‘Very Insightful’

Earlier this week I blogged about an article I wrote, which first got off to a false start: Leadership In (Philosophical) Crisis. It is always hard to assess one's own work, so I was pleased to receive an e-mail from a director of a major law firm this morning (I see that directors rise early). He wrote that it was "very insightful". It contemplates the philosophical reason why, since about 1980, leadership has been in deep crisis. Based on postgraduate research (for which I obtained a distinction), the article now has the benefit of much further reflection. My observations are now broader.

POSTSCRIPT: But from a theological point of view (the article is philosophical) one reckons with the influence of God.

Magical Nephew

This is another nephew, my sister's son. Earlier this month, he was judged the best conjurer in Senior Stage Magic by Cape Town's College of Magic, out of thirty-five contestants. OBSERVATION: It seems curious how talent often skips a generation. His grandfather (my father) was a professional magician in his younger years. Also highly accomplished, he won the International Prize for Magic three years in a row.

The Pot Boils Over

The student situation in the city boiled over during the last week, with shots being fired on a nearby campus this morning. I knew that this was coming, although I didn't know how. The core issue has been the cost of education -- with other issues attending that. Earlier this month, I ran my impressions of the situation by a few people. One was a psychologist. He said there was a "false dilemma" among students, which is another way of saying that they were not aware of unused options. They have used the options they can think of, both forceful and peaceful. OBSERVATION: I promised one of the student leaders my impressions, when I get a chance to write them up. I am encouraged that students -- even "revolutionary" students -- are listening.

Granny Calls

It's a photo tonight of Granny calling a nephew on my wife's side. It seemed as if he would say: "I know she's in there somewhere."

When Your Pastor Calls For You ...

I asked a Church secretary once to make an appointment with a member -- their place or my vestry, as they preferred. Our secretary made the appointment, but felt she should only mention the vestry. She knew my programme, and thought that she would be doing me a favour. Neither of us knew it, but our member was very sick. When she arrived, she was too weak to get up my vestry steps. Our secretary and I took hold of her and helped her up. I said: “How can you come out when you’re as sick as this?” She said: “When your pastor calls for you, you don’t say no.”

Tropical Mood

Most mornings, I cross a pass in Cape Town called the Glen. Ordinarily, it looks quite arid. Yet when it rains, it seems to take on a tropical mood. I took the photo at the top of the Glen this morning. OBSERVATION: One drives on the left here.

St. Helena Sunset

I took this photo of St. Helena Bay, about 100 miles north of Cape Town. It is an unedited photo, taken with a Samsung camera. OBSERVATION: It is in this bay that Vasco da Gama first set foot in South Africa, on 7 November 1497. You may click on the photo to enlarge.

Investigative Procedure

Last month, I sent the police a formal request for their basic SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) with regard to investigations. I was prompted by an investigator who referred to it. But where was it? Here is the kind of thing which would be answered by the SOP -- simple ground rules, really:

• Must the police present a docket to the prosecutor?
• Must they retain proof that the prosecutor saw it?
• May the police alter or destroy a docket?
• Must they charge a person in writing?
• When must a complainant be notified of progress?
• Must the complainant be interviewed?
• Are there time frames for investigations?
• Are investigations reactive or proactive?

And so on. Many of these questions, and more, would be critical to an investigation. OBSERVATION: This week will tell whether the SOP is revealed, or whether an appeal is required on my part. I shall put it this way: I look forward to seeing the SOP. Without it, we'd all be in big trouble.

Sadly Comatose (Maybe)

I visited an old man on his deathbed tonight, at a private Mediclinic (pictured). He was in a coma. But I always talk with people and pray with them, even if they are unconscious. OBSERVATION: Apart from people sometimes being able to hear while "unconscious", on the basis of what critically ill patients have told me afterwards, they may be watching you from behind, or passing you in the passage, while they appear to be comatose in their beds. This is completely counter-intuitive, but it is what some people report.

The Wealth Of Women

Throughout my ministr(ies) we have had a more or less equal mix of men and women on our Diaconate (a term which means "servanthood" -- servants to the members). Guest preachers, spiritual input in Church, and so on, have also been a mix. Apart from the theology, I consider that one limits the spiritual wealth that is available to the Church if one limits women. OBSERVATION: At the same time, I consider that God knows how to bless a Church that takes a different view (and some would consider my own view the different view). I had a good friend in ministry who took a different view, and both his and my Church were thriving. But also, one can't judge a book by its cover. Women may participative more in a Church which restricts the role of women than in one which does not.

Wedding Blessing

It’s a photo of a wedding I attended recently. The couple is kneeling here at the altar for a prayer of blessing. This part of the service usually requires a moment’s practice, since the couple kneel on steps with their backs straight. OBSERVATION: The order of service here, in an Anglican Church, was almost word for word the same as the Congregational Minister’s Manual. I like the Minister's Manual very much, except it is long out of print. Today this book is much sought after. You may click on the photo to enlarge.

Cape Town Lunch

Wife E and I had lunch today at Nobantu Restaurant on Cape Town's Grand Parade. I ordered this meal for R30 or $2.30. One has a choice of chicken, pork, or beef, rice or samp. Coffee and cake costs another R10 or 77c.

Zero-Gain Zero-Loss

Recently I had a discussion with a successful Black entrepreneur. He said that Black economic empowerment (BEE) was unfair. I asked him what he meant. He said that (some) companies employed Blacks at 20% higher salary. With the higher salary, together with the employee's sub-standard performance (he said), the employee was zero-gain zero-loss for the company. They were superfluous -- but the advantage to the company was BEE accreditation. OBSERVATION: However, compare this with the perspective of The Economist: "Since well-educated blacks are scarce, companies fight over them. For instance, a large industrial firm, Barlow, offers newly-qualified black accountants roughly 20% more money than their white colleagues ..."

