Monday, March 31, 2014

That City Of Love

There's a personal story behind this 1½-minute music video. Shortly before my wife Mirjam died, she requested that the Church's Youth Choir should sing this song at her memorial service. However, Peter was in Vancouver -- on the other side of the world. Phakamile was in the hills of Zululand -- we didn't succeed in tracking her down in time. Ester was on the plateau in the Eastern Cape -- it took us a few days to make contact, then she made the arduous journey back to town. Itai and Francis, however, were nearby. So it was three members of the choir who sang In That City Of Love at Mirjam's memorial service. There was a reason why she wanted this choir. She said that these young people taught her to love Africa. She appears in the last photo in the sequence.

Sunday, March 30, 2014

Testimonies True

This week I re-read many testimonies I received through years past. It was interesting to read them with hindsight, since some people had continued as an asset to the Church, while others had not. While the interpretation of testimonies is a subjective thing, I would think that it was the conviction of sin that meant that certain testimonies held through the coming years. A want of that conviction did not bode well. Some testimonies came close -- and by "close" I mean that they evidenced thankfulness to Christ, or personal experience of God, or acknowledgement of fault, and so on -- yet not the conviction of sin, which is the touch of the Spirit. "He will come to convict the world of sin" (John 16:8). OBSERVATION: Some of the convictions of sin were "faltering", in the sense that they were described vaguely, or they developed over time -- yet the conviction was there.

Kokerboom

I took this photo at Gannabos, near the ghost-town Brandkop, north of Nieuwoudtville in the Northern Cape. There are said to be "few examples" in the world of kokerboom (quiver tree) forests like this. Kokerbome first flower at 20-30 years of age, and only in the cold mid-winter. You may click on the photo to enlarge.

Saturday, March 29, 2014

Orientation For Mission

E. and I attended a five-hour orientation for the mission today -- we are to join a missionary team next month. I was appointed communications officer, and E. the chef. OBSERVATION: E. is a pro when it comes to catering for a crowd, yet I gently suggested that people shouldn't think Western style catering -- it could be very different. Wood-fired cooking and roasted bread and qo, among other things.

Unity: The Song

Five years ago, our Church's Youth Choir made a CD. We recorded this track never having heard the original. When I sent it to the Mennonite Church in Canada, they seemed astonished (people in Canada might know why, although we have no idea)! All the regular members of the choir are pictured in this two-minute video. I remember that we had a challenge with the level of the guitar here -- the only track where we used an instrument. OBSERVATION: Four years after this was recorded, the last lady in the sequence became my wife. The names in the sequence: Phakamile, Francis, Peter, Itai, and Ester.

Thursday, March 27, 2014

Presbyterian Vetplante

Wife E. is delighted that some vetplante (succulents) she planted on our plot are thriving.  One never knows what might "take" with only intermittent care. A Presbyterian elder plucked these from a Presbyterian Church garden and gave them to her. I joked: "Trust a Presbyterian elder to steal from his own Church" (Presbyterians and Congregationalists, historically, have goaded one another). OBSERVATION: We kept these a long time in damp paper, too, before re-planting them.

Pity The Bishop

Pity the bishop. Today I crossed the river on one side of my plot, to take a look at his land -- the first time I did since the flood in November last year. The ground that this tree stands upon must lie 3 metres above the current river bed. The tree was broken by the flood waters. In the distance, one sees the bishop's access road at the other side of the river. My plot lies to the right of the road. Between this tree and the road, the bishop built a bridge. There is now a mighty chasm where the bridge once stood. The bridge was swept away.

Wednesday, March 26, 2014

Centre Of My Parish

Here at last is an aerial photo of the village which represents the centre of my Karoo pastorate -- marvellously situated in the middle of a semi-desert. There is South Street in the foreground, Voortrekker Street in the middle, and North Street in the distance. These three streets are criss-crossed by several others. Visitation is therefore a snap, as one should see. Actually the village has a twin township, off the right of the photo. This little village has an amazing forty Churches, of which ours is the only English-speaking one. We can therefore boast, without fear of contradiction: "We are the friendliest little English Church in town."

Writing About Writing

I was pleased to receive a note in my Inbox this morning, that I have a review published with Martin Cohen in The Philosopher (promoted from Philosophical Investigations). While a review is just writing about writing, I am happy to see my writing  rise to such prominence. My own contribution to the article was modest: in particular, the first few paragraphs, and some copy editing. The image appears on The Philosopher's index page. Click here for the Celtic music that accompanies it.

Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Old Friends

Through most of my ministr(ies), we have tightened membership requirements, or have kept a tight membership list. We once estimated that we had an 80% active membership, as against the average 20% (USA). Interestingly, in my first ministry, membership shrank to half, while Sunday attendance quadrupled (more or less). However, with this in mind, in what measure should one then accommodate adherents, old friends, or past staff? This question was one day brought into focus when someone we removed from a Church address list gave a generous gift to the Church. OBSERVATION: In general, I find that there is a great deal of warmth and good-will amongst people who once belonged. From experience, today, I would say: maintain a warm bond with all, forever, as far as it is possible from the Church's side. And it's not for the money, it's for the Church. I am supporting such a policy in my present Church: keep a warm bond with the whole English-speaking community.

Reliable Phone?

My wife E. has a smartphone, a Blackberry. For the second time in a week, today, I received a missed call from her many days after the call was placed. She claims it is proof of a reliable phone: it won't forget to pass on a missed call. OBSERVATION: It might not be Blackberry of course that's the cause of this, but it's only Blackberry that has done it.

Monday, March 24, 2014

Out Of Order

On my resignation from urban ministry, and since, I received various documents or letters from the Church. Two of them so concerned me that I handed them to the SA Human Rights Commission. Officers of the Commission both times ruled them out of order, and recommended serious action. There were various things, but here are the most important. In the first place, the Church should not have demanded that I keep from the authorities "recent events related to the Church". In the second place, the Church should not have refused me access to secret statements about me. Both points concerned key articles of human rights: among them the rule of law, and freedom of information.

Sunday, March 23, 2014

African Medicine

For two weeks, I have been running a fever on and off. Three times I cancelled a visit to the country. Anyway, at about this stage, my African family have got in on the act. I need African medicine, I am told, and it grows at Kirstenbosch (a nearby botanical garden). That will fix it in one night. A pity there's an entrance fee at Kirstenbosch. At the same time, an African brother-in-law has passed on an "African remedy" which doesn't fit with the rest, and seems decidedly suspect. But by now I know the African humour: talk nonsense with a poker face. OBSERVATION: I'm talking here about African medicine, tried over generations by countless adults and children -- not African magic. See, for instance, the Traditional Medicines Research Group in Cape Town.

Bereavement And Identity

I have had a lot of experience with bereavement, through ministry. When I lost my wife therefore, there were some challenges that I would have anticipated -- but there were others I could never have guessed. Possibly my biggest challenge in the long term was one of identity. While people have described me as individualistic, idiosyncratic, original, I discovered that I had not really viewed myself as an individual. I had been two, and anything that now turned the attention on me, alone, was very difficult for me. I froze. I had always been we before, as if everyone was looking past me to the we. A year into marriage with E., I found that I was we again. I could rest again. OBSERVATION: This made me think a lot about identity. We are not individuals, although we might think we are.

Saturday, March 22, 2014

Sabotage How-To

Today I read a paper by Van Eemeren and Grootendorst on how to hear differences of opinion and work a solution -- or not. It is a scientific paper, not merely wise advice or common sense. I shall pass on here the first of ten phases that one should enter if one should have no interest in working a solution, and should wish to completely sabotage one's opponent. Phase I:

   • Threaten him with sanctions
   • Or play on his feelings of compassion
   • But also discredit his expertise, impartiality, integrity, or credibility

OBSERVATION: It is a very interesting paper, however it raises many questions. Basically, the no. 1 scientific obstruction is: intimidate.

Reading For Major Ministry

I was talking to an elderly minister who was in "big-time" ministry in his younger years. But he was unable to meet the challenge, stepped out, and continued in modest ministry for the rest of his life. He showed me a book and said: "If I had read this first, I believe I would never have left major ministry." The book is The Believer's Full Blessing of Pentecost, by Andrew Murray. OBSERVATION: I would summarise it like this: ministry consists of an empty self (which is empty anyway, but many don't recognise it), filled with the Spirit. The full text is at www.davidcox.com. It is generally very highly rated.

