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

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.

The Beginning .. or the End ... Choose

The Beginning .. or the End … Choose - by P.K. Odendaal – November 2018.

There are mainly two types of people in this world. Those who build up and those who break down. Those who have faith in the future and the unbelievers for whom there is no future. Those who want to begin and those who want to end. And in between we have the fence sitters, of which I am a species - not at all endangered. In fact our numbers are increasing fast. Whether this is good or bad remains to be seen or unseen. In fact, just the notion of classifying us is vulgar and makes us shiver. I mean, what is wrong with barking with the dogs and howling with the wolves - it is so politically correct.

No room for gloom

No room for gloom – a poem by P.K. Odendaal – November 2018

There lived in the land of Id* some folks
Who thought that life was full of jokes
So they started out without any doubt
To make sure their fans were very poor

And showered upon them words and mayhem
To make them fear for the stories they hear
Knowing quite well that the stories they tell
Were lies and jokes to confuse most folks.

Wonder...ful

Wonder…ful – a poem by P.K. Odendaal – November 2018

As I sit here and ponder on the present and the yonder
I wonder how I came into this serious game
not looking for fame, nor looking for shame
And how life has a way of making us pay
For our sins and waste committed in haste
Or wealth and pleasure enjoyed at leisure

Conform or Reform

Conform or Reform – by P.K. Odendaal - November 2018

Everything we do in life is that we either want to conform to a situation or we want to reform a situation. We accept or we reject, we accommodate or we remain intransigent, we compromise or we contest, we concede or we deny.

This encompasses our whole life. Some of us are rebels and we question or reject what we do not believe in, and others stand for nothing and fall for everything. Be it in politics, in business, in relationships or in private life - we experience everything in these two frameworks, and we usually choose the wrong one.