Breaking Through A Fête Ceiling

Under my city ministry, our Church fêtes did fairly well. Yet at a certain point, we seemed to hit a ceiling. No matter what we did, it seemed that we just couldn't improve beyond a certain point. We did eventually break through that ceiling, quite markedly. Here's how. We brainstormed -- and we increased, not our effort but our ideas. Increasing the ideas meant, too, that we catered more for an African market, and this worked very well. OBSERVATION: Our planning wasn't too good, though. With that in mind, we could have done even better. It gave us hope for the future. The photo shows a fête stall (there were various) during my last year of city ministry.

Running With A Tiger

Yesterday someone pointed me to a video of a girl running with a tiger. All the more special because she was a baby girl I baptised. I was surprised. She is now a Youth Amassador for Emoya Big Cat Sanctuary in Limpopo (a province in the north of South Africa). It's a 17-second clip. The full video is here: My Afternoon With a Tiger.

Congregationalism

In my early years as Congregational minister, I was continually frustrated by Congregational Church government (which is "direct democracy under Christ"). Either one could not achieve what one wanted, or it was a very tedious process. However, I don't feel that way any more. If a goal is not a spiritual one, then it is not worth pursuing -- one can discard it. And if it is spiritual, then it comes to be through the movement of the Holy Spirit on the whole congregation -- or it is not spiritual. The challenge of Congregationalism, therefore, is to encourage spiritual growth throughout the Church through the Holy Spirit. This is a never-ending process, and also a joy to see.

Service Sheet

A well known Congregational minister (pictured), together with a friend, services my car for a token amount. It is my custom to send him a photograph afterwards. Here he is yesterday, writing up the service sheet. OBSERVATION: I had some photos of him smiling, too, but often I prefer the ones where someone is unsmiling. My son has been a tenant in his home for most of the duration of his doctoral studies. You may click on the photo to enlarge.

European Thought

I have read a lot of philosophy, and of course I edit philosophy. A little known philosopher who has made a big impression on me is Stephen Toulmin, a Cambridge graduate who knew Ludwig Wittgenstein (Stephen Toulmin is now 87). In particular, his thinking is expansive on what made European thought European thought. He argues that philosophers who were pivotal in Europe and beyond were hugely influenced by headline events: Thomas Hobbes by the Spanish Armada, René Descartes by the assassination of Henry IV, Gottfried Leibniz by the Thirty Years' War, and so on. Toulmin proposes to show how their thinking may, above all, have been a reaction to such things. One may, however, go further than Toulmin, searching wider than historical events. How did people react to the climate, disease, technology, and so on? OBSERVATION: When one then compares European thought with, say, African thought and the influences which shaped it, this becomes all the more interesting.

Death Of A Friend

My closest friend of student days died last month, by poison. This is how I personally knew her, as a friend. She was exuberant, yet very vulnerable. It would not happen to many, yet it happened to her: she was deeply traumatised by the Calvinistic legalism of our seminary. She went on to become a prominent occult priestess -- and she became completely suicidal. On our last meeting, her mind was razor sharp, as always, but her behaviour was frightening. She left a 58-page suicide note. What finally made the light go out for her, she wrote, was abuse of her grandmother in an old age home: "I could no longer bear the pain."

24 Hours Of Prayer

We introduced many new things under my ministries. One was an annual 24 Hours of Prayer. I am showing a full prayer guide on the right as an example (you may click on it to enlarge). When we started this, not all the hourly slots were filled -- but year by year participation grew, until the 24 hours were over-subscribed. I myself filled in the last empty prayer slot, as minister. This was bound to be the "worst" time on offer, although once or twice members thought to outfox the minister (they snatched up the "worst" times). People could pray at home, then the final hour was at the Church on a Sunday morning, and surprisingly well attended. OBSERVATION: It was members who worked out the prayer guide. I just gave it a final once-over, as minister.

Bullying

A friend of mine wrote a short article recently on bullying in school. Bullying is unfashionable now, but it wasn't when I was at school -- in fact much of it was part of the system. Here's one of the worst incidents that I experienced: I was being my usual, impossible self in high school. Some students threw me to the ground, threw a bench on top of me -- which imprisoned me -- then tortured me through the slots. This went on for quite some time, until at last the school bell rang, and I was left to lift the bench off me and get back to class in time.

Minister's Kid

It's another case of "pass the baby". I snapped this photo in Church on Sunday. It's a minister's kid. They are called MK's for short.

Poverty And Reality

South African newspapers this week revealed worsening poverty statistics (more than half the population is under the poverty line). Parliamentary reporter Marianne Merten calls it "the slow but certain resurgence of stark poverty". I have seen it. I have spent nights in the middle of it. Emaciated adults walk slowly up dusty streets in silence. Emaciated dogs sniff everywhere. Malnourished children stand and stare. I spoke to an activist in one such township. She said people attended community meetings, but they were apathetic, and silent -- they were beyond participation. OBSERVATION: I don't see photos of what I see, on the Internet. Why not? Next time, I shall see if I can take some.

The Lines Of Democracy

My protégé Sifiso Mkhonto was published this week for a third time. See what you think (click here): Re-Drawing the Lines of Democracy. I am not merely editing Sifiso. Our aim is for him to stand on his own two feet as a writer in one year. A big ambition. This article is about true democracy vs. illusory democracy. OBSERVATION: My co-editor accepted the article without question, which is a vote of confidence. Do comment on the article to keep Sifiso on his toes.

Sick Visitation

One might think that sick visitation is a dismal thing to do. Actually it is often a pleasure -- for a number of reasons. The sick receive me with gladness and even relief. Often I can be a real encouragement and help in such situations. And not seldom, they show such faith and fortitude that they lift me up and inspire me. The "picture" of them stays with me long after the visit is over.