Friday, March 21, 2014

"Trust Me"

When it comes to Church polity (or policy), the theory and the reality may be far apart. Somebody once said to me that one may be in an Anglican Church which is Congregational, and vice versa. This post is about the spirit of decision-making, and specifically about the dynamic of "Trust me." The Congregational dynamic is that everybody, together, takes fully informed decisions. But then there are those who come into the mix and say: "Trust me," or "Trust us." A decision is then taken on that basis. It sounds good, and those people may well be trustworthy, and decision-making may seem still to be in the hands of all, but I would think that Congregationalism is all but dead. OBSERVATION: The key question is no doubt: what is real decision-making, by all? And some further observations: "Trust me" is an emotionally loaded approach which in itself should ring warning bells. Also, in my personal experience there have been some false "Trust me's". Of course, people may not use the words "Trust me," or "Trust us," but something to that effect.

Call vs. Success

One of the special characteristics of ministry is that it is the call that sustains one, not success or growth or viability or popularity or receptivity -- and surprisingly, people so often don't get this, even today. A friend wrote to me yesterday about their ministry in South Asia: "One of the Bangladeshi staff has been working in an unreached area for 18 years. The first 15 years he saw no fruit at all. These past 3 years there has been a breakthrough and they now have 20 believers and things are beginning to multiply!" The photo caption is: "What Bangladesh has in abundance are small but densely populated villages and sunlight" (thanks to GEF).

Thursday, March 20, 2014

Route Of The Exodus

A young man waited around for me for hours. The reason was a surprise. He wanted to know whether Moses' route through the wilderness was certain. I copied a map for him, titled: Traditional Route of the Exodus. I said: "You know what Traditional means?" "Yes," he said, "handed down through the elders." I said: "But a lot of the places on that map, we don't exactly know where they were." OBSERVATION: It is a mystery to me why this was so important to him. But in ministry, if it's important to someone, it's important to you.

Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Self-Published

To some, "self-published" means that you paid to have your own work published. To some, it means that you took your own control of publishing. To me, it would mean that you made your own work public. This post was prompted by someone who asked me whether a book that I wrote was self-published. Intuitively, one might say yes -- but it was all of it already published, being re-published by me when I took advantage of liberal licenses. That is, it was all of it peer reviewed in this way or that. In fact I have little out there that I myself put out there for the first time. OBSERVATION: It seems to me that "self-published" is ill defined. The real danger of self-publishing is that it is not a team effort with the application of the necessary balance and expertise.

Tuesday, March 18, 2014

Near Death Experiences

Early in my ministry, I became aware of near death experiences (NDE's). This made me more ready to recognise such experiences throughout my ministry. Over the years, people shared with me about a dozen such experiences in all: out-of-body experiences and encounters with Christ. OBSERVATION: My first encounter with such an experience came from a man who told me that he had emerged from a coma because two women had urged him continually to wake up. I asked him how he knew that they had urged him continually if he was in a coma. He said that he observed them from behind, and heard all that they said.

Monday, March 17, 2014

St. Patrick's Day

Happy St. Patrick's Day.  I called in at the St. Patrick's Road annual celebration tonight, where guests seemed well plastered by the time I arrived. I took the kids for a spin in my three-wheeler (pictured).  I once christened one of these children (bottom left). The Church manse, a year ago, still stood in St. Patrick's Road -- since demolished. You may click on the photo to enlarge to 135k.

Theonomy, Autonomy, and Pneumonomy

Many of my articles are cross-disciplinary -- but these can get shot down by editors because they have too much theological content, or too much philosophical content, and so on, depending who is assessing them. As of last night, I have a new philosophy of religion article out there in draft, titled Theonomy, Autonomy, and Pneumonomy. Basically the subject is this: where do we get our rights and wrongs? A Google search for the article today reveals: "Your search did not match any documents."  However, I predict that if it doesn't suffer the cross-disciplinary death, it will be receiving a lot of attention in a week or two.

NOTE: I should have said: in a day or two. As it turned out.

Saturday, March 15, 2014

Super Status

Some of my posts achieve what I call "super status" on the modest scale of this blog. If a post is directly targeted ten times a day for a week or more (apart from being viewed as a part of the page, as it normally is), that enters my "super status" category. Sometimes one might predict which posts are destined for super status, but often one could not have done. A post which has "super status" at the moment is Church Newsletter. I hadn't imagined that this would generate so much interest -- whatever the reason for it may be.

No Surrender

One of my "sisters" (a closer relative, pictured) was stabbed four times when she refused to surrender her cellphone in the street. She was proud of that, and said that the would-be thief would be nursing some injuries, too. Another "sister" at the same time handed her cellphone over, and was unharmed.

Article Blitzing

Yesterday I wrote an article for a popular magazine (if anything comes of it, it will be revealed). It followed a pattern of many of my articles. The subject seemed a daunting one. I thought on it -- and half thought on it -- for six months. Then I wrote it up and submitted it in three hours. That's more than 99.9% of the time spent thinking on it (or sleeping on it!) and less than 0.1% of the time spent blitzing it.

