Sondagdiens

20 Januarie 2019

Die wonder van Kindle is dat ʼn mens gemaklik twee boeke gelyk kan lees en op die oomblik lees ek Steven Pinker se formidabele boek, “The Sense of Style: The Thinking Person's Guide to Writing in the 21st Century” — asook sy nuutste, “Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress”

Beide boeke is ʼn refleksie op die mens in die 21ste eeu en poog om konteks te gee aan die uitdagings en vordering van die wêreld waarin ons leef maar bied ook inspirasie en motivering wat betekenis gee aan ons tyd, plek, en omstandighede.

Dikwels betrap ek myself dat ek dink of praat oor “vroeër” — asof alles eenvoudiger was; mense was nie so fyngevoelig en liggeraak, oorsensitief en polities korrek nie; ons woord was ons eer en is grootgemaak met ʼn diep respek vir mekaar en vir God. Maar dan klop die woorde van Franklin Pierce Adams teen my deur, “Nothing is more responsible for ‘the good old days’ than a bad memory.” Vandag lyk alles swaarder, erger, moeiliker omdat duisende nuuskanale op TV, koerante, tydskrifte, Internet asook Sosiale Media seker maak dat geweld, ongelykheid, rassisme, oorloë, diktators, mishandeling, natuurrampe, seksisme, korrupsie en bedrog word oor en oor en óór teen lamppale en op skerms geverf. Die bloed van ʼn berig is nog nie droog nie of ʼn volgende ‘OPSKRIF’ flits verby ons oë en gaan sit soos muf in die brein. Waar prentjies van vervloë dae pragtig geraam is met roos-pienk strikkies uit ʼn verlede toe alles, (so dink ons) perfek was.

Hier is so bietjie statistiek: In 1988 was die moordsyfer in Suid Afrika 80 per 100,000 mense. Tussen 1994-2010 het dit afgeneem na 32 per 100,000 mense en tans is dit weer op na 40 per 100,000 maar dis steeds die helfte van 30 jaar gelede. In 2018 was daar 12 grootskaalse oorloë in die wêreld, 60 diktators aan bewind, 10% van die wêreldbevolking in ekstreme armoede en 10,000 atoombomme. Dertig jaar gelede, in 1988 was daar 23 voortdurende oorloë, 85 diktatoriale state, 38% van die wêreldbevolking was in onvoorstelbare armoede met 60,000 atoombomme.

In die 17de eeu kon net 10% van alle Europeërs lees en skryf. Vandag het Europa 100% geletterdheid en die res van die wêreld is besig om vinnig in te haal. Meer as 90% van die wêreldbevolking onder 25 kan lees en skryf. In die tyd van Moses was jou lewensverwagting 30 jaar oud. In die tyd van Jesus was jy stokoud op 50. Vandag is die lewensverwagting in derde-wêreld lande 70 en in eerste-wêreld lande is dit 80. Pensioenfondse in Japan maak reeds voorsiening dat binne 50 jaar sal die gemiddelde leeftyd in Japan 100 jaar oud wees. Wat gaan aan? Was 1988 net ʼn besonderse slegte jaar of sal ons dit waag om te sê dat ten spyte van, desondanks, nieteenstaande wat die media ons voer, is daar beslis ʼn progressie by die mens. Ja, ‘global warming and a nuclear threat’ is en bly steeds ons twee grootste uitdagings met die vermoë om die mens as ʼn spesie van die planeet te vee. Vir die res is die mens in elke opsig beter af as 30 jaar gelede!

In die maand wat ons gesels oor — VAN STEENKOOL NA DIAMANTE -- gaan ons Sondag vir onsself vra: how is it possible that … despite the fact that we live healthier, wealthier, safer, with more knowledge and wisdom, more leisure and pleasure, more connected, and a much higher quality and standard of life … we are not happier, more content, more pleased, more gratified by our PROGRESS?

In my beskeie opinie, en ek mag myself vergis, lê die antwoord in ons spirituele armoede en morele bankrotskap. Meer en meer mense draai hulle rug op georganiseerde godsdienste wat ons bly herinner dat ons steenkool is terwyl die moderne mens soek na die refleksie van die Lig in ons as diamante. Daarom lees ons die eerste kwartaal in die ACIM groepe die boek van Rob Bell, ‘What we talk about when we talk about God’ — en gaan Sondag na hierdie drie paragrawe uit Hoofstuk 1 kyk:

“WITH, because I understand God to be the energy, the glue, the force, the life, the power, and the source of all we know to be the depth, fullness, and vitality of life from the highest of highs to the lowest of lows and everything in between. I believe God is with us because I believe that all of us are already experiencing the presence of God in countless ways every single day. In talking about the God who is with us, I want you to see how this with-ness directly confronts popular notions of God that put God somewhere else, doing something else, coming here now and again to do God-type things. I want you to see both the irrelevance and the danger of that particular perspective of God as you more and more see God all around you all the time.

"Then FOR, because I believe God is for every single one of us, regardless of our beliefs or perspectives or actions or failures or mistakes or sins or opinions about whether God exists or not. I believe that God wants us each to flourish and thrive in this world here and now as we become more and more everything we can possibly be. In talking about the for-ness of God, I want you to see how many of the dominant theological systems of thought that insist God is angry and hateful and just waiting to judge us unless we do or say or perform or believe the right things actually make people miserable and plague them with all kinds of new stresses and anxieties, never more so than when they actually start believing that God is really like that. I want you to see the radical, refreshing, revolutionary for-ness that is at the heart of Jesus’s message about God as it informs and transforms your entire life.

"Then AHEAD, because when I talk about God, I’m not talking about a divine being who is behind, trying to drag us back to a primitive, barbaric, regressive, prescientific age when we believed Earth was flat and the centre of the universe. I believe that God isn’t backward-focused—opposed to reason, liberation, and progress—but instead is pulling us and calling us and drawing all of humanity forward—as God always has—into greater and greater peace, love, justice, connection, honesty, compassion, and joy. I want you to see how the God we see at work in the Bible is actually ahead of people, tribes, and cultures as God always has been. Far too many people in our world have come to see God as back there, primitive, not-that-intelligent, dragging everything backward to where it used to be. I don’t understand God to be stuck back there, and I want you to experience this pull forward as a vital, active reality in your day-to-day life as you see just what God has been up to all along with every single one us.”

Bring vriende en familie saam na ons Sirkel en kom ons verken saam die inhoud en betekenis van die Weg, die Waarheid, en die Lewe.

Met liefde en waardering
Soli Deo Gloria

Terblanche

Terblanche is sedert September 2011 die geestelike leier van Neo-Spektrum.

Laai hierdie Sondag se liturgie af: 20_januarie_2019

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GEDAGTE VIR DIE WEEK

“As the heir to billions of years of life perpetuating itself, you can perpetuate life in turn. You have been endowed with a sense of sympathy—the ability to like, love, respect, help, and show kindness—and you can enjoy the gift of mutual benevolence with friends, family, and colleagues.”
― Steven Pinker, ‘Enlightenment Now’ ―

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​A COURSE IN MIRACLES
STAD: 14 Januarie 2019 @ 19h30
KOLPING: 24 Januarie 2019 @ 19h30
Ons lees hierdie jaar Rob Bell se boek:
"What We Talk About When We Talk About God"
[bring steeds jou ACIM boek saam]