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.

And that brings me to the sentimentalist for which I have to rely on G.K. Chesterton`s work, as he was the genius of the opposite truth - if you know who Phyrrho was and said. In case you forgot, he said that every side of an argument has equal rights to the truth and equal possibilities of being right.

The sentimentalist is the person who is trying to keep the classic austerity of equality and the vulgar excitement of an aristocrat. He seeks to enjoy every idea without its sequence and every pleasure without its consequence. He holds on to one thing whilst waiting for the a better option to appear.

So let us recognise beginnings and ends for what they are and hypocrites for what they are not. The pessimist says 'nothing is interesting', which may be witty, but it is the last witty remark that he will ever make on the subject. Everything will be uninteresting after that. The door is closed, the hopes are gone. The pessimist is wrong, because he says the last word and we are waiting for the word which fires us up.

The optimist says everything is interesting and he opens up a new wide world for us. We are left free and we can be as interested as much or as little as we please.

The atheist says there is no God. That is then the last word that can be said about the subject. All hope, love and faith vanishes in a moment, and even if there was a God or no God, we lose total interest in life, as it is by hope, love and faith that we live.

There have been manifold bright and hopeful ideas in the world, but many were killed by the succeeding phrase ... yes, but ... and that was the end of those things ... and we just have to wait for nothing in utter boredom and isolation.

But that is not the whole story.

If you write off an idea, you bereave yourself of an opportunity to tackle a new challenge, to get excited and passionate and to grow as a human being. And that is what life is about. How exhilarating! We were made in the image of God, and He is a Creator. We must be creators too, because he gave us that talent.

George Bernard Shaw once said: "You see things; and you say 'Why?' But I dream things that never were; and I say 'Why not?'". Here he opens up new worlds and vistas for us in which we can believe and dream.

Martin Luther King once said: I have a dream, and he caused one of the largest Black Consciousness movements ever known. 

The wonderful words said with the launch of the first Apollo spacecraft were: The dream is alive!

What are these people saying and why do they say it? They surely do not only deal in dreams which are not tangible, but they have dreams and dreams give direction to their efforts and lives which are tangible. Dreams are their inspiration and it's mine too.

In fact, dreams are the images we live by, be it real or virtual. Prayers are the thoughts we live by, be it said or thought. Be cautious about what you hope, dream or pray for; it is sure to become reality.

For sure, dreams are the stuff reality is made of - which strikes me now suddenly and unexpectedly as being the theme of this blog, and all the time I am looking for something physical or meta-physical – and I found it in the most unreal thing!

As for myself; if I did not have these wild, vivid and impossible dreams, I would have been a lifeless rock lying by the wayside and obstructing inspired travellers from reaching their dreams and destinations, but ... I have dreams and I keep them alive and they keep my journey exciting.

Let us keep our lives exciting by following our dreams and keeping our hopes and thoughts free from the pollution and injunction of the non-starters and the big-enders.