Down Like Dominoes

This month wife E. and I spent five days at our little cottage in the country. This runs off solar power. Everything was humming. But on day four the sun didn't come out. The whole system started going down like dominoes. First the main battery went flat, then the backup battery, the water pump was out of power, the lights teetered on the brink, then the mains inverter failed, the computer batteries ran low, our cellphones were in trouble ... The image shows the state of my cellphone charge on day five.

Penalty

A representative of a health scheme contacted me (again) this week with a big problem. My old Church and I -- 50% each -- had paid the scheme a massive penalty. In today's terms some R40 000. Not only this, but there would be a much bigger penalty for me in future, given the same plan. I wasn't aware that I was in this situation, or that we had been paying the penalty. I did the obvious: I asked my old Church to take a look.

Meeting Of Minds

I had this ... meeting of minds this week. It is a tortoise, which turned its head sideways to get a better look at me (or my camera). And I got a better look at it. You may click on the photo to enlarge.

After The Graveyard

Yesterday I referred to Church discipline as a key factor in the "success" of my ministr(ies). With this in mind, this is a re-post from February 2009: "Church was full this morning -- and very chaotic. They even carried somebody out today -- she complained that she didn't have air. An English couple commented after the service that we are a 'vibrant' Church. A member said to me: 'It’s nice to be called a vibrant Church -- after the graveyard we had.' OBSERVATION: It’s hard to say what brings about such a change, but I’ll try to guess: the exaltation of Christ, the priesthood of believers, strong Biblical content, sound organisation, Church discipline -- and patience to wait (and wait) for the results to kick in."

Rotten Apple Effect

I once received a special request to do a Bible study on Church Discipline, so I did a special two-session study -- and I later repeated it. I used an excellent resource, which is found at http://bible.org/article/church-discipline. I find this to be comprehensive, balanced, and mature. If certain problems in the Church are not tackled decisively, it says, one finds the "rotten apple effect", or the "snowball effect" -- which is the "leaven effect" of the Bible. One finds a loss of purity, a loss of power, a loss of progress, and a loss of purpose. Yet discipline is not about “a church’s taboos or pet peeves”, nor are we to be “speck inspectors”. This is about the larger health of the Church. OBSERVATION: As hard as it has been, I see Church discipline as a key factor in the long duration of my ministr(ies), and in their happiness (by and large).

Photo Contact

Throughout my ministr(ies), I have sought to keep personal contact with members that is not as lightweight as a mere greeting, yet not all the investment of a personal visit. While I am not systematic about it, here’s one thing that works nicely. I have taken a lot of photos around the Church, or at special occasions. I have put up the best ones on the Church notice-board, then handed out copies for people to keep -- which is a personal gesture that is much appreciated.

Rentals Policy

This one's "boring but important". To whom should one hire out Church premises? This is how it has been under my ministries: If it is an "everyday" rental like a body corporate or a wedding reception, no problem. However, if it is a religious organisation, a written application and motivation is required, with a statement of faith and information regarding affiliation. I have had a "broad Church" approach to this, yet some religious groups are really not reputable. Also, such decisions should build the Church in the area, not hinder it. If it is political parties or unions, then no -- but if it is government departments (say, a government housing project), then yes. In short, the Church is non-partisan. And one may donate space to worthy causes, for example Narcotics Anonymous. OBSERVATION: All this contributes in a small but important way to the broader functioning of the Church.

3-D Printers

Philosophical Investigations (PI) published an interesting essay this week, which has top billing for the week (click on the PI link to see): What Would Happen If 3-D Printers Could 3-D Print Themselves? My part in this was working on the flow, and adding some detail. The writer considers: Where manufactured products become infinitely reproducible, their value trends towards zero. But now, humans have become infinitely reproducible, so to speak. OBSERVATION: It's not about contributions being correct, but they should be compelling at least, and provoke discussion.

