God, AIDS, Africa & HOPE

Reflections / Gedanken

04/16/2011 • 7:14 pm Comments Off on 24 hours to go

24 hours to go

Slowly but surely this week comes to an end. A week still filled with the last preparation, especially mental preparation. I try to strive up all the daily routines, I try to avoid all the unnecessary, what has still to be clarified and now concentrate on what is ahead of me. The reading in the plenary room of the Bavarian Parliament lies behind me; this was a challenge in its own right but at the end also a very supportive event. The preparations for the BUGA event in October were done yesterday.

The closer I come to the flight to Vancouver,the more I understand the challenge lying ahead of me and I am aware that I can only succeed if I can let go the routine of my life and see this time ahead also as a chance to discover myself again. It is amazing for me to experience that even in this global village  where everything seems so close by, there is still room for a feeling of exploration and discovery – a feeling of curiosity – a feeling of leaving safe and calm waters to reach for the unknown…

It feels good and scary at the same time to feel that there is indeed in my so predictable world still room for a new departure – meaningful and full of possibilities. And moving the world in the way intended means at the end also moving myself into a new direction – I am thrilled to see what the person looks like, besides all new knowledge about HIV and AIDS in the world, who will appear at the end of the expedition…. “Move the world”, the World AIDS Awareness Expedition will be more than an adventure or a fact finding mission or a fundraising event, it will also be a spiritual journey in its own right.

Filed under: General, Networking, Reflection, Uncategorized, ,

03/23/2011 • 6:58 pm Comments Off on Radioactivity

Radioactivity

Besides all the news about the bus bombing in Jerusalem today and the war games in Libya – Japan still maintains a role in the news on TV. And listening to the news about more and more radioactivity in food, in water, in the air and the evacuation of all workers of Fukushima Nuclear Plant I ask myself whether we really grasp the reality we are facing. Looking at the pictures of destroyed cities – empty shops, no electricity, no petrol: a whole system, praised as one of the most efficient and technology wise advanced nations has come to a still stand and the radioactivity in the nature and the sea will not go away soon. Most probably at least one generation will be constantly reminded of the disaster.

It is the second time, Japan is hit from the nuclear power – the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki are still vivid memories for the Japanese people.

I read from Bishop Williamson, that he connects the disaster with the sins of the people and that God uses such punishment to bring people to re-think their doing. What a nonsense – what an abuse of a catastrophe for a meaningless theology – abandoned in that form a long time ago. God protect us from those Pius-brothers, they are really a pain in the neck of our church trying to recover from all the bad news of the last years.

It seems that most people have lost the ability to comprehend what is going on – the consequences of natural forces and that within minutes, our ordinary life is gone – as the people of a nation, a community or also in a private capacity. It reminds me that also other disasters like HIV/AIDS seems to be so incomprehensible that one stops thinking really of it, because it is “the others”, not me, not us. It is far away – it cannot happen to me, to us, to our family. Or the question of the millions dying of hunger every year, while we throw away food and subsidies destroying food in the rich countries or for farm products never been sold.

For me, the Japanese tragedy reminds me, how short-sighted we are and how we push away all thoughts, which would mean troubling thoughts on a long term run. Which would push me to give answers on questions I don’t want to be bothered with… Which maybe ask me to acknowledge that this world is still “in creation” as the bible put it – not ready, not in harmony – and even not giving an answer to the question “why””.

Be the work in the fields of HIV/AIDS or be it the tragedy in Japan – I hope I led all these questions to bother me as long as I live and challenge me to search for new answers every day.

Filed under: General, HIV and AIDS, Reflection, Uncategorized, , , , , ,

03/20/2011 • 3:06 pm Comments Off on Simply too much to digest…?

Simply too much to digest…?

