Sunday, August 31, 2014
A Wife's Post
This is a re-post of a popular (perhaps rather, much-read) post on my blog: "At a wedding I recently attended, the preacher said to the bride: 'Stand up, please!' (see the photo). Then he said, among other things: 'You will wash the dishes. You will iron his clothes. You will not leave your post!' OBSERVATION: In my experience, this is fairly standard preaching on marriage in South Africa: Pentecostal, Reformed, Evangelical, Apostolic (in this case, Apostolic)."
Ministry Headaches
One often hears about the extreme pressures of ministry in urban or suburban areas -- the statistics confirm it. It may be little different in rural areas. One rural Church member described it to me this morning. Pointing to houses in a township below us, she said: "Ministers deal with grievous situations -- one after the other. They pick up headaches, and multiply headaches, until their health fails. It happens to the young ones, too. It must go round and round their heads all night! Make no mistake, ministry is an onerous task."
Saturday, August 30, 2014
Eye In The Sky
The "eye in the sky" is typical of South African townships: a super-lamp illuminating a whole township. I took this photo this evening of New Rest (Kareedouw). If not New Rest, then it is close to New Rest. This was a 15-second exposure. You may click on the photo to enlarge to 70k.
Pistol Pastor
I was talking to an elder last night in Kagiso Heights. He said: "They had just taken up the collection in a Church when some tsotsis (thugs) stepped forward and pulled out knives. The pastor bent down behind the pulpit, pulled out a gun, and aimed it at the tsotsis. They ran." He said: "Many pastors have a gun behind the pulpit now."
Friday, August 29, 2014
Kagiso Heights
Books Hit-List
One of the best things I did in my life was to draw up a 'books hit-list'. In the course of research, one finds that one comes across certain works again and again. They criss-cross one's reading -- in quotes, bibliographies, footnotes. Many are classics, yet hard to find. I made a hit-list of those works, and set myself the task of reading them all. Curiously, many most-cited, seminal works are not required reading in one's studies. A sample of some authors on my list: Saussure, Capra, Kuhn, Lao Tzu, Lyotard, Polanyi, Aristotle.
Thursday, August 28, 2014
Wash Day
Tuesday, August 26, 2014
City Bowl
Maintaining A Relationship With God
A Church group called on me out of the blue to help them answer a question. How should one build a healthy Church, and not just “straw”? I said the first ingredient is to magnify the Lord Jesus Christ, or people tend to get fixated with themselves and various other things. I said next to that is Scripture -- to know who God is and how He acts. A young woman said: “But it’s about a personal relationship with God -- and maintaining it!” I sensed some anxiety in the second part of that. I said yes, absolutely, a personal relationship with God is the essence of Christianity -- if you bear in mind that it's not all about what you put in, but also what God does regardless of the (palpable) relationship. OBSERVATION: I see it again and again in counselling: people agonising over the status of their relationship with God, as if the whole universe depended on it and on all that it involves: prayer, humility, obedience, and so on. But God is greater than that. He works beyond that.
Afrikaans Chronolects
Not that long ago, I blogged about a great vowel shift in Afrikaans, which we would seem to be witnessing in our own lifetimes (in English, there was the Great Vowel Shift of 1350-1700). Another interesting thing in this regard is Afrikaans chronolects, which means that different generations of Afrikaners speak different varieties of Afrikaans. It's a very obvious feature of Afrikaans today. But why should these varieties be separated by age? Many linguists call it an "ideological activity", which means that Afrikaans speakers are signalling different ideas and ideals through their varieties of language. OBSERVATION: I don't know much about these things, so these are just some musings.
Monday, August 25, 2014
Steepest Street
A one-time hobby of mine was to discover Cape Town's steepest street. It turned out to be Longmarket Street (pictured). This is the view from the cab of my Mahindra three-wheeler. Longmarket Street has a sustained slope of 17°. There are some streets which have sections that are steeper. The best is Clifford Road with a section 19° steep. That matches the world record for a sustained slope.