Handing Over

From my experience with multiculturalism in the Church, people often draw the line (thus far and no further) at that point where people of other cultures are given spiritual or administrative responsibility in the Church -- or really, at that point where one "hands over" aspects of the Church to their trust. OBSERVATION: And one should hand them over, in terms of the gospel and Biblical example. But it is surely a matter of perception. Everyone in the Church is subject to the Church anyway.

Multicultural Ministry

Wife E. is working at the moment on a seminary assignment on Pastoring a Multicultural Church. To that end, she needed to interview a pastor of a multicultural Church (I took the photo through cry room glass, hence the streaking). OBSERVATION: I myself pastored a Church which at the beginning of my ministry was minority Black (few Blacks), and shifted to majority Black -- which is, majority Black participation in the broader Church leadership, and majority Black attendance on many Sundays. "Black" is used broadly here, and is itself diverse -- which brings us back to the title of this post: Multicultural Ministry.

A Plan Comes Together

Here's a re-post of a post which was popular. It was dated 25 August 2012: "This week a plan came together: Church, minister, and wedding reception were all confirmed. Thanks to God, Ester Sizani and I are to be married on the 5th of January 2013 (acknowledgement to Lu-Gerda's Travels for the superb photo of the Church). For a number of reasons, this lies 520km / 325mi east of Cape Town. Much in our thinking was how to include family, friends, and Church from various parts."

Designs Re-Published

I am delighted to see some of my electronic circuits being re-published in the USA at the moment -- mostly because I am glad that people can still enjoy them. An editor published a few, now asked me for more, commenting that the previous designs "got a great deal of attention". OBSERVATION: One of my "trademarks" was, or is, that when I design a circuit, I show people what else can be done with it. In fact this was a trick which author and inventor Neal DuBrey taught me, long ago.

Fearlessness

This one is a more personal post. The death of a good wife is, I now know, a very big blow. What I now see more clearly with hindsight is that it meant, for me, the loss of a critical quality for ministry: fearlessness. John Bunyan described it like this: "Hobgoblin nor foul fiend (two monstrous beings) will daunt his spirit." There are certain kinds of ministry which I would describe as "front line". It is all the more important in such situations. OBSERVATION: But it is a spiritual quality which cannot be imitated or fabricated.

Oxford Invite

I received, this morning, an invitation from a "think tank" which meets in the University of Oxford, to deliver a paper (supposing, that is, that I should write the paper). OBSERVATION: The event is generally described as "prestigious", however it has its detractors.
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POSTSCRIPT: The advice I have received is, skip it (the think tank). It might be about brilliance (common enough in our world), but there isn't the prestige. There are better conferences. All that glitters is not gold.

Silver Teaspoons

A strange thing happened during the course of my ministr(ies). Little by little, about three-quarters of the minister's silver teaspoons disappeared, while the rest of the silverware (knives, forks, and so on) were untouched. It seems that the only explanation is the guests we received. Yet the overwhelming majority of these guests belonged either to our Church or to another. OBSERVATION: Silver teaspoons which did not vanish included all those which had inscriptions on them (such as this one: TOS standing for Thomas Oliver Scarborough -- a birth spoon).

Beat Frequency

Viewing various videos of my metal detector designs and concepts on YouTube last night, constructors tended to make one or two mistakes. Here's one. If you have a beat frequency which shifts in the presence of metal, keep it low. The difference between 1000Hz and 1005Hz will be undetectable, while the difference between 0Hz and 5Hz will be obvious. OBSERVATION: However, the lower the beat frequency, the bigger the problem of frequency lock, and the bigger the problem of frequency drift. If you run a metal detector that is locked onto 0Hz, you could lose, say, 20Hz before you break out of lock. Drift is a practical impediment, if the beat frequency drifts, say, 20Hz over a minute. Also, one metal detector may have more than one beat frequency, and one beat frequency may not be as good as the next. One of my "covers" is shown on the right.

