Post Box

Our national Post Office is under business rescue, apparently staring at liquidation for the second time since last year. How much of our Post Office is really working? It seems hard to say. In my area the Post Office has closed -- as it has in 400 other places countrywide. Here is a post box that I snapped near my home this week. Should one entrust one's letter to this box? OBSERVATION: But the last time I sought to buy postage stamps at a Post Office, they didn't have any. I couldn't post letters without stamps.

Pathological Antagonism

There is something that one -- unfortunately -- best is able to identify in ministry. Pathological antagonism. There will always be criticism. Some of it will be courteous, some less so -- but it would usually be a mix of praise and blame from any given individual. One knows that something is badly wrong when there is no praise and all blame, all the time. One calls that (there is something about it here): Pathological Antagonism. It is "pathological" because it indicates psychological ill health. OBSERVATION: I once asked such a person: "Is there anything positive you can say?" The reaction was stronger than I expected. They were tongue-tied. They were shocked. They couldn't think of a thing. That is not normal.

Lies and Truth

I probably held the view, in my twenties, that truth could be defeated by lies. This was the message of Apocalypse Now, a film which I saw about that time. But through the years, this view changed. I began to see that a lot of lies played into the hands of truth. By now, I consider that God has built the truth into every lie. Did you hear a terrible lie? Did someone do something deceitful? Not to fear, God built the truth into it. It is in the lie, already. OBSERVATION: The true view, I think, would be even to "rejoice" over lies, in the sense that one knows they are defeated. Unfortunately there are still a lot of lies that trouble me!

Another Day in ZA

I went to "the corner shop" this morning. It was in semi-darkness. A noisy generator was running outside. "They switched us off," said the shopkeeper. "Just like that, they switched us off!" I put some things in a basket and brought them to the till. The power came back on again. "Aaaah!" said the people in the shop. "Turn off the generator!" someone ordered. The generator powered down. "They were fixing that power cable," said the shopkeeper, pointing to the street. "It was dangling for months." They rang up my purchase. The power went down -- again. "Put this ice-cream back in the freezer," the shopkeeper said to an assistant. This was not a good sign. Someone ran to power up the generator again. The shopkeeper said, "We're waiting for the system to boot up again. Hopefully your purchase wasn't erased." It was. After an inordinately long boot-up, the assistant took over, beginning at the beginning again. Now the bar-code scanner was dead. "I must fetch the ice-cream," she said, and vanished, Then the card machine wouldn't work. OBSERVATION: It all came together in the end. As seems to be customary by now, we all greeted each other with patient smiles, and I was on my way.

Miaow Under The Floor

In city ministry, I entered my vestry one day, to hear a "Miaow" from under the floor -- or so it seemed. I couldn't be sure where it was coming from. I walked across the floor, and heard another "Miaow". I looked in the cupboards, and out of both doors. It was under the floor. A door beneath the organ ultimately led to the various hollows under the Church, so I opened it. After a few minutes, a stray cat walked out and rolled on the carpet (see the photo). Another life used up.

Long Tenures

In city ministry, the ministers of our Church were known for their extraordinarily long tenures -- a fact which seems hard to explain. In 2011, I worked out that, for the previous 100 years, the average tenure was 14½ years. OBSERVATION: I think the average "out there" is about 4 years. My own tenure was way past average, with more than 20 years over two ministries. The Church's longest-serving minister was my father (pictured), with 25 years.

Finances and Storytelling

Here’s a tip for aspiring storytellers. Stories work better with props. If you have a story to tell about the hunt, for instance, be sure to show people your gun. In this  post, I'll apply it to Church finances. When you speak to your congregation about the Church's finances, add a story, and add a prop -- although a gun might not be the thing!

Harbour Moonrise

I took this photo at our Waterfront heliport, just as the moon was rising over the distant mountains. I steadied my camera on the rooftop of my vehicle.  You may click on the photo to enlarge.

Courage in Spanish

I was notified this morning that I am to be published again in Spanish, by the leading Spanish philosophy magazine. I don't know yet when the article is scheduled. The subject is Courage. This is the second time I will be published in Spanish ... without knowing any Spanish. Thanks to AI. OBSERVATION: With judicious use of AI (AI is not quite ready to pour in English and pour out Spanish) I have doubled the potential readership of my work.

Terror Evaporated

During the last year, I made (for me) important personal progress. After I was abducted by gunmen in 2018 -- it seems hard to explain -- I was terrified of putting a foot out of place. It was not a random abduction -- which surely had to do with that. Not only was I terrified of putting a foot out of place. I was afraid even to mention the event in e-mails, or conversation. During the last year, the terror left me. It evaporated. I might say it left me completely.

Swamp Weed

This is simply swamp weed -- growing in Cape Town's Zoarvlei swamp, in Paarden Eiland. I hope to get a close-up sometime, as it has unusual foliage.

101% of One Million

For those who missed my blog passing one-million views, one will see by the counter on the right that it has now reached 101% of one-million views. OBSERVATION: My recipe has been simple posts, daily posts, with a single focus, an "observation", and often, a photograph. I seek also to have some meaningful content in my posts.

Boardwalk

A post with a difference. A boardwalk near my home, over a swamp. As fast as they can repair it, people remove pieces for firewood or the construction of shacks. Like the Ship of Theseus, it's continually under construction.

Reading the Signs

Somebody asked me "what sort of things raised suspicions" about a paedophile in our Church (he was later jailed). Elsewhere, I wrote that I banned him from our Church Youth. This was not because I knew of his paedophilia, which I did not. He sought favour with the youngsters -- and as in politics, when one seeks favour, one steps on the rules. This caused great tensions in the Youth. OBSERVATION: This is an important point. Dysfunction does not always manifest itself directly. In this case, ignoring the rules indicated trouble elsewhere. I first suspected paedophilia when a young girl told him emotionally not to touch her. Young girls don't do that.

Fired for Pregnancy

A young wife and mother came to see me once. She had told her employer the happy news (for her) that she was pregnant. She was overjoyed. Her employer responded, "Well, I shall have to let you go then [fire you]." As I often do in such situations, I offered to speak to her employer. But the young woman said, "Not yet." OBSERVATION: When I do speak to, say, an employer, I may say nothing about the problem. The conversation in itself may be enough to turn things around. People get the point.