Church Convulsions

Yesterday I called up the council chairman of my country Church, where I serve as consulent on call. Recently an 80-year-old minister had walked in there and read everyone the riot act. I asked the chairman if things had settled down now. Well, no. So I called up the old minister. The council wasn't the council, he said, the congregation wasn't the congregation (he evicted them), the consulency wasn't a consulency, my ministry wasn't ministry, and the Church property ought not to be the Church property. Did I miss something? I checked Church records. We might not have crossed every "t" and dotted every "i", but it was plainly as I thought: council in place, consulency in place, congregation in place. OBSERVATION: I have decided to stop his calls until I cool down. The old minister served the Church many years ago. He was succeeded by a number of ministers before they called me. One was Ron de Klerk, a cousin of our past State President.

National Congress Church

In the village of De Rust, in the Old Location, about 500 km east of Cape Town, I spotted a derelict Church on a hill. What was it? I found a man who told me that his mother once worshiped there -- it had been the National Congress Church, he said. I found a way in through the vestry (behind the camera) -- which was now being used to raise chicks. OBSERVATION: I have no knowledge of a "National Congress Church". Perhaps its history is entwined with the famous National Congresses of the Dutch Reformed Church. I loved the wood.

(Maybe) Lessons

A minister may sometimes find himself / herself at the receiving end of temper tantrums, threats, abuse, and so on. It is easy to take this at face value, and to think that it reflects on me. To some extent this may be true. However, I have learnt over the years that if someone, as an example, blows a fuse with the minister, you can be almost sure that they are doing the same with their spouse, their local representative, their bank, and so on. My late wife Mirjam said about such situations: “Find out the whole story.” OBSERVATION: This, among other things, makes me wary of the advice which is commonly given to ministers, that such incidents are primarily for learning and maturity on the part of a minister.

Counting Attendance

I heard of a certain minister that one could see his lips move as he counted the congregation -- and was visibly and verbally upset by any downward trends. I stopped thinking like that at all, many years ago. In both of my major ministries (together nearly thirty years), Church attendance rose considerably overall. At first, I counted the churchgoers -- weekday attendance, too. I dropped this custom, though, in year 6 out of 30 -- although an enterprising member continued to count. From then on, I have only known about Church attendance because somebody told me. OBSERVATION: The biggest reason for this is that I adopted a "sovereignty of God" attitude. God does the work. A lesser reason was simply that I didn't want my heart to be swayed. While one can learn from trends in Church attendance, it seems to me to be simple lessons which make the difference: like the comfort of young mothers in Church, that one ought to have a message for these or for those, or that members would like to be more participative -- and so on.

Economics Graduate

I took the photo yesterday of a South African economics graduate. He was part of a welcoming parade for a bishop who was returning from Europe.

‘Powerful’ Article

Today, a link popped up on Facebook, to an article I wrote. A Student Y leader comments there: "I have not read an article so powerful, simple and to the point in a while! I was blessed, encouraged and heart broken at the same time!" Here it is then: The Day I Saw The Future, published by News24. OBSERVATION: I wrote it partly to practice a more journalistic style. It's not my usual. It paints a picture of problems with a township water supply.

Preventing Burnout

I spoke this week with a Church worker who was taking strain. I have unfortunate experience with this. Under my ministr(ies), a minister in training, and a youth pastor, and an office secretary burnt out quickly and completely. I myself have suffered serious burnout. OBSERVATION: I would now give three advices, the first two for Church staff themselves: a) develop a sense of what is happening within you, giving this the highest priority, and b) cultivate the perspective that ministry is God's, not yours. The third advice: c) the Church should be sensitive to any sense of strain in their workers. I myself, from about midway through my ministr(ies), encouraged the Church to book Church workers off immediately, on paid leave, if they were taking strain. I think that this prevented some from burning out, so that there was no major burnout under the second half of my ministr(ies).

Round Church

My sister sent me this photo of the Round Church in Sea Point today. This must have been demolished more than 100 years ago. Today the Round Church Sub-Station and Church Street still attest to its existence once. Built in 1878, the Round Church housed four denominations. In time, the different denominations established their own Churches, and the Round Church was demolished. OBSERVATION: It is interesting to see how many features the Round Church shares with my past Congregational Church in Sea Point, which was one of the Churches founded out of the Round Church. Perhaps they built the Congregational Church to feel "just like home"?

Pulpit Cellphone

It gets as bad as it gets, when it comes to cellphones in Church. Recently, in a service I attended, a bishop received a call in the pulpit. I have had the same, although it was not my cellphone. I addressed a function in a Church, in the sanctuary. Before I entered the pulpit, someone asked everyone to be sure that their cellphones were switched off. But someone had stored a cellphone in the pulpit. In the middle of my address, it went off, under my very nose. I stopped and smiled, and a woman rushed to the front, with her hands over her head. That would have been bad enough, but then she answered it, and forgot that anything else was happening around her. Someone jostled her down the aisle and out of the door -- still talking.

Revolutionary Socialists

As I focus on editing this morning, here is a photo I took recently  of South Africa's revolutionary socialists, the Economic Freedom Front. Here they are calling for the removal of the president. One notices the confrontational red, the military uniform, and a likeness of the president's coffin. An obscene message is cut off at the top of the photo. And there is the ever-present loudhailer. In this photo, there are a lot of young adults. OBSERVATION: Radical as they are, they were comfortable with my presence, even friendly.

