Showing posts with label My Comments. Show all posts
Showing posts with label My Comments. Show all posts

7 Sept 2020

Thank you for doing me proud


Thank you for doing me proud! – September 2020.

Just a short thank you to all my readers to say how much I appreciated your patronage over these past twenty years ... yes, that is how long I have been keeping this blog.
In the time I have written over three hundred articles and poems, and I hope that you have enjoyed reading it as much as I have enjoyed writing it.

14 Mar 2019

Rewriting old articles and publishing

Rewriting old articles and publishing.

I have decided to compile a book with all my articles and poems.

For this purpose I will be improving all the articles by rewriting parts of it, especially the older ones where my writing skills were still under developed - not that it is much better today - but perspectives and styles change with time.

I will then publish the rewritten ones here and delete the old ones.

The oldest articles were published from 2002 onwards.

PK

2 Jun 2014

To my readers in Ukraine.

To my readers in Ukraine - June 2014 - by P.K.Odendaal.

Many of my readers are from Ukraine, and in this time of their tribulation I wish to remind them of their roots and how they once were able to stand together and build a big nation and state or principality and to support them in their quest for self-realization. This is not a contemporary or political article - I do not believe in those as they are based on conventional wisdom which is invariably wrong. I present this as a historical and religious perspective. It is more about the wisdom of the ages and the wisdom of the Rock of Ages, than about the former.
Let us go back to that time for a moment.

21 May 2013

Thanks to all my readers

Thanks to all my readers - by P.K.Odendaal - May 2013.

I wish to thank all my readers for supporting my Blog, and for your comments and encouragement - I really appreciate that.
 
As you might have seen, I have tried to develop these articles and arguments without bias, giving both sides of the coin a fair hearing, and I mostly did not know what the outcome of the arguments were, until I finished the relevant article.

26 Dec 2012

Goodbye, the beloved country


Goodbye, the beloved country - by P.K.Odendaal - December 2013 


I am emigrating from South Africa to Canada in February 2013. 

The progress in South Africa had just become too much for me. We have climbed every ladder and list of dubious goals in the world, reaching for the top of each. Although we have not reached any of the top positions yet, we might, with some perseverance, reach them soon. These lists include the most corrupt country, country with the highest crime rate, country with the highest murder and rape rate, and other such coveted accomplishments.
Our murder rate for a peaceful South Africa is still in excess of those killed in Syria at the height of their civil war, and far in excess of those killed in Afghanistan and Iraq - what a noble feat. Peace has never been so violent. 

22 Dec 2012

What do you not want to see


What do you not want to see? - By P.K.Odendaal - January 2013

I was inspired by the article by Annemie titled: 'What do you see?' She inspired us to look deeper into everything to see the detail, emotion, meaning, creativity, art, light and darkness, texture and colour, harmony, emotion and passion in everything.
Of course, there are also times when we do not want to see, and these are times I call: 'What do you not want to see' - the things you turn a blind eye to. It is times when we wish our eyes were closed. Some people then stick their heads in the sand, but I, not wishing to get sand or smoke in my eyes, look, but do not see, plainly because some things make my eyes sore, and some things make my heart sore. What would happen if I really tried to see these things? I think the world would be a much better place, if I also saw that. However, I am programmed not to see it.

1 Nov 2012

Zwischenzug - 2 - What does that mean?

Many thanks to the USA who were the largest readers of my blog this week  - I appreciate it and I hope I can make a contribution to debunking the lies, doubts, misconceptions and mis-understandings of our world of today.

It made me think of the Conference on Sustainable Development, held in South Africa some five years ago, in Durban. It was not the climate change one which become known as the Durban Disaster, but might well have been.

When the conference started, each delegate received a question on a piece of paper (I am told) which read like this :

What, in your honest opinion, is the solution to the shortage of food in the rest of the world. 

Delegates had to hand in their replies before the end of the conference. When none were handed in, the organisers wanted to know why the delegates did answer it.

Someone gave this reply:   

It was because nobody fully understood the question.

The delegates from West Africa did not know what honest meant, those from Russia did not know what an opinion meant, those from the Middle East did not know what a solution meant, those from Europe did not know what a shortage meant, those from the rest of Africa did not know what food meant, and those from the USA did not know what the rest of the world meant.


18 Oct 2012

Zwischenzug - 1 - Thank you

As a 'zwischenzug' (an intermediate neutral move in chess) between articles, I wish to thank everyone for reading my blog. I appreciate it - and please feel free to question or support my arguments. 
 
I have been surprised this week with two unexpected outcomes.
 
The first one is that my latest article, Adult Sunday School  - The Lamb of God, reached unexpected reading statistics, pushing it up to sixth place overall within six days. It inspires me to extend this series.
 
Secondly, I was surprised to find that for the last week, Russia was my largest audience. That really means something for me, due to the history of that country. I always maintain that  South Africa (the country I live in) and Russia have very similar histories. South Africa has a short, sad and sorry history, and Russia has a long, sad and sorry history - both tainted largely by suffering, greed and the monopoly of power, combined with unnecessary wars. But then, is that not the history of every country in the world?
 
I feel strongly about questioning everything we accept as normal and at face value - even the simple things, and like to probe its uncertainties with new perspectives - mostly unsuccessful - but here and there I can feel the light breaking though in this twilight between knowledge and ignorance, or between light and darkness.
 
Please share with your friends and acquaintances.

Thank you !