Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Christmas Visits

Every year, I do Christmas visits -- to those especially who are elderly or shut in. It is a joy to receive a generous welcome. It is an encouragement to find deep faith in old age. My visits say to me: "God is truly alive in the elderly." More often than not. OBSERVATION: I typically catch up on news, read a Christmas passage, say a few heartfelt words about the passage, say a prayer, then say "Now that the minister is here, is there anything you would like to talk with him about?" I may on occasion conduct Holy Communion.

Monday, December 29, 2014

Part XV: The Environment

In good time, I have just submitted a draft of (click here) Part XV of A New Metaphysics -- about our natural environment, or nature. For most of recorded history, the natural environment has not been critical to metaphysics. This is for the simple reason that humanity, until recently, has not had the power to encroach on the environment to such an extent as to threaten it. For this reason, too, a philosophical basis for the preservation of the environment has been wanting. This is my attempt to fill the gap, in terms of a complete explanatory scheme. OBSERVATION: This represents one more installment of a major project I am developing for Philosophical Investigations, the sister publication of The Philosopher, the journal of the Philosophical Society of England.

Lost History

"We must recover our history, we must remember our history." These are abiding South African themes. At the same time, I find that a massive loss of history is taking place in our generation -- through crime above all, and through other forms of social instability.  There is hardly a home which has not been plundered at some time, and in many cases history is lost at the same time. My own history has been significantly reduced, and there are many people who have virtually no history left at all except in their heads, my wife being an example.

Sunday, December 28, 2014

Christmas Hosts

This is a photo of a couple who hosted us for Christmas lunch this year.  They were surprised afterwards that I had taken the photo.  They hadn't noticed.  It reminds me a little of the old European work of art, Quinten Massys' The Money-Changer and His Wife.

Friday, December 26, 2014

Herbalist

I took this photo on Christmas Eve, at a township taxi rank.  It is a familiar sight in South Africa: a herbalist (on the right of the photo) selling her wares. She was a kindly, spirited old lady. Herbalists sell a mixture of hocus-pocus and truly effective remedies. The University of the Western Cape currently has a major research project under way, to determine which is which.

Thursday, December 25, 2014

Special Christmas Greetings

Earlier this week I received Judith Durham's Christmas Message. She sang super-hits such as The Carnival is Over. She wrote: "Christ spoke of love ... yet everlasting love is what really counts." It's too late to rush out and buy her Christmas album, yet it may also be found on iTunes. See also Judith Durham. A blessed Christmas to readers of this blog.

Wednesday, December 24, 2014

Happy As A Pig In Muck

I took the photo this week in the village Tesselaarsdal. This piggy apparently escaped the worst of fates this Christmas, to enjoy warm sunshine and the most comfortable mud.

Tuesday, December 23, 2014

Lighting With Joists

Last week I provisionally installed some lights in our little cottage. Looking at images on the Internet, one sees that it is a special challenge to light a room which has joists holding up a ceiling (as we have, here). I chose to put a small omnidirectional LED lamp between each joist -- the LED lamps behind the camera here -- creating a pattern effect on the walls -- also limiting glare from the sides. One sees an attic ladder on the left.

African Internet

For those who have missed the daily posts here, I have been unable to connect due to where I have been -- in spite of being connected "to the sky". Now that I can connect, I have a lament. Ordinarily, e-mail messages both large and small are a pleasure to receive. However, one would not believe the difficulty caused by "large" messages sent to parts of Africa. One clicks on Send / Receive, and boof! one or two e-mails blow a comparatively large Internet data bundle out of the water -- if the connection isn't too cranky to achieve anything at all. Now consider that one may have limited charge on one's devices when it happens, no easy power connection, the local spaza has only a handful of R5 or R10 data bundles left, they only take cash there anyway and cash is in short supply, there are no automatic teller machines ... and so on. It may take a while to get it together again. OBSERVATION: One can get around such problems, yet that may require careful forethought.

Saturday, December 20, 2014

Nearly Two Years

Here is a photo with a difference, as yet unpublished. It was taken with my Leica, now nearly two years ago in Plettenberg Bay. Our second wedding anniversary will be on the 5th of January. It has been a happy two years together, in a tumultuous time. You may click on the photo to enlarge.

Friday, December 19, 2014

Published Unpublished Images

Searching for an old friend on the Internet, I was surprised to come across old images of mine on Google+ Photos, both published and unpublished, if one can speak of unpublished (since they are published, though most of them unpublished). At any rate, I didn't know that they existed in the public domain. Most of those at the above link would be around ten years old, and give a "snapshot" of life and ministry at that time. OBSERVATION: But actually, what is Google doing publishing unpublished images? Someone else commented: "Yikes!" Their unpublished images were out there, too.