Sometimes there are indeed times, where I feel that there is too much to digest on information and news and task lying ahead. And the world as a global village with news aired 24 hours a day – how can one escape all the horrors and the non-logic of todays madness.
Japan – as it looks just escaped a complete meltdown of his nuclear reactor but thousands of deaths and a suffering almost unimaginable for a nation on the forefront of technology. So sophisticated and suddenly thrown into a chaos which means rebuilding of a nation and its facilities.  How does it come that we human mankind never accepts that we are not able to master nuclear power and that nature can beam us back into the stone age within hours. A lesson how to be humble again I guess, but a deadly and tragic one for those living on the island of Japan.
And seeing how in my home country suddenly politicians trashing just agreed longer running terms for the old nuclear power stations shows that even these tragic events are simply used for cheap daily politics.
Libyia shows also the double standards of politics – Saudi Arabia – involved in the crack down of the democracy movement in Bahrain, is part of the coalition of the willing – bombing started with no real strategy – and thanks TV we have it live at any given time.
The world is in a constant move in the moment – by nature, by political means – and we prepare for a world tour – for those into the logistics of this tour a real nightmare as routes have to be changed amidst real-time pressure. The ongoing drama of HIV/AIDS seems to be far away when each week brings new and exciting information about the Middle East region or Japan or any other political or natural disaster. It seems impossible to work on one front to ease the suffering of people when the next problem is already on the horizon, pushed by the modern media and its online websites, which only can sustain themselves if they chose new topics every hour to bring the reader back.

Maybe because events are unfolding so fast and the spectator has no chance but to digest the newest information, it is so important that some people stick to one topic and carry it over the time, reminding people again and again that new disasters don’t put away the unsolved ones. That is one of the reasons why I cherish what Joachim Franz and his team is doing – for the last 10 years. Sticking to one topic without losing compassion for actual problems. But insisting to carry on solving a suffering, which 33 million people worldwide effects and many more in a broader sense. Maybe because we are bombarded with so many different problems via the news we have no chance to give us the time to solve one for once and for all. I am convinced that all the money spend in Afghanistan and Iraq would have brought us closer to solve the problem of HIV and AIDS . We are getting half-hearted because there is so much to digest and our politicians and elected leaders try to jump on whatever they perceive to be the best bid for re-election. A vicious circle and surely not standing in the service of human mankind.

Filed under: General, HIV and AIDS, Politics and Society, Reflection, Society and living environment, Uncategorized, , , , ,

03/12/2011 • 1:59 pm Comments Off on Move the world

Move the world

Moving the world @ the HOPE Gala in Dresden

 

We move the world

join us:

www.waae.de

www.hopegala.de

www.hopecapetown.com

Be one of 5 000 000 people moving the world…

Filed under: General, HIV and AIDS, HOPE Cape Town Association & Trust, Networking, , , , ,

03/11/2011 • 10:16 pm Comments Off on Bruxelles – Frankfurt – Johannesburg – Cape Town and in between

Bruxelles – Frankfurt – Johannesburg – Cape Town and in between

Multi-tasking is a word everybody knows from the computer systems and it seems, that in our days, not only computers but also human beings are forced to multi-task. Within 24 hours my body, soul and mind has to be in the different places – sitting in Bruxelles but sorting out things in Cape Town, while packing for the flight to Johannesburg via Frankfurt. One suitcase is going directly from Bruxelles to Johannesburg, while another is waiting in Frankfurt to join, deposited before leaving for Belgium as less baggage means faster moving at Bruxelles airport. While checking out of the hotel in Bruxelles I am on the phone with Cape Town, seeing an SMS coming in from Frankfurt.
It’s lent – and time of reflection means also to reflect on the demand, we are facing in our modern world, always to be available, via cell, w-lan, blackberry and there like. Doing one thing at a time seems almost out of fashion – or it seems, that we are only “in ” and “productive” when we can show running on several levels at the same time.

Maybe it is me coming into a certain age, but since a longer time I try to break out of these modern devils circles of proving your value – and I discover that especially when I am on travel, it works out that for a while I am able to shield myself from all those demands. It feels so good just to ignore emails and to concentrate on one task, one meeting, one encounter at a time. And it feels so good to keep time for oneself – and to enjoy those small  little islands of just “being” , just having a laugh, just being unproductive, just enjoying a “shit-chat” with a friend, a colleague or even a stranger somewhere on the way…

Lent maybe a time not only to reflect but to strengthen this development and I am sure, for the work, one is doing,  less multi-tasking and more “one task after the other”  will be beneficial for all on the short, middle and longterm run..

Filed under: General, Networking, Reflection, Society and living environment,

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© Rev Fr Stefan Hippler and HIV, AIDS and HOPE.
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