Philosophy And Theology
Something few churchgoers understand is the close relationship (for better or worse) between philosophy and theology -- and the power of it. Look at that Church over there -- this probably applies there. Usually theology trails philosophy -- I would estimate by about a generation. That is, if philosophers think it, it will be driving theology one generation later. The evangelical theologian Francis Schaeffer spent much of his life trying to awaken Christians to this fact. OBSERVATION: Some influential philosophers in the field of theology today, to give some examples, were Whitehead (creation as process), Wittgenstein (religion as culture), or Derrida (be aware of constructions), although they themselves were influenced by others. I think culture probably has a stronger influence than philosophy, but that is harder to define.
Sunday, August 24, 2014
Chicken Without A Head
This one's not for sensitive souls. One often speaks of someone running about like a chicken without a head. This week I was reminded of an incident in my youth, in the mission. My guardian, a local man named Temeeti, asked me to hold a chicken while he cut off its head. I let the chicken go. Without a head, it flew right over the tops of the coconut trees -- which were tall. We searched for it, but never found it.
Copernicus
I noted recently that Fuller Theological Seminary taught us: "Examine how this person did it." One of my favourites -- to examine how he did it -- is Copernicus, who demonstrated that the earth revolves around the sun, not the sun around the earth. Copernicus describes this with such clarity and grace, to a potentially hostile audience, and the way that he glorifies God throughout is beautiful -- it gives one a whole new appreciation of the world. I am thinking in particular of On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres.
Saturday, August 23, 2014
Uncle Arthur
Friday, August 22, 2014
Arum Lillies
Lillies are appearing on our plot in Tesselaarsdal (pictured), the first real growth since a devastating flood nine months ago. Until these began to appear this month, it was only clover and mushrooms. The growth of the lillies is fast, and there seem to be many. Soon the plot may be covered with lillies. OBSERVATION: I think one calls these arum lillies or calla lillies -- or in Afrikaans, varkoor (pig's ear).
Professional vs. Personal
Ministers in South Africa are said to have a tendency to be task-driven rather than people-driven. Recently a Church staff member described to me her disappointment at being neglected as soon as it was "mission accomplished". Seeking to provide some perspective, I wrote to her: "Your minister is the professional who has a task to do. The good side of that is that such ministers are not too much ensnared by the personal dynamics and politics that sometimes go on in Churches, and so may be very effective. The downside is that they do this at the expense of deeper relationships or sensitivity to individuals. He's a man on a mission, and what's important to him is what's important to the mission." OBSERVATION: Ideally, I think, one should find a balance between the task and thoughtful consideration of people -- although it's a balance that easily tips too far to one side or the other.
Thursday, August 21, 2014
Forward On Promise
I did my first serious work as a Member of the Board (The Philosopher) today. A geophysicist and author submitted a paper which had thought-provoking content -- basically as to whether we may know the mindset of ancient writers, or are reading into them our own modern thoughts. However, the piece needed major work. The editor decided to go forward on the basis of its substance -- perhaps one might say its promise -- which I think was good. He put in hard work two days ago, and I put in hard work today.
Who's Whos
I was offered a place this week in a Who's Who -- yet while I was courteous about it, I was ambivalent. There are Who's Whos today which benefit from the reputation of the real Who's Whos. Twenty years ago, one might have thought that a Who's Who was augmenting its prestigious list. Today one wonders how they are seeking to put one's "elite" membership to work for themselves. I would describe my impressions of this one as a nominally selective, members-only LinkedIn, with a fairly high profile ... yet would I want to be a member? I don't see that I'd be proud to be one.
Wednesday, August 20, 2014
Apology To God
The first work of the Holy Spirit is to convict a person of sin. I was called upon to see a woman who was terminally ill. The first time I went to see her, I asked her whether she had confessed her sins. She said: “I haven't sinned.” I said: “I can't convince you that you have sinned. Pray that the Holy Spirit will show you.” The next time I went to see her, she said: “I have apologised to God.” I told the story at her funeral service. I said that when someone does that, God is delighted. The angels rejoice.
Rapeseed
East of Cape Town, the "hills are alive" at the moment with rapeseed blossoms. I took this photo at an intersection near Tesselaarsdal. Rapeseed is used for making vegetable oil, and for animal feed, and it produces great quantities of nectar for honey-bees. You may click on the photo to enlarge to VGA.