The Chicken Or The Egg

Here's a chicken and egg problem. Again and again, the police advise you to lay charges against someone. They pledge that, as soon you do, they will step up to the plate and hand over evidence. But supposing that you should lay charges, then the police don't step up to the plate? On what basis do you believe that they will? And what if you have reason to doubt that they will? OBSERVATION: There are a whole lot of issues which arise from this conundrum.

Matchless Videos

I watched three videos this evening of one my metal detector designs. Together these have more than 50 000 views. Called the Matchless Metal Locator, it was revolutionary in a way: it vastly simplified the Induction Balance (IB) principle by stripping out analogue electronics. Nick F does the best job of a review. Makerj101 comments: "It does work pretty good ... much better than the couple of transistor ones I've tried," however Makerj101 is seen to struggle with adjustment. Being an IB design, the placement of the coils is critical. OBSERVATION: If the Matchless Metal Locator doesn't pick up a Victorian penny at 150mm, it's not adjusted as best it could be. In fact I have always reduced the promise of my designs 10% for publishing, so one should actually achieve 165mm for a Victorian penny. I have some suggestions for improvements at Matchless Metal Locator.

Sermon Preparation

How do I prepare sermons? I often preach exegetically, so the text is there for me in advance. I usually do a lot of advance reading. I fill my head with background and commentary, and seek to form a few concepts from the text. Then I leave it a while. When it comes to the writing of it, I pray, “Lord, speak to me. Be merciful to me.” Then I write whatever comes into my mind (rather, heart), unedited, all the way through. This may be a very fast process -- sometimes an hour or two to type 3000 words. Then I leave it for a while, run over it again and edit it, sometimes quite thoroughly. I preach from a full text in front of me, which I have rehearsed once.

Meaning Is More

I have a philosophy essay scheduled for publication in the morning (in a few hours' time): Meaning is More. A co-editor comments: "Very nice." Which, for an Englishman, would seem to be quite out of character. It is on the classic theme (lately out of fashion) the meaning of life. OBSERVATION: I consider it to be one of my more important pieces. It is another "test chapter" of the second edition of my metaphysic. As I write the metaphysic, I am seeking to publish as many chapters as I can, in their own right. In this way, I receive input and feedback, and I can gauge public reception.

Ex Missionary

I had lunch today with G., among others -- on the left of the photo. I went to visit her twice as a missionary in Cambodia, where she served for seven years. OBSERVATION: There is a famous story about G. She happened to be at the market in the middle of a coup d'etat. She heard tanks firing on the main road nearby, however she was unconcerned, and just carried on shopping. In the meantime, her mission (Servants) rolled down its steel doors and did a head count. There was no G. She was reprimanded.

Congratulations

Congratulations to my good friend Father Kees, a Franciscan monk, third from the right in the photo. He was just awarded his PhD -- his dissertation being titled Foundations for Spirituality: A 'Hermeneutic of Reform' for a Church Facing Crises Inspired by St. Francis of Assisi. OBSERVATION: He started his PhD more or less at the same time as my late wife Mirjam started. She finished in a mere ten years, he in a mere fifteen -- dodging many final deadlines. I recently surveyed his work in an article on the Internet: The Foundations of Spirituality.

Powerful Bad Memory

A Church member M. once went to visit her aged mother, who had “a powerful bad memory” (dementia). Not recognising her own daughter, her mother said to her: “All of my daughters did me proud. But M.! The silly girl never got married!” M. shares the story with delight.

Drawing Out Ideas

Being a co-editor of a philosophical publication, a question is: just how are we different to the rest? Particularly in a time where several philosophical publications -- like us -- are seeking to philosophise "in our common language". Of course, every publication will be special from the point of view of having its own culture. But I think that we do go one step further than the rest. We have admitted philosophy from a musicologist, an artist, a monk, a poet, a scientist, and so on. At first glance, when we receive philosophy from such unusual sources, it might seem to be a jungle. But take a closer look, and one mostly finds powerful ideas, if one is willing to do some serious editing to draw them out.

