21 September

Dear all,

Our Courageous Conversations began last Sunday with an introductory discussion. We spent some time reflecting on a theology of conversing, drawing on John Calvin and the notion of ubuntu. We also revisited the Zulu greeting “sawubona.” All of this helped us see that in conversation we meet God as the Stranger among us, ready to surprise us when we least expect it. I was struck by everyone’s enthusiasm to join in and to get to know one another more deeply.

To take our discussion further, we divided into groups and had the chance to create our own Loesje posters. I have always liked these posters. They are so distinctively Dutch, and yet they manage to capture present realities with humour and simplicity. Loesje began writing them in 1983 in an attic, and the movement has since grown to include many co-writers (or “gang members”, as they like to call themselves). You can browse the Loesje archive online and see the posters created over the years. I did not gather all the posters from our discussion before we left, but below a few I managed to keep.

If you were to write a Loesje poster about what is happening in our world today, what would you write? How would you capture the spirit of our time in only a few words? Feel free to share your ideas with me if you would like to.

Blessed weekend,

Marius