Tuesday, August 19, 2014
Fact And Value
I spent much of today writing an essay on the fact-value distinction -- or gap or dichotomy. Personally, I think my essay should solve this long-standing problem -- however, whether it really does will be for others to decide. A previous draft received good comments: "Very insightful," "I think that your argument is sound," and so on. It was the subject of my "final integrative paper" for my MA in Pasadena.
.
NOTE: A draft is now up at: The Fact-Value Distinction, and open for public comment. The initial response is particularly good. An editor of the journal for which this is written pioneered the "picturing" of a paper's content as seen on the right.
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NOTE: A draft is now up at: The Fact-Value Distinction, and open for public comment. The initial response is particularly good. An editor of the journal for which this is written pioneered the "picturing" of a paper's content as seen on the right.
Monday, August 18, 2014
Natural Power
E. and I are planning to power a house off wood, sunlight, and stream water (and maybe, the rain). This is not for trendiness' sake, but necessity. Today, as part of the plan, I bought a large solar panel (pictured). It is over-specified, for two reasons: 1. This will give me more freedom to mount it as I will (namely, more solidly and securely), and 2. Solar power has become that affordable. OBSERVATION: The "power plant" for the whole house costs about R2 000 ($200). However, there will be no heavy use: only lights, pumping water, electronic equipment (and alarm system), and perhaps a little refrigeration.
Gooseberries
As a child, I ate European gooseberries (top). I have never seen these in Africa. Here we have the Cape gooseberry (bottom). The European gooseberry is related to the currant, while the Cape gooseberry is related to the tomato. Although it is called the Cape gooseberry, it in fact originates in South America. Not that I can well remember the taste of the gooseberries of my childhood, but the Cape gooseberry probably is more aromatic and more sour.
Sunday, August 17, 2014
Special Plot
Yesterday I visited our plot with a minister friend and his wife, and son M. (click on the photo to enlarge to 1MB). They were impressed with the quality of the house we are putting up: "You won't soon find this in South Africa." OBSERVATION: It's a strange plot -- very special, but about two-thirds of it subject to flooding. We are standing on the edge of the high ground here (the low ground behind us). The photo could be a boon to those who have suspected us of being deranged.
Sinful Character Traits
At a Bible study, I was asked whether character traits may be sin. This was a perceptive question I think, and important, for a number of reasons. Sin is so often seen as a "surface feature". For instance, one might think that one has banished sin by now being done with lies, or by having cleansed one's home. And yet there may be an ocean of sin underneath, represented by character traits that take a lifetime to renew. Examples may be self-centredness, impatience, or the failure to trust God. OBSERVATION: Such a view both deepens the reality of sin, and the wonder of justification by faith.
Saturday, August 16, 2014
Keep Attachments Small
Friday, August 15, 2014
Wheel Of Faith
This is a well known diagnostic tool in counselling, called the Wheel of Balance (and there are variations of it). Basically, each of these areas of one's life should be in a satisfactory condition. If there are three areas in which one cannot say: "Satisfactory," one is potentially in serious trouble. From experience, I might rather call this the Wheel of Faith -- since it really all comes down to faith. For instance, if one doesn't trust God in the area of work, one may lose one's balance: relaxation becomes a problem, sleep vanishes, one's spouse is neglected ... and so on.
Love Poems
There's nothing like love to inspire poetry. In my case, Afrikaans poetry. One that should go down as an eternal classic, I think, is this one that I wrote for E. when we were engaged:
.
. . . Ek het my nooi verwaarloos
. . . . . . My selfoon was in my sak
. . . . . . Ek het vergeet ek het dit gepak
. . . Maar ag selde word sy boos
. . . My liefdevolle roos
. . . Ek kan nou net hieroor bloos
Ek kan nie kla nieEvery day, I contacted E. by phone: an SMS, or a call. But one day I lost my phone (or so I thought -- in fact it was in my trouser pocket all along). I thereupon composed this poem, which I am trusting to become famous:
Ek het Ester Sizani
.
