Meditasie

22 Januarie 2012. Broodjies vir die Pad

I want to speculate about what Christianity might

actually evolve into if Christians had the courage to do

things like Steve Jobs did, that is, not to let what is be

the limits of what can be. What would be different,

for example, if we were able to free the Christ

experience from the first century interpretation of that

experience as we now have it in the New

Testament? Why do we continue to pretend that a

first century interpretation is somehow going to

embody truth for all ages? What would Christianity

look like if we were willing to separate the Christ

experience from the fourth century’s interpretation of

that experience as presently found in the creeds?

Why do we continue to pretend that fourth century

words are adequate to be the bearers of ultimate

truth for all time? Recently I had a letter from a friend

who wanted to start a book study group in her

Methodist Church in Mississippi to be a meeting

place for those who wanted to explore the edges of

Christianity. They wanted to read some of the

boundary-breaking theologians. Her request was

denied by her current minister. It was his job, he

said, to “defend the faith not to question it.”

How can either the scriptures or the creeds be

studied in any meaningful way if the assumption is

that they are, in their present forms, identified with

unchanging reality? That dated attitude precludes the

possibility of any different thinking from that of the first

century in regard to the scriptures or the fourth

century in regard to the creeds. The world’s

knowledge has, however, increased exponentially

from that which marked the minds of people in New

Testament times or those at the time the creeds were

formed. No one today, for example, believes that

demon possession is the cause of either mental

illness or epilepsy, that Jesus could literally ascend

into the sky of a three-tiered universe in which the

planet earth was the center or that everything not

understood in life had to be explained by an appeal to

a supernatural miracle. Modern Christian scholars no

longer even debate the traditional claims made

through a literal reciting of the creeds that the virgin

birth is about biology or that the resurrection is about

the physical resuscitation of a deceased body back

into the life of this world. If the only choices we have

in dealing with either scripture or creed is to believe

these words literally or not at all, then the future is

bleak indeed. We can either become “true believing

fundamentalists” (and they come in both Protestant

and Catholic varieties), or we can give up Christianity

altogether as an ancient, but now irrelevant

superstition and take our places as citizens of “the

secular city.” If we choose the former then we will

watch Protestants protect themselves from change

by claiming an inerrant Bible and Roman Catholics

protect themselves from change by claiming an

infallible Pope. Both claims are preludes to death

and both are today widely regarded as absurd. If the

latter alternative is adopted then the dying of

Christianity will continue, but at accelerating speed

until the Christian God takes a place in the museums

of human antiquity along side other deceased deities

like Baal, Marduk and the gods of the Olympus....

...The fact is, however, that traditional Christians

seem to know of no other way to talk about God and

have made no effort to “think different” in the 500 or

so years since Copernicus first challenged our threetiered

mentality and construct. Is it any wonder that

modern people who come to worship services have

a glazed-over look before much time inside church

has passed? How would we worship, however, if we

dared to “think different” or “accept uncertainty?” Yet

as obvious as this question is, anyone who asks it

inside church walls on a Sunday morning would be

considered quite controversial, even radical!

Someone will surely charge that person with being an

atheist!...

...The gap between the knowledge by which we

live and the faith we continue to practice is vast. Our

unwillingness to part with these woefully inadequate

concepts continues primarily because we know no

others and we fear the bottomless pit of nothingness

far more than we are embarrassed by continuing to

parrot unbelievable mantras as if they were still

capable of being held by any thinking citizen of the

21st century. No one appears willing or eager to

“think different” or to “accept uncertainty.”

There is no chance that human thought is going to

turn away from the demonstrated wisdom of

Copernicus, Galileo or Isaac Newton. If there is no

other way to envision the holy, the God of yesterday

will simply die. That is why it is so imperative that

those of us who love the Christian faith be willing to

“think different” and “accept uncertainty.”

How can we learn to think as Christians outside the

theological boxes of antiquity? It begins I believe by

dismissing “theism” as an adequate definition of God

and to recognize that the opposite of theism is not

“atheism.” Can we do that? Will people still

experience God in the definitions that emerge beyond

theism? Time alone will tell, but for now just let these

questions resonate. To them we will return. (John

Shelby Spong)

