Generosity in Rumour Evaluation
2. September 2010
Global Nomad
Socrates’ Triple Filter Test
In ancient Greece, Socrates was reputed to hold knowledge in high
esteem. One day an acquaintance met the great philosopher and said,
“Socrates, do you know what I just heard about your friend?”
“Hold on a minute,” Socrates replied. “Before telling me anything I’d
like you to pass a little test.
It’s called the Triple Filter Test.”
“Triple filter?”
“That’s right,” Socrates continued. “Before you talk to me about my
friend, it might be a good idea to take a moment and filter what you’re
going to say. The first filter is Truth. Have you made absolutely sure
that what you are about to tell me is true?”
“No,” the man said, “actually I just heard about it and…”
“All right,” said Socrates. “So you don’t really know if it’s true or
not. Now let’s try the second filter, the filter of Goodness. Is what
you are about to tell me about my friend something good?”
“No, on the contrary…”
“So,” Socrates continued, “you want to tell me something bad about him,
but you’re not certain it’s true. You may still pass the test though,
because there’s one filter left: the filter of Usefulness. Is what you
want to tell me about my friend going to be useful to me?”
“No, not really.”
“Well,” concluded Socrates, “if what you want to tell me is neither
true nor good nor even useful, why tell it to me at all?”
[Quote sent in by a friend]
Global Nomad 02 September 2010
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Generosity “Outside the Box”
1. September 2010
Global Nomad
A blind boy sat beside the path with a begging dish. He had a sign which said: “I am blind, please help.” There were a few coins in his dish.
A man came by and dropped a coin into the dish.
He then stopped, took the sign and wrote on the back of it. He put the sign back so that everyone who came by would see the new words.
Soon the dish began to fill up. More people were giving money to the blind boy. Later the man returned to see how things were. The boy recognized his footsteps and asked, “Were you the one who changed my sign? What did you write?”
The man said, ” I wrote what you said, but in a different way.” I wrote: “Today is a beautiful day but I cannot see it.”
Both signs told the truth. But the first sign focused on the boy’s blindness. The second sign focused on the boy’s stakeholders. It communicated how their distinctive and their unknown need to help, could help his distinctive.
Know your distinctive, always determine the three kinds of needs that people have, (known; unspoken; unknown) and motivate your stakeholders to make wise decisions through “Ah, I See De Sea”.
Be creative. Be innovative. Think ‘outside the box’. (Remember the 9 dots?)
…john
(John King – Cartoonist and Editor)
If you would like to contact John, do let me know, in the comment section below. GN
Global Nomad 01 September 2010
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Quick Survey
30. August 2010
Global Nomad
Thought it might be wise to take a quick survey of those visiting and reading the Global Nomad blog, as we passed the 200th post recently.
It would be wonderful if you could answer the following questions and then leave the answers in a comment if you can.
(a) Do you find the blog of interest?
(b) Have you followed up or checked out any link in the blogs?
(c) Do you have any suggestions for future subjects?
Thanks for assisting us with some feedback….
Global Nomad.
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Saws of Generosity
28. August 2010
Global Nomad
Below is a fascinating post about Musical Saws. As you read it you will gather that behind the skill and enjoyment of the music there is a desire to generously share ones discovery with others. Believe you too will be blessed through reading the post and maybe you will even hear John or some of his musical colleagues playing the saw.
On Saturday July 18, 2009. I had my name entered into the Guinness Book of World Records… (the ultimate authority on record-breaking achievements). Along with 52 other instrumentalists from Canada, Germany, Belgium, Japan and USA, we broke the previous record of having 27 musical saws playing together in the “Chorus of Singing Saws”. There were a lot of legal hoops to oblige to set the record, but in the next edition of the Guinness Book you can look for our picture.
Making music with a carpenter’s handsaw is a rare achievement. I constantly answer questions as to the reality of such a possibility. But believe me, just because singing saws are not as popular as guitars does not mean that they cannot exist. The musical saw has an ethereal quality and has been described as sounding like whistling. Even without amplification its pure notes can cut through most other musical instruments.
I saw a man playing a saw, who made it look so easy I was compelled to learn the art myself. One five minute lesson, and lots of practice is all it takes. Invite me to do a “Singing Saw Concert” in your community and I’ll teach you. My first saw was one I found in my father’s tool box. He eventually encouraged me to purchase one for my self.
The hardware store manager seemed confused. We were standing amid the shelves that held his wide selection of saws. He had swede saws, buck saws, chain saws, hack saws, back saws, scroll saws, ice saws, band saws, rip saws, table saws, key-hole saws, cross-cut saws and circular saws, … but he’d never heard of a Musical Saw. He was sure he didn’t have one. With his permission, though, I randomly chose one humble handsaw and soon confirmed that it could make music.