Observations On Hypocrisy

Someone recently said to me, about patent hypocrisy in the Church: "Does it exist because people can't discern it? I once thought so -- but it isn't that. Everyone recognises it -- it's just that everyone pretends that they don't! They may even be lovee-lovee-lovee towards the hypocrite. It's just that dealing with hypocrisy isn't that high on their list of priorities." OBSERVATION: I would think that the Bible supports such a view. For instance, the many references to the death of certain kings. As soon as they were gone, "They did not bring him into the tombs of the kings." That is, everybody knew all along what they were made of. Proverbs 26:26 says: "Whose hatred is covered by deceit, his wickedness shall be shewed ..."

Hair Day

It's yet another photo of yet another niece. She is having her hair brushed and blow-dried. It seemed to me to be an "energetic" photo. OBSERVATION: It's the best kind of hair. The possibilities for what one can do with it seem endless.

What Is Conscience?

Conscience has various definitions. Usually it would be something like an inner voice which, every now and then, speaks on what is right and wrong (but Christians famously claim that one's conscience is corrupted). For me personally, I have understood conscience as including depression, anxiety, stress, and so on. Supposing, say, that I should feel anxious. That is my conscience speaking to me and urging me to act, or to correct course. OBSERVATION: Conscience, then, for me personally, is something far broader than is normally understood by conscience. In fact I find this a very helpful perspective.

Missing Pension

The last thing that the Rev. Horwood said to me – he died this week – was: “Have you given up on your pension, Tom?” I said: “No.” He said with panache: “Good!” Then he got up and said: “This breakfast is on me.” He was referring to my city Church, which failed to pay me the larger part of my pension of nearly 20 years – a very large sum. I asked the Church’s tax adviser what had happened to my pension. He wrote back: “The Scriptures teach us that in adversity, we are still conquerors, and Jesus is with the oppressed.” Again and again, the Church sent me lawyer’s letters, demanding that I forfeit (quote) “all and any claims of whatsoever nature and howsoever arising from the contract of employment that existed”. A consultant reported that he found no such contract. Well, yes, said city attorneys, it looked as though I was right about the missing pension. Then they quoted me R300 000 to claim it in the High Court.

Capetonian Caterpillar

Isn't it cute? It's a Capetonian Caterpillar -- a very big one at that -- that I photographed in the city centre. It was aware of my presence -- which perhaps it should be, looking so fat and juicy. You may click on the photo to enlarge.

Where Was Daniel?

It's funny how people pick up what they "ought not to" in Bible study. I led a Bible study last night on Nebuchadnezzar's golden image -- Daniel Chapter 3. Nebuchadnezzar summoned the governors (among others) to worship the image he had made. Daniel was a governor. So why was Daniel not thrown into the furnace for refusing to worship the image? His three friends were. Of course, the answer is a mystery. Someone had an original suggestion: Daniel was the fourth man in the furnace. OBSERVATION: Maybe Daniel was on a diplomatic mission. Maybe he was ill. I said it teaches us to beware of "arguments from silence": arguments based on the absence of statements, rather than their presence.

Court Appearance

Today I attended the court appearance of a prominent student leader. The court was crowded, mostly by students -- surely beyond capacity. More interesting than the court proceedings, however, was the fact that I was seated between two academics, who discussed the dynamics of the university while, for one hour, the court was delayed. This was the best of educations, but really quite frightening. Now to the evidence advanced in court. My overall impression, among many, was that the quality of evidence was poor.

POSTSCRIPT: I left during an adjournment. After that, the matter was postponed. I said that's an expensive postponement, because it needn't have happened -- about ten officers of the court are postponed. Someone said, that's what's supposed to happen.

† Roger Horwood

A friend, the Rev. Roger Horwood, died this week (pictured). He was for many years a colleague in the Atlantic Area, a Congregationalist like me, ministering in a Church which had historical ties with mine. Until his death, we met regularly for breakfast. He said: "I enjoy having breakfast with you Tom!" As evangelical city ministers, as is often the case, we seemed to be of one heart and mind. Also, ministers are so familiar with sickness and death that they don't pay much attention to it -- which Roger could do with, I think, being terminally ill. The last time we met, he said that heaven was God's re-creation of the world. "It'll be just like this," he said, only in all its glory. He said he disagreed with the theologians who said he wouldn't be sailing any boats there. OBSERVATION: Roger was always mildly irascible, which was one of his endearing traits.

POSTSCRIPT: Rev. Horwood's funeral is on Monday the 21st at 10:00 am, at Common Ground Church, Rondebosch.

Praise And Worship

It is a question which is much bigger than it seems. Many times, in ministry, people have asked me what the difference is between praise and worship. I have made the distinction like this: praise is about what God does, and worship is about who God is. In systematic theology, that is the two big areas of God's Person and Work. OBSERVATION: In keeping with this, I have always sought to have both praise and worship hymns in a service. Worship hymns are more popular now, perhaps in some measure because more recent theologies neglect the interventionist God (His work). At the same time, worship hymns remind us that we serve Him for Himself (His person), not only because of his works, or anticipated works: health, wealth, comfort, advancement ...

Three Streams

E and I live about five minutes' walk away from a World Heritage Site. Taking a footpath for the first time on Sunday, we found three small streams -- with one spring -- within about ten minutes' walk of our home. One of the three rivulets is shown here. OBSERVATION: One home-owner had tapped into the spring with a PVC pipe. South Africans are ever enterprising -- in this case tapping World Heritage Site water for private use. In fact it was two home-owners, except that the second one had a broken pipe. That may be the result of other enterprising South Africans making off with part of the pipe.

Rough Draft

Yesterday I completed, at last, a rough draft of a complete, book-length metaphysic (a total philosophy), and entrusted copies to a few people. My sister commented: "I almost printed it out but saw just in time that it's rather long ..." Now comes the task of turning a rough draft into a draft (but rough is not actually that rough). OBSERVATION: For any metaphysic to work, one has to come up with a new principle which breaks through the interminable habit of philosophers to put down other philosophers, and to contradict them. This is the opening theme of the book. The philosopher Jacques Derrida called that a "return to origins". I note: "It is vital that a new metaphysic should begin with a good grasp of the causes of our past confusion, or it seems unlikely that we shall escape them."