11 Desember 2011

This Sunday of Advent directs our attention not to
anticipation to the birth of Jesus but to what John
Caputo calls, "Messianic time."
In his self-described "Michelin's guide to Jacques
Derrida," The Prayers and Tears of Jacques Derrida,
John Caputo cites "Messiah" or its derivatives on 89
of his 339 pages of text, from page 1 to page 338.
"Messianic time," he writes, "is prophetic time, the
time to come, that disturbs the present with the call
for justice, which calls the present beyond ... itself.
For the most unjust thing of all would be to close off
the future by saying that justice is present, that the
present time is just...." (p. 81) But just before this
passage, he makes the same move as Isaiah when
he writes, "Justice means doing justice, doing the
truth... in order that he might come, in order to bring
about messianic time, the epoche of the Messiah."
(loc cite) "The Messiah is already among you," John's
John the Baptist insists.
Caputo concludes, "...justice is precisely
unseeable and unforeseeable...." " Justice does not
reside high above but settles into the flesh of the
least among us, pitching its tent among us. Justice
is not above but urgently required here and now,
even as it is something you press forward to with
passion, with prophetic and messianic fire... with a
fiercely burning ruah, something to come,
something impossible, unimaginable,
unrepresentable, something with which you must
keep faith, the passion of faith.... (p. 338) (SacraC)


In the introduction to An Uncommon Lectionary,
Butcher comments on the pivotal significance of this
event in the life of Jesus:
The liturgical year in this lectionary begins with the
primary spiritual event in the life of Jesus: his
Baptism by John in the Jordan River. Mark, the
earliest narrative Gospel, opens with the ministry of
John the Baptizer who is "calling for baptism and a
change of heart that lead to forgiveness of sins."
(Mark 1:4, SV)
According to Luke 3:23, Jesus was about thirty
when he went to hear John preach. What might
there have been in John's message that prompted
Jesus to ask for baptism? And what might have he
experienced during his baptism and the forty days in
the wilderness that reportedly followed? Might the
baptism in the Jordan and the time in the desert
comprise a story illustrating his enlightenment?
The evidence is clear that something profound
happened within Jesus which provided direction and
energy for a ministry of teaching and healing.

Without Jesus' baptism, there might have been no

ministry, no getting into trouble with the authorities,

no crucifixion, no resurrection experiences, no

church, no Christian religion, and no church history!

The course of human civilization would have gone

quite differently.

27 November 2011.

Advent is the season of waiting: of promise and

patience, of presence and absence, of fullness and

emptiness. The seed has been planted but the

growth is invisible and fragile. In the midst of the

growth process, threats abound. Will the seed burst

forth into the sunlight? Will thorns choke its life and

stunt its growth? Will it receive adequate nourishment

to grow into a great tree, giving shelter and fruit for all

around? Will we and our congregations survive – and

better yet flourish – amid the white water rapids of

today’s religious pluralism and postmodernism?

(PaF)

Advent is filled with hope, but not certainty. If God is

omnipresent, God is frustratingly subtle, barely

recognizable in our world unless we awaken to

God’s movements insinuated in the plethora of

personal and corporate activities. (PaF)

13 November 2011. Broodjies vir die Pad

Think nothing and do nothing without a purpose

directed to God. For to journey without direction is

wasted effort.

~ St. Mark the Ascetic (5th century)

6 November 2011. Broodjies vir die Pad

We are surely called to believe that God who is

everywhere is with us. And we are called to believe

that this God is Energy and Love. Not the Grand

Inquisitor. Not the Great Circus Master. Not the

Indifferent Professor who does distant research on

our lives. God is the one who made for us a good

world and walks with us to hold us up as we go.

~ Joan Chittister

30 Oktober 2011.

God of captives and pilgrims,

you brought your people home from despair

and gave them a land of freedom and plenty.

Look in mercy on us your servants,

deliver us from the prison of selfishness and sin,

and bring us home to justice, sharing, and

compassion,

the realm you promised all the world

in Jesus Christ the Savior. Amen.

Life-giving God,

heal our lives,

that we may acknowledge your wonderful deeds

and offer you thanks from generation to generation

through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

God of salvation,

who sent your Son to seek out and save what is lost,

hear our prayers

on behalf of those who are lost in our day,

receiving these petitions and thanksgivings

with your unending compassion.

23 Oktober 2011. Broodjies vir die Pad

For the people of Israel, their faith was that the God

who delivered them from Egypt would indeed lead

them to a place where they could grow and

prosper. From a process perspective, we

understand that God is always working

transformatively toward a vision of the common

good and the flourishing of creation, whether over

the course of history or within the course of our own

lives. As preachers, we can assure people of the

presence of God in the social struggle for justice or

our personal struggles to be better people.

Progress may be incremental and almost

indiscernible, and certainly not linear, but God’s

creative power of transformation is always active in

our lives and in history. (PaF)

Here is a simple truth of the Christian faith: God

made us, God loves us and God accepts us as we

are. We did not have to earn our creation, and we

do not have to earn God's love. But God is

delighted when we respond to that love. If we are

to bring that love to others then we must know

something of what it means to be vulnerable with

one another and vulnerable with God. (JwJ)

16 Oktober 2011 Broodjie vir die Pad

When Dawkin’s book The God Delusion came out in

2006, it was popularly received. I read it with interest

and enthusiasm. What amazed me was that the

God Dawkins criticized is the God that I too criticize.

