George ka Pakistan

A Pakistani friend living in the States recommended a reality TV show about a Gora/foreigner ‘becoming Pakistani’ in 3 months 

Watch this on Youtube George ka pakistan 1/60 this guy is from Uk and wants to become Pakistani in three months with the help of Geo channel. Very interesting. Hope you will like it.  Arif

I actually have the DVD but have not watched it all    Here is the first part. It is in Urdu and English. It’s a good example of cross cultural engagement ….. 

'Worn to be wild'

Another painting inspired by some very large pieces I saw in a Restaurant in London. 'Worn to be Wild', is a mini A6 version in oil pastels - part of a series (2 other pics were featured in a previous blog). The originals I was copying, were painted by Paul Lemmon as part of an Exhibition: 'a Slice of Lemmon' put on by the Art Movement.

Again it represents being out with the Street Angels on a Friday night in Woking, when people are out for a good time ...

It was a quiet night. I can almost hear the bouncer at BED BAR touching wood and exclaiming 'never say the Q word' !

But it was Quiet - although I suppose it's all relative. The Police did arrest someone who was drunk outside the BAR for punching a policeman.

We were patrolling the street looking out for anyone vulnerable, particularly under-aged. Making sure people have a good night out, without getting into trouble.

Not a lot was happening, The place was packed the night before because it was A-level results night and Thursday is cheap booze for students with a prolonged happy hour. We are currently recruiting more angels so we can cover Saturdays as well as Fridays, and maybe even some of the 'specials'

Our pair was actually a four, since we had a new angel with us having a look-see. Four is an intimidating number, more like a flight or squadron of angels than the usual two-by two. So a lot of the time we keep a little distance, even walking on opposite sides of the road, so as not to crowd people out.

I followed a suspicious looking pair who were on the look out for coals for their shisha (but that turned out to be my son and friend, getting supplies for the party I had left back home!)

We did the usual and picked up lots of bottles, and spoke to a variety of people - punters and bouncers, taxi drivers, fast food sellers. We got into good conversations with a number of people - some who were initially aggressive. Some were curious. Others just liked the idea of Angels on the streets and wanted to chat.

One woman wanted to become a Street Angel herself. She was a community based carer, with children of her own who was having well-earned time off and a night out with a friend . But she loved the idea of giving out lollipops to one and all and flip flops to ladies struggling with high heels at the end of the evening.

The line between the punters and the angels is a thin one. Angels also like to party.

I suppose it comes down to what is written on the clothing. Designer dresses and labels, 'Diesel:Worn to be wild' on the one hand or a dark rain jacket with florescent yellow 'Woking Street Angels' emblazoned on it

In the Angels' case maybe we should have a label which reads: 'Worn to be Mild'

'Two States of Marriage'

'Indian Bride' is a sketch I did on my last trip to India, trying to capture something of Indian culture and custom.

An Indian Wedding as a celebration is the mainstay of the Indian social calendar for the whole community. Hospitality in abundance. They are colourful, lavish affairs.

And so often, it all comes together at the last minute, just like the Delhi Commonwealth Games
(I came across this poem along the same lines and some great pictures.)

The painting is based on a photograph used by an Indian NGO and it suggests something quintessentially 'Indian', indigenous. Maybe a little is 'lost in translation' but there is a sense that somehow this reflects the culture of organisation

Chetan Bhaghat's book '2 states: the story of my marriage' suggests that an Indian wedding is not so much about the coming together of 2 individuals, but more the coming together of 2 families, 2 cultures, 2 states..... As the book cover suggests:

Love marriages around the world are simple: Boy loves girl. Girl loves boy. They get married.
In India, there are a few more steps: Boy loves Girl. Girl loves Boy. Girl's family has to love boy. Boy's family has to love girl. Girl's Family has to love Boy's Family. Boy's family has to love girl's family. Girl and Boy still love each other. They get married.
Welcome to 2 States, a story about Krish and Ananya. They are from two different states of India, deeply in love and want to get married. Of course, their parents don’t agree. To convert their love story into a love marriage, the couple have a tough battle in front of them. For it is easy to fight and rebel, but it is much harder to convince. Will they make it?

It feels a bit like that as we consider the future of CMS in Asia. The coming together of 2 different cultures. Socially as well as organisationally. East and West. The desire for AsiaCMS to be indigenous, culturally appropriate. Clearly Eastern in all its structures, governance, leadership, projects, programmes. But with people from different cultures. even just within India - North and South, East and West. So many languages and cultures.
Somehow it is about embracing the best of all worlds. A sort of fusion

In Monsoon Wedding (2001) the film culminates with a great dance sequence: young and old, male and female, all celebrating and dancing to the same colourful tune.. Maybe that's as good a picture as any.

And like an Indian Wedding, we plan and trust that it will all come good on the actual day. But there is an awful lot to do in the meantime....

It is often quoted: 'East is East and West is West and ne'er the twain shall meet' and it is left there ... that there is somehow an unspanable gulf between the two...

