Making the Connection.

I have had a custom in ministry, which combines with my love of creative photography -- to hand out photographs of churchgoers -- to churchgoers. This has offered many opportunities to greet people and have brief exchanges with them. OBSERVATION: It has not always been photographs. At times, I have handed out lemons, and salt crystals, and various things besides. It makes the connection.

Elusive Electricity

It was a Saturday evening, My electricity meter was very low. I sought to buy electricity online. The PIN failed. I clicked re-send. It failed again. I clicked re-send. I had my PIN. Now the transaction failed. I tried again. The PIN failed. The PIN failed again. The transaction failed again. My bank advised me to call a help line. The help line failed. I tried again. It failed again. I tried again. My bank told me to call on Monday. I got hold of a technician. He said, ah, I can see that it's the bank that is at fault. Here is what you do. The phone cut out. I called again. He said here is what you do. The phone cut out. I called again. He tried to direct me to a website, but the connection was too bad to hear him. I called back. The phone cut out again. Wife E said, here, there's a brochure which has the URL. But the brochure had misprinted it. It didn't work. I called the technician again. He said I'll repeat. The phone cut out. Finally, I obtained the URL. But my computer wouldn't connect. I tried again. It connected. Again, the PIN failed. And failed again. Finally I had the PIN -- and my electricity. I SMS'd the technician my thanks -- but sending failed. OBSERVATION: I count about twenty failures in a row. I hacked my way through the lot. Originally, telephone lines were invented to get messages through.

Doubled Readership

My blog has been running since 2007. It has had short-lived surges in readership over the years -- but during this past year, its readership has doubled. Several times, it has exceeded 1,000 page-views a day (such as yesterday). I am mystified. This past year, I have written my posts faster than I did before. OBSERVATION: Perhaps faster throughput is in better alignment with the world of today! Something I dislike recently about the "mechanics" of the blog is that it now auto-corrects one -- even when it shouldn't. It's my blog, and I'll write as I want to!

A Break While Moving

Wife E and I moved today -- from one ground floor apartment to another, in the same block. We moved with the help of some students. We put down our dining room table in a public space en route between the two apartments, and had some lunch. Wife E is missing from the photo due to her characteristic camera-shyness. I am missing because ... OBSERVATION: One should do this more often.

Engstrom on Leadership

Ted Engstrom was one of the early writers on Christian leadership. In The Making of a Leader, he writes, “That God ordains men to serve is clear from Psalm 75:6,7: ‘Promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south. But God ... putteth down one, and setteth up another’.” OBSERVATION: This raises a number of questions. To what extent is leadership dependent on a leader’s contribution to the leadership situation? How does one discern that one is ordained by God?

Starbucks and Church

Starbucks is in big trouble. Paradoxically, because it "followed the money". The new CEO now "wants to return Starbucks to its roots as a 'community coffeehouse' that made it the behemoth that it is". OBSERVATION: It is a classic tale, told by many Churches, too. They follow the money, and end up declining or imploding.

POSTSCRIPT: Partly for this reason, in the Congregational Church, a treasurer may be referred to as "the least among equals" and such, and withdraws from debate. Treasurers' terms are often re-confirmed annually -- and often a treasurer must step down triennially.

Watching What God Does

It might sound like a truism, but there are basically two ways of looking at ministry -- it's your work, or it's the Lord's work. The difference here may be subtle. One may trust God to make one a superhero (still one's own work), rather than trusting Him to use one's nothingness (the Lord's work). I think this is one of the most important things to know about ministry -- it's not your work. He saves people, He grows people -- a minister just walks in, walks out, and watches what God does.

Counselling: A Destructive Reaction

I was reminded today of one of the hazards of counselling. I was discussing the "unspoken rule" in Churches that counselees should not be involved in a minister's duties or interests. When one counsels people, their greatest weakness or deepest shame may be exposed. This is typically safe with the minister, the counsellor -- however, the counselee may react in anger against the counsellor. As an example, The National Center for Biotechnology Information refers to this (see Chapter 4) as "threats or acts of violence against the counsellor". Thankfully this is rare, but it can be a serious problem. When people's greatest weakness or deepest shame is exposed, this may unleash powerful forces -- a destructive reaction against the counsellor. This may be all the more dangerous in a Church, which is a community, as opposed to a practice. OBSERVATION: There is a similar thing, called transference -- where a counselee transfers perceptions he or she has of people (say, their father) to the counsellor.

Figurine

I found this little figurine -- or rather, first noticed it -- in my home the other day. I discovered it is quite valuable -- or would be, if there were a market for it here. OBSERVATION: Who is it? It is ... William Shakespeare. It is made of solid brass.

Writing Record

My most important writing this year: 

• Above all, a comprehensive philosophy for Malta, and a comprehensive theology for Switzerland, to be delivered in 2025.

• I issued a 10-year anniversary edition of my Metaphysical Notes, originally published by the Philosophical Society of England. 

• I had two major articles accepted in Spanish, on The Good, and Courage (the last still pending). 

• I did two major interviews, one published in Australia, and one in Malta (the last still pending). 

• I completed a rough draft of a new book, a fictional philosophy. 

• I developed the diodic divider, a means of using extremely sensitive inputs in circuits.

Rotating Congregants

This photo looks like my handiwork. It was taken, I would guess, six or seven years ago, at a city Church. How many of these people are still at the Church? Maybe one. OBSERVATION: It would be every minister's nightmare, if they could see the future. Yet as many people as left were replaced by newcomers. It is typical of city Churches.

Pension Payment Pending

I needed to do some preparatory work this week, for a meeting with a council this coming week. The meeting concerns about eight years of pension, which is owed to me by my former city Church. By today, the amount involved is more than R2 million. I served the Church (the third call the Church extended to me) from 1994-2013. They paid me my pension from 2002-2013. They omitted 1994-2002. That is by far the larger part, because it started eight years earlier. Why only tackle this now? One reason (there are a few) is that I only recently found the original contract to back me up. OBSERVATION: The pension seems to be unaccounted for. Where did it go?

POSTSCRIPT: I had a good friend, Rev. Roger Horwood, who died of cancer. His last words to me were, "Don't give up on the pension, Tom."

Amasi Fermented Milk

I have changed the dynamics of trade in my suburb. I asked the corner store whether they had amasi -- a traditional "thick curdled sour fermented milk". No, they said, but they would try to get some in. They took a minimum order -- but said it didn't sell out. For whatever reason, they took another order. By now, they have doubled the order, and it all sells out. Wife E says of course, they just need to look at their clientele, to see that it will sell. Traditional amasi contains a wide variety of yeasts. OBSERVATION: The same applies to Church fetes. Look at your clientele.

Trekboer

The trekboere (pastoralists) are legends of South African history. Wikipedia says that "the group continued well into the 19th century". However, here's something interesting. My father-in-law was a trekboer. In his younger years, he took to the heights, while the farmers had the valleys below. Now in his 70's, he might well have been one of the very last trekboers. OBSERVATION: The animals he herded were indigenous, too. He was joined by a brother-in-law.

Post Box

Our national Post Office is under business rescue, apparently staring at liquidation for the second time since last year. How much of our Post Office is really working? It seems hard to say. In my area the Post Office has closed -- as it has in 400 other places countrywide. Here is a post box that I snapped near my home this week. Should one entrust one's letter to this box? OBSERVATION: But the last time I sought to buy postage stamps at a Post Office, they didn't have any. I couldn't anyway post letters in a post box without stamps!