My primary problem with him was that he assumed

that the God I worshiped was the same deity that he

was so cleverly rejecting. I do not see God as an

external being, supernatural in power, living above

the sky and always prepared to intervene in human

history to right a wrong, to do a miracle or to answer

prayers. I do not see God as either a heavenly

parent or a heavenly judge dispensing rewards and

punishments to obedient or disobedient children

according to their deserving. This rather juvenile God

died centuries ago, the victim of a revolution in

thought that produced the modern consciousness.

This revolution was ignited by Copernicus, Kepler

and Galileo, who together shattered God’s dwelling

place above the sky and rendered the primitive God

of the childhood of our religion to be “homeless.”

Next came Isaac Newton, whose development of

what later came to be called “natural law,” destroyed

the idea of God as a supernatural figure, able to

intervene in history by setting aside the physical laws

by which this universe operated. In turn Newton
rendered God “unemployed.” This God no longer
had any work to do. This God did not bring victory in
warfare, cure sicknesses, rescue people from peril
or guarantee that God would prevail against evil.
Newton was followed by Charles Darwin, who
destroyed the primary myth by which Christians had
traditionally told their faith story. How could there be
a “fall” from an original, created perfection, Darwin
asked, if evolution had moved from a single cell to
cellular complexity? Without the foundational concept
of a fall from perfection into “original sin” the sacred
symbols of our popular faith story began to fall like
bowling pins. If there was no fall, the idea that Jesus
was God’s rescue operation, designed to overcome
that fall, became absurd. The idea that God required
the death of Jesus to pay the price of that sin
became weird and seemed to define God as the
ultimate child abuser, who required the death of the
son before forgiveness could be extended. The offstated
Christian concept that “Jesus died for my
sins” in fact filled worshipers with nothing other than
debilitating guilt and the suggestion that we should
be “washed in the blood of Jesus” in order to receive
salvation or that we should drink the blood of Jesus
in the Eucharist to be cleansed internally became
grotesque images. Yet those are the things that
Richard Dawkins was attacking in 2006!
I can conceive of God apart from supernaturalism. I
can deny the theistic definition of God without being
an atheist, since the theistic definition of God is a
human creation not a divine revelation. I believe I
can experience a transcendent presence in the life of
Jesus, which is my understanding of “divinity,”
without buying the late first century explanation of the
Virgin Birth and without affirming miracles as literally
true. I believe that I can assert and enter the reality of
eternal life while simultaneously dismissing the
traditional definitions of heaven and hell.( Nuusbrief

van John Shelby Spong)

9 Oktober 2011.

I worried a lot. Will the gardens grow, will the rivers

flow in the right direction, will the earth turn

as it was taught, and if not, how shall

I correct it?

Was I right, was I wrong, will I be forgiven,

can I do better?

Will I ever be able to sing, even the sparrows

can do it and I am, well,

hopeless.

Is my eyesight fading or am I just imagining it,

am I going to get rheumatism,

lockjaw, dementia?

Finally I saw that worrying had come to nothing.

And gave it up. And took my old body

and went out into the morning,

and sang.

Mary Oliver

2 Oktober 2011. Belydenis. Daniel Berrigan Afrikaanse verwerking: Marie de Kock

25 September 2011. Fanie Olivier (Nederland) Skimmellig

Wie het die wêreld gemaak?

Die sierlike swaan, die pronkende pou?

Wie het die sprinkaan gemaak?

Hierdie een wat uit die gras gespring het

en nou suiker uit my hand eet?

Hy met sy yslike, ronde oë ...

Nou lig hy sy fyn voorpootjies en vrywe sy gesig ...

Dan wip die vlerkies oop en hy swewe weg.

Eintlik weet ek nie wat `n gebed is nie.

Ek weet hoe om na dinge te kyk,

weet hoe om my in die gras neer te vly,

deur die veld te loop, rustig en geseënd,

want dis wat ek die hele dag gedoen het.

Wat anders moet ek doen?

Alles moet sterf – en veels te gou.

Sê my, wat wil jy doen

met jou enigste, wonderlike, kosbare lewe?

Mary Oliver (1935- )

”The Summer Day” from

The Truro Bear and Other Adventures: Poems and Essays

Afrikaanse verwerking: Marie de Kock

4 September 2011. Broodjies vir die Pad

The Passover event marks the beginning of a new cultic
identity for the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob: while the stories of the people prior to Moses’
time include many instances of prayer, vision,
communication with God, and individual ritual (e.g., the
covenant ceremony in which Abraham laid out halves of
sacrificial animals and in a trance saw God’s flaming
torch and smoking firepot pass between them), there
have been no communal ceremonies to mark a peculiar
relationship between God and the people as a people.
This Passover ceremony gives them that mark. The long
process of their release from slavery, wilderness
sojourn, formation as God’s faithful, and eventual
settlement in the land of promise, thus begins with the
people’s recognition of themselves as the people who
keep this remembrance and celebrate this festival as
the sign of their unique communal identity before God;
they therefore measure their calendar, their communal
time, as beginning with the Passover month. Moreover,
the character of the ceremony marks the character of
the people: the urgency of the meal — the lamb roasted,
the bread unleavened, the diners dressed for the road,
leaving nothing but ashes behind in the morning — is a
sign of the people’s radical dependence on God. This is
not the ceremony of the rich and the powerful, it is not a
rite for celebrating wealth and prestige in the world; this
is the ceremony of those who know that their purpose,
their direction,