. . . Ek het my nooi verwaarloos
. . . . . . My selfoon was in my sak
. . . . . . Ek het vergeet ek het dit gepak
. . . Maar ag selde word sy boos
. . . My liefdevolle roos
. . . Ek kan nou net hieroor bloos
Thursday, August 14, 2014
We Shall Overcome
In a touching moment, at the close of my "African" engagement celebration in 2012, all the guests stood up and sang We Shall Overcome. This was a protest song in the USA: “We shall overcome ... some day. We'll walk hand in hand … some day.” But the words seemed perfectly fitting for the engagement. However, here in South Africa the song is sung to a different tune. Also, it has a different meaning here -- I would think something like this: "We shall overcome our hardship." The song is still very much alive here.
Sniffing Out Guilt
This one's about something I find to be a recurring feature of ministry: There are people who seek to sniff out guilt in a minister. If they find it, then they run with it (and sometimes they run with it even where they don't find it). They deal in guilt. They disseminate guilt. Here's a small example. Someone said to me: "Someone told me that they saw Reverend entering a bottle store [liquor store]." They gazed into my face. I said: "It's quite possible." The 'sniffer' looked surprised, then said: "Oh! Of course, Reverend! You-you may have needed some communion wine! You may have-have needed a little sherry for a trifle! You may have been buying a-a cool-drink!" OBSERVATION: One would be able to find many imperfections in ministers of course, and one does one's best, admitting failure where due, as should all Christians. One way to deal with sniffers, I think, is to have a healthy sense that God graciously uses flawed people -- apart from one standing before God without guilt. And to have a good sense of "the order of things" -- which is, what deserves feelings of guilt and what not. On occasion, I have given sniffers short shrift. (Examples tend to be more subtle than this one -- extremely subtle sometimes).
Gear Ratios
This one's about the all-important subject of gear ratios. Here's the third three-wheeler I have owned (before I turned it red). But it was only with the second such vehicle that I understood the apparent madness of Indian gear ratios. For example, a Chevy Corvette has a first gear ratio of about 3.0. A VW Beetle about 3.6. A BMW Mini about 3.3. By way of contrast, my present Mahindra Alfa has a first gear ratio of 31.5! This translates to very slow speed in first gear, and gives it tremendous pull. But that's not all that it's about. It was when I hit an extraordinarily bad road (the R27 to Nooitgedacht) that I understood. That extreme gear ratio means that one can crawl over corrugations, rock outcrops, and potholes with tight control.
Wednesday, August 13, 2014
Secret Reports
At the time that I resigned from urban ministry, some people drew up reports about me, which were read out to the assembled Church in part or in full. I wasn't there. Our "Church attorney" (who typically served the Church) judged that I was "absolutely entitled" to see them and respond, best immediately. She wrote that "natural justice" so dictated. I asked for the reports. There was no response. She wrote: "My feeling is that you shouldn't hold your breath ..." Then the Church leadership wrote: "We see no good coming from furnishing you with copies ..." Multiple requests failed. Key people distanced themselves from the reports. The Human Rights Commission advised me to sue. I then claimed the reports in terms of an Act of Parliament and the Bill of Rights (PAIA). The Church refused. OBSERVATION: I would have thought the normal response would be: "We're so sorry! We really want you to see that everything is OK! Here are the reports." I handed the matter to attorneys -- to open up the reports. At a cost of a cool R1 200 an hour.
Tuesday, August 12, 2014
“Shot!”
One says: “Shot!” in South Africa to anything particularly well executed. I captured this labourer throwing cement over about three metres / yards, to be caught by another with a palette while balancing on scaffolding. OBSERVATION: A European observer commented: “I am alarmed that your building workers are clearly infringing Health & Safety legislation. They are not wearing hard hats nor high-visibility coats, nor steel toe-caps. They have no protective goggles or work-gloves. There are no Health & Safety warning signs forbidding unauthorised visitors and there are no First Aid points signposted. All scaffolding should have duck-boards to prevent debris falling off and injuring passers by below. Netting is to be used ...” and so on. This is however Africa. In South Africa, in fact, widely divergent regulations apply, depending on the municipality in which one lives. You may click on the photo to enlarge to VGA.
