At the end of our date - a poem

At the end of our date - A poem by P.K. Odendaal - March 2019

At the end of our date we pondered our fate
Whether indeed it was to be sweet
Or whether some  fairy made us say something scary
Or the moon did not shine for most of the time.

Human abuse - A poem

Human abuse - A poem by P.K. Odendaal - March 2019.
 

There once lived a giant who was really unkind
And he abused all who didn't walk tall
Shouting and reeling without any feeling
For what is decent and right even at night

The Essence of being Human Part 2 – Kindness cannot Kill

The Essence of being Human Part 2 – Kindness cannot Kill – by P.K. Odendaal – February 2019.

Be kind and exercise kindness. Contrary to what the adage says, kindness cannot kill. Kindness lets us live and inspires us to reach heights unknown to the unkind.

In the previous part I postulated that kindness and compassion are all we need to become human again. Of course the corollary to that is that we need compassion to be kind. The first is the thought and the second the acts which flow from it.

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.