A God for all seasons - a secular view

A God for all seasons - a secular view - by P.K.Odendaal - April 2015.

 

We had joy, we had fun,

We had seasons in the sun,

But the stars that we could reach,

Were just starfish on the beach.

(by Rod Mc Kuen and Terry Jacks)

 

As we all know, the subject of my article is an aberration of the famous play and later film named 'A man of all seasons' by Robert Bolt which depicts the life of Sir Thomas More, the Chancellor of the Exchequer during the reign of King Henry VIII. The plot is based on the true story of Sir Thomas More, the 16th-century Chancellor of England, who refused to endorse King Henry VIII's wish to divorce his wife Catherine of Aragon, who did not bear him a son, so that he could marry Anne Boleyn, the sister of his former mistress. The play portrays More as a man of principle, envied by rivals such as Thomas Cromwell and loved by the common people and by his family.

I should have known better - a satire

I should have known better - a satire by P.K.Odendaal - April 2015.

I have heard this being said many times too often and I have said it myself many times too often - and yet, it is a lie that we repeat again and again. We must mean something else when we say it because it is patently false.

If we should have known everything better, then we would have to know everything perfectly in advance - before the event, and that would be impossible and boring and frightening. If we pretend or liked to have known everything perfectly, then we would have had perfect vision which is called hindsight - and that is the perfect science.

The essence of slavery

The essence of slavery - by P.K.Odendaal - March 2015.

So we say slavery is an abominable thing, a crime against humanity, a thing of centuries past and the only slavery of any import today is in the trading of humans and of sex. Or is it?

Similar to my views on sanity are my views on slavery, and it is not by any co-incidence that I worked on an article named 'Playing sane', when this one pleaded for precedence. This article may well have had the name of 'Playing free' or 'Playing normal'.

Hello government, goodbye human rights

Hello government, goodbye human rights - by P.K.Odendaal - March 2015

 

I have written a few articles on democracy, and in that you must have sensed my scepticism of democracy. In my mind it just cannot work. It is like freedom - such a noble thought - but it kills in the end.

However, today I wish to look a bit broader to other state forms and even more local to local governments, municipalities and push the idea to clubs. All these have the same philosophy in common. In each of them you would vote for a representative who is supposed to look after your interests - and they do that well for the first few months, but as soon as nobody is watching, they start embezzling funds, abuse power and follow their own agenda.

Making fools of ourselves

Making fools of ourselves - by P.K.Odendaal - January 2015

 

I think appropriately civilized and appropriately educated people's most enjoyable and even coveted activity is fooling themselves. Mea culpa.

I was inspired to pursue this line of thought when I discovered traces of denial, hypocritical, misleading and neurotic syndromes in my life on one of my regular self-shrinking expeditions. And coming to think of it, I have written a few articles about how things are not what they seem to be, without gaining the perspective then that I should have. I have also written an article on 'What kind of fool am I' which should also have warned me of imminent danger then already.

Fighting the wrong war

Fighting the wrong war - by P.K.Odendaal - November 2014.

 

I have heard of war and I have actually also been in one. I have heard of conflicts and I have been in thousands of them. I have heard of causes and I have personally supported more of them than I care to count or remember.

But ... I am yet to know or find out which war, conflict or cause I was in, which I really had to pursue actively or with a straight face. I have this nagging feeling that I have been in the wrong ones for the wrong reasons and at the wrong times - much like the USA.

The Missing Link

The Missing Link - by P.K.Odendaal - November 2014.

We grow up by learning from links - the process of linking one thing to another - and our whole life is about linking things together. It is from these links that we start to get meaning from the patterns which develop from these links. It is much like the threads in a spider web - a very good analogy of life and science. It is what gives meaning to life and what holds scientific hypotheses together. At first we see a thread and have no idea how beautiful the pattern or the ultimate product looks like - and the ultimate form of many of these products we do not even see on earth.

The Rat Race - Part III

The Rate Race III - by P.K.Odendaal - November 2014.

 

Back to our roots.

I recently wrote to the people in Ukraine that they should go back to their roots, and that inspired me to think of my own roots. Where have I come from and what are my roots - and also, where are the roots of mankind.

In general I know that our roots are in Paradise, where our roots and even the roots of the Tree of Life still stand. However, I now find myself in a new sort of paradise which I do not like at all. One filled with the superficialities of mankind - a vanity fair so to speak. On the surface all seems to be fine, but I know very well that it is built on a foundation of straw - a foundation called civilization - which is very frail and unstable. When will this house of cards fall in? It falls in every few years in the form of a financial, economic or political crisis and waits in anguish at its last stand between good and evil.

The Rat Race - Part II

The Rat Race - Part II - by P.K.Odendaal - October 2014.

In the previous article I have dwelt briefly on our quest to reach the stars, and in this one I will try to acquire some perspective on which stars are reachable and which not, as well the seemingly endless routes we need to follow to find one which will lead us thence.

I often ponder freedom and try to become clear in my mind as to what it actually is. What does it consist of, what are its symptoms and how does that infection spread? What is its prognosis and how does the disease inflame the mind? Is there a cure for that malady? In history, almost all groups seeking freedom have ended up in bondage and even slavery.

To reach the unreachable star

To reach the unreachable star - by P.K.Odendaal - October 2014.

 

I was inspired recently whilst seeing the film 'Man of La Mancha' and listening to that most beautiful of songs: 'To reach the unreachable star'. This song was composed by Mitch Lee with lyric by Joe Darion. Here it is:

To dream ... the impossible dream ...
To fight ... the unbeatable foe ...
To bear ... with unbearable sorrow ...
To run ... where the brave dare not go ...