their life itself comes only from God. This

urgency in creating a new beginning of cultic identity for

God’s people makes this story a pivotal point in the

historical track of the lectionary sequence. (PaF)

28 Augustus 2011. Broodjies vir die Pad

Ons het elkeen ‘n kruis om te dra en ‘n pad om te loop.

Dit is nie vir elkeen dieselfde nie. (AJHR)

American theologian Kathryn Tanner contributes timely

insights when she writes: "Uniformity of belief in general

is overrated as a requirement for social stability,

according to postmodern culture." "Far from threatening

the stability of the Christian way of life, the fact that

Christians do not agree on interpretation of matters of

common concern is the very thing that enables social

solidarity among them." The church should encourage

itself to have "a genuine community of argument, one

marked by mutualcommitment to mutual correction and

uplift, in keeping with the shared hope of good

discipleship, proper faithfulness, and purity of witness.

This is the sort of mutual admonition and concern that

one finds in the letters of Paul." (Theories of Culture, pp

120-128)

In the biblical narratives, encountering God is

befuddling, frightening, and irresistible. Each encounter

leaves the poor individual with some impossible task

that is scary and, at the same time, full of promise. It is

always conveyed in the imperative; a demand. The only

possible reaction is to accept or decline the demand.

Acceptance always means personal risks. Declining

entails the even greater risk of missing out on living an

enlarged life with some more powerful purpose; to only

see "human things" and miss "divine things."(SacraC)

21 Augustus 2011. Broodjies vir die Pad

14 Augustus 2011. Broodjies vir die Pad

The saga of Joseph and his brothers continues. Years

have passed and Joseph has become a powerful

advisor to Pharaoh. He has a virtual blank check in

terms of political and economic leadership. Over the

years, Joseph has grown emotionally and spiritually. He

has learned to go beyond his own self-interest and

narcissism. He has let go of the past and opened to

new possibilities for relationships with his family of origin.

He reaches out to the brothers who once betrayed him,

offering them shelter and food in time of famine.(PaF)

No person has an inside track; we are all equidistant

from the heart of God. No nation is exceptional or

privileged in his eyes. A Bosnian Muslim is no further

away from God's love than an American Christian. A

Honduran Pentecostal is no closer to God's love than an

Oxford atheist. (JwJ)

Dear God... Save us from all perils—the clamorous

desires of self-preservation, the trivial, the superficial,

and all the pervasive and powerful perversions of our

time that would cheapen the humanity of human

beings.

~ William Sloane Coffin Jr

The philosopher Alfred North Whitehead asserts that

God’s vision or aim for any moment of our lives is “the

best for that impasse.” Even if the best is not always

good, considering ideal options, it may be the most

positive option given our context and circumstances.

This appears to be the case in the story of Joseph and

his brothers. Jealous of his father Jacob’s obvious

favoritism, they conspire to kill the dreamer. Their

knives are sharpened; but they spare him when

Reuben intercedes presenting an unpleasant but

preferable alternative – throw him in the pit. (PaF

Providence gently and persistently moves through our

lives, seeking the best for us giving our situation and

our particular local and global context. Providence does

not eliminate freedom, but works within the choices we

make, helping us to make more creative choices in the

future. Working within an imperfect world, God’s aim is

toward maximal freedom, creativity, and beauty. This is

good news for many of us – individuals and

congregations – who see ourselves at “dead ends.”

Within the limitations of life, God is providing visions of a

future and hope – these will not emerge without our

efforts, but as we attend to God’s vision, we will move

ahead one step at a time toward a better future for us

and the world.

Providence is always contextual. When we are open to

divine guidance, God is able to be more active in our

lives. Turning away from God limits God’s guidance

and effectiveness in our lives. Still, God continues to

offer us both possibility and the energy to achieve

divine possibility regardless of our life situation and

previous choices. God never gives up! (PaF)

7 Augustus 2011. Broodjies vir die Pad

31 Julie 2011. The Way it is.

There’s a thread you follow. It goes among

things that change. But it doesn’t change.

People wonder about what you are pursuing.

You have to explain about the thread.

But it is hard for others to see.

While you hold it you can’t get lost.

Tragedies happen; people get hurt

or die; and you suffer and get old.

Nothing you do can stop time’s unfolding.

