truth – Central Methodist Mission

The bell, banners & blasphemy – Available Now!

CMM, Cape Town / March 15, 2024March 20, 2024 / News, Notices

Alan Storey‘s book – The bell, banners & blasphemy –
is now available from CMM.

The Cape Town Book Launch is on 11 April 2024 at 18.30 at the Book Lounge

(corner Buitenkant & 71 Roeland Streets, Cape Town City Centre)

Durban and Johannesburg launches will follow shortly.

Cost: R300.00 per copy. Delivery charges are additional.
Orders: aslowwalkbooks@gmail.com
Proceeds to Stepping Stones Children’s Centre in Cape Town.

Scapegoating the Constitution

CMM, Cape Town / March 26, 2023March 25, 2023 / Fifth Sunday in Lent, Lent, Sunday Letter

Friends,

This past week President Ramaphosa gave the opening address at The National Conference on the Constitution. The words of his written speech provide a distilled clarity of our Constitutional democracy. I encourage you to read his address in full.

What baffled me was how the event was repeatedly being reported through the media. The impression I got was that the conference had gathered to evaluate the Constitution to see how it may have failed us or not. This was the exact opposite question we need to be asking. It is not how the Constitution may have failed us, but how we have failed the Constitution. Here is an example of the repeated media coverage:

President Cyril Ramaphosa believes that, 26 years since the Constitution came into effect, it is time to reflect on its efficiency and whether it has “served the aspirations of our people”.

If you have read the President’s speech you will know that these words do not exist in the written text. The written speech is clear that we are to account for our honouring of the Constitution or lack thereof and not the other way round. Was this a case of media mischief?

No.

In watching the recording of the President’s speech he deviated from his written speech on a few occasions. And the words above quote him correctly. They are from his off the cuff introductory remarks. Was he playing to another audience or were these words simply spoken unthinkingly? I do not know but I know that it is very unfortunate that he said what he said and that this was the only angle picked up by the media. The result is not only at odds with his speech but at odds with what we need to hear as a people of this country, namely, the truth.

We dare not use the Constitution as a scapegoat for our failings. To do so is to crucify the innocent and allow the guilty go free. This may bring brief relief to the ruling party but it will not bring life to the nation.

Then, after The National Conference on the Constitution, the ANC Chief Whip, Pemmy Majodina is reported to have said: “This is the 25^th anniversary of the Constitution, and that Constitution needs to be amended. Remember, this was a transitional Constitution, to accommodate everyone.” With these words Majodina invites us to remember something that does not exist. We do not have a transitional Constitution. We have a Constitution finish and klaar.

Note how the conversation has begun to slip down the slippery slope. We have moved from a question to an answer both based on falsehoods and blame. The truth is that this Chief Whip is more concerned about the 2024 elections than Constitutional integrity. If only she knew that the best electoral strategy for her party (and every party) in 2024 is to tell the truth of how they have betrayed the Constitution. This confession may set people free to begin to trust them again.

Now here is the beautiful and revolutionary preamble to our Constitution. It is remarkably non-nationalistic. It is Gospel in its truth-telling, desire for healing and call for justice. I invite you to read it today as a prayer:

We, the people of South Africa,

Recognise the injustices of our past;
Honour those who suffered for justice and freedom in our land;
Respect those who have worked to build and develop our country; and
Believe that South Africa belongs to all who live in it, united in our diversity.

We therefore, through our freely elected representatives, adopt this Constitution as the supreme law of the Republic so as to—

Heal the divisions of the past and establish a society based on democratic values, social justice and fundamental human rights;

Lay the foundations for a democratic and open society in which government is based on the will of the people and every citizen is equally protected by law;

Improve the quality of life of all citizens and free the potential of each person; and

Build a united and democratic South Africa able to take its rightful place as a sovereign state in the family of nations.

May God protect our people.

Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika. Morena boloka setjhaba sa heso. God seën Suid-Afrika. God bless South Africa. Mudzimu fhatutshedza Afurika. Hosi katekisa Afrika.

In grace,
Alan

betrayal | resistance

CMM, Cape Town / March 5, 2023March 4, 2023 / Second Sunday in Lent, Weekly Letter

The betrayal | resistance exhibition will be open today after the service.
You too will be able to write your own Yellow Banner.

Friends,

As a nation how many times do we need to be reminded that:

A society is as healthy and educated and secure as the most marginalised and vulnerable of the society.
The truth will be revealed. That no amount of oppressive censorship and violent intimidation is able to keep a lid on the truth eternally.
Corruption collapses on itself. That anything built on injustice and inequality has within it the seeds of its own destruction.
Denial delays healing. Denial of lesson 1-3 leads to sickness and possible death.

