me deal with it...a little anyway

tara
thank you. i kind of think that We need to rediscover the man of sorrows, where evil, pain and suffering are nourished by tears; that place where compassion becomes a signpost pointing on beyond itself. A deciding factor in my own decision to follow ‘The Carpenter’ was that he is the God who suffers with, and for me. and for those who are imprisoned, shipwrecked, or just broken on the wheels of living, just maybe we need to embrace that brokenness, and understand that some things just can’t be fixed this side of some much better place.

What a wonderful photo, but such a sad, sad tale. ...

2007-08-11T21:56:00.000+01:00

What a wonderful photo, but such a sad, sad tale. Thank you for sharing her story. Heartbreaking.

Our greatest gift we can offer is our unconditiona...

2007-08-11T14:37:00.000+01:00

Our greatest gift we can offer is our unconditional presence...tears, heart and looking a person right in the eyes and deep into their soul....

We need to learn more about the individuals who live and struggle daily in this global village we call home....to see their beautiful faces, like Suzan's and to hear/read part of their stories always helps nurture the human spirit to want to reach out to help. Numbers never do this.....Stats filter right past us.....when they aren't connected to a real person....your post did just that. It makes the numbers starkly disturbing.....as does the knowledge that the beautiful woman you have captured in the picture may be dead now.

thank you for sharing your experience meeting Suzan.....and for making the KEY point that this issue is about justice.

anna, she said she loved jesus and that she hoped ...

2007-08-11T07:26:00.000+01:00

anna, she said she loved jesus and that she hoped he would help her die well - that's the part that killed me....

HER EYES ARE AMAZING PAUL. You always show me ano...

2007-08-11T05:04:00.000+01:00

HER EYES ARE AMAZING PAUL. You always show me another reflection of Jesus. Thanks for that.

not sure i was any help either really ellen and i ...

2007-08-11T01:02:00.000+01:00

not sure i was any help either really ellen and i was certainly reduced to tears. here's hoping a big heart is enough....thanks for your encouragement

ps you should blog some more - it's been too long

How you did what you did shows amazing courage in ...

2007-08-10T22:32:00.000+01:00

How you did what you did shows amazing courage in the face of the horrors that plague Africa. Me.... I would have been reduced to tears and no help whatsoever. Two thumbs up, and my sincere admiration for your big heart.