You don’t ever let go of the thread.

24 Julie 2011. (Aangehaal uit “Wie is die historiese Jesus deur Andries van Aarde)

Die moontlikheid / onmoontlikheid om wetenskaplik te kan

sê "wie is die historiese Jesus?", hou verband met die

kompleksiteit van:

· beskikbare bronne,

· hulle wording-, oorlewerings- en vertalingsgeskiedenis,

· hulle genre in briefvorm of verhaalvorm,

· hulle na-Pase kerugmatiese inhoud (dit wil sê dat Jesus

se geboorte en sterwe deur God geïnspireer is, dat

Jesus tot die hemel verhoog is, erename ontvang het,

en dat Jesus Here van hemel en aarde is totdat die

skepping geheel vernietig is),

· die nie-geobjektiveerde psigosomatiese ervarings van

religieuse trans (alternerende state van bewussyn)

waarna sommige tekste verwys,

· en die tekste se "ortodokse" (kanonieke) of "heterodokse"

(apokriewe) status.

In die teologiese en eksegetiese wetenskap is in die loop

van meer as twee honderd jaar metodologiese kriteria

ontwikkel om, teen die agtergrond van bogenoemde

kompleksiteit, 'n wetenskaplike ondersoek na die

historiese Jesus te doen.

Wat vir my uitstaan, is dat daar 'n ooreenkoms in saak

is tussen die Jesus van die geskiedenis en die Jesus van die

geloof, ten spyte van die inhoudelike verskille tussen wat

Jesus gesê en gedoen het en wat sy volgelinge daaroor

gesê het. Rudolf Bultmann het treffend hierdie dialektiek

beskryf toe hy gesê het dat die naam "Jesus" die raakpunt

tussen geskiedenis en geloof is. Jesus wat die bevryder

was, is vir hulle wat in Hom glo, die verlosser. Eberhard

Jüngel meen soos ek dat Paulus se woorde in Romeine

1:17, te wete "deur geloof alléén sal die mens lewe", een

van die mees kompakte samevattings is van die saak

waaroor beide die Jesus van die geskiedenis en die Jesus

van die geloof dit het.

Wat inhoudelik nie gekontinueer is nie, is die na-Pase

kerugma dat die dood en opstanding die sentrum van die

betekenis van Jesus se lewe vir gelowiges is. Die

historiese Jesus het dit nie só gesê nie. Vir Jesus was die

eksistensiële betekenis van die oortuiging dat die

koninkryk van God 'n werklikheid vir die híér en die nóú is,

die sentrum van sy woorde en dade. Die kerugma het

hierdie inhoud saaklik anders vertolk.

Die historiese Jesus was self nie 'n Christen nie en hy het

nie soos wat Christen-gelowiges later geglo het, sy eie

dood bewustelik gesoek met die bedoeling dat dit as 'n

offer vir ander se sonde sal dien nie. Wat Jesus geleef en

verkondig het, was dat dit nou die beslissende tyd is om

vir God te kies bó eie selfbehoud of bewaring van tradisie.

Later het Christen-martelare hierdie boodskap saaklik

vertolk as dat Jesus vir hulle in dood en herlewe

voorgegaan het.

Jesus het dit ook nie as belangrik beskou dat jy 'n

heteroseksuele man met gesin is, deel van 'n bepaalde

nasionaliteit en etnisiteit, 'n sekere moedertaal het,

bepaalde kos eet en vir God op voorgeskrewe plek en tyd

aanbid nie. Hierdie Jesus-saak is deur onder andere

Paulus ná sy bekering uitgeleef en verkondig. Soms het

Paulus daarin geslaag en ander kere, soos ander

volgelinge van Jesus tot vandag toe, glad nie.

Vir ons die hedendaagse volgelinge van Jesus bly die

oproep om gehoorsaam aan Jesus se saak te wees,

steeds 'n uitdaging. Daarom behoort ons nie op te hou om

te soek na die historiese Jesus nie – weer en weer.

24 Julie 2011. Broodjies vir die Pad

Life can only be understood backwards, but it can only be

lived forwards.

~ Soren Kierkegaard

Lying, thinking

Last night

How to find my soul a home

Where water is not thirsty

And bread loaf is not stone

I came up with one thing

And I don't believe I'm wrong

That nobody,

But nobody

Can make it out here alone.

Alone, all alone

Nobody, but nobody

Can make it out here alone.

Maya Angelou (b. 1928)

17 Julie 2011. Broodjies vir die Pad

O God of Jacob,

you speak in the light of day

and in the dark of night

when our sleeping is filled with dreams of heaven and

earth.

