Hierdie week se liturgie: 5_januarie_2014

VOORSPOEDIGE 2014 EN MAG DIT DIE ALLERMOOISTE JAAR VIR ELKEEN VAN ONS WEES — !!
Daar is by my ʼn opregte opgewondenheid oor die jaar wat voorlê omrede ek met my hele hart glo dat die seëninge van 2013, vrug gaan dra in 2014. Ons suksesvolle EMMER-PROJEK was die eerste refleksie daarvan. Daarvoor sê ons baie BAIE dankie!
In die tagtiger jare was die Dalai Lama gevra om ʼn Meditasie Groep toe te spreek en daar is aan hom verskeie passasies uit die Evangelies gegee wat hulle wou hê hy moes bespreek vanuit ʼn Boeddhistiese perspektief. Hy het dit duidelik gemaak dat dit vir hom baie moeilik is om die Christelike Bybel te bespreek maar dat hy sal praat oor dit wat sy Filosofie en die Christelike Teologie ingemeen het, naamlik COMPASSION. Die reeks lesings is pragtig vervat in ʼn boek getiteld: THE GOOD HEART ... en gee ʼn unieke herinnering in wat die essensie van Jesus se lering rakende compassion beteken. Die Bergpredikasie (Matt 5) kan daarom gesien word as ʼn Christelike Handves van Menseregte.
Sowat ʼn week gelede word ek deur ʼn FB vriend verwys na ʼn webblad http://charterforcompassion.org/ waar individue of organisasies genooi word om die CHARTER FOR COMPASSION te onderteken en te implementeer binne hulle verband. Nadat alles deurgelees is, het ek besluit dat dit is iets waarmee Neo-Spektrum volledig kan assosieer en dit daarom met vrymoedigheid onderteken --
The text of the Charter for Compassion:
The principle of compassion lies at the heart of all religious, ethical and spiritual traditions, calling us always to treat all others as we wish to be treated ourselves. Compassion impels us to work tirelessly to alleviate the suffering of our fellow creatures, to dethrone ourselves from the centre of our world and put another there, and to honour the inviolable sanctity of every single human being, treating everybody, without exception, with absolute justice, equity and respect. 
It is also necessary in both public and private life to refrain consistently and empathically from inflicting pain. To act or speak violently out of spite, chauvinism, or self-interest, to impoverish, exploit or deny basic rights to anybody, and to incite hatred by denigrating others — even our enemies — is a denial of our common humanity. We acknowledge that we have failed to live compassionately and that some have even increased the sum of human misery in the name of religion.
We therefore call upon all men and women to restore compassion to the centre of morality and religion — to return to the ancient principle that any interpretation of scripture that breeds violence, hatred or disdain is illegitimate — to ensure that youth are given accurate and respectful information about other traditions, religions and cultures — to encourage a positive appreciation of cultural and religious diversity — to cultivate an informed empathy with the suffering of all human beings — even those regarded as enemies.
We urgently need to make compassion a clear, luminous and dynamic force in our polarized world. Rooted in a principled determination to transcend selfishness, compassion can break down political, dogmatic, ideological and religious boundaries. Born of our deep interdependence, compassion is essential to human relationships and to a fulfilled humanity. It is the path to enlightenment, and indispensable to the creation of a just economy and a peaceful global community.
Die meeste mense dink ‘COMPASSION’ is iets wat jy doen ... intussen is dit iets wat jy IS — meer nog, dis iets wat jy toelaat om deur jou te gebeur. Om iemand te beskerm, is ʼn vorm van compassion. Vergiffenis, naas liefde, is verseker die hoogste vorm van compassion. Om iemand te dra en te ondersteun, is compassion. Om tot diens te wees van ander, is compassion. Sien, compassion is nie net medelye nie maar iets wat deur ons gebeur om die eenheid tussen almal (en alles) te demonstreer. Dít wat ons in Afrika ken, as Ubuntu.
Albert Einstein skryf êrens: “A human being is a part of the whole called by us universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feeling as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.”
Kom ons begin 2014 met dié nuwejaarsvoorneme: om innig sensitief te wees vir elke geleentheid, situasie, of persoon waarteenoor ons compassion kan bewys. Dan sal ons saam Bob Marley kan sing, “One love, one heart, one destiny” en sal hierdie jaar ʼn geseënde mooi jaar wees. So sal ons aan mekaar raak nie net met ons hande nie, maar veral met ons harte!
DIT SAL HEERLIK WEES OM ALMAL SONDAG DAAR TE SIEN OM 2014 MET TOEWYDING TE BEGIN !!
Ons begin ons jaar met ons gebruiklike ETE elke eerste Sondag van die maand na die diens. Bespreek asseblief by my voor Saterdagoggend en kom eet heerlik saam met ons en dan klink ons saam ʼn glasie champagne!

Besoek ons  FACEBOOK: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Neo-Spektrum/278715195501651 vir meer inligting.

Gedagte vir die Week:
“Anyone can give up, it’s the easiest thing in the world to do. But to hold it together when everyone else would understand if you fell apart, that’s true strength.” — Christopher Reeves