Bible Study

The photo shows me conducting a Bible study last night -- a certain bishop on my right. I said that if there were any difficult questions, I could refer them to an expert. One issue we discussed was literal (word for word) translations of the Bible versus paraphrases (thought for thought). OBSERVATION: The NIV, which most of us know, strikes a balance between the two types of translation. However, in The Parable of the Weeds which we looked at last night, the meaning of the parable is lost in the NIV. (The most accurate translation, in general, is the NASB).

Wedding Joy

Following my wedding in 2013, there were two receptions -- one Western reception, and another rural. Someone borrowed my Leica to take this photo at the rural reception. It is one of my favourite photos -- not because it is a good photo, but because it conveys the joy of the occasion. OBSERVATION: And it endures. Even today, my new father-in-law repeatedly tells me how glad he is to have me in the family. These are nearly all (using African kinship terms) my mothers here, with a sister second from the right, wife E. in the middle, and her mother second from the left.

Emptying And Filling The Church

Here's a re-post seven years old -- but an important one I think, about how God works with His Church: "In the past month or two, we have lost several key people, every one through relocation or death. They were precious to us -- above all for their spiritual value. If one allows one’s thoughts to dwell on this, our Church would seem to be in a state of disintegration. But faith looks up. Today, Sunday, I looked out over a full congregation. Familiar faces are gone, and unfamiliar faces are there. OBSERVATION: I’m so sorry to lose people we know so well -- and I am annoyed -- and yet, why does the Church keep filling up? I just minister. God does the rest. It’s the most inexplicable thing."

The Weight Of Counsel

Counsel which I have given to congregants, I find, has had more "bite" than counsel I have given to non-congregants. Or perhaps rather, such counsel has been received sooner. I suspect that, with congregants, trust in the counsellor has already been established. OBSERVATION: Some counsellors use "authority tricks", presumably to speed up this "lag" where trust has not yet been adequately established. I find it in no books -- but tricks I know are: issue simple commands to the counselee, use tabu language or actions, rant about your status, use questions which rattle the counselee, speak prophetically ... and so on! I seldom, if ever, use such tricks. Perhaps the first of them.

Morning Bath

This is how I recorded my first stay in an African home: "There was no bathroom and there was no toilet there -- nor was there any outside. When I needed the 'bathroom' in the night, I walked past sleeping people and stepped barefoot off the front steps onto frost, which crunched under my feet.  The moon was bright in the sky. Before the sun rose in the morning, a young girl carried a bowl of shallow, steaming water to my room (pictured), heated on a wood­fired stove. She curtseyed. She returned with a bar of soap. She curtseyed. She returned again with a towel -- and she curtseyed. Not once did she pause before she entered the room. I wondered whether she would return again. I needed to wash, and there was no door. I was not accustomed to this."

Children And Privacy

It has been a while since I have stayed in a home where there are children of "European" culture -- as is the case at the moment. There is one extraordinary contrast with children in the townships. European children have a very keen sense of a guest's privacy. Township children by comparison know almost no constraints. An example in the next post.

Work And Security

A young Bulgarian woman visited a Bible study I conducted. We were discussing priorities -- and the fact that people set too high a priority on their work, and ruin much else in the process. "But they have to," said one participant. "Today, there is absolutely no room for missing a trick." Our Bulgarian visitor said thoughtfully: "If you place too high a priority on your work, it's the wrong place, in your security. Your security lies in the Lord, not in your work." She backed it up with an example from her own experience. OBSERVATION: I thought this was very perceptive. It is an issue which lies at the core of ministry burnout, too.

Suuranys Catering

This one's just a photo that I have in hand, of catering following a country funeral I attended, at Suuranys, above the Langkloof, one of Africa's southernmost valleys. It is customary to lay on a large and generous feast after a funeral (and other milestones of life). Guests should not be able to eat more. This one is unusual, in that it served takeaways. OBSERVATION: It is not customary for men to follow women, as one sees here.

