Give a Red Card to Discrimination

The people of the USA are catching on to the exciting run of the women's national team in the 2011 Women's World Cup. Today USA beat France to advance to the Finals. Also, today is one of FIFA's Anti-Discrimination Days. Hopefully this will catch on as well...

Here's an excerpt:

“We must use our game to educate people, especially the world’s youth, about the importance of fair play and respect... football’s united stance against any kind of discrimination, be it racism, homophobia or discrimination on account of gender, ethnic origin, religion, or any other reason."

Read the entire article here. http://www.fifa.com/womensworldcup/organisation/media/newsid=1473742/index.html

For more on FIFA's social responsibility and anti-racism click here. http://www.fifa.com/aboutfifa/socialresponsibility/antiracism/index.html

I, Too, Dream in Color

We are all here for a reason on a particular path
You don't need a curriculum to know that you are part of the math
Cats think I'm delirious, but I'm so damn serious
That's why I expose my soul to the globe, the world

I'm trying to make it better for these little boys and girls
I'm not just another individual, my spirit is a part of this
That's why I get spiritual, but I get my hymns from Him
So it's not me, it's He that's lyrical
I'm not a miracle, I'm a heaven-sent instrument
My rhythmatic regimen navigates melodic notes for your soul and your mental
That's why I'm instrumental

Vibrations is what I'm into

Yeah, I need my loot by rent day
But that is not what gives me the heart of Kunte Kinte
I'm trying to give us "us free" like Cinque
I can't stop, that's why I'm hot
Determination, dedication, motivation
I'm talking to you, my many inspirations

When I say I can't, let you or self down
If I were of the highest cliff, on the highest riff
And you slipped off the side and clinched on to your life in my grip
I would never, ever let you down

And when these words are found
Let it been known that God's penmanship has been signed with a language called love
That's why my breath is felt by the deaf
And why my words are heard and confined to the ears of the blind

I, too, dream in color and in rhyme

So I guess I'm one of a kind in a full house
Cuz whenever I open my heart, my soul, or my mouth
A touch of God reigns out

- Saul Williams (From "Never Let Me Down" off of Kanye West's Debut album)

The part listed above starts at about 2:45.

"Pale Blue Dot"

Ubuntu

Ubuntu.

I've been watching the Women's World Cup this week (go USA!), and was inspired by a commercial spot. It was also played during the men's world cup last year.

Enjoy. (It's very short and very powerful)

On the Idea of Love

As I have contemplated what it means to love somebody. Specifically as I have felt my heart move in the direction of someone that I have grown to appreciate over time, yet may not be able to do much about that my housemate steered me to a poem by Rumi. Please take a look and contemplate and comment on what you guys think.

"A thousand half-loves must be forsaken to take one whole heart home."
— Mawlana Jalal-al-Din Rumi

A Contemporary Art Exhibition Exploring Hope

Hope! is a contemporary art exhibit in Dinard, France. Here's a taste... Click on the links below for more.

"Anxiety is just the other face of hope but it is the heart that now is at the centre of creative endeavours..."

"How would we incorporate the theme of the exhibition into a fastidious history of art? How would we submit it to an objective review in a world of art as rigorous as it is impassioned?"

"And so, here we are with Hope! A voyage of discovery that aims to explore hope through roughly fifty pieces by fifty artists. A trip through four phases whose first three titles were inspired by Biblical culture: Genesis, Exodus and Apocalypse. From birth to death unfolds an existential weft that ties men through their journeys, their tragedies and their destiny. Grace, the last section, reaffirms the thread of hope in a spiritual eschatology during the course of which the artist bestows his entire being to his difference and his vision of salvation. It is that efficacy of art which resurges in this journey: can art help in mourning, and, with that learning, can it restore joy and a taste for life?"

Check out the press release here: http://web.mac.com/communication_dinard/iWeb/Hope%20!/telechargements_files/hope%20dossier%20de%20presse%20uk-br.pdf

Listen to the BBC Strand story here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p008lykt#p008ylx8

Si Se Puede!

Check out this interesting campaign from the United Farm Workers to educate Americans on the employment of farm workers.

http://www.takeourjobs.org/

"....everyone's trying to survive..."

6 months after the Haiti earthquake.

Listen to this segment from "All things considered" on NPR.
http://www.npr.org/templates/player/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=128470498&m=128470480

A Ball Can Change the World...