May Jacob’s vision

remind us to be open and watchful,

ready to discover your presence in our midst. Amen

An early, consistent and crucial theme that recurs in
postmodern writers is that the God of philosophy is not
the biblical God. The God of philosophy places "Him" at
the pinnacle of the most sublime human experience
and understanding; the biblical God is "wholly Other." It
is the difference, Emmanuel Levinas writes in Alterity
and Transcendence, between "totality" and "infinity,"
between comprehension and bedazzlement, between
adequacy and spilling over our comprehension, even
excess. Yet, for reasons known only to God, God
makes God's-self available to us in a surprising way!

(SacraC)

Emmanuel Levinas, in his own highly personal way,
shook up his peers and still irritates/inspires many by
making such assertions as 'ethics precedes
metaphysics', 'the ethical is the spiritual', 'the infinite is in
the face of the other' and "the most finite creature is
filled with the infinite in its own way." (Ibid. p.67) He
insists that although we get easily confused when we
try to describe God, the ethical requirement is simple
and clear. It's as clear as the person standing in front of
me right now.
Following the patriarchs, matriarchs and prophets who
went before him, Jesus' message is not complex; it is
just different than all our other instincts, prejudices and
preconceptions led us to believe was the import of
God's message to us. (SacraC)

26 Junie 2011

Die Bybel. Joan Hambidge. Junie 2011

‘n Geparste blom

stingel langs die woorde

ek het jou by die naam geroep;

‘n Sondagskoolboekmerk

vou by louheid as ‘n sonde oop,

en ‘n hart van sywurm-sy

wys die weg ritselend na Eden aan.

Onderstrepings met ‘n balpuntpen

rig my jong geloofslewe

in hierdie geskenk van my ouers.

In my middeljare verloor ek my geloof,

verwerp hulle Bybel en veral hulle waardes,

ontdek die hel is beslis ander mense,

die lewe ‘n absurde, hier-en-nou.

Voetjie-vir-voetjie word jy on-gelowig,

agnosties, skepties...:

‘n andersoortige Bybel, die Bardo Todol,

word ‘n meetsnoer toe die lewe

nie in lieflike plekke vir my val.

Vanoggend gaan die cadeau oop

by ‘n ander openbaring:

woorde, soos geloof,

nie meer ‘n Toring van Babel

26 Junie 2011. Broodjies vir die Pad

Otherwise by Jane Kenyon

I got out of bed

on two strong legs.

It might have been

otherwise. I ate

cereal, sweet

milk, ripe, flawless

peach. It might

have been otherwise.

I took the dog uphill

to the birch wood.

All morning I did

the work I love.

At noon I lay down

with my mate. It might

have been otherwise.

We ate dinner together

at a table with silver

candlesticks. It might

have been otherwise.

I slept in a bed

in a room with paintings

on the walls, and

planned another day

just like this day.

But one day, I know,

it will be otherwise.

19 Junie 2011. Broodjie vir die Pad

Meditation – A Neglected Treasure

Recently during a Pentecost service in Stellenbosch

Denise Ackermann reminded her audience again of

the riches and blessings that can be found in silence.

Silence is indeed a treasure that belongs to the church.

However, due to the pressures and speed of our

modern technological society we have unfortunately not

only neglected this discipline, but in many instances we

have lost it. And how important is it that we should once

again rediscover its value – that we should keep talking

about its importance and find ways to incorporate it –

and there are many options, like a regular retreat, or a

quiet day or just a time of private solitude - to

experience firsthand how it can change our life as well

as our perspective on people, events and things. In a

very particular way silence can help us to stay in touch,

to connect with God and through God also to the better

part in ourselves, so that we may become that more

whole and loving person that we are supposed to be.

Denise Ackermann’s words reminded me of a moving

remark that the poet Rumi once made. Asked why he

kept talking about silence so often he answered with a

smile: “The radiant one inside me has never said a

word”.

Many people before us have already discovered that

silence is golden. It is indeed a treasure to be

rediscovered. And it is always there, ready to be

entered and embraced. (Carel Anthonissen )

12 Junie 2011. Broodjie vir die Pad.

Nothing is so unbearable to a man sic as to be

completely at rest, without passions, without business,

without diversion, without study. He then feels his

nothingness, his falseness, his insufficiency, his

dependence, his weakness, his emptiness...

~ Blaise Pascal

Pentecost, with Christmas and Easter, are the heart

and soul of the church's year, its story and, indeed, its

rasion d'etre. While Pentecost lacks the popular cultural

and social customs surrounding the other two great

feasts, it is organically joined to the full meaning of

incarnation and resurrection. It is nothing less than the

claim of God's continuing work in the world and the vital

role ordained by God for those who chose to believe.

(SacraC)

5 Junie 2011. Broodjie vir die Pad

The biblical texts are a self-affirming loop. The texts

themselves, which are testimony of words from God

and about God, are life giving. Each generation and

indeed each person who encounters these words has

an opportunity to know personally their continuing,

enduring impact. Reading, learning, and continuous rereading,

and endless interpreting and endless testing

their validity in practice to our own personal satisfaction

and personal ownership provide a confrontation with

their unique perspective.(SacraC)

29 Mei 2011. The Jesus Creed By Brian McLaren

We have confidence in Jesus

Who healed the sick, the blind, and the paralyzed.