Thursday, December 18, 2014

Aesthetics

During the past week, I "had a stab" at the philosophy of Aesthetics, in Part XII of my Society project. Part XIV is on Free Will, while Part XIII is pending. I would hope that Part XII makes viable suggestions as to how some of the conceptual problems of aesthetics may be solved. OBSERVATION: Part XII, for me, represents a return to aesthetics after many years away from the subject (apart from casual reading). Many years ago, I studied aspects of aesthetics under Professors Francis Schaeffer and Marthinus van Schoor.

Twisting And Turning

An insight which may be valuable to ministers is that, where one discovers what I call "twisting and turning", one may well be dealing with some form of corruption. It may be referred to more commonly as "moving the goalpoasts". I first encountered it in a big way when I was framed once. A consultant took a look and said: "Look at the twisting and turning!" Which happened every time I produced an alibi. Basically, whatever the context may be, if one reason or rationale morphs into another, or if one gets replaced by another, be alert.

Tuesday, December 16, 2014

Ministry As "Release"

The Congregational Church has a unique teaching on employment (Latin implicare, to enfold). Congregationalists do not use the word -- and at Congregational conferences I have attended, the word "employment" was religiously avoided. Rather, ministry is viewed as liberation from employment, to pursue God's call. The "textbook" on evangelical Congregationalism Evangelical & Congregational makes four plain statements: 1. "A Church does not employ a minister. It releases him from the need for secular employment," 2. "He is not a servant of the Church but of the Lord," 3. "The Lord may give him a vocation wider than the narrow interest of a particular congregation," and 4. These principles depend on "mutual love in Christ, mutual understanding and support". OBSERVATION: When I say that this is a "unique" teaching, I myself have not come across it outside the Congregational Church. I have in fact come across the opposite -- namely that Churches employ ministers.

Laser Beams

We are looking at a multi-faceted approach to security at our cottage in the country. It's been a long time since I looked at laser beams, so I was surprised to see that they are available in Cape Town for a mere R15 / $1.50 each. Laser beams are an ideal security solution (an invisible fence), except for one drawback: they need to be very firmly and accurately mounted, which is time-consuming. And a smaller problem (assuming one knows how to address it): laser beams need to be "immunised" against falling leaves, flying insects, and so on, which need to be distinguished from humans.

Monday, December 15, 2014

Mother On The Mend

My aged mother had a hip replacement last week, being virtually lame. Five days after (which is today), she was already walking better than she did before. She thanked me for the spirit I brought with me today (sherry), joking that it was purely for medicinal purposes. OBSERVATION: She suffered a very serious leg injury when she was a teen -- she hit a rock beneath the snow while skiing. Yet it is her good leg which failed, after doing double duty.

Missions Memento

Once a year, a group of Churches does missions around the western border of the Kingdom of Lesotho. It's a long time between visits, so we are to hand out simple mementos to children at "half time" -- which I designed yesterday. They are photos of the last mission, with Bible verses on the back, which can be folded and stood up on a shelf. There are big ones (pictured) and smaller ones, on average costing a mere R1 / US10¢ each.

Sunday, December 14, 2014

Not A Clue

I find that there is something that the "big boys" in ministry have in common here. That is, mature ministers who have had a profound impact on their Churches. One such minister said to me over lunch: "I don't have a clue how to run a Church." OBSERVATION: Does he really have no clue? Or is he expressing something else? I myself frequently refer to the words of Solomon at his coronation: "I know not how to go out or come in" (1 Kings 3:7). By way of contrast, there are those who feel well qualified. The leadership literature is replete with examples.

Society Find

There are some very talented people out there hiding their lamp under a bushel. An artist, by surprise, presented the Society with a few cartoon strips. It slowly dawned on us that these were exceptional. Then he revealed a whole lot more. The quantity and quality are such that it's going to take a while to get them all "up there" officially on the Society website, in an organised space of their own. The artist is Youngjin Kang. You may click on the image to enlarge.

Power Failures

We just went through another power failure in Cape Town.  I first noticed it when it was over and my computer reported: "Your battery is now charging."  When major power failures began six years ago, I decided to make my office "bomb proof". Even today, I could keep it up and running almost indefinitely, with Internet.  I started off with an intelligent charger and inverter in my office -- now it can be switched to solar, too (without the charger).  OBSERVATION: I am surprised how few homes just "carry on" when the power goes down. Last week, when the power failed, ours was the only home that could be seen to have light -- and a few hotels.

Saturday, December 13, 2014

Utopian Society?

There is an unspoken view in the Church, that a true Church is meant to be a Utopian Society. Nothing should disturb the gentle surface of the waters. Yes, God's elect will always be growing in glory by the Spirit (2 Cor 3:18), and that gives one hope and optimism for ministry always. Nothing stops the Lord, who has promised by His grace both to create and shape His people. However, there will always be "awkward sheep", and there will be the goats. Jesus, Paul, Peter, and others all tempered the notion of a so-called Utopian Society by speaking of wolves, bad leaven, false prophets, and so on -- and of spiritual warfare and demonic attack. One needs to fully reckon with the same.