Winter Flowers

These are bunches of miniscule flowers -- winter flowers -- in Cape Town's Urban Park. Unfortunately there is no size comparison. Nor do I know their name. You may click on the photo to enlarge.

‘This Crazy’

Recently a memo turned up, which I had written to elders and deacons in my city Church. In terms of the Constitution, I wrote, all payments should be authorised as per §20.d. and all cheques should be made out as per §24.c. I noted that members had recently reaffirmed these regulations. The treasurer shot off a reply: “This crazy! You cannot operate by everything going thru a ‘committee’ ...” and so on. Well, what is the alternative to a committee? OBSERVATION: It wasn’t mere frustration. It was actually happening, that regulations were being ignored. Much of this only really became apparent during the last year. The moral of the story is: words are not mere words.

A Constitution Is Not A Guideline

A few years ago, the Church in the Pacific had a problem. Office-bearers of the Church acted on the premiss that the Church Constitution "is not a binding document as it is only a guideline". Some -- in fact many -- challenged it. Now, in a "strong" judgement, the national Court of Appeal judged unanimously that a Church Constitution was not a guideline, but the "supreme authority" in the Church. Now that that decision is in place, it looks as though the officers who acted as if it had been a mere guideline have nowhere to run. OBSERVATION: In the Congregational Church, it is literally sacrilege to treat a constitution as a mere guideline. My city Church had this issue at the close of my ministry and thereafter, making crucial decisions, not least about ministry, on the basis that the Constitution was a mere guideline. Today there are a number of police investigations, and depending how one looks at it, it may come down to that.

Picture From The Pacific

This kid has attitood! Today, for the first time, I saw a photo of the grandchild of my boyhood guardian, Temeeti. My father was an itinerant missionary in the Pacific, travelling from island to island, village to village. Temeeti provided for our family in primitive circumstances, where Europeans would not survive. I followed him everywhere like a lamb. We caught octopus, slaughtered chickens, husked coconuts ... He cut my hair, picked me up asleep in village meeting houses, helped me safely off boats. He had a very big influence on my life. I believe he deeply changed my outlook on the world, perhaps more than anyone apart from my parents.

‘Him Or Me’

This isn’t a gentle post. It’s about the realities of urban ministry. Around the year 2000, in city ministry, the stresses in our suburb became intense. I suffered much abuse. Once I suffered concussion when a man wearing a kufi assaulted me. Every time I turned the corner to the Church, I prayed: “Lord have mercy.” I found that thoughts of resignation were going through my head. I shared my feelings with the Church. They said they couldn’t afford to lose me, and they stood behind me as one man. I wasn’t the only one with such feelings -- it was local business people, too. We held a combined meeting with police at the Church. However, the police chief was indecisive. Ultimately I decided: “It’s him or me.” I took him on as if that were true. OBSERVATION: This did bring significant relief – however real salvation came through FIFA World Cup regulations. And it wasn't long before the chief was replaced by a “tough guy” from the Serious and Violent Crimes Unit.

The Modern Stoic

Last week I edited an article submission by my (perhaps / hopefully) future daughter-in-law, on the subject of (click here) The Modern Stoic. It was published this morning. I would think it goes against the trend of modern thinking. The Stoics were ... well, stoical. They consoled themselves by accepting the inevitable.OBSERVATION: Personally, I think this essay might have some lasting appeal: it is both thoughtful and pleasant. It will be interesting to see public comment, since it is "not the usual". I edited this one mostly for flow, otherwise it is quite close to the original submission.

Glencoe Quarry 3D

I took this photo this evening at sunset, of wife E overlooking Glencoe Quarry near our home. The photo is in 3-D.  To see the 3D, lazily squint your eyes until the images overlap and snap together. Your eyes need to be in line horizontally. Click on the photo(s) to enlarge for enhanced 3D. Most people can do this, though not all.

Kill By Silence

Wife E is is studying Conflict Resolution, as her third-last subject on the way to a Bachelor of Theology degree. I can say with confidence that the default South African conflict-resolution strategy -- among many possibilities -- is the "Escape Response: Denial". It is the first on E's list: one acts as though the problem does not exist, or one refuses to do what should be done to resolve it. This "usually makes matters worse". Which confirms my intuitive "take" on this approach, elsewhere on this blog. And yet people make it the approach of choice -- not least in the Church. OBSERVATION: Presumably, part of the denial would be that denial does not make matters worse. It reminds me of the prime minister of Japan after Hiroshima (and before Nagasaki): "Kill by silence" (黙殺).

Wedding Photo

Never before seen on this blog, it is a photo of E's and my wedding -- perhaps the only profile shot which exists of the two of us. We were married on 5 January 2013, two years and a day after my wife Mirjam died. The photo was taken in the Anglican Church in Plettenberg Bay, which we chose as a mid-point between far-flung relatives and friends. You may click on the photo to enlarge.

Big Ideas

I have come up with various ideas that went into production, or production as kits.  A few of them (like the one on the right) one now finds the world over. But I sold copyrights, not patents, which is why I did not come into riches. Having said this, a talented businessman and I have for a few years now been imagining ideas, for fun. I consider that we have some "big ones" -- ideas which conceivably could make millions. Will they remain daydreams? Will they see the light of day? OBSERVATION: It was copyrighted ideas of mine that went into production -- and this is where the problem lies. Which designs are good enough to patent (at great expense), rather than copyright (through a publisher)? It is only after one has sold a copyright that one learns that it should have been a patent.