And even raised the dead.

He cast out evil powers and

Confronted corrupt leaders.

He cleansed the temple.

He favored the poor.

He turned water into wine,

Walked on water, calmed storms.

He died for the sins of the world,

Rose from the dead, and ascended to the Father,

Sent the Holy Spirit.

We have confidence in Jesus
Who taught in word and example,
Sign and wonder.
He preached parables of the kingdom of God
On hillsides, from boats, in the temple, in homes,
At banquets and parties, along the road, on beaches,
in towns,
By day and by night.
He taught the way of love for God and neighbor,
For stranger and enemy, for outcast and alien.
We have confidence in Jesus,
Who called disciples, led them,
Gave them new names and new purpose
And sent them out to preach good news.
He washed their feet as a servant.
He walked with them, ate with them,
Called them friends,
Rebuked them, encouraged them,
Promised to leave and then return,
And promised to be with them always.
He taught them to pray.
He rose early to pray, stole away to desolate places,
Fasted and faced agonizing temptations,
Wept in a garden,
And prayed, "Not my will but your will be done."
He rejoiced, he sang, he feasted, he wept.
We have confidence in Jesus,
So we follow him, learn his ways,
Seek to obey his teaching and live by his example.
We walk with him, walk in him, abide in him,
As a branch in a vine.
We have not seen him, but we love him.
His words are to us words of life eternal,
And to know him is to know the true and living God

We do not see him now, but we have confidence in

Jesus.

Amen.

29 Mei 2011. Broodjies vir die Pad

After the agora, Paul went to "a meeting of the
Areopagus." The Areopagus was both a place and a
group. It's a small rocky hill northwest of the Acropolis
in Athens. More importantly, the Areopagus was the
most prestigious council of elders in the history of
Athens, so-named because it met on that site. Dating
back to the 5th-6th centuries BCE, the Areopagus
consisted of nine archons or chief magistrates who
guided the city-state away from rule by a king to rule by
an oligarchy, which in turn laid the foundations for
Greece's eventual democracy. Across the centuries the
Areopagus changed, so that by Paul's day it was a
place where matters of the criminal courts, law,
philosophy and politics were adjudicated.

The intelligentsia invited Paul to present his "new
teaching" and "strange ideas" (17:20). Paul met them on
their own ground, quoting two poets: the Cretan
Epimenides (600 BCE), that "in him we live and move
and have our being," and then the opening lines of the
Phaenomena by Aratus (315-240 BCE), a Greek poet
and Stoic of Cilicia, that "we are his children." Paul's
message of the resurrection elicited a lukewarm
response. Some people "sneered," while others said,
"We want to hear you again on this subject" (17:32).

His message was not about going to heaven after
history, but about the kingdom of heaven coming to
earth in history (BMcL)

What is emotionally rooted is not intellectually soluble.
~William Sloane Coffin, Jr.

22 Mei 2011. Meditatio: Elke sonsopkoms 'n teken van God se liefde deur Jurie le Roux

15 Mei 2011. Words Accompanying Górecki's Symphony No. 3 (Third Movement)

Where has he gone

My dearest son?

Perhaps during the uprising

The cruel enemy killed him

Ah, you bad people

In the name of God, the

most Holy,

Tell me, why did you kill

My son?

Never again

Will I have his support

Even if I cry

My old eyes out

Were my bitter tears

to create another River Oder

They would not restore to life

My son

He lies in his grave

and I know not where

Though I keep asking people

Everywhere

Perhaps the poor child

Lies in a rough ditch

and instead he could have been

lying in his warm bed

Oh, sing for him

God's little song-birds

Since his mother

Cannot find him

And you, God's little flowers

May you blossom all around

So that my son

May sleep happily

8 Mei 2011. Gebed om die Gebeente

Heer, waar U noordewind die droë dissel rol

en oor die skurwe brakland jaag van Afrika,

maar eindelik teen 'n doringdraad met pluksels wol

vaswaai terwyl die kraaie en die aasvoëls kla,

laat my ook ná die swerf oor vlaktes heen nou rus

en glo my kind is dood, al hoor ek die berigte

om my krys: "Ek het hom as matroos hier aan die

kus . . .''

"Ek: as stoker op 'n trein . . ." "Ek: in vaal-geel ligte

van 'n steenkooldorp se kroeg nog nou die dag

gesien . . .''