All you football (as opposed to "hand-egg," click here for clarification) fans check out the "Homeless" world cup. Those who aren't fans can click too.

http://www.homelessworldcup.org/content/about-us

Very interesting.

David

Hospitality comes when we least expect it

Sometimes hospitality comes when we least expect it. Sometimes it is the very thing that makes the worst situations bearable. I thought to fire up the blog again I would reflect on my Christmas eve this year where I was stranded in Pineville, KY for 6 hours. Pineville is an incredibly small town with a few auto shops, a school, a small hospital, and some fast food joints. There isn't much to it in fact after two stoplights and a blink you will surely have missed the roaring metropolis that I have driven by for several years. In a town just southeast of Pineville by a couple of miles I realized that my car was having bad problems. I stopped to get fluids to add and realized that my car was dumping out coolant as fast as I was adding it. Consulting a man in the parking lot as well as the guys working in the auto parts store they suggested that I make a run for a shop before it closed out of fear that I may have blown a head gasket or cracked my block. That would be the worst case scenario luckily the man in the parking lot suggested a water pump problem. I having fixed one of those in my former vehicle was much less scared but rushed to get my car to a place for repairs. I so intently watching the temperature of my engine rise drove right past Middlesborro hoping to see a place to roll my car into stopping every few moments to add fluid and let my car cool I prayed fervently not for healing as much as hope to make it where I needed to go. I hoped and prayed that my car would make it to the top of the hill so as to coast down into the town where I needed to go. I state police officer stopped and advised me on the best place to get repairs. Elliot's Auto Parts it fit both my criteria it was well known for being good and it was open on Christmas eve. I rolled me car down the hill in neutral only to be stopped at a light where I would start it again and coast my way to the shop. I rolled up steaming and stumbled out of my car rushing into a small shop that looked a little rough and haphazard only to relay my story and ask if they could get me on the road to Indiana or at least back to Tennessee where I was from. By this point they had heard the noise as I pulled in and they saw the smoke. Attempting to cool it off and do a quick diagnostic they came to the conclusion that it could be really bad or not as bad. It had to cool so I took a spot on the bench went to the bathroom around back and waited. I came back only to be informed the owner had bought lunch and had a couple of sandwiches coming for me. They were hoping to close by two that day. I rolled in at 10:30 there was still hope. Hospitality is funny because sometimes it comes through generosity like a sandwich and sometimes it comes through hearing people out and getting them on their way as best as we can. Glen the owner was full of encouragement telling me not to get to excited because we still hadn't figured out what was wrong. Dooey an old timer working on my car was confident that the water pump was bad and that it was make a lot of noise. Sure enough ASE certified or not they diagnosed the problem got parts of Middlesborro the town I passed and proceeded to fix my car. It was a heck of a job but after pulled out the old parts and examining them we concluded or more so they concluded and I agreed that it was the water pump that was making the noise. The doomsday talk was over. I made the appropriate calls to people and prepared myself to hit the road making a couple of CD's and starting to recount my day. I started this around 2:30 after Glen was wanting to close. He continued to let people come on in and with every phone call offered to help where he could. They finished my car around 4:30 six hours after I had arrived. My day started early so that I could make it back to Indiana and I spent most of my day with Sam a mechanic who worked on my car a lot in fact probably fixed it, Dooey who also worked on my car and encouraged me throughout the day as he told his yarns of life, and finally Glen who owns the shop who stayed open probably till 6 PM that night helping people like me. He warned me of the oil leak and I had I paid him the $200 which was pretty reasonable for the amount of trouble my car he put me on my way telling me to be careful and to have a merry Christmas. You see they were there and they worked to get me back going. I made it home for Christmas arrived at my destination 10ish that night only 8 hours later than I planned but all the more full of understanding about how our prayers are answered by people. I am not saying God didn't orchestrate that experience or use Glen and his workers to fulfill his will I am just challenged by these guys and their willingness to help me out on a day when everybody else had clocked out to go home. The challenge the prophetic message isn't merely that of hospitality but it goes deep it is something that I have learned from a favorite author a contemporary of ours Shane Claiborne when he tells us to be the answer to the prayers of the world because God created us to do his will and his work here on earth. Let's fulfill those needs just as God did through Glen, Sam, Dooey and those guys who worked on my car. Peace and Good Night, Deke.