For the biblical prophets these lessons were the Law. The Law of the Lord. According to the prophets the Law of the Lord was as firmly fixed as any law of nature. Therefore, to reject them would be as futile and as reckless as rejecting the law of gravity. The prophets would constantly remind the powers that be and society at large that these Laws are not negotiable. A government decree cannot make them cease to exist. Even if everyone decides that these Laws don’t apply, they do not disappear. They remain active. If we transgress them we will find out the hard way. We may find out after three days when the stone is rolled away or after forty years of wandering through a desert, but the point is we will find out. And here is another Law. The longer it takes for us to find out that no society is exempt from these Laws the more extensive our destruction will be.

As a result of our Apartheid past one would think that we would have learnt these lessons once and for all but sadly it seems every new crop of people in power must to learn them for themselves.

In the last number of years and even in the last few weeks we have seen these Laws apply:

State-Capture as a whole and the Zondo Commission of Inquiry is the overarching example of this;
Mafia-like cartels fleecing State owned entities slowly coming to light;
Bullying by management in an institution of higher learning and assassinations in another institution of higher learning;
A tourism board into English league soccer;
A JSC listed International Holdings company that is more like a Ponzi scheme than business now bankrupted;
An individual flipping a housing estate with government partnership for millions in profit;
The LOTTO board mansions;
PRASA derailment of Metrorail, etc. etc.

In each case marginalised and vulnerable people have been left more marginalised and vulnerable while a tiny number of people have become filthy rich. But the truth always stretches towards the light of day. Sure it does not do this on its own. It takes convicted and courageous people to draw open the curtains – even just a crack – to let a slither of light in to pierce the darkness. And soon the flow of truth is unstoppable.

The first reaction by the powers and benefactors of the corruption is to accuse the truth-tellers of wrongdoing. To huff and puff. To fire, dismiss, and intimidate and sometimes even assassinate. Their denialism and violent reaction eventually is their undoing – exposing themselves to be exactly who the whistle-blowers said they were.

When it comes to holding onto the truth, investigative journalists in SA are like a dog with a bone. They simply do not let it go. We owe so, so much to these journalists. By joining the dots of the corruption they help us as a nation to short circuit our denialism, and lessen the time we live with the lie which in turn limits our own self-destruction.

Jesus said: “…Nothing is covered up that will not be uncovered, and nothing secret that will not become known. Therefore whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered behind closed doors will be proclaimed from the housetops.” [Luke 12:2-3].

For this reason regardless of the steep headwinds of resistance that whistle-blowers and journalists face in the field, the wind of the Spirit of Truth is always at their back. And this ultimately makes the difference. Truth alone is able to carve out a free future.

With grace,
Alan

The Purple Shall Govern

CMM, Cape Town / September 25, 2022September 22, 2022 / Ordinary Days of the Spirit, Sunday Letter

Picture from the Exhibition

Friends,

There is a hidden treasure right on our doorstep and yet many do not know of it. This treasure is as inspiring as it is challenging. I am referring to the exhibition entitled: Truth to Power by the Desmond and Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation. You will find it at The Old Granary Building – two blocks down from the District Six Museum on Buitenkant Street. The Old Granary itself is an artform to behold – and no less so since it has been transformed to house the Tutu Peace Centre.

“The Truth to Power exhibition is a comprehensive showcase of the life and legacy of the late Archbishop Desmond Mpilo Tutu. It aims to foster the values of Desmond and Leah Tutu among the youth, and to inspire a new generation of leaders who will build peace and justice in South Africa and the world.

The exhibition is divided into six themes which chart Tutu’s life within the context of the painful history of South Africa under Apartheid, where the Archbishop remains the gold thread of hope, outspokenness, faith and healing. It includes his ongoing activism in the democratic South Africa and sets the challenge to all of us to take on his baton of courageous leadership and unwavering values.”

The Six Themes of the Exhibition

Theme 1.               Apartheid Education: The Most Evil Act of All.
Theme 2.               The Struggle in the Church: Fighting a False Gospel.
Theme 3.               Faith in Action: The Campaign for Sanctions.
Theme 4.               Protest and Peace Making: In the Streets and Stadiums.
Theme 5.               Unfinished Business: Tutu, Truth and Reconciliation.
Theme 6.               TU + TU = Freedom.

The Purple Shall Govern

Included in the exhibition is a photo-reminder of the Apartheid police spraying protesters with a water canon of purple dye –
effectively tagging all protesters present (as well spraying the Central Methodist Mission on 2 September 1989). This gave rise to the ingenious graffiti “The Purple Shall Govern”.

I highly recommend taking the time to visit this exhibition. It is not only an important reminder of our recent history, but a beautiful witness of a good and faithful life. Both this important reminder and beautiful witness invite us to surrender our lives into the service of justice and mercy.

With grace,
Alan