Glo omgekoop! Of hy sou skielik blink gesteentes

smokkel . . . blink gesteentes! Selfs dan . . . Nee,

miskien

lê hy tog êrens dood; maar, Heer, dan die

gebeente,

wys my, gee my die drag gebeente van my skoot

dat ek nie opgejaag deur hierdie land bly swerf

en soek, maar eindelik rus en weet hy het deur

lood

onder twee mudsak ongebluste kalk gesterf.

Snags het ek soms gelê en vrees daar sou iets

boos

oor hierdie kind nog kom, want in Middelburg se

kerk

staan duidelik in die doopregister sy geboorte

nie na die stand van sy gesternte aangemerk.

En, soos wanneer jy tussen vinger en die duim

die wit son rol en skitter in 'n diamant,

sou hy deur Vrystaat en Transvaal se leiblou ruim

uit spieëls ons stryd laat blits en straal van rant tot

rant.

Maar hy móés sterf: die Dood het self hom eers

gejag

deur kou riviere van die Kaap, dwarsoor Anysberg

tot in die buitekamer op 'n plaas, waar hy een nag

in koue sweet moes lê en aan borswater sterf . . .

toe 'n tweede jagter hom van tent na trein, van trein

na tent met doringdraad en bajonet bewaak

en met gemete sorg van arts en medisyne

vir 'n tweede dood, o Heer, stadig gesond kon

maak.

En ná die skynverhoor het hulle hom vertel . . .

voor Graaff-Reinet se sel. O Graaff-Reinet se sel!

Hy was gewone kryger, Heer, en geen rebel.

O Graaff-Reinet se sel . . . Eségiël! Eségiël!

Vergeef my die gelykenis, Heer: ek weet 'n hond

as hy versadig is, verag die been en murg

maar bêre dit agter 'n bossie in die grond

– behoedsaam, en snuffel met die tweede honger

terug:

Teen middernag het op bevel 'n vyf soldate

die kalkwit bondel beendre in die kalkwit doek

met grawe en lanterns in verskeie gate

onder die roosmaryn langs die rivier gaan soek

en herbegrawe . . . toe U die storm word, Heer; ek

weet

U en die vyand het dié nag in die vallei

deur geel geflikker in slagreëns mekaar gemeet

oor wie uiteindelik my kind se lyk sou kry.

Hy moes drie dode sterf, maar hy wat drie maal

sterf

die sterf nie meer; hy word nou elke dag gesien

as 'n matroos, of stoker op 'n steenkoolwerf

in myn of tronk, in sirkustent of 'n kantien –

hy leef in hierdie land nou ewig en altyd!

Maar soveel beendre lê onder die roosmaryn . . .

Seën, Here, ál die bleek gebeente van die stryd –

ek ken as moeder ná 'n halwe eeu van pyn:

een land vol skedels en gebeente, een groot graf

waaroor U noordewind die droë dissel waai

en spruit en krans vul met die afloskrete van

die aasvoëls, van die wildehonde en die kraai

– dat ons as een groot nasie in dié gramadoelas

met elke stukkie sinkplaat en met elke wiel,

en wit en bruin en swart foelie agter skoon glas

ewig U sonlig vang en na mekaar toe spieël.

D.J. Opperma

1 Mei 2011. Broodjies vir die Pad

What is emotionally rooted is not intellectually soluble.
--William Sloane Coffin, Jr.

•·         This story addresses ways of knowing. It acknowledges the struggle between intuition and fact, between being persuaded by the heart or demanding the empirical evidence of sight and touch. When Jesus appears on the other side of a locked door; when he greets the disciples with the words, “Peace be with you,” he is as real as the visions so many people have experienced of deceased loved ones. According to the story, there is no question that the disciples see Jesus. This experience is then contrasted with Thomas, the empiricist who must touch the wounds of Jesus in order to believe. (PaF)

So does Thomas actually touch flesh? I don’t know. But the gospel of John constantly contrasts literal and metaphorical understanding, and in this case the writer offers a narrative that addresses both kinds of knowing and uses different characters to represent each approach. What emerges, then, is this: it doesn’t matter how one comes to believe, but that one comes to believe. And the author is convinced that his story has that kind of persuasive power, that it addresses our varying approaches to ascertaining truth. (PaF)

In retrospect, my last post, God’s Smile, seems rather saccharin – trite even.

That’s the problem when we try to “humanize” God. It’s all too easy to end up with images that are either run to  “wrathful Zeus” or  “cuddly teddy bear.”

God, to be God, has to be beyond our definition and our grasp.  God is ineffable. That’s why, for Christians, there is Jesus, the Christ.

- Not to act as intermediary between us and God. We are not separated from God in any way

- Not to be a stand-in sacrifice for our so-called “sins.” God created us, and accepts us, as we are.

Rather, Christ is the tangible, definable, example of the Way God encourages us to live, the challenges God calls us to take up, the boldness with which God dares us to act ...

... and the assurance that, even when that leads us to the ultimate sacrifice, God is with us.(SeemslG)