Friday, March 14, 2014

Jameson Hall

This is a repost: I took this panoramic shot on the Upper Campus of the University of Cape Town (UCT). The Jameson Hall is in the centre. The photo may be enlarged to 130k by clicking on it. The most useful thing I did at UCT was to receive private coaching in linguisitcs. I was registered there for theology, too, but achieved ... nothing. Which was a little bit short of ... something.

To Matter Or Not

An elderly person recently asked me this simple but profound question: "As a minister of a Church, you are dealing with people of such different loyalties and opinions, all rolled into one. How do you do it?" OBSERVATION: One of the biggest challenges is to know which of them matter. There are those which seem to matter but do not, and those which do not seem matter but do!

Wednesday, March 12, 2014

argumentum ad prætextum

If you're not into philosophy, you can skip this post. At the moment I am reading what is essentially an encyclopaedia of fallacies (about 300 in all). I would add a fallacy to the list: argumentum ad prætextum (or ad causam). This is similar to the strawman fallacy. However, the strawman fallacy takes a claim, distorts it, and attacks the distorted claim (the strawman) -- while the argumentum ad prætextum is unable to attack the text, therefore it attacks a pretext. Here's an example: I cannot attack a man for his policy on race (the text). This is unlawful. Therefore I attack him for his policy on governance (the pretext). This is too distinct from the strawman fallacy to fall under that heading. OBSERVATION: As best I know, this has not entered the list of fallacies -- but it is big, as a phenomenon. As to whether it is a fallacy depends much on one's definition or theory of fallacy, and this is too large an area for one post. My own concept of fallacy is here: What Is Fallacy? This would include an argumentum ad prætextum -- as would, I think, the popular notion of fallacy.

Engagement

In April 2012 I was engaged to Ester Sizani. We celebrated at the simple "concept" restaurant Boesmanland on the West Coast. They have their own troubadours, who regularly entertain -- and I "ordered" them to sing at our table for the occasion. It was a magical moment.

Wiki Markup

I tried some Wiki markup programming this week -- I mean, the more serious stuff. I reached a complete impasse -- to which a pro responded: "It's not you -- it's the limits of the system." OBSERVATION: In fact Wiki markup is buggy. A floating box was interfering with a bibliography.

Honouring Ministry

I was brought up with a passionate loyalty to missions and ministry. My parents taught me great honour for ministry -- which Biblically is right. Also, I experienced missions from the inside -- the enormous work and suffering of missionaries. Today, therefore, I am fiercely protective of missionaries or ministers who are maligned, including myself. If it's me who is maligned, then for me, in an important sense it is more about the honour of missions and ministry than it is about me. Last year in particular I was maligned a lot, within the Church. I do not let it lie -- not least for the sake of the missions and ministry I speak about, which deserve respect. OBSERVATION: One acknowledges that missionaries and ministers are weak and fallible -- but one gets the point. The photo shows me in a London Missionary Society launch, in 1968. The late Teoti is on the right.

Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Non-Mistakes

Through the course of ministry I have learnt: "Many mistakes are not mistakes." Also: "If it seems that way it is that way." What I mean is that, early in ministry, I put a lot more down to people's mistakes, or to mere appearances. Later in ministry, through experience, I put a lot more down to "this present evil age" (Galatians 1:4). Which is not to say that things may not be mistakes, or mere appearances. OBSERVATION: What prompts the post is that a commissioner wrote to me to say that some documents got lost. But they went missing from a bundle -- and were critical to the bundle. A mistake? Under the circumstances, a curious one.

Ministry Positions

Since I resigned my urban ministry, I have received five informal invitations to apply for ministry positions (and suggestions besides). I responded to one of these at the very start, and that is where I am at the moment -- a very special ministry. OBSERVATION: The invitations vary a great deal in character. They make interesting reading, and speak volumes. One could write a book about them.

Monday, March 10, 2014

Private Surveillance

Surveillance in South Africa is far more advanced than any of us (but a few) might imagine. This is private surveillance networks -- not (as far as I know) the surveillance of the state, which I would doubt is up to it. A member of such a network introduced me to the technology. In some of our suburbs, there are bands of geniuses who derive much satisfaction and adventure from surveillance second to none -- and they are funded by the people with interests. For instance, a friend cannot come to visit me for the first time without getting flagged, in public space, by the network (its computers and radio-linked peripherals) -- before he or she gets to my door.

