4Ü #285
The problem with security
5 July 2007
- WASSUP - Winners and losers
- INSIGHT OUT - The problem with security
- OUTSIGHT IN - Who is at fault?
- SEE YA SUNDAY - Church unleashed
- LAST WORD - The still point
WASSUP - Winners and losers
Did you stay up to watch the race between Team New Zealand and Alinghi?
I saw some of it but it was just too hard. Sleep and emotional tension got the better of me.
I feel partly responsible. Were my prayers not enough? Was I sleeping on the job? It all came down to one second! Surely God could have given an extra puff.
Three years ago I spent some time with Grant Dalton in an interview on leadership and heard his vision, "making the boat go faster". For Grant it was all about winning, second is not an option.
So where does that leave us, losers?
I think not! Team New Zealand you have done us proud.
Well done, you are winners!
Andrew
INSIGHT OUT - The problem with security
"Lock it or lose it," the saying goes
safe behind our illusion
of alarms, locks and keys
untouchable by friend and foe
The secure life
without adventure or pain
imprisoned by self
unreachable and alone
Who or what was it you wanted
to keep out?
Or is it the one who holds the key
you should really fear?
What is the knocking?
What is the knocking at the door in the night?
It is somebody who wants to do us harm.
No, no, it is the three strange angels.
Admit them, admit them.D.H. Lawrence
If you try to keep your life for yourself, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for me, you will find true life. And how do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul in the process? Is anything worth more than your soul?
Matthew 16:26-27
OUTSIGHT IN - Who is at fault?
Excuse me for a moment while I beat my drum.
I was horrified this week to listen to the Call Centre transcript relating to the death of Folole Muliaga. Here's the account from the New Zealand Herald, Monday 2nd of July.
"The family of the woman who died after Mercury Energy cut her power off were told her death was "irrelevant" when they tried to reconnect, tapes of phone conversations suggest.
Folole Muliaga died on May 29 after a Mercury Energy contractor cut power at her Mangere home due to an overdue bill, turning off the mains-powered oxygen machine which helped her breathe.
Her family were forced to spend a cold night at their Mangere home, but a phone conversation between a victim support worker and Mercury aired on TV One's Sunday programme last night showed the family was told no reconnection would be made until further payments were made.
"She may have passed away in the last couple of days but ... I know it's been hard but it's irrelevant," a Mercury supervisor told the victim support worker.
"They've got arrears disco (disconnection) notices, they've had disco notices. The family obviously are living at the property with this person, they need to take responsibility for themselves and for the property."
The tapes also confirm the family's statement last week that Mrs Muliaga's husband Lopaavea tried to arrange to make payments but was told his wife, who was then in hospital, had to ring them as she held the account.
"We'll need to speak to your wife about this account because you're not listed as permission on the account," the Mercury Energy operator told Mr Muliaga.
When Mr Muliaga said, "My wife is in hospital now. That's why I want to ring you, can I pay my bill $50 a week?" the response was: "We don't make arrangements on overdue accounts and I'm sorry but we're not able to discuss the specific details of the account unless your wife calls and gives you permission."
How could this ever happen in New Zealand?
The answer is, "very easily"
We have all been on the end of a phone call conversation like this. Where the person at the other end is being paid to follow procedure to the extent where they are no longer allowed to think!
Companies have forgotten that you and I are the reason they exist (not their bottom line)!
He aha tem ea nui? What is the most important thing?
He tangata, he tangata, he tangata. It is people, it is people, it is people.
It's time to speak up!
"The unleashed power of the atom has changed everything save our models of thinking, and we thus drift toward unparalleled catastrophes." Albert Einstein
"Our prevailing system of management has destroyed our people" W.E. Deming
Who is at fault?
We are, if we refuse to think.
Come on New Zealand, take responsibility and start thinking!
SEE YA SUNDAY - Church unleashed
I've just picked up my copy of Steven Carden's book New Zealand Unleashed. In it Steven poses a really big question we all need to ask. What kind of New Zealand do we want to live in, in the future? "The future is coming. The question is: are we ready for it?" The book offers insights on ways of being New Zealanders in an age of uncertainty and rapid change.
This Sunday I'll be asking the same kind of question of the church, no longer accepted as a cornerstone of our society, what is kind of church will be God's gift to our nation?
I'll offer some ways of being church rather than doing church and invite you to become part of an incredible movement.
8.30 & 10.30 - Vision Casting
CANVAS this Sunday evening - meet in Church Foyer at 6.30pm.
This week we discuss "The importance of Church".
Can't wait ... see ya Sunday
Thanks for this time to chat.
Andrew
St Columba
Where Life and Faith Meet
andrew.norton@stcolumba.org.nz
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LAST WORD - The still point
Except for the point, the still point,
There would be no dance,
And there is only the dance.T.S. Elliot