Financial Policy: Opposites
This week I discovered a letter I wrote, which coincided with a period in ministry where variant approaches to finances were an issue. In fact they were particularly acute, so that this excerpt reveals a classic opposition of ministry. I was writing at a time of prosperity: "We actually had a complete opposition of approaches -- me saying that God will provide, stop majoring on the minors, express some confidence in Him -- others saying that we need to go into maintenance mode and man the barricades, and all that the minister suggests by way of vision and expansion is so that others can do his work for him. But maintenance mode means decline and death, to me. I was in fact minister when cheques were bouncing -- while the bank kindly suggested that we didn't have an overdraft facility." OBSERVATION: I didn't make that last point explicit. It was, I think, to emphasise that God will provide, on the first approach, in spite of worldly appearances -- and that was my own experience even in extremis.
Monday, August 11, 2014
Well Done!
Wife E. in her modesty would not want me to say so, but I am proud of her, for having obtained a distinction for her latest seminary course on the Historical Books. This was a very difficult course: not merely about history, but about the complexities of history, and people's attitudes to those complexities. OBSERVATION: As someone looking back on a seminary education, one forgets how much one has learned: typing and spelling, headings and citations, e-mails and money transfers, and so much more. It is easy to take one's knowledge for granted. E. needed to cold start with all of that.
Hair Day
Sunday, August 10, 2014
Member Of The Board
I am delighted to note that, in the early hours of this morning, I was appointed to the Board of the journal The Philosopher. Founded in 1923 by the Philosophical Society of England, it is the oldest general philosophy journal in the world, and has published some of the "greats" of our modern era. With thanks to God.
Camps Bay Fog
This is a mist rolling in over the beach of Camps Bay in Cape Town last night. I took the photo from the top of Camps Bay Drive. The scene was enhanced by a full moon behind the camera. It is an eight-second exposure. You may click on the photo to enlarge.
Saturday, August 9, 2014
Oldest Imported Tree
Friday, August 8, 2014
Xhosa Booklet
One of the hallmarks of my urban ministry in particular was evangelism. At first, we would buy evangelistic booklets, of which we handed out thousands on request over the years, with significant effect. We further routed tens of thousands of evangelistic booklets through the Church. Then to cut costs, which were not small, we developed our own such booklets. There was great interest in the Xhosa Edition. Personally, I think it is the best evangelistic booklet that is available in Xhosa today. OBSERVATION: In spite of nearly 8 million people speaking Xhosa (more than speak Afrikaans, and ten times as many as speak Welsh), there are few such materials available in the language. Xhosa is an agglutinative language, therefore tends to have some very long words, for example angasishukumisa, wawungabalaselanga, obungunaphakade. This made typesetting a challenge.
Faithfulness
This is a seven-year-old re-post. I wrote this long before I could imagine that E. (on the left) would ever become my wife. I wrote: "I’d like to introduce E. today -- the young woman on the left of the photo. E. is a child-minder and domestic worker. She was raised on a farm, in poverty. She is a marvellous example of faithfulness and steadfastness. Over the years, this has made her really precious to the Church. OBSERVATION: Would you like to do great things for the Lord? Usually, it begins with simple faithfulness and steadfastness. I seldom see it begin anywhere else. I think this is way underestimated by Christians today. (J., on the right of the photo, would deserve a special introduction, too, sometime)."
Thursday, August 7, 2014
Old Posts
Blogger gives me a list of my posts which were the most popular for a day, a week, a month, and for all-time (2007-2014). Usually, it is recent posts which appear on recent lists (day and week). Sometimes, though, older posts appear there. At the moment, there are two older posts: Kruisfontein Congregational Church and Addressing Offences. My oldest-ever post to appear on any of the lists is a six-year-old post on how to wind a BFO Metal Detector Coil (in fact, the coil would do for many IB, BB and CCO metal detectors, too).
Justice In Genesis
I preached a series of sermons on Genesis. Arriving at the story of Joseph, I said to the congregation: "I just want the text to speak for itself -- and I see a theme that runs all the way through. Joseph was tragically sold into slavery, he was unjustly jailed, and his one hope of release (pharaoh’s cupbearer) failed him simply because he 'forgot'. The people who did him wrong were far away, and getting on with their ordinary lives. But the final word in the story is: 'God intended it for good.' That of course implies that God’s mighty hand was on the situation." I know it spoke to the congregation -- I knew that many were without justice. A young businessman, who read the Scripture, said: "It seems that’s exactly what I’m facing at the moment."