Goodbye Amy

One of my most precious past members passed away. A favourite photo of hers, prominently displayed in her flat, was of her kitted out on my big single-cylinder motorbike, for her 80th birthday. We rode it to the nearby Winchester Mansions Hotel for coffee. I couldn't find that photo for this post -- so here she is when she went for a test drive in my new diesel three-wheeler -- here in her 90's. OBSERVATION: There were a number of things about her that were very special: She was absolutely faithful and dependable, even in weakness. She continually asked questions -- useful questions. She wouldn't be one of the herd, but took thoughtful stands on issues -- and firm stands where required. She was a continual encouragement. She rejected gossip and all its dynamics. And she knew the Lord -- she came to "joyous faith" fairly late in life. Her name lives on in the daughter of a past elder and deacon, who named their little girl after her. You may click on the photo to enlarge.

Sunday, March 9, 2014

Red Basker

This Red Basker is arguably the most impressive dragonfly in Southern Africa (apart from the Blue Emperor, perhaps). The moment I saw it, I wanted to photograph it. It was very skittish – but with great patience, I managed to get my lens to within 10cm / 4". OBSERVATION: It deserves to be seen in VGA – which one may do by clicking on the photo. (One also sees a blue damselfly in the background here -- out of focus).

Psychological Assessment

Half way through my ministry, I underwent an in-depth psychological assessment -- for my own improvement. After hours of testing and analysis, a number of graphs were placed before me. There was one result that absolutely stood out from the rest. On the surface of it, I was affable, hesitant. Underneath, I was determined, ferocious. The implication for ministry, I was told, was that people tend to deal with who they think they are dealing with, and I could therefore be opening the door to opportunists. OBSERVATION: However, I forget the details of the analysis -- I am here reporting from memory. Also, I wouldn't think that it was a case of being either this or that -- rather, it was all of it true together. Yet in my "insider" experience of ministers, not least urban ministers, I think that this finding should be true of many.

The Compliment Of Attack

I am reading a book at the moment by a social psychologist. This observation may serve as an encouragement to some. He is talking about personal attacks: "When others verbally attack you, take it as a compliment to the quality of your argument. It is usually a sign of desperation on their part."

Saturday, March 8, 2014

The Preacher's We

There is a fallacy that has the name The Preacher's We. It is a fallacy because the preacher says We when he / she really means You. One gets the preachers who play it safe -- the gospel applies rather to us: "Do we not agree, dear brothers and sisters, about these things?" Or, the gospel applies rather to them there: "Do you see, my friends, what the Corinthians were doing?" And then, one gets the preachers who hardly apply the gospel at all. OBSERVATION: My style as a minister has been to say You -- this gospel applies to You. But this must be done redemptively and compassionately and kindly. I dislike preachers who play it safe -- however, I think it is true to say that they play it safe -- it is a hazard to be direct -- whether it be about salvation, money, equality, sexuality, ministry, anything.

Wedding Belles

I took these two beauties to a wedding this morning. Here they are for all the world to see. The wedding -- as many weddings are -- was colour co-ordinated. But here's a tip for prospective couples: put the name of the Church on the invite!

Friday, March 7, 2014

All That Glitters ...

Last month, a publishing house looked over my research on Christian leadership. Following an assessment, they expressed "our interest in publishing it". That, however, is where it ended, as I felt that I would be signing away the copyright to my research with patchy information from their side as to their own operations. All that glitters is not gold.

Celebration

This one's a post with a complete difference. It's just a six-second clip, to give a fleeting insight into my life. During the past three years, I have attended many celebrations such as this. This one was to celebrate my wife's parents. But this was just the beginning of the event. In Africa, such celebrations tend to swell with time -- and with this one, many children later appeared. The hall was donated to the community by the EU.

Street Counsel

I frequently get stopped in the street by people I don't (really) know. Sometimes they seem to think that a "priest" owns the temple treasury. Sometimes they would like counsel. In the latter case, I often say: "Come, walk with me." Recently a man stopped me in the street and said: "Why did my father commit suicide?" I asked him what had happened. He said he didn't know, he didn't understand. So I said: "Come, walk with me," and I ran through the general dynamics of a suicide. He said: "Thank you so much. You don't know how much that means to me."

Thursday, March 6, 2014

Genadendal Church

For good measure, here's a photo of the Moravian Church in Genadendal, 130km/80mi east of Cape Town. It is a Panini projection, rendered in false colour. Genadendal means Valley of Grace.