Yesteryear

If we had built our cottage in the country "as new", it would have had perfect edges, perfect angles, perfect surfaces. Instead, we built it with a few less-than-perfect features, as would have been common in yesteryear.  For instance in this photo, the fit of the windows and the texture of the plaster.  However, one wouldn't imagine the number of little complications this introduces.  It seems that the whole world is designed for perfection now.  At the same time, everyone who has seen it has liked it.

Friday, December 12, 2014

Rose Garden

I took this photo last month of roses in a farm labourer's garden. The photo reveals that this is a cared-for bush. You may click on the photo to enlarge to 300k.

"Fixing People"

I would think there are four major approaches to "fixing people who are broken". This puts it too simply: psychiatry (change the brain), psychology (change the mind), mentoring (change the behaviour), and pastoral counselling (change the spirit). All of these may overlap to some extent. OBSERVATION: Only God can change the spirit, so pastoral counselling is an area of faith and prayer and the presence of the Holy Spirit.  It is an area of ministry which I love. I have received (some) formal training in all but psychiatry.

Thursday, December 11, 2014

"She es node ite"

This is a re-post of an unusually popular post: "I made a call this morning to inquire after a young Church adherent who was admitted to hospital. The domestic worker said: 'She es node ite.' I asked if she could repeat that. She said more emphatically: 'She es node ite!' Did she mean: 'She has not died,' or 'She is not right'? OBSERVATION: I came to know the answer afterwards: 'She has now died.' (My biggest confusion happened when a member told me: 'My son has passed!' I thought that he had passed his exams, and congratulated her. He had passed on).

Wednesday, December 10, 2014

An Old Friend

I stumbled upon this old friend on the Internet. It is a hermit crab. My guardian in the mission, a local man appointed by the London Missionary Society, taught me how to lure these poor beasties out of their shells, to eat them. I would still be able to do it today. They retreat deep into their shells when disturbed.

Tuesday, December 9, 2014

Spiders

Our cottage in Tesselaarsdal is not only a place for bird-watching.  Last week I discovered four different species of spider in or on the house:  a garden orb spider (pictured), a few daddy long legs, a black house-spider, and a wolf spider (like a tarantula). I found the wolf spider in the attic, so commented to wife E. not to worry, it had probably not got there by itself, but crawled out of a packing box. OBSERVATION: Proof once again that a husband's tender comforts may go strangely amiss ...

Hell Hath No Fury

Someone asked me last week whether I had ever come across, in my counselling, "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned." Yes, absolutely. In one case, a woman put her husband in hospital when she threw a heavy glass ashtray at him. In another case, a woman broke off a bottle and left her husband with deep stab wounds. In another, a woman picked up a pot of boiling water, and threw it over her husband. And in another, a woman put her husband in hospital when she smashed a rock into his face. There were several other incidents besides.

Monday, December 8, 2014

Essay Flying High

It is good to see that my article on one of philosophy's longest-standing problems has been flying high (search for "fact value"). It has overtaken philosophers living and dead, on the subject. However, I have since done better work, in my New Metaphysics project. OBSERVATION: Yet I often say that my articles are born of prayer, not of mind-power. Apply mind-power, and the battle is lost.

Sunday, December 7, 2014

Diagnostic Question

One may ask various questions to troubleshoot situations: "What are the facts?" "What are the rules?" and so on. It may be tempting, a Church consultant once told me, to ask such questions in the Church. But, he said, the No. 1 question in the Church is: "What is the spirit?" Ask that question, and all should become clear. It is based on Biblical principle, for example 1 Corinthians 12:10 and 1 John 4:1.

Part XI

There has been a fair deal of interest in my Society project through this blog (the blog gives me a general indication of interest in posts). Yesterday I posted Part XI of the series, which surveys rules and norms.  Rules in particular are about coercive institutions. Coercive institutions require legitimacy. Legitimacy has to do with expectations. And expectations have to do with the way in which we conceptually arrange our world ...

Saturday, December 6, 2014

‘Next Best’ Component Failure

A year or two ago, I designed a solar power system "for Africa": one which could be built without tools or test equipment, with components (hopefully) readily available: see African Solar. Last week, I built my own system, yet within a week it failed (several similar systems are still going strong). It was due to something I hadn't reckoned with when thinking "Africa". When I examined the failed circuit, I found that the electronics store had given me next best components, presumably because they didn't have stock. I re-examined another system which had failed a little too soon. I discovered that the store had done much the same there. OBSERVATION: It was critical components (Zener diodes) which cost a mere R5.00 / US50¢ each. In one case this had expensive consequences.