Blog Trends

I have blogged for eight years now. And after seven years, this blog became the no. 1 Religion blog in the subcontinent. Things have changed, in eight years. Mostly, readers have become far more flighty. So for example, in the last four days there were 251 page-views one day, 93 another -- bearing in mind that my blog is copied to various other places, too. Things were more steady a few years ago. Curiously, such figures seem to reflect international flightiness. Look at a blog in England, say, and it may be doing just the same. Today, also, there are much more hits on individual posts than there were a few years ago. For instance, a post four days ago has received 37 targeted hits so far. A few years ago, there were few targeted hits for individual posts. Also, there are far less comments today than there were on this blog a few years ago ...

Atlantic Cod

On my lunch plate today was Atlantic cod (pictured). One sees its teeth on the right of the photo. It is something of a chamaeleon, being able to change its colour. This is the fish from which one obtains cod liver oil. OBSERVATION: Too many bones.

The Importance Of Servants

The job of (Christian) domestic servant might seem a lowly position, but it sometimes is a critical one. Domestic servants witness many of the most serious crises that families go through, whether chronic illness, divorce, depression, or legal battles. Sometimes the servant may crumble, or the family may turn on the servant (for knowing too much), but often enough, the servant is the one stable pole in the home. Suddenly someone turns to her and asks: “Well, what do you think?” If she has the wisdom that some Christian domestic workers have, she may cast a completely different light on things. OBSERVATION: For a Biblical example, see 2 Kings 5:2.

Denial

One of the most awkward issues of pastoral ministry is denial: Someone is diagnosed with a terminal illness, then they go into denial. But in a strange way, it is not really denial. A minister friend puts it this way: "There has to be something to deny." Here's an example. A woman was dying of cancer. She asked me to see her. She said that she had hit bottom now, with her health, and it was just a matter of time before she recovered. Then she reached for a writing pad, and asked me to take down her last wishes. OBSERVATION: In my experience, if a minister challenges denial, then he or she may be mercilessly cut off. On the other hand, if he plays along with it, then he is doing nobody a favour. I seek to sow seeds that will be of value to the person when they need it.

E-Mail Tale

Well here's something interesting. I have blogged that someone has been flooding the world with offensive messages in my name -- a vast number of messages which in many cases then bounce back to me. At one point, the all-powerful SAIX blacklisted my e-mail for sending from an address book I didn't have. But this morning MWeb's Security & Abuse Team identified the culprit. It is the US Navy (pictured) IP address 199. 121. 112. 12. "Most likely," says MWeb, a US Navy system is "compromised".

African Christian Leadership

My final assignment for Fuller Theological Seminary in 2011 was a simple paper: What is African Christian Leadership? At least, I thought it was simple. I would look in the literature. But I was surprised to find that, while there were many thousands of books on Christian leadership in the world, I could find not one that originated in Africa. It seems that the reason for this is that, in Africa, the Christian leader is not the focus of Christian leadership. Christian leadership focuses on other things instead. So I had to change course with my final assignment. I chose instead to study every African Christian leadership curriculum that I could hunt down. I found a dozen in all, from Cameroon, Kenya, South Africa, Togo, and Uganda. The aggregate emphasis of these curricula is shown in a diagram taken from my final paper (click on it to enlarge). It will be seen that the typical Western emphases come last in Africa.

Sound Level Of A Traditional Church

A sometime hobby of mine has been to record the sound level of Churches, using a professional meter. For a while, Hillsong in Cape Town was the champion noise-maker -- until I attended the Gospel Messengers in George (see the previous post). But what about "traditional" Churches? I recorded the sound level inside a "traditional" Church of wood and stone, with a pipe organ. The sound level reached 96.3 decibels where the minister stood (about as loud as a heavy truck), or a calculated 91.3 decibels maximum for any Church member (about as loud as the inside of a bus). OBSERVATION: I was surprised that the sound level was this high. This is high enough for sustained exposure within one service to harm the minister's hearing.