But Kipling's poem goes on to suggest the possibility of mature relationship, before God, standing face-to-face:

East is East and West is West
and ne'er the two shall meet
Til Earth and Sky stand presently
At God's great judgement seat
But there is neither East nor West
Border nor Breed, nor Birth
When two strong men stand face to face
Tho' they come from the ends of the earth

Chetan Bhagat: cricket, call centres and culture

I recently returned from India. At Hyderabad Airport I managed to pick up the 4 copies of Chetan Bhagat's books for 95 Rs each (just over a £5 for all). And I read them all whilst on the trip. He is India's best known and most read English writer, having written 4 books - two have already been made into movies.

five point someone - what not to do at IIT - the student days of Hari, Ryan and Alok (the film is therefor called '3 idiots') as they navigate a life at the bottom of the rung at India's prestigious IIT university they discover a little more of what life is about. The Bollywood film is called '3 idiots'.

one night @ the call center follows the lives of a group of call centre operators who get an unexpected call from God which forces them to re-evaluate the meaning of their lives and what they want to achieve. The film is simply called 'Hello'

the 3 mistakes of my life follows Govind a young entrepreneur in Ahmadabad in 2000 as he sets up a cricket shop with 2 close friends. Everything is challenged as he comes to terms with three big mistakes he makes in the face of life's unexpected twists and turns.

2 States: the story of my marriage is what happens when Punjabi boy meets South Indian girl and they discover that a love marriage involves more than just 2 people. Its about 2 extended families indeed 2 cultures coming together.

I've had a couple of reasons this week to think of the books - India winning the cricket World Cup - which reminded me of Govind in 3 mistakes and the boost to his business when India won the cricket

I also had reason to talk to a call centre in New Delhi recently over a lastminute.com airline ticket re-booking. And the staff could not have been more helpful. Mind you, having read the book I was all the more polite and sympathetic. It really does make a difference how you talk to people. And One night has made me think more positively about call centre workers and even the possibility of God intervening in their lives .... So next time you're connected to Bangalore or New Delhi, say a little prayer....

A DJ's view on UK Church

BBC Radio 1 DJ talks up church

By Marie Page | June 26, 2009

This clip from DJ Chris Moyles on his Breakfast Radio Show is so encouraging to hear. It shows that people with no personal experience of church can find a contemporary worship service surprisingly relevant to (post) modern culture. In the UK at least, a whole generation has little understanding of church other than traditional weddings and carol services. Church (and therefore Christianity) is sterotyped as old fashioned and irrelevant. Here Chris Moyles talks about a Pentecost service he saw on the BBC.

The service was called ‘That’s The Spirit!’ and shows worship from Kingsgate Community Church in Peterborough. Its on YouTube  See what you think.

I was sent the Link from Music Academy 

Posted in Church stuff, Pick of the Best, Worship | Tagged Chris moyles, Christianity, contemporary worship, DJ, radio 1, songs of praise | 5 Comments

The Global Christ

There is much talk of the Global Christ and how he is only fully realised as each culture engages with him and brings fresh understanding  (cf Andrew Walls   Ephesian Moment  ) 

He Qi's picture of the Risen Christ expresses some of this. 

 

Jaroslav Pelikan’s exceptional book ‘Jesus through the centuries’ explores some of these understandings, as various cultures have engaged with Christ over the centuries and the insights that have resulted and added to the bigger picture of the Global Christ  

Strong Son of God, immortaL Love, 

Whom we, that have not seen thy face

By faith, and faith alone, embrace, 

Believing where we cannot prove...

Our little systems have their day; 

They have their day and cease to be:  

They are but broken lights of thee, 

And thou, O Lord, art more than they.

 Alfred Lord Tennyson,  In Memorium 

The Provincial Museum of Alberta have an amazing online exhibition on the subject 'Anno Domini:  Jesus through the centuries.  Exploring the heart of two Millenia'. well worth a look.  

I also found the following quotation  thought provoking:

Jesus/Christ as hybrid concept

The most hybridized concept in the Christian tradition is that of Jesus/Christ. The space between Jesus and Christ is unsettling and fluid, resisting easy categorization and closure. It is the ‘contact zone’ or ‘borderland’ between the human and divine, the one and the many, the historical and cosmological, the Jewish and the Hellenistic, the prophetic and the sacramental, the God of the conquerors and the God of the meek and the lowly. Jesus question “Who do you say that I am?” is an invitation for every Christian and local faith community to infuse that contact zone with new meanings, insights, and possibilities. The riches and vibrancy of the Christian community is diminished whenever the space between Jesus and Christ is fixed, whether, on the one hand, as a result of the need for doctrinal purity, the suppression of syncretism, or the fear of contamination of native cultures, or, on the other hand, on account of historic positivism and its claims of objective and scientific truths about Jesus

The images of Jesus/Christ presented in the New Testament are highly pluralized and hybridised, emerging out of the intermingling of the cultures of Palestine, the Hellenistic Jewish diaspora, and the wider Hellenistic world.

P 171 Ch 'Engendering Christ' in ‘Postcolonial Imagination and Feminist Theology’ Kwok Pui-lan (professor of Christian Theology and spirituality at Episcopal Divinity School Cambs Massachusetts scm 2005