Homeless Ministers

Several times in ministry, I have come across this situation: a Church calls a minister or a Church worker, promising them a home, a stipend, a pension, and so on -- yet when they get there, there is no home (not to speak of the rest). In some cases, a home was hurriedly found or prepared. In one case, an elderly minister and his wife slept on mattresses on the hall floor. That ministry took off, and they never looked back. But in one case (I witnessed this), a Church worker spent months with his family in a busy Church hall, behind a screen, and it literally drove him mad. He was sedated, hospitalised, and boarded.  OBSERVATION: And it is not always as one thinks. In the last case, the Church worker was funded by a major sending agency.

Church Tiles

One could easily miss the tiles on the floor of Cape Town's Groote Kerk (Great Church). Many are inscribed with a name and a number. While I am not sure what it means, there was a tradition in the Netherlands of burying people under the Church tiles. OBSERVATION: One explanation I have read is that pigs would churn up the graveyards.

City Woman

It's just a pretty picture tonight. I took this photo of a young woman in the city, wearing characteristic Opposition colours. You may click on the image to enlarge. OBSERVATION: She surely is a Cape Coloured. Cape Town is 45% Coloured, 32% White, and 16% Black. Coloureds usually speak Afrikaans, and interestingly, an English which still has vestiges of Shakespearean English.

Fixation With Forgiveness?

I know a minister who suffered deep injustice in his ministry, and his greatest influence ended through injustice. He dealt with it by proclaiming that he had forgiven everyone. Yes, he said, he had forgiven everyone. Ten years later, he had forgiven everyone. Twenty years later, thirty years later, he preached about it, wrote about it, and advised everyone else to do the same always. Then suddenly he walked into one of his past Churches – not the one which had done him the injustice – and read them the riot act. People were stunned, baffled, confused. Someone said to me, perhaps it was still sitting with him all along? OBSERVATION: If so, what of such ministers in general, who forgive?

Bishop's Backups

A bishop appointed three backups for his weekly Bible study group while he was away. The first backup was me, a minister, the second was the man on the right, a software developer, and the third, next week, is (will be) the director of a law firm. No. 2 here was surprised that I had been taking photos -- he hadn't noticed -- and was pleased to see the results.

Operating Procedure (Justice)

Recently I put a simple request to the NPA (the National Prosecuting Authority): did they have police SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) – in simplest outline, for the public. There are two things, I think, that prosecutors need to know: police procedure, and their own procedure. Here are two replies to my request (on the right) from the NPA. At the top, the NPA’s national office states that yes, I am correct – the police must follow SOP, and this is a vital issue of prejudice, or not. Below that, a Senior Public Prosecutor states that he does not know whether police SOP exists or not. OBSERVATION: If a prosecutor – any prosecutor – does not know this, I would think (in my own judgement) that there is much room for abuse – especially in quashing cases. One fundamental issue, as an example: police SOP should include evidence that a prosecutor saw the docket, the complete docket, and the same docket which was afterwards filed by police. This could be just one aspect of a problem I see with South African society in general: its procedures everywhere are far too trusting of human nature.

Required Reading

Seminaries and required reading. Wife E received her course guide at the beginning of a new term, for the degree of Bachelor of Theology. She discovered, on page one, that she needed a crucial textbook. We couldn't trace the book in Cape Town, but there was a company which could ship it in two weeks' time. Add to that the notorious reliability (not) of our postal services, and that was just too late for assignments. But not to worry, wrote the seminary, one could purchase the e-book -- and they directed her to a free app with which to read it. But of the various computers between E and me, none of them runs the operating systems for the app. And so forth. It gets more complex than this. As yet, there is no solution, after time-consuming efforts to solve the problems. One of her professors previously put it plainly: if you don't have what you need, you shouldn't be doing this degree. If it were that simple. OBSERVATION: I myself studied a Master of Arts in Los Angeles. They informed me of required reading at the start of my first term, in this case several books. No worry, they wrote, I could have all these books overnight, door to door. Then they grasped the reality. I was in Cape Town (and everyone else in their own localities) for that part of the degree.

Blog Statistics

My blog statistics would drive anyone to drink, as they say. Every now and then, something catastrophic happens to it -- so catastrophic that it can't have a "normal" explanation (see my last week's statistics on the right). Add to this that, at the moment, I have partly lost contact with my own blog and have a page of instructions from Google, which I am yet to follow. OBSERVATION: But catastrophes occur from time to time -- I am fairly much used to them. Perhaps it has to do with web feeds. It might seem counter-intuitive, but my blog is about several things besides readership. I am glad to have a readership, though, and (last time I checked) had the largest Religion readership for the subcontinent.

What Is It?

Locals should be able to identify this without trouble. It is a flower. A Pincushion Protea, in the morning sun, about to burst open. Pincushion Proteas are about the size of a tennis ball, and very common in the Cape Floristic Region and beyond. There are some 50 different varieties.

Yes To Students

The student movement asked me yesterday whether I would lend them a hand. It has been my policy through many years of ministry, not to represent people or to champion their cause (which may be a bad idea), but to enter situations with them. The students have some daunting situations, so it seemed natural to me that I would say yes to this request. I said I would be there with them if they needed me, and if I felt that this would (continue to) help them. OBSERVATION: In other ways, I could be well placed to do this. I have experience with intimidation, and I have received training in non-violent solutions to tough problems.

Junked (Not)

It didn't work out as these women had hoped. President Zuma was not junked. He had a "narrow success", wrote the BBC. These women were surrounded by surging crowds, when a space opened up for the photo. OBSERVATION: I took it for its photographic potential: the characteristic blue of the Democratic Alliance against the complementary orange-brown.

EFF Protest

I took a video of a surging EFF (Economic Freedom Front) today outside parliament -- which might arguably be compared with facing a charging elephant. My journalistic experiment lasted about seven seconds, at which point I was indeed hit by the stampede. OBSERVATION: There is a no confidence vote in parliament today. I have never seen such massive protests in Cape Town before, or the city so heavily defended.

