The Original Abeshababe

People are often unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered;
Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, People may Accuse you of Selfish, Ulterior motives;
Be kind anyway.
If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies;
Succeed anyway.
If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you;
Be Honest and Frank anyway.
What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight;

Saw Black Gold at a special screening in South Ken last week. If you can make it to the National Film Theatre this Sunday do see it. It certainly convinced me of the Traid not Aid campaign. All the aid that goes to Africa from everywhere in the world is less than 1% of the trade market that African and other third world nations are denied as a result of WTO regulations.

For all those who complain that all African nations to is come with their outstretched hands to beg. It's a wake-up call to everyone, but Christians all the more. Even I, with my Ethiopian roots and my time in Africa had no idea of the extent of the trade issue. Poverty doesn't just happen; it's there almost by design.

I've been thinking about all my stuff recently. All the things I own; clothes, shoes, jewelry, books. I have so much and its incessantly strewn across my living space, especially my surfaces. I have too much. Storage doesn't solve the problem. I need to give much of it away, to people who need it, or charity shops. I don't need all of it and yet I don't easily part with it. Evidently I'm not the only one

The evangelical pastor in the US who was forced to step down amidst accusations of immoral behaviour wrote this;

''The fact is I am guilty of sexual immorality. And I take responsibility for the entire problem. I am a deceiver and a liar. There's a part of my life that is so repulsive and dark that I have been warring against it for all of my adult life,''

On reading this I was struck by the reality that many of us must feel also that there are parts of of our lives that are dark and that we war against. This man certainly deserves compassion and forgiveness.

There is a review of the Alpha course in the latest (November) issue of Easy Living magazine. It's surprisingly positive, so you might be able to show it to your suspicious friends.

http://www.easylivingmagazine.com/ InTheMagazine/November2006/default.aspx

I was reading the story of Jesus leaving the 99 and rescuing the one lost sheep to my eight year old little cousin as a bedtime story some years ago. Once we had finished she said "you know what?..That was a very naughty sheep, and it was also a stupid sheep because it went where it was told not to go and didn't listen, but Jesus didn't get angry at it, and he didn't give it a smack, he just picked it up and even carried it on his back" she said pointing to the illustration in the children's bible. Quite.

Had dinner with a friend last night and we discussed bereavements. If you have been bereaved recently or ages ago, do come along to the Bereavement Course led at HTB. I did it last term and it was really useful. You're not obliged to say anything at all and it is not the sob-fest you might imagine. It helped me to unpick my feelings and be more understanding of myself and thus kinder to myself. If you have friends who might benefit, do invite them.

The prayer weekend was just amazing. I felt like I saw HTB's heart. This was not an Alpha weekend...it was so much more intense and real. I'm rarely lost for words but here I am. God was there. The Holy Spirit moved, we prayed and prayed and it was not a chore. There was an intimacy with God and one another that I've not experienced before and I've been a Christian for fourteen years. The presence of Jesus House was brilliant.

Today is Ethiopian New Year. As Ethiopia follows the Gregorian calendar it's also 1999. So if you ever feel that time is rushing by too fast, just book a flight to Ethiopia. We celebrate New Year (and indeed all Ethiopian holidays and festivals) by eating and drinking to excess. Not so different from everywhere else in the world, after all. Happy New Year!

OK. I admit it, the Queen of Sheba was probably the original abeshababe, but I'm a close 2nd. Apologies for not defining abeshababe earlier, but if you're really interested take a look at the link. I did coin the term abeshababe and all rights are indeed reserved.
If you'd like to see what she looks like;