Informal Counselling

On my CV, I list "informal counselling". In ministry, I was in very high demand for counselling, so that I had thousands of sessions. Yet my counselling continues into the present. People often "wear their heart on their sleeve" on social media in particular, yet don't seem to get much solid advice. I "lend people a hand" if they seem to be in serious difficulty. OBSERVATION: In ministry, I estimated that I had counselled one-third of all members and adherents. I am trained in counselling, psychology, and mentoring -- although experience is more valuable.

Mentoring Students

Students! They are always the same. A student got in touch with me this morning, "Please if you have time, before tomorrow midnight ..." Then, "Please if you have time". Then, "Pls". It's called panic. I am glad to help, although the help is apportioned to the time in hand! OBSERVATION: I mentor students, just for the love of it, mostly in the Third (Growing) World. I checked several assignments in the last month. This student wanted an edit -- however, I don't alter assignments. I advise the student how to.

Nature Reserve (Not)

It may seem hard to believe. I took this photo today in Cape Town's Table Bay Nature Reserve -- managed by the City of Cape Town. These are the Zoarvlei Wetlands. One sees ancient salt marshes on the left. The City offers "environmental education" in the Reserve. OBSERVATION: As one sees, the scene in the photograph is a lesson in itself. This is not an isolated scene. One could take similar photographs all over the Reserve.

Second Draft

At the end of February, I completed a draft of my 2025 European lecture on Holism. At the end of April, I have completed a second draft. It comes in at 

• Grade 8 (plain English) 

• 55% strength of delivery (strong for philosophy) 

• 20% unique words (a rich vocabulary)

OBSERVATION: I added a segment on Education. I deleted three segments on Subjectivity (they may ask a bit much of a "popular philosophy" audience), and deleted a segment on Ethics (ditto).

Election Posters

A month ago, I noted that the ruling party had not yet put up any election posters in Cape Town. Now, a month later -- and one month before the elections -- they still have not put up any election posters. One wonders whether this is a very clever strategy, or whether -- according to some rumours -- they are struggling to get the election posters funded. OBSERVATION: According to the latest Ipsos poll, the ruling party is set to gain 40.2% of the vote.

Blaise Pascal

I accepted a second invitation to lecture in Europe -- on Blaise Pascal. There is a big puzzle in Pascal. He writes that there is an "infinite abyss" within us, which he describes in detail. Then he writes that only "God Himself" can fill it, which he doesn't describe at all. What did he mean? The answer goes to the core of the Christian faith.

Planned Abduction

Somebody said to me, Funny that you were abducted in that suburb, and it never happened before, and it never happened since. I said no, because it was planned. The gunmen interrogated me for 90 minutes, and they made notes in a notebook as they did. What ordinary gunmen interrogate people like that? That is only one of various signs that this was not your average abduction. OBSERVATION: But for obvious reasons, I have not spoken about all I know.

Over 21's

This was a Church group called the Over 21’s -- here singing at a Church Supper. It was an extraordinary group. In spite of its small size and high turnover, it produced many leaders in the Church, including five deacons. OBSERVATION: What made the group so influential? Perhaps depth of teaching and spiritual intimacy. Some groups, like this one, are definitely worth maintaining, in spite of small numbers (such as, also, the Sunday School -- Children's Church -- and Youth).

Not in Vain

Writing philosophy to a high standard is a "thankless" task. It is hard and lonely work. But there are moments of light. Today I was invited to hold a lecture on philosophical theology in Europe, at a prestigious institution. It is not in vain. I already have an invitation to hold a lecture on philosophy in Europe (which I have accepted).

Legal Practice Council

I took a legal Chambers to the Legal Practice Council this week. I had sought to discover from them whether there was any recourse regarding my missing Church pension. They made a few absurd statements, and threw in a few red herrings. OBSERVATION: The lawyer responsible for paying out my pension -- at the least securing it -- vanished, so to speak. Today the sum involved is in excess of R2 million. This is my non-professional-speak of course, but in legal parlance, city attorneys judged that he offered "no recourse".

West Coast Church

This is one of more than 100 photos of Churches on this blog. It is a super-wide angle photo, taking in floor and ceiling in one shot. The Church is on the West coast of South Africa, in Lambert's Bay. The verse at the top of the photo is translated, "Let everything that has breath praise the Lord." The fact that it is in Dutch suggests that it predates the creation (official recognition) of Afrikaans in 1925. You may click on the photo to enlarge.

Government Certified Certifier

Recently I sought to reactivate a system I am registered with in the UK. They required that I identify myself over the phone (twice), then that I send them a certified copy of my passport -- and that the certifier be certified. So I engaged a government certified certifier. No, they said, not good enough. So what was lacking in a government certified certifier? 30 million people put our government in place. Probably they couldn't track down the certifier's certification, which would be no surprise. I obtained a privately certified certifier. I said, do you realise how much you are costing me? It was equivalent to 120 McDonald's burgers for all the hoops I had to jump through. They said send the receipts, and we'll have a look. OBSERVATION: They knew perfectly well who I was, but they were straining at gnats.

Three Congregations

Over on Facebook, I put up various photos I took of local (South African) Churches. These three photos show the vast differences one finds among congregations. What all three Churches have in common here is that they are well attended, as is often the case in Southern Africa. You may click on the image to enlarge.

Liturgy (Not)

Perhaps the biggest thing that happened in my urban Church following my departure is that they departed from Congregational worship. Strangely, they did so ostensibly to return to Congregational tradition -- while in fact they were moving away from it. They shifted to a far more liturgical worship -- which Wikipedia describes as "a standardised order of events". I have heard it described as a "script". OBSERVATION: It is a killer in more precarious environments, because one needs the full spiritual life of the Body, particularly in the Sunday service. This is how the classic text Evangelical & Congregational describes it (you may click on it to enlarge).

A Year Ago

A year ago today I wrote on Facebook that I had a "mature draft" of the book (click here) This Town: A Complete Metaphysics. This went on to be snapped up as a "hot project", and is in the meantime available wherever books are sold. Last week, it made it into the Kindle USA Metaphysics bestseller list -- and the week before. Today it has dropped to no. 349 in Metaphysics. It bobs up and down! OBSERVATION: It is what I have called a "fictional metaphysics".