Five Calls

A little-known aspect of my city ministry was that, during nearly 20 years of ministry, I received five calls to other Churches. Three of the calls were to positions overseas, and one was to my previous Church -- they wanted me back (I was in the city anyway because they wanted me back). I declined the first four calls, all for the same reason, even though they were, in one way or another, attractive offers, and staying in the city looked tough. I felt that the work that was being done in the city was too useful and too deep to give up for something else. OBSERVATION: I also received a call to take on a second Church in the city (two at once), but declined after discussing it with my own Church. That seemed too daunting a task.

Abaiang Mission

Unfortunately it's the best photo I have. I took it from an open boat in Abaiang lagoon, about 2° north of the equator in the central Pacific. In 1998, our Church sent a short-term missions team here. The people (pictured) wept on the beach when we left. An old woman told us that they thought God had forsaken them, until He sent us to their shore.

Article In Pieces

A major media outlet published an article by me this morning, but alas -- they omitted my opening paragraph which is critical to context and punch. It is hard to make sense of it at all without it. I contacted the editors, asking them kindly to piece it together again. It begins (began) like this:

I have seen the future, and it doesn’t include water. I had the dubious privilege of visiting Thembalethu—a major township in the Western Cape—when the water was cut off.  “It was like this all of last week,” said my sister-in-law. “On and off. Mostly off. Day by day, we never know when we’ll have water.” Read more ...

OBSERVATION: In its first 24 hours, it did about 80% better than my previous attempt at "tabloid" writing, in spite of a bad start.

Gossamer Flower

This is a common succulent flower of the Cape Floristic Region, which I photographed at the Berg River, about 100 miles north of Cape Town. I don't know the name of the plant. You may click on the photo to enlarge.

Simple Solutions

Sometimes it is the simplest of things which take an urban Church from "marginal" to "thriving". A good example is a Roman Catholic Church I attended (occasionally) for many years. The Church, under a new priest, was suddenly thriving. I could see only two significant changes. The new priest, unlike the old, did not dominate the services on a Sunday. He drew on the whole congregation to take part. And the new priest, unlike the old, preached his sermons with conviction. However, he preached from the same stock of sermons! Strangely, as best I know, he gave the congregation less attention. OBSERVATION: "Drawing from the congregation" is not, however, "ministry by members". It is not Congregationalism. Even Congregational Churches get muddled with this, sometimes.

Point Community Church

I took the photo today at Point Community Church in Cape Town's Atlantic Area. It is an evangelical Anglican Church plant. This Church makes a very good impression. The services are rich in content, the worship blended, the spirit good, the venue (fairly) good, the weekday ministry strong, there is a missionary outlook, and they have competent oversight. OBSERVATION: Reservations would be the fairly homogeneous make-up of this Church, and the relative absence of ministry by members (the priesthood of believers). I would see these two as being connected, all the more so in an urban environment. This is a very wide angle shot in duotone.

POSTSCRIPT: Curiously, about 15% of the congregation were regular or occasional attenders of my old city Church.

Non-Violent Direct Action

Reading some articles on NVDA (Non-Violent Direct Action) this week, I was surprised not to find a tenet that I learnt was central to NVDA -- bearing in mind that I was trained in NVDA. As one example, Nonviolence Chicago has a typical, critical Principle Four: "Accept Suffering Without Retaliation". What I learnt with regard to Principle Four was far more than that:

• The natural man seeks the minimum possible penalty in the shortest possible time.
• The practitioner of NVDA seeks the maximum possible penalty in the shortest possible time.

This applies where the practitioner of NVDA believes that he or she is representing a just cause, or is innocent of accusation. If one follows this principle of NVDA (say, in a situation of false arrest), the boot may immediately be on the other foot.

Writing Projects

I met yesterday with a young writer from Mamelodi, who I am mentoring. We are working through the skills of writing in nine ... call them projects. Sitting in a restaurant, we looked at the first page of famous writers, of various cultures and eras (an example shown here). The assignment was: ignore who these writers were, and identify on their first page what might have made their writing famous. It was a profitable session. OBSERVATION: My seminary in Pasadena taught us to do this -- to copy success -- intelligently.

Innovative Ideas

Over on my Facebook page, someone comments about my first major ministry, in a provincial city: “You had a great ministry here ... Apart from your ministry, you had innovative ideas.” Well, yes and no. Many ideas came from members, and in many cases, it seemed that God alone gave us the ideas. I channelled ideas. I am surprised, looking back, how many ideas worked. OBSERVATION: However, there were some ideas, throughout my ministries, which I may not have come across before – among them free pudding, an all-Church indaba, personal introductions to hymns, spontaneous worship teams, and surely various that I don’t remember in the moment. The photo shows a Church Supper.

Dreams

Dreams play an important role in the Church in Southern Africa. This has been very much the case in my ministr(ies). Dreams are not seen merely as representations of the unconscious, as they often are in the West, but as messages from God or His envoys. OBSERVATION: Here is an example. A young wife and mother had been drinking heavily, to the extent that she became very ill. Her doctor said to her: "Either you stop drinking, or it's the grave." At the same time, her late parents appeared to her in a dream, both dressed in white. They said: "Take up your cross, and carry it." From that day, she never drank again. I said: "Those were the perfect words for you, weren't they." She said: "They were the words I received. I carried them out."

House Design

Three years ago, I designed a house. I thought it was quite elegant in its simplicity, and it was independent of municipal water and electricity. I designed the ladder on the left, too, to an attic above. The design permits the ladder to be used hands-free. OBSERVATION: Alas, what one sees here needed to be greatly fortified for security. One major feature of my original design was vetoed by the builder. I had a single hall downstairs. Half the ceiling would swing down, to create a dividing wall and open up a great vertical space in one of two rooms so created. I had a working model.

