Be a Giraffe!


BE A GIRAFFE!
F
Father Frank Gelli
to me
11 hours ago
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DO YOU WANT TO DO SOME GOOD? THE GIRAFFE PROJECT SHOWS THE WAY...STICK YOUR NECK OUT!

FATHER FRANK'S RANTS
Rant Number 816         15 May 19
 
BE A GIRAFFE!
 
The Giraffe Project…Wozzat? Saving the nice ruminant creatures from extinction? Nope. A metaphor evoked by the giraffe's long neck. It's about sticking your neck out – for good causes! That's it!
 
A story has it that the giraffe's neck is so long because it reaches towards Heaven. Darwin would give a prosaic evolutionary explanation but the story has its charm. So John Graham, a former American diplomat, has created the Giraffe Heroes Project. Its website says that the heroes are 'compassionate risk-takers'. For the sake of the common good. Heroes, men and women of all kinds. Many known, some unknown but they all have this in common: they have stuck their neck out to make this world a better world.
 
Tricky? Because it seems too subjective or arbitrary. For example, I would nominate Wikileaks' Julian Assange as a hero. He has stuck his neck out so much that he is now facing extradition to Sweden on bogus rape charges. Or being handed over to the Yanks' tender care. Do you disagree and heartily detest the guy? Feel free. Favour instead, say, Abdulkadir Turay, a Turkish journalist who has spent over a thousand days in jail. He too has stuck his neck out under the authoritarian rule of Sultan-like President Erdogan. Or take a feminist heroine from the Russian Pussy Riot coven. Fine. No need to be rooting for the same set of heroes. Too a priori, ideological and partisan. Giraffe heroes can be very diverse. Still, what do they share? They have all taken a risk. For what they passionately believe, they have stuck their neck out!
 
Giraffes. Spectacular beasts but…slightly ridiculous, perhaps? Wouldn't lions, tigers or eagles be better suited as emblems of daring? Surely there is a reason why the eagle has been chosen to represent America. And the lion as part of the British coat of arms. Noble, strong, fighting creatures, contrasted with the spindly-legged, lumbering, awkward giraffes.
 
I admire the four majestic bronze lions guarding Nelson's Column in Trafalgar Square. Lions, like tigers and eagles however are killers. Meat eaters. Like the taste of blood. They kill other animals for food. Giraffes, on the contrary, kill no one. They feed on the leaves and twigs of trees. Occasionally they eat some fruit. No living being need fear a giraffe, see? That is why a giraffe is a symbol better suited at standing for these heroes. Heroes who have not promoted violence or killed anyone. Different kind of folks. Peaceful, non-violent people.
 
What criteria do you employ to select someone or something for whom to stick your neck out? Ask, examine your conscience. That is not tantamount to mere whim or subjectivity. Because conscience is a moral faculty. That inner voice that enables you to distinguish between right and wrong. For believers, listening to your conscience is like listening to the voice of God whispering in your heart. Hence the injunction to follow your conscience turns into a moral, quasi absolute imperative. Something that must be done. (Providing conscience is properly formed, as well as informed. Wicked, corrupt consciences exist.) But even if you don't care for religious revelations you will have some apprehension of right and wrong. Of some values that should be respected and upheld. Derived from your upbringing, parents, education, your culture or…whatever. Conscience may be formed through them, too. Not as good as divine guidance but…better than being adrift in an ocean of relativism.
 
The voice of conscience as culture is not infallible. In some parts of the world people eat dogs. Culturally acceptable. They consider dog's meat a great delicacy. That repels most Englishmen so much that someone might want to start a crusade against it. Controversial stuff. Killing human beings to eat them would be another example…No need to look for far out causes, however. Citing at random from the Giraffe Project website I read about brave whistle blower Andy Hall. He investigated a certain fruit company, allegedly guilty of multiple abuses. He stuck his neck out. An ethical cause. For his pains, they are suing him and Andy faces a sea of troubles. Taking a risk can be risky. Yet a man has got to do what a man has got to do.
 
