11 Mar 2019

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.

6 Mar 2019

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

27 Feb 2019

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.

19 Feb 2019

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.

3 Jan 2019

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

24 Dec 2018

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.

16 Dec 2018

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.