Anonymous Mail

An anonymous mail today brought to mind a barrage of anonymous mail I have received during the past year or two in particular. If one includes false names, then my anonymous mail has been much. What was the subject matter? Some of it contained insults, some threats (some very serious threats), some of it was racist, some retold events in twisted fashion, some was sexual, some was photocopies -- and some was supportive. OBSERVATION: Today's mail was supportive. But supposing now that I should put it on my blog? Who wrote it? A supporter? Me? A detractor who'd say it was me? I once had a professor who praised his own work (anonymously) on his website. I rescued him from himself.

The Neutrality Of Language (Or Not)

Recently I was invited to do a "box" on the neutrality (or not) of language. We all know that language may be used for hate speech on the one hand, or for love songs on the other -- that is, language is assumed to be a neutral medium. But could it be that language is inherently good or bad? OBSERVATION: My recent writing has received much attention -- and I think that I was on form when I wrote a (tentative) box this morning. The subject has obvious application to theology. If language should be inherently bad, then this would be suggestive of original sin.

Wednesday, March 5, 2014

Genadendal Bell

Genadendal is the oldest mission station in Southern Africa. It lies about 130km/80mi east of Cape Town. I took this photo on Sunday of the old mission bell. The first missionary there, Georg Schmidt, had to leave, essentially because he was persecuted for elevating the Khoi, both educationally and spiritually. You may click on the photo to enlarge to 300k. Click on the link above for a touching story.

Gifting vs. Education

In a Bible study group on Sunday, we discussed gifting vs. education as it pertains to ministry -- any kind of ministry. I think we agreed that there needs to be both. You can't have one without the other. Wife E. made an interesting point. Her grandparents were elders in the Church, she said, without being able to read or write. This is in fact the case all over Africa.

Church Exodus

People make much, sometimes, of people who leave the Church. An elder of another Church once said to me gravely: "I hear that so-and-so has left your Church." I said that it wasn't just so-and-so. Masses of people had left. It was in the nature of the ministry. OBSERVATION: I once made a comparison between a 1997 Church address list and a 2011 Church address list. 84.5% of the surnames that were there in 1997 were missing in 2011. That's just 14 years. However, the Church in 2011 was fuller, and younger, and richer, and more diverse -- a testimony to God's grace. See also Numbering The Congregation.

Tuesday, March 4, 2014

Thumped

I got thumped yesterday -- fortunately not hurt -- and I had it coming to me. I was sitting in a Church board-room when I received a call on my cell-phone. As I spoke, I tried a side door, and it opened into a small space. Oh, this was an interesting place! There was a narrow staircase with a door at the top. Lost in conversation, I walked up the steps, tried the handle, and the door opened -- to reveal more steps going up. Still lost in conversation, the staircase did a turn, and continued higher, to a landing. Still talking, I thought: "I wonder whether I've got into a Church tower?" That's where I got thumped, in the shadows. It was the caretaker, thinking I was an intruder. Wife E. comments: "Why do you always wander when you speak on the phone?"

Monday, March 3, 2014

Mars Clock

A new edition of my electronics book lies not far behind me -- yet I keep inserting new projects in a next edition. I inserted nine today -- among them a Mars Clock. This will, needless to say, show the time on Mars. We have clocks which show the time in Tokyo, New York, London. Why not Mars? Thus one may know, for instance, when the sun is to rise over the Mars rover Curiosity, or (in the future) when to dial Mars, so that one won't go waking people up at night.

Sunday, March 2, 2014

Good Ministry

I wondered whether an old dog can learn new tricks, when I took on ministry in the Karoo semi-desert. It is one thing to be in ministry -- another to embark on it. Bearing in mind that I am an "absentee minister", and that the congregation does much without me, it has been a good ministry. An unsettled Church has settled much. There was a doubling of attendance (I am told) when E. and I started, and since then this has held steady -- in spite of a complete change of Church Council, which had us all nervous. The old Council served faithfully, and the new will build on the old. Collections have about trebled in this short time, which gives the Church "room to move".

Karoo Cottage

E. and I spent the weekend in the Karoo semi-desert -- in a cottage neighbouring this one (ours was in better condition)! This is a very typical Karoo ruin. We dined with our hosts surrounded by howling jackals -- and I decided that De Krans port is better than Boplaas. The night sky is magnificent here. You may click on the photo to enlarge to a detailed 600k. I used a strong filler flash.