Have I ever stuck my neck out? A piffling case but…I once stood up for a boy who was being bullied on a Rome to London coach. They threatened to throw me off the coach on the Alps. The other passengers kept mum. I was alone to face the bullies. The thing got a happy ending but it might not. It felt good to have risked it, I tell you. There was also the case of a certain member of the Royal Family… Boasting about that would be not desirable. For various reasons. It's now water under the bridge. I am glad I did it, though it got me plenty of hassles….enough said.
 
I have never met John Graham. Leo, a friend from Ankara days, another diplomat, drew my attention to his project. You know, I loved the idea at first sight. Maybe it is because as a boy I dreamt to be a zoologist? Never mind. Truth is, giraffes are sorely needed. You can't beat all the bad guys but good people can always stick their necks out for good causes. So…be a giraffe!
 
https://www.giraffe.org/
 
Revd Frank Julian Gelli


Republished here with kind permission from Father Frank Gelli


--
Victor Christianto
Founder of The Second Coming Institute, www.sci4God.com
Promoting Javanese "batik" as an Indonesia cultural heritage, www.mybatique.com
Promoting cultural and music events in Jakarta and other cities, www.acaraindo.com
Founder of www.ketindo.com, A renewable energy consultant 
1 New book: From Hilbert to Dilbert at UNM site, url: http://fs.unm.edu/FromHilbertToDilbert.pdf
My books and papers can be found at:
 You can also check the Neutrosophic Journal: 

http://fs.unm.edu/NSS/NSSArticles.htm  

==
We love you all nations, but time is very very limited. Be hurry to repent and receive Jesus Christ. Find a guide to help you repent and receive Jesus Christ, in this link http://www.esnips.com/web/Guidetorepent,
http://www.esnips.com/web/RepentanceGuide.
Print this guide, copy as many as you can, and distribute this to as many countries as you can, including Asian countries such as China, Burma, Thailand, Campuchea, Laos, Srilanka, and Vietnam. Pray and ask to God first before you select a language for your country. That is the message: be hurry be very very very very very hurry to repent and receive Jesus Christ, all corners of the world.
Don't you know that Jesus Christ will come again soon? That is why you should be hurry and quickly to repent and do your repentance. Tweet this message quickly and distribute this message to as many countries as you can including to all your friends quickly, quickly, quickly today. Follow Jesus only at http://www.twitter.com/Christianto2013.
Send this message quickly to all your colleagues and to all your friends. Thank you, Jesus Christ already help you. 

blog: http://guidetorepent.blogspot.com, http://findtheTruthnow.blogspot.com,
http://evangelismwithsocialmedia.blogspot.com
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video: http://youtube.com/guidetorepent,
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and follow Jesus only at www.twitter.com/Christianto2013

**KINDLE BOOKS:
authorpage: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B00AZEDP4E
Articles dictated by Jesus Christ. Book Two. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AYR3F9C
Articles dictated by Jesus Christ. Book One. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AYR6TJU
by Jesus Christ: How social darwinism ruin America and the World. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AZDJJQI
by Jesus Christ: Evangelism for Difficult People. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AZDJCLA
by Jesus Christ: How you can do Evangelism with Social Media. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AZDXZLI
by Jesus Christ: The Nicene Creed. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AZDYMJ2
by Jesus Christ: Logos, Memra, and other letter for Economists. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AZDY7JW
by Jesus Christ: our Father in Heaven prayer. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AZKZUNM
Some problems of Nuclear Energy development in Asia: A literature survey. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00B4LW5ZW

Some papers at www.vixra.org:
www.vixra.org/abs/0912.0036
www.vixra.org/abs/0912.0037
www.vixra.org/abs/1001.0005
www.vixra.org/abs/1001.0003
www.vixra.org/abs/0912.0053


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