The Essence of being human - part 1

The Essence of being human by P.K. Odendaal – February 2019

Part 1 - Basic human values.

This article series was conceived as a single article centred on basic human values, but as I pondered the richness of being human, the subject has grown out of all proportion with my limited mind, and into proportion with our human divine calling to be like God.

I never could have thought that to be human was also to be divine. Humanity was always such a basic and simple concept for me until I started applying my mind to all the ramifications and implications of what it entails to being human.

Love of my Life – part 5 - A poem

Love of my Life – part 5 – by P.K. Odendaal – January 2019

How can I believe that there may be reprieve

In times like these while I'm at ease
An apparition appears after all these years
Which made me to think of things now extinct

I will live today

I will live today – by P.K. Odendaal – December 2018

As if I needed to tell you that. But, that is not the only thing I wish to tell you.

Think back and think now. What are we doing?

Yes, I know we work, we eat and drink and we sleep - and some might find that exciting. We do not need to think anymore. Everything comes automatically, surely and monotonously. Everything goes according to clockwork. Our clock tells us what to do now. In fact, there is some intellectual competition going on between us and our clocks.

What and why do we fear - a poem

What and why do we fear – by P.K. Odendaal – December 2018

I have come to a place in my human disgrace
Where I have to decide what do I hide
One is fear you might have expected to hear
And to hide it for long one has to be strong.

But one or other time it comes out as a crime
And kills our dream until we scream.

Civilization

Civilization – by P.K. Odendaal – December 2018

 This is my third stab at the elusive concept of civilization, and I will keep on stabbing at it until I penetrate its hard skin and its soft belly. It is quite similar to the concept of families, of which it consists. Both concepts are untouchable, intangible, elusive and pervasive.

Suicide

Suicide – by P.K. Odendaal – December 2018

The conventional wisdom is that people who commit suicide are murderers and murderers do not go to heaven.

As a sceptic and cynic about conventional wisdom, I will naturally doubt that and ponder the opposite notion. I am not saying suicide is okay, but I must consider all its wider aspects. This article is not a license to kill.

Free Will is absolute

Free Will is absolute – by P.K. Odendaal – December 2018

I have so often heard the following expressions by well-meaning Christians:

·    God is in charge and we cannot do what we will.

·    He will only allow us to do what He thinks is right for us, or what He might allow us to do.

·    God is in charge and will never allow anything if it is contrary to His will.

All these are an infringement of our own rights, a negligent omission of our own responsibilities and an opportunity to blame God when something goes wrong or something happens which we do not like.

Make believe - a poem

Make believe - a poem by P.K. Odendaal _ December 2018.

We live in the land of Make Believe
And we try anything we can conceive
Not only for the sake of deception, but also for the sake of reception
For none we do will ever trouble you
And that is more than we budgeted for

I believe in dreams

I believe in dreams – a poem by P.K. Odendaal – November 2018

I have often seen my life in a dream
And I have often been distraught by the doubt it brought
But try as I may by night or by day
The dream has often helped me to soften
The pain that I suffer when times get tougher

I was never able from birth and the cradle
To trust in a dream or in things unseen
But somehow I was able to keep things stable
Just by thinking back on things which lack

and only seen in some guiding dream

Do not abuse me - a poem

Do not abuse me – a poem by P.K. Odendaal – November 2018

I cannot go on with a charade or a song
Pretending not to be the man inside me
I am not and never will be, a pawn to be moved without a decree
Until one day people might see that gentle persuasion is not for me

I am not here to please and endear
while I'm abused and defiled when things run wild
My commitment to life and my abhorrence of strife
Spreads more wide than trading a thought or taking a side.