There are many gaps in life but they don't last long.
People who are meant to do their job, don't do it and someone else who may or may not be better at it will come in and fill the void…..quickly!
There are plenty of people blowing their lids this week at how outrageous Nick Griffin is
The reality though is that Nick Griffin and the British National Party are not where the focus should be.
The focus should be on who created the gap by not doing their job?
Some people are starting to vote for the BNP because they are different, some voters have lost their patience with the dominant parties with their lies and corruption and are asking for something different.
If Nick Griffin was exterminated as some protesters would wish for it would not solve anything as the void remains and it would be filled by someone else offering a different solution.
We need mainstream politicians who put their money where their mouth is, act with transparency and simplicity, meet their constituents where they are and lead as if they were servants rather than Kings.
They don't need to be perfect but they do need to share their imperfections with us before we find out, which we will!
I am sure if this were the case then the topic of Nick Griffin would fade away.
Similarly…………..
There will probably be Christians in Surrey who will see this shop and
be offended.
They may talk to their friends and maybe even write a
disapproving letter to the council or shopping mall owner who allowed
this shop to open, asking if not demanding that it be shut immediately.
The reality is if this new shop proves successful it will be because they have accurately detected a gap in the spiritual market in surrey.
The sign on the right says "Healing here today!" The shop seemed busy in the 2 minutes I observed it.
My question to those Christians who might look on disapprovingly is when was the last time you tried to actively fill the gap rather than pointing the finger at others you disagree with.
When did you last ask someone if they needed healing or offer to pray for someone on the street?
When did you create a space for the general public to meet you, access what you are about, ask questions and have a dialogue?
Are you acting with transparency and simplicity and act to serve the community you live in?
There are gaps in life if you don't fill them someone will.
There is no doubt in my mind that mobile is the way forward!
The Iphone gave us a real glimpse of the future of mobile experiences, in many cases replacing the need for a laptop to be lugged around in a brief case (Thank Goodness!)
With this in mind I popped along to a small gathering at Ebay's offices in Richmond in September to join in on their Charity Hack.
Myself and a few others, set about trying to create a solution for charities to be able to take low friction micro payments from donors instantly (similar technology to the amazon 1 Click functionality) on their mobile. We had just 24 hours to complete the task!
Enter Get Giving………
A mobile APP on all major platforms that integrates with paypals new adaptive payments API to allow people to spontaneously give to any charity of their choice.
Getgiving will derive its charity list from Mission Fish's database of nearly 4000 charities.
It is going to make it super easy to make payments to charities wherever you are for as little as 1 pound in just a few clicks.
Ok so we didn't quite finish it in the weekend but in conjunction with Paypal and MissionFish we are on track to have it alive and kicking for 2010 so watch out!
To see some more slides and other pictures from the day Click here
This Kid, Pedro (a friends son) has no shortage of knowledge.
He finds out whatever he wants on Youtube. He is 7 years old and has more knowledge than most of us in the Niche area of connecting Xboxs together in a local network.
The Value of information has fallen to zero, anyone can know anything, even a Brazilian kid.
The challenge for teachers and learners as we go forward is how to search for, filter and implement information in a way that creates value.
The challenge for me is to decide whether to keep working or play team slayer on Halo with Pedro.
A question I have been thinking a lot about recently – today in particular is, Who are you responsible to?
(I mean, truly responsible to not people I know and like but those who I would give anything for.)
Most people I know do not struggle to share what they have or even give the best of what they have to those they love. The challenge comes especially in the western world when what we have is more than those we are responsible to need.
What do we do then? Start listening to the marketing messages inviting us to spend our excess money on their 'very important' products. Its Inevitable, money doesn't stay still for very long and can easily end up consumed in greed and indulgence.
What I am learning is that attempting to stop myself or others being greedy is not the answer!
What is needed is an increase in responsibility, environments that create love and care between individuals so that such excess is no longer available for exploitation by products of indulgence.
Over the last 2 years I have been enjoying a tricky love affair with Africa which as a result of much pain, failure and tears is deepening all the time. I have begun to notice that the more I allow my affection to grow for the abundant yet raped continent the more my resources begin to turn that way also and less is available for pointless spending
I still consume more that I need but I don't concentrate on that. Instead I choose to focus on where I want to be, what I want to be feel responsible for and feel affections towards. As I move on this journey I hope that the pendulum will continue to swing towards the loving end!
If you feel you are acting greedy then maybe try finding something or someone worthwhile to fall in love with and be responsible for!
I like to write about things I see and stuff that happens to me. I spend a lot of time developing mobile web platforms. I love Africa and love challenging whether things really need to be the way they are today. Read more...