Saws are fairly easy to play as long as the musician holds them properly. The basic position is gained by grasping the handle between your knees and bending the blade into a slight “S” curve with one hand. A violin bow is then pressed firmly against the smooth edge. Constant stroking will then set up vibrations in the blade. That will produce music of varying melodic value. Once a tone is started, the pitch is changed by raising or lowering the tip of the blade.
Listeners ask why the violin bow doesn’t get cut to shreds. After all, it’s only horse hair and wood. But saws have two edges. I play on the back edge, which is smooth. The edge with teeth is only for short songs!
After every performance there is always someone who wants to investigate the philosawphical perspective of ‘forged music’. They feel compelled to ask the sawist to pass on some of his sawcessful sawyership. They like to try a sawnata of their own. The saw is a rather sawnsational instrument. After the first dull thunk and a squinting of sawcereyes, there is more concentration applied to producing saw-worthy notes through the separation of sharps from flats. In the case of ladies, the sharps have frequently settled into their nylon stockings and their sawing of saws is cut short.
In my travels, I’ve attempted to discover and meet other saw dusters with the same wobbly hobby. There are not many of us, but I have uncovered some interesting points. For instance, it seems fitting that a taxi driver plays a hack saw, a psychologist plays a coping saw, an orchestra only allows band saws to accompany their music. A convict can use either a chain saw and a key-hole saw to entertain his fellow inmates. The saw I use is an ‘Old Rip’ saw.
It is interesting that the most famous Man in history was a carpenter and that the longest book in the Bible is the Psalms. In digging into the history of the singing saw, the earliest mention of tempered music is in Isa 10:15 (KJV).
“Shall the axe boast itself against him that heweth therewith? Or shall the saw magnify itself against him that shaketh it?”
The humble handsaw can be compared to being a Believer. There are all sorts of people that our Father can choose to follow Him. Each one, like a saw, could be used for all sorts of necessary or exotic jobs—like building cathedrals or cutting firewood—but so many people spend their whole life sitting on a shelf, or left in a toolbox. They stay sharp that way but they are not useful. Just as any saw can become a whistling foil, so anyone can become a believer. But so many folk spend their life missing out on the music they could have made..
Like the sawist, Father doesn’t grind off all the sharp edges, before playing. But only people who allow their Master to bend them in discipline and cause them to vibrate with the bow of His Word, ever cut through tradition and sing a new song.
Of all the saws I ever saw I never saw a saw, saw like my singing saw … john
If you’d like to book a concert then contact John: mailto:kingjohn1@his-kingdom.com
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Generosity with Buffalo
14. August 2010
Global Nomad
Savitri
At just 14 yrs old, Savitri was looking at the rest of her life. Already married, her work was defined by her caste background – she was destined to spending her days removing skin from dead animals to sell and eke out a living. When children came along, Savitri saw little future for them too. Her family’s meagre earnings were not enough to send them to school. Thus the cycle of poverty and hardship looked set to continue for at least another generation.
Now the proud owner of a buffalo provided through “Just Christmas”, Savitri’s life and that of her family has been radically changed for the better. The income from the buffalo milk is being used to send the children to school and buy sufficient food to banish any pangs of hunger. Additionally, when Savitri became sick recently, she could afford the treatment without having to resort to money-lenders.
Ashadevi
Life as agricultural labourers is all 32 year-old Ashadevi and her husband Umesh have ever known. The income this produced was just sufficient to provide two basic meals a day for their family.
As a result of “Just Christmas”, Ashadevi now owns a buffalo and runs her own milk business. The family’s income has increased by 150% allowing the children to go to school, savings to be put aside and for the first time food to be cooked by gas.
You can learn more about this creative initiative to enrich and empower communities on www.justchristmas.om.org The generous provision of buffalo is transforming the lives of those facing significant challenges and enabling them move out of dire poverty.
Global Nomad
14 August 2010
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Generous Vision
13. August 2010
Global Nomad
While working for his former employers, a well-known international consultancy, Mike mentioned his faith to many of his colleagues. One person’s story sticks in his mind. “I had gently witnessed to one colleague. She had not invited me to share at a deeper level, so we left it.” He recalls.
Some time later, his colleague, who we’ll call Sally, suffered a personal tragedy that made headlines in national newspapers. Overnight it seemed her world had fallen apart. “She got out of London for a few days to escape everything” says Mike. “When she arrived at her destination, she saw a church and thought “I need to pray”, which was extraordinary. So she stopped her car, went into the church and began to pray. The priest came and chatted to her. It turned out that he had written to “The Times” newspaper only that day saying that people should be praying for her.”
She later told Mike “I have fallen in love with Jesus”. So he invited her to an Alpha Course in his home town in Hampshire and then helped her to find a church near her London home.
