Like Hot Cakes

An important aspect of our missions/evangelism budget in city ministry was subsidised Bibles. These "sold like hot cakes". We had various languages on offer. The subsidised price was around $3 each. OBSERVATION: The purpose was to distribute Bibles. We did, however, limit the number of Bibles sold at any one time, as we discovered that some people were trading in Bibles.

Consciousness

A more complicated post, this. It has to do with consciousness. I write about "the nameless Whole", such as that of Lao Tzu, Anaximander, Heidegger. This is the opposite of "the finite whole", such as a planet, or a machine, or a molecule. The "nameless Whole" lies beyond names and definitions. Now if only the finite whole exists, the existence of consciousness is impossible. But if it is possible, then it is beyond names and definitions.

50% Off All Books

Wipf & Stock are offering 50% off all books until the end of November 2024, with free shipping. This includes my own books: 

• (click here) Everything Briefly (a metaphysics)

• (click here) This Town (a fictional metaphysics)  

Select BUY, then Add Coupon CONFSHIP. Select Media Mail.

An endorsement of EVERYTHING BRIEFLY: "“Thomas Scarborough’s Everything Briefly is wide-ranging and very engaging. It is refreshing—after so much work in analytic philosophy that is narrow in scope and highly technical—to see someone take on the project of constructing a panoramic metaphysics." —CHRISTIAN B. MILLER, Author of The Character Gap.

A review of THIS TOWN: "Scarborough's work stands as a significant contribution to contemporary metaphysical literature. This Town offers an intricate tapestry of philosophy and narrative, challenging, enlightening, and transforming the reader's perspective on existence. It stands out as a triumph of metaphysical writing." —VALDELI PEREIRA, Co-editor of SHARE magazine.

Invention No. 45

 Once in a while, I put up here what I believe would be a viable invention, but for which I don't have the time. Many years ago, son M and I invented a collimating altitude dial (a wristwatch), which should generally tell the time to within 5 minutes. It was published at Yale, in The Compendium. This, I think, could easily be built 2 mm thick. OBSERVATION: I wish there were an engineer who could do this. I've done a proof-of-concept to prove that it would work. I think it could be done with three moving parts.

Failure of Courage

In a day and a half, my animated French talk on Courage has been viewed many thousands of times on the Internet. This surprises me. Yet courage is a problem today-- the very courage to live. Everywhere one looks, one finds depression, panic, and suicide. OBSERVATION: The article is a bit of an oddity, technically. It's spoken in French, where it was written in English, and published in Spanish. I'm not sure what its popularity will do for me (say, fame, or sales) -- if anything. It was written anyway to be a help to others.

The Middle Of Nowhere

This photo appeals to me. It is a four-way intersection in the middle of nowhere. The sign on the left points the way to a cottage where I once holed up to write. The sign seems so out of place here. One typically sees signs on city streets. You may click on the photo to enlarge to VGA.

La Première des Vertus.

La Première des Vertus. Courage. I have found that there is tremendous interest in articles which I translate into (some) other languages. I thought that this one was worth reproducing, as the editor considered it "brilliant". Here it is in French. It originally appeared in the leading Spanish philosophy magazine, Filosofia en la Red. Thanks to DEEPL translation, Narakeet text-to-speech, and Adobe animation.

Me and Welby

I had a situation in ministry which was, in some ways, similar to that of the Archbishop of Canterbury. A caretaker whipped his wife with a sjambok. I found her in the Church foyer, streaming blood. I sought to report this immediately to the police. They said no, they could accept no such complaint. His wife had to do that herself. But she would not. I called for support from a (sturdy) member, and dismissed the caretaker immediately. I need to qualify that, though. I dismissed him subject to the final verdict of the Church Meeting. So one might say that I suspended him. OBSERVATION: Opposition came from an unexpected quarter. The Department of Labour insisted that we immediately reinstate him, as he had whipped his wife out of hours. We said no. Our opinion won the day, but we paid a penalty as a result.

Buried Far Away

My wife's cousin H (pictured, with panga) was driven out of the Eastern Cape this morning, to be buried with her husband's family, a thousand miles to the north. There was great distress, because her body was removed from her clan. There was a clan meeting to seek to prevent it, but to no avail.

POSTSCRIPT: Inexplicably, they turned around and brought her body back.

POST-POSTSCRIPT: Then changed their minds.

Unknown Trauma

This follows my previous post. In 2013, an attorney in my Church accused me, in writing, seven times, of committing various crimes. These crimes fell in six different categories -- which was quite impressive, as the police only have 35 categories of crime. This was a great burden upon me, and I really didn't know what to do with it. At first, I advised the attorney concerned not to report this to me, but to report it to the police. Then I reported it to the police myself. I met personally with the station commander, Colonel Lento, and handed over all the most relevant details. The police dismissed all allegations. OBSERVATION: I have said that this was "just not normal". As Einstein once said, a single objection would be enough. It is the kind of trauma that many ministers experience, which nobody knows about.

Reporting Crime

Today, the Archbishop of Canterbury resigned over the slipshod way in which he handled abuse. Many if not most ministers will come across crime within the ranks of their office-bearers or members (I would think that, in most cases, crime and abuse are synonymous). What to do? It took me a while to arrive at my own position, but basically it is this: report every crime to the police. Further, report it to the Church -- at  the least to the Church Council. OBSERVATION: I have had the custom to report myself if there is any accusation against me. This has included reporting myself to police. It is not only the right thing to do -- it may remove the pressure of (often false) extortion or blackmail.

La Virtud Suprema

Saludos damas y caballeros. I'm pleased to announce that I was published last week in Spanish, in the leading Spanish philosophy magazine, Filosofia en la Red. It's about (click here) La Virtud Suprema—The Supreme Virtue—which is ... courage. The editor called my article "brilliant". Google can translate the page for you. OBSERVATION: This is an important article for me, which I hope may be a help to many who have lost courage. It is philosophy—yet it sails tantalisingly close to religion. It closes with some religious questions, which "I leave to the reader to ponder".

Crisis Among The Poor

Back in 2008, I reported that our Church was seriously affected by the crisis among the poor. The onset of this crisis was rapid. We were inundated with desperate requests for help. But it was not only the poor who were affected. Church collections fell as low as 60% below budget at one point -- a catastrophe. OBSERVATION: We did two things. 1. We halted all “discretionary” spending, and 2. I as minister appealed to those who were in a position to help us over the crisis to do so -- and they did. Within a year, we recovered to where expenditure was just 3% higher than income.

Businessman's Threat

I recently mentioned extortion. Here's an example. A local businessman wanted a gambling license. For this, he needed a letter of consent from the Church. We politely declined. He was furious. He walked into the Church, and shouted: "I'll close down the circle! I'll close down the circle!” Our secretary said: "What ever is the man talking about? He’s speaking in riddles!" But there was a statutory circle, and our Church fell inside it. OBSSERVATION: This could have been an idle threat, spoken in the heat of the moment. I took it seriously, and placed it on record.

Christian Parenting

Long ago, I was asked to preach on Christian parenting. Someone said to me afterwards: "You should have told me these things twenty years ago! It's a bit late!" Here were some of my points: 

1. God loans you a child to make them independent in Him. 

2. The order is: God first, parents second, children third, work fourth. 

3. It all begins with parents who love the Lord. 

4. The atmosphere and values of the home speak before words. 

5. There needs to be spiritual structure in one's home. 

6. There needs to be Christian teaching, formal and informal. 

7. Evangelism of children is essential. 

8. There needs to be correction and prevention, in balance. And 

9. Decide what really counts: mud on the carpet? telling a lie?