Minimalism

Minimalism - by P.K. Odendaal.

Written 11 May 2011, Rewritten April 2019

This is a life lesson, which I am reluctant to take, but happy to talk about.

There was one who was famous for the number of things
He forgot when he entered the ship
His umbrella, his watch, all his jewels and rings
and the clothes he had brought for the trip.

At the end of my search

At the end of my search - a poem by P.K. Odendaal - April 2019

I had always known the decision was my own

To surrender what was mine unto God's plan and design
Not that it was mine to use for whatever I choose
And not to keep it forever for my own endeavour.

It is about how we look and think about things

It is about how we look and think about things - by P.K. Odendaal - April 2019

The most outstanding accomplishments of mankind were achieved by people who thought of things in a different way than we do. We are each being dealt the same kind of problems to solve and somehow we are not able to solve them, whether it be in our personal lives or in our work. That is why we have this saying that people must think out of the box. This implies that we have a thought box and the name of this box in called conventional wisdom.

Adult Sunday School - Part 21 - The Grave

Eight destinations after death - by P.K. Odendaal – April 2019

Introduction and Part 1 – The Grave
 

Introduction.

I think we should know where we go from here quite often, but never so often as when we die. Yes, we might go nowhere as atheists believe when they are on earth and when they die, but we have a purpose. In fact a heavenly purpose for which we have been preparing since our birth and our death will be the culmination of our human career so to speak.

But, some of us may not land up where we intend or want to, because we have seven possible destinations to choose from while we live and one to go to when we die. These are The Grave, Hell, the Outer Darkness, The Bottomless Pit, Paradise and the Three Heavens, and for the sake of Catholics who read my articles, I will include and consider Purgatory.

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

Capture of the Church - Part 1

CAPTURE OF THE CHURCH

Part 1 - by P.K. Odendaal - March 2019.

Capturing is one of the oldest of human pastimes, and the Church, being the oldest institution, suffers most from this. We humans seem to relish capturing or usurping anything and everything from animals to humans to power to countries with coercion, exertion, pain, violence, death and deception.

Things which do not Rhyme - a poem

Things which do not Rhyme

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

Life is so sure to make us endure
Conflicts which last from a bygone past
For which I assure there is no quick cure
It will linger on from dusk to dawn
And always sows doubt of what its about.

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.