Pushing The Boundaries
Wednesday, August 6, 2014
Forsenic Detective
I had the privilege of spending half a day with (I am told) Cape Town's leading forensic detective. I asked him which investigation he was most proud of. He said it was the Two Oceans Backpackers fire. Four people had been burnt to death in the fire. One, a young woman, could not be identified. There was very little to go on, but he was determined to find her family. He had her face reconstructed in Johannesburg, he identified her culture (Xhosa), and made an educated guess about her origin (the Cape Flats). Then he put out missing person notices with the reconstructed face. People came forward and identified the victim. OBSERVATION: I think this is an "unsung story". I had to do with him as part of a far simpler investigation.
Extraordinary Shift
Tuesday, August 5, 2014
Cape Town Ferris Wheel
This one's just a pretty picture -- Cape Town's Waterfront Ferris wheel. This is a 1/8 second exposure -- F3.3 -- 200 ISO. You may click on the photo to enlarge to 135k.
Small Signals
I find that, in counselling, people will often give small signals of a major problem. Spot the signal in this real example. A congregant said to me: “I’m doing fine, Reverend, although, and the family are fine.” In this case, when I picked up on that one word, it revealed days of crying and rage. OBSERVATION: It is my sense that people usually reveal it if they have a serious problem -- but it may be another matter to pick it up. Perhaps they are hoping that someone will pick it up.
Monday, August 4, 2014
Brother-In-Law
This is my "swaer" (brother-in-law) S., making a flying visit to the city. One sees here his perplexity at having been overtaken by modern technology -- the upside-down tomato sauce / ketchup bottle. OBSERVATION: In the English scheme of things, he would not be a brother-in-law -- he is, however, in the Xhosa scheme of things, and not in name only. He was my chief adviser prior to my bride-price negotiations -- and played a few tricks on me, too. This had a lot of people amused -- and added much fun to the proceedings. (If you should ever need to negotiate the bride-price, don't ask S., ask me)! I chose him, too, as my traditional representative for the negotiations, but the elders judged that
he did not qualify, being one of the younger generation (a suitor is ordinarily not allowed to speak directly to the elders).
US Publishing
I have had a little to do with US publishers lately. It seems that, if one should wish to be assured of publication in the USA, one should choose a genre, then conform to the respective formula, in keeping with the genre. This would include vocabulary and syntax, down to the last full stop (period, over there) and dash. To the extent that anyone who should read another book of the same genre should be able to shuffle books and continue seamlessly without noticing the switch. Did I mention ideology?
Sunday, August 3, 2014
Dinner Pot
The photo shows dinner in preparation last night. A lad is warming himself by the fire. This is the early stages of dinner -- one first burns the wood next to the pot (there are only chopped onions at the bottom of this pot), then one transfers the glowing coals underneath it. This was a chicken and vegetable stew, which served about a dozen people. The flying sparks indicate a 200ms exposure. You may click on the photo to enlarge to VGA.
George Community Church
This morning I attended the George Community Church (pictured). The three-hour service was a theological and cultural amalgam. I would describe it as (if such were possible) a synthesis of Reformed, Pentecostal, and African. It could have been any one, given any slice of the service. An abiding theme was: "Through the precious blood of Jesus, the battle is won." This had parallel, sometimes simultaneous meanings. There was a great emphasis on the importance of faithfulness and consistency as God's people. OBSERVATION: The photo does not convey the size of the Church, which is much bigger.
Saturday, August 2, 2014
House Numbers
I am staying in Thembalethu tonight, one of South Africa's larger townships on the south coast. I asked: "What's with the big house numbers?" (the streets are not nearly long enough to accommodate such large numbers). The best theory I have heard is: "They must have numbered houses as they put them up. This one was no. 5884."
Cloud Iridescence
Friday, August 1, 2014
Modern Thought
On my shelves, I have many reference works on modern thought: dictionaries of philosophy, critical theory, physics, mind, linguistics, sociology, and so on. One or two of these books really shine -- much as one finds in the field of theology. For perspicacity, this one gets my vote: The New Fontana Dictionary of Modern Thought, by HarperCollins. It deals with vast and complicated themes with extraordinary insight and clarity. One wonders that anyone is capable of doing it so well.
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