A story published in the IDEA Magazine Nov/Dec 2008 edition. http://www.eauk.org
Global Nomad 13 August 2010
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Generosity in the Sky
12. August 2010
Global Nomad
The story is called, “Skyway Prayers.”
At age 95, Ruth Mayhill lived on her own, drove her own car, and always put prayer first.
Whenever she flew, Ruth always stopped by the cockpit and said, “Hi, I`am Ruth. I`d like to pray for you and the safety of this airplane. Would that be all right?” She was never refused.
On one trip Ruth`s plane taxied to the end of the runway.. just before it took off… an attendant knelt by her seat and quietly said, “Ruth, your prayers have just saved our lives. Another plane just came so close to hitting us that the entire crew is still shaking with fear. Thanks for praying.”
Romans 12:12 encourages us to be FAITHFUL in prayer. So be faithful to pray for others! Never forget how blessed we are as a nation to be able to come together and pray!
Quoted on the “Beyond The Call” site http://www.btcblog.com/
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Making space for Generous Reflection
11. August 2010
Global Nomad
A very worthwhile event to schedule into your monthly calendar is a day of generous reflection. Choosing the right place can be key to the effectiveness although just being free and alone for a few hours say from 10am – 4pm or even longer if possible is fine.
Such an uninterrupted and computer-less day can be such a blessing. It can be used to commune with Father or to read through all the mail that has come through your mail-box in the last month or brochures you have picked up to read but never really done so.
Prayer/newsletters are also most valuable to read – of course the Scriptures would be a vital part of the day and other reading material too. CDs could be good also – maybe readings from the Scriptures or messages by key speakers. There really is no end of material… arranging to have the free time is the key.
This is an area in which to be truly generous. Such times are priceless and restorative. John Wesley’s mother, busy with such a lively family of a dozen or so youngsters around her, would seek times of reflection and prayer by throwing her apron over her head. This was the “signal” that mother was not to be disturbed.
A generous action that will be a rich investment in one’s life.
Global Nomad 11 August 2010
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Being Generously Involved
9. August 2010
Global Nomad
In 2000 world leaders had a vision of a fairer, more just world, one in which the benefits of progress are enjoyed by all including the poorest amongst us. There’s five years left for us to achieve the initial set of Millennium Development Goals this vision gave rise to.
“What’s your promise?” is an opportunity for the church to lead the way with our lives, living out a passion for global justice and inviting others to do likewise.
Each of us can make a promise based on what we uniquely can do. Some might commit to always shopping ethically; others to campaigning wherever possible; some to encourage friends to get involved. We can all do something.
After making your promise, Micah Challenge UK will help you to unite with others locally, take your promise to your MP and ask them to make a promise too.
Then as part of the worldwide church we’re asking you to pray. To pray for the Millennium Development Goal summit in New York in September and then again on 10 October (10.10.10) with millions of other Christians declaring God’s heart for people living in poverty and reminding leaders that action to halve poverty is worth the effort.
http://www.micahchallenge.org/
Global Nomad 10 August 2010
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Generous Code of Law
9. August 2010
Global Nomad
THEN GOD spoke all these words:
2I am the Lord your God, Who has brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
3You shall have no other gods before or besides Me.
4You shall not make yourself any graven image [to worship it] or any likeness of anything that is in the heavens above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth;
5You shall not bow down yourself to them or serve them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate Me,
6But showing mercy and steadfast love to a thousand generations of those who love Me and keep My commandments.
7You shall not use or repeat the name of the Lord your God in vain [that is, lightly or frivolously, in false affirmations or profanely]; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.
8[Earnestly] remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy (withdrawn from common employment and dedicated to God).
9Six days you shall labor and do all your work,
10But the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God; in it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, your daughter, your manservant, your maidservant, your domestic animals, or the sojourner within your gates.
11For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. That is why the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it [set it apart for His purposes].
12Regard (treat with honor, due obedience, and courtesy) your father and mother, that your days may be long in the land the Lord your God gives you.
13You shall not commit murder.
14You shall not commit [a]adultery.
15You shall not steal.
16You shall not witness falsely against your neighbor.
17You shall not covet your neighbor’s house, your neighbor’s wife, or his manservant, or his maidservant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.
Quoted from Bible gateway….http://www.biblegateway.com/
This amazing set of laws from the Hand of the Creator and fulfilled so wonderfully by the One Who sustains the Universe and so accurately expounded to us by the Eternal Legal Interpreter- the Spirit, surely deserves our full and constant attention. What incredible generosity embedded in these laws. They are comprehensive and un-negotiable, they are indeed special and fundamental to the well-being of the whole of mankind.
Give thanks for the inexaustable detail and care displayed here.
Global Nomad 09 August 2010
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