Gospel Messengers Sound

Here's a recording I made a few months ago of the Youth Choir of the Gospel Messengers Church, singing in Xhosa. The image is that of the lead singer. The backing choir was thirteen-strong, plus keyboardist. The choirmaster was Danie Maarten. Thanks to Leica for the sound.

The Ship Of Church

As a boy, I spent much time on ships. I travelled half the world on ships. Voyages can be long, and one's world becomes smaller. I have thought of a Church as a ship. One may look upward to the skies, to the Lord. One may look outward to the horizon, to the mission. Or one may stumble from cabin to cabin. The photo shows me on the (then) famous John Williams mission ship, with my mother and my sister. You may click on the photo to enlarge to 65k. OBSERVATION: One sees here my mother's suffering with tropical ulcers, at this point having been years in the mission. Even the photos suffered in the extreme climate -- like this one.

A Minister's Wife

Here's a re-post which describes what I think was a crucial insight of my late wife Mirjam into ministry. As brief as it is, I think it could be a great help to ministers' wives in particular. She specifically asked me to make mention of this spiritual principle (not to make mention of herself, which I added) in my 2011 funeral tribute to her: "She came to see ministry not as something that a minister does, but as something that God does through the minister, by His wonderful grace -- and this turned her into a strength and support to be reckoned with. ... She also became a power to others -- inspiring them to know that the Church should not be seen as a human task, but as the gracious work of God Himself."

Kathisma Church

There are Churches ... and then there are Churches. I photographed this one in Thembalethu, near George, some 440km/275mi east of Cape Town. The green chalk-board says it is the Universal Kathisma Apostolic Church in Zion. I know nothing about this Church, except that they churn out music CD's and MP3 files.

Hospital Visits Then And Now

Over the course of my ministr(ies), hospital visitation has changed a lot. Ministers used to have the run of the hospital -- even of Intensive Care. Now, a minister may be refused entry even five minutes outside of visiting hours, and there's no mercy. OBSERVATION: This may affect Church visitation, counselling, and meetings, which early in my ministry would have had few time limits. But if hospital visitation needs to be inserted strictly into the programme of the day, one may have to cut other sessions short.

It's Like Rain ...

It gets worse than rain, on your wedding day. I married a couple at a picturesque chapel in Kirstenbosch. As the bride arrived, there was an impressive cloudburst, which soaked the grass. She stepped out of a luxury sedan, and her train dropped into the mud. Not only that, but she stepped onto the train, and tripped and fell, with her hands in the mud. At the same time, she was no longer covered from the pouring rain, and she got soaked. She entered the chapel thoroughly muddied and dripping wet, making a detour for a small wash-room to clean up. OBSERVATION: However, she laughed about it, and it turned out to be a really joyful occasion. So, it may not matter if there’s rain on your wedding day!

Gender And Death

Wife E. and I passed a large anti-abortion protest in the city this afternoon -- a reminder that I have found, through my ministry experience, that situations of abortion, cohabitation, homosexuality, prostitution, suicide (in short, sex and death, all of which I have dealt with often) tend to be very different when dealt with pastorally. Different how? From a pastoral point of view, I have found that the situations are ruinous, in a big way, and often not as one would think. But also, one is not dealing then with principles, but with people -- and after the fact, when the genie can't be put back in the bottle. OBSERVATION: When I speak like this, there tend to be a number of reactions. Firstly, if I am dealing with these situations pastorally, then am I not always dealing with their problem side? In other words, is my experience not one-sided? How about ruinous monogamy? Ruinous parenting? And so on. Secondly, people want to know then what my experience is -- or they want me to do more to warn others. I find that often, the people who are familiar with the principles have no experience of the reality, and vice versa.

Rheumatic Fever

Since I was a teen, I suffered rheumatic fever. I first noticed it, as a teen, when I was walking up a mild slope, and felt all the energy drained out of me. Rheumatic fever may be a sly, vicious illness. But by now I know the symptoms, and I pay attention. That is the key to overcoming it. The last threatening episode I had was a few years ago, when my heart started dropping beats -- one out of five beats wouldn't "fire". A doctor put me on a two-month course of antibiotics, and within a day my distress was much relieved. OBSERVATION: If one is slow in reacting to rheumatic fever, it can be very serious. I myself was in Intensive Care once. But with timely treatment, it is fine. Not everyone can catch rheumatic fever. One is genetically predisposed to it.