Birds Of A Feather

Something I have learnt more and more in the course of ministry is: birds of a feather flock together, both for good and for bad. If you want to know a person's character, check the people he or she (and their spouse) associates with. That may be a better judge of character than any direct appraisal. An exception though is ministry, which means associating with birds of every feather.

Moon Rising

I took this photo last night of the moon rising over the veld (or heath) in Tesselaarsdal, east of Cape Town. OBSERVATION: The moon may be difficult to photograph. Here I set my Leica for maximum shutter speed. You may click on the photo to enlarge to 70k. For a beautiful moonrise of a different kind, see Berg River Moonrise.

Friday, December 5, 2014

Taking Down Posts

My public blog policy is (and always has been, I think) to take down posts immediately which cause any unease or discomfort, and to reassess. Out of many thousands of posts, there have been only a handful of "discomforts" (I would think less than ten). Here are three which I remember in particular: a photo of a hospital jail, a photo of a coffin and pall-bearers, and a report of an assault. OBSERVATION: What tends to happen, though, is that someone is uncomfortable with a post, then tells everybody but me. They don't want the post to come down, they prefer to have an axe to grind.

Thursday, December 4, 2014

A Chief Cause Of Spiritual Malaise

I consider that one of the chief causes of spiritual malaise in the Church is people who are unable to see the Lord. This goes to the heart of one's spirituality -- it is symptomatic of one's spiritual condition. Instead of seeing the Lord, one sees people: the scandal which surrounds people, the things which people should or should not do, the history which people made, and so on. Yet the Bible story is all about God. The Church is all about the activity of God's Holy Spirit. The whole of world history, in fact, is about God's redemptive work. People who miss this run the risk of being a blight on the Church at times. Those who see it are a blessing. People who miss it are likely, in fact, to have missed redemption (based on the Bible's teaching about sight).

Interior Paint

Family from the east pitched in today to paint our little cottage. Wife E. chose the colours. The builder commented: "You'll get used to it." A minister friend commented: "Every man to his own." However, when I first saw it, I thought it looked really good. Much better than anticipated. Wife E. said: "I told you." (The shade of violet nicely complements the colour of the wood). OBSERVATION: One finds neon colours all over South Africa. We of European stock, however, tend to prefer more muted colours.
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POSTSCRIPT: My sister-in-law calls it "kwaai", which means something like "radical / beautiful".

Wednesday, December 3, 2014

STH Accreditation

Some news really makes one glad. One of my old seminaries, the Staatsunabhängige Theologische Hochschule (STH) in Switzerland finally received university accreditation. Further details, and a press release, may be read (in German) at Akkreditierung. The seminary was already highly regarded in Europe, with celebrated professors: Külling, Schaeffer, Melzer, Wilder-Smith, Huntemann, and others (all these in Wikipedia). OBSERVATION: This was not merely a question of academic quality, but of academic breadth.

Why Don't You Say It?

An old academic supervisor Vincent Atterbury (pictured) gave me some of the most useful writing advice I ever received. We were surveying my MTh thesis in a hotel room. He said: "What are you trying to say?" I said this, and this. He said: "Then why don't you say it?!" These are questions which now lie at the forefront of my writing. What am I trying to say? Am I saying it? Then build the rest around that.

Tuesday, December 2, 2014

Tough And Tender

Urban ministry is a strange mix of tough and tender. For a minister to survive in urban ministry, he or she needs to be tough. Yet he needs to be tender, too. He doesn't have the same interests as the policeman, or the councillor, or the activist. This can be a confusing mix of roles -- not only for the minister, but for those who try to figure him out. He needs to be both tough and tender, and have the discernment as to which is required when.

Part X

My metaphysic continues to progress. Yesterday I handed in Part X, on public values. This was a very difficult chapter, in view of the need to distil insights from a vast and complex field, to integrate them with previous chapters, and to retain a simple, buoyant style. Inevitably, if this page isn't a draft now, it will become a draft in future. A central point of Part X is that democracy, for all its merits, is often deeply destructive to society. It has a perturbing record on poverty, for instance.

Firing Up A Stove

Apart from getting lights and water to work -- naturally -- in our cottage (see yesterday's post), there was the cooking. Wife E. fired up our Desert Fire stove for the first time (pictured). She was completely at ease with the stove, and she worked it, I thought, as smoothly as I work my three-wheel diesel pick-up. For a moment, it puffs with smoke, then it gives almost smoke-free service. Our poplar grove outside provides excellent fuel, and gives little smoke.

Monday, December 1, 2014

Fish Tanks

I have had thousands of counselling sessions. A few of these have especially stood out for me. Here's one, which I here summarise without comment. A beautiful young wife came to see me. She told me that her husband had filled every wall of their lounge with fish tanks. She hated it, and had become depressed. But she hadn't told her husband about her depression. She finally filed for divorce.