God, AIDS, Africa & HOPE

Reflections / Gedanken

08/26/2009 • 8:17 am Comments Off on 26.08.009 a new day…

26.08.009 a new day…

8 in the morning, a new day is beginning to blossom, the first sunshine is visible and promising a clear sunny Cape Town winter day. Lets hope that it stays like that.
Every day is like an empty sheet of paper and it is mainly up to me, what will be scribbled on this sheet during the day. I only can hope that one can recognise my handwriting at the end of the day.

Every day anew we have the change to live our own life, to change our perceptions, to live more fully, to take on opportunities, to better our lives and that of others. So many opportunities lying ahead. Which will I take, which will I not take up and maybe lose forever?

Every day is a new gift – and every day might be my last day, my last sunrise, my last meeting with people, my last casual chat… nobody knows when this day will break, but living every day as it would be the last is surely the best way of preparing for this very last day as a human on earth.

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08/24/2009 • 7:23 pm Comments Off on 24.08.2009 First full day in office

24.08.2009 First full day in office

It is amazing to see what happens after being sick and back to the office…  It seems that everybody does sense you are back. The phone rings without a break, people pop in and the email box transforms in a never empty entity with lots of demanding emails…

But after resting so much it is indeed fun to whirl around again, get things going and working like hell to get your desk back into something which looks not overly burdened with papers.
Ending my duties as chaplain soon means also to prepare a lot for the successor, winding up things, and trying to sort out all the “nitty gritties” of a 12,5 year period of permanent work.

Now I am tired and just want to go home. Well, there is also work waiting for me, but at least I can say I survived my first full day in office again. H1N1 is past – the future is still unknown but a sunny day in Cape Town did the best to make me feel comfortable today. To be able to work is indeed a blessing – and I am looking forward after a nights sleep to another day in office, meeting people, just feeling alive and kicking again.

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08/23/2009 • 8:09 pm Comments Off on 23.08.2009 Where is God?

23.08.2009 Where is God?

I just found this on the Internet by pure incident, and i want to share it, because it is beautiful and fits as a Sunday thought:

When Martin Buber, the great Jewish philosopher and theologian, was asked, “Where is God?” he was wise enough not to give the cliche answers: God is everywhere; God is found in churches and synagogues. Buber would answer that God is in relationships. God is not found in people, God is found between people. When you and I are truly attuned to each other, God comes down and fills the space between us so that we are connected, not separated. Both love and true friendship are more than a way of knowing that we matter to someone else. They are a way of mattering to the world, bringing God into a world that would otherwise be a vale of selfishness and loneliness.

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08/22/2009 • 10:31 pm Comments Off on 22.08.2009 Notice of Events in September and October 2009

22.08.2009 Notice of Events in September and October 2009

For those living and working in Germany the following events might be of interest:

03.09. / 04.09.
Munich
Allerheiligen Hofkirche  20h00 African voices    Benefice Concert of the Cape Town Opera  http://www.eventin.de   –  Hotline: 01805-570000

05.09.
Nuernberg
Staatstheater   20h00 African voices    Benefice Concert of the Cape Town Opera   http://www.staatstheater-nuernberg.de

30.10.
Dresden
Kongresscentrum 14h00 Symposium:  Ithemba – Hope for African Children living with the virus (German/English)
Info: viola.klein@saxsys.de
Participants: Premier of Saxonia, Mr. Tillich, Mayor of Dresden, Mrs. Orosz, Dr. Ulrich Heide (German Aids Foundation), Rev. Fr.Stefan Hippler (HOPE Cape Town),
Jochaim Franz (be your own hero e.V.), Bob Geldorf (Aid Africa) u.a.

31.10.
Dresden
Schauspielhaus  9h00 4th HOPE Gala
http://www.hopegala.de

Filed under: General, HIV and AIDS, HIV Prevention, HIV Treatment, HOPE Cape Town Association & Trust, Medical and Research, Politics and Society, Uncategorized, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

08/22/2009 • 4:31 pm Comments Off on 22.08.2009 Saturday blues… and the spirit house

22.08.2009 Saturday blues… and the spirit house

Saturday, in the morning shopping – in the afternoon working. A sermon to prepare, emails to answer, a future to be developed… so much to do and so little time sometimes. A wonderful and sunny day so far – winter in Cape Town can be like summer in Europe – so beautiful and relaxing. It is indeed a gift to live at the end of Africa – such a beautiful spot, unique and full of atmosphere.

And yes, my spirit house has arrived in Cape Town and hopefully customs will be so friendly to release it soonest. A spirit house is a traditional small house mainly used in Thailand. It houses the spirits of a house and one must give eating and drinking and not to forget some joss sticks on important days. Can a priest believe in such things? Well, I can.. 🙂 at least I love that idea of being reminded every day that this world is so much more than we can feel and touch and hear and see…. And believing in the community of living and death, as we do as Christians, why not manifesting this thought in a Thai tradition. The part of my soul which is surely Thai origin is so excited and I am sure, my Buddha statues at home will be happy to be in company of a spirit house. Feels more home for them… 🙂

I am excited and can’t wait to see the spirit house – and hope it will be done as ordered. Otherwise another reason to go back to Thailand..  but I guess, I am never too short of reasons to visit my beloved Thailand. 🙂

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