The Wheat And The Tares

A bishop asked me to conduct his Bible study this coming Wednesday on "the wheat and the tares". I gave it a first cursory look today. The first thing that stands out is that Jesus was likely speaking of "the wheat and the darnel". The NIV completely obscures this, while the KJV partly does. Darnel is sometimes called "false wheat". It grows up with the wheat, and looks like the wheat, but it isn't the wheat. In the parable, this is only noticed very late. What this implies is that the Church is full of people who look absolutely like the genuine article, but are not.

Passionate Performance

This one's just a pretty picture. I took this photo of violinist and vocalist Veronica of the group Zamar. She had just given such a spirited performance that she shredded her bow. This is visible if one clicks on the image to enlarge.

Small-istic

There is a word in German which I don't think one has in English: kleinlich. Call it small-istic. One of my chief complaints about Churches I visit is that they so often are small-istic: Are you cosy in your pew? Did you know that Sally baked some apple pie today? Joe sends warm greetings from his caravan. And so on. It tends to happen in Churches which view the Church as "community". OBSERVATION: There is some place for this, but I consider that it generally should be fairly inconspicuous. The Church is about far, far greater things.

Rabbinical Remarriage

My posts being more Jewish this week, shortly after my wife died, a Jewish neighbour told me that they have a law: their rabbi, if his wife dies, must remarry within a month. She said: "It's a very old law. It must have had an origin that made a lot of sense." OBSERVATION: Supposing that it takes the rabbi a week to get a grip on himself after the shock, then a week for the first woman to turn him down, another week for the second woman to make up her mind ... It would be interesting to know how it actually works ... My own wife, before she died, instructed me to marry E., to whom I am now married. But that was more than two years before it all came together.

Schul Control Desk

For good measure, here is another photo I took of the Gardens Schul last night -- this time from the control desk. Apparently it was one of the most progressive events in the history of a conservative schul -- yet it succeeded I think in combining dignity with joy. There was, too, a clear and simple message (the story of Rahab, who cast her lot with God's people), and it was a programme of the highest quality throughout. Again, you may click on the photo to enlarge.

Submitted

I reached a perilous milestone yesterday. I completed my Metaphysic in twenty-eight parts, and submitted to a publisher. It is perilous not only for the Metaphysic, but for the author, for whom a great labour has suddenly come to an end, leaving a great void. OBSERVATION: I noted previously that I have a publisher, however not the one I am looking for. I am certainly in a stronger position now than I was a year ago. Since then, a First Edition was indeed published, and I was appointed Editor and Deputy Editor of two philosophical publications.

Gardens Schul

I took this photo earlier this evening of (I think) Rabbi Feldman addressing the Gardens Schul -- formerly the Cape Town Hebrew Congregation. It was a special Sukkot event (Feast of Tabernacles), in which the Christian community expressed its soldarity with the Jewish community. I was invited to photograph the event on behalf of a Jewish organiser who was injured, and couldn't attend (and I think I got the best interior shot of this synagogue yet). OBSERVATION: This is the "Mother Synagogue of South Africa". You may click on the photo to enlarge. (Somebody asked me: 'Vot's a good boy like you doing in Schul?')

Regularity and Continuity

One of my largely “unspoken” policies in the Church has been regularity and continuity. What this means is that I (and we) try not to interrupt the regularity of a group or event, even if we should discover that only three, say, will be there. I should say, by and large. There are exceptions. OBSERVATION: At one stage in my ministry, for example, we continued with Youth, even with only one or two children, and we rebounded to more than thirty. People need to know what to expect, and to feel secure, not have to contend with on-again off-again programmes. And forward motion, however small, keeps forward motion going.