Church Calendar

Nearly thirty years ago, I began to program as a hobby. My greatest programming achievement was simple on the surface of it (above) -- a Church Calendar for MSDOS. It covered 1980-2099, and held near exhaustive information, combining Protestant, Anglican, and Catholic data. In this video, I scroll through the 2017 calendar till Advent this year (3 December), then search for Easter next year (1 April), then check what happens on 25 December this year (Christmas, of course). The calendar was customisable, too. OBSERVATION: A Church calendar follows both the Gregorian and the solar calendars, so one needs (among other things) to calculate the position of the sun, and correlate this with the Gregorian calendar -- in this case over a period of 120 years. Richard Regez of Switzerland helped me with the astronomical algorithms. My original calendar works smoothly. The jerkiness here is due to grabbing it off a DOS window running under Linux. Ultimately I switched to electronics. Programming is too quickly dated.

Newspaper Writing

I spent a part of the morning writing for News24. This is "newspaper" writing, which is a different art to that of editing philosophy. I have written for News24 before, with modest success -- not good, not bad -- and I learnt well from that. It will be interesting to see what this piece does, if it is published. OBSERVATION: I am, in general, very much aware of time, and therefore keep focused on filling my time with that which agrees with my calling. One might say that I am purpose driven. But there is room for occasional "excursions" such as this (not really).

Riviersonderend Church

I have featured this Church before on my blog, yet this is a wide angle shot from close up. It is the Dutch Reformed Church Riviersonderend ("River Without End"), 100 miles east of Cape Town. It is built in the neo-Gothic style. The foundation stone was laid in 1937. OBSERVATION: For a small-town Church, it would seem to have an unusual emphasis on spiritual and congregational life, with an attendant de-emphasis of its building and history.

Ministry Of Charity

E and I recently shared a home with this young couple. They belong to an African indigenous Church. In such Churches, there is often what one calls, in Congregationalism, a "plurality of elders". So one might find, in one Church, an ordained pastor, an ordained evangelist, an ordained teacher, an ordained apostle, and so on. This man on the right of the photo is called to the ministry of charity. OBSERVATION: They are a thoughtful, generous, and devoted couple.

The Blessing Of Exile

Standing in for a bishop last night, I led a Bible study on Daniel Chapter 1. In the first verses, Judah is taken into exile. Apart from punishing His people, the Bible states plainly that God was refining them, purifying them, healing them. I said that God does the same with us, His covenant people today. In fact, I have often told people in counselling that God is doing something wonderful in their time of "exile". It is a token of their being specially privileged, chosen, blessed by Him. OBSERVATION: But think on the other hand, of those who are not in a position to believe that there is any good in their torment. It may be an awful situation to be in.

Student Clip

It's a seven-second clip I took a while ago, of student protests outside parliament. I needed to press through to the inner circle to get this shot (at the end of the clip, I was pushed off my feet). No post can capture the energy and the noise of such a gathering. OBSERVATION: I am in contact with the movement. Some issues were settled last week, which has led to greater calm. But it simmers. At least two student organisations refer to the struggle as war against "Satan himself", while opponents denounce the anarchy, and quell it. The heart of it is the demand for a free education. That against a background of the squandering of billions by government.

Organ Bellows

What is it? It is the handle on the hand pumping mechanism of a Church's pipe organ. I took the photo in the Dutch Reformed Church Vanwkysdorp, about 350km / 220mi east of Cape Town. Boys who pump the organ sit behind a black drape. OBSERVATION: During recent restoration work it was decided to keep the names of the boys which, over many decades, they had inscribed in the panels of the organ.

A Wow Increase

I have sometimes sought to paint a picture of what just a little more faithful, Biblical giving can do in a Church. Here's an example from my ministry in South Africa's "provincial" city Port Elizabeth. At the beginning of a certain year, we asked our members to increase their pledges by 6% if they would like to employ a Youth Worker -- and we put a big barometer up at the back of the Church to follow our progress. The 6% materialised, and a Youth Worker was appointed. Church attendance almost immediately jumped 40%, and the number of Youth in the Church greatly increased. A mere 6% increase in pledges gave the Church a whole new lease on life. OBSERVATION: Notice also the proactive approach we took to finance. Instead of looking first at the money that we had, we focused on what God was calling us to.

Captivated Nieces

It's another photo of nieces this morning -- this one taken sixteen years ago, in the early days of digital photography. The two of them are captivated by my father's conjuring tricks. OBSERVATION: He was a professional conjurer as a young man, before he entered the ministry and mission. He returned to the art in his later years. His conjuring was flawless. He didn't slip, and one could seldom if ever figure out how he did it, even if it was this close.

Finance: A Hall Of Mirrors

During my final year of city ministry, the finance officers would not present the annual audit to the Church as constitutionally required, and this caused high tension. Instead they called a Diaconate meeting, and presented it there. But they left me out. Actually they left the Diaconate out, too. The Diaconate thought that they had met for the real thing, the final audit, which was signed in their presence. But this was not so. There was another signing a few days later, which only the auditor and the finance officers saw. An unknown someone slipped me the proof of this (pictured right) while I wasn’t paying attention one day. I only discovered it later in my papers. I have smudged the closer details. OBSERVATION: There is a wider lesson here. If people will act in one way towards "me", they will act in the same way towards "you". The auditor was later found to be a fraud. You may click on the image to enlarge.

Nameless River

It's another photo of a nameless river which runs swiftly through our Atlantic suburb of Camps Bay. It was similar rivers which flowed in the city centre, which were covered over with a dome and forgotten while the city rose above them. This river flows into the ocean at Camps Bay's Theatre on the Bay.