Ecclesiological Basics

E. and I had dinner tonight with three ministers (pictured). One of them has "celebrity status" (she is well known). E. is at left, perfecting the art of the evasive manoeuvre of the camera-shy. OBSERVATION: It is amazing how ministers of (very) different backgrounds can be deeply united on ecclesiological and spiritual basics.

Strange Thing

A strange thing happened to my limping blog yesterday. According to Google, I had nearly 1,000 page-views in one day. This is strange not only for the huge number of page-views, but for the fact that I have less than three pages left on my blog after expunging thousands of posts (see "Off Air").

Silken Tea-Bag

Wife E. and I had breakfast at the Bohemian Café Mozart in central Cape Town this morning. Unusually, she received her Rooibos tea (a popular local tea) in a silken tea-bag. You may click on the photo enlarge.

Little-Faiths

The words of Jesus are familiar -- oft-repeated in the King James Version: "O ye of little faith!" I especially like His words in the Literal Version: "Little-Faiths!" (ὀλιγόπιστος). This is arguably the most important "depth issue" in any Church. Is there faith in God -- with regard to everything? And yet faith cannot be generated or imitated or even recognised by those who do not have it. It is the fruit of the Spirit -- therefore it is either there or not.

Constructed Technology

In May, I wrote a short essay: Your Computer is a Construct, for a well known webzine. A construct is something "the existence of which depends upon a subject's mind". One public response: "I find that this essay is remarkably clear and convincing ..." A Roman Catholic priest donated an image for the essay (on the right). OBSERVATION: The above quote continues with the word "yet ..." Click on Discuss (on that web page) for the public debate, which is quite lively. This debate has, in fact, done a lot of good for the development of the essay.

Theonomy And Autonomy

I have had opportunity, in stolen moments, finally to develop a paper that I first began a long time ago -- on The Foundations of Christian Ethics. I can't wait for those moments to write, as the subject inspires me. The theologian Cornelius van Til famously stated, with regard to ethics in general: “There is no alternative but that of theonomy or autonomy” -- theonomy being ethics founded on divine decree, and autonomy being ethics founded on autonomous human reason. But the notion of autonomy has been changing lately. There has been a growing consensus -- a "potent philosophical backing", says Simon Blackburn -- that ethics cannot be founded on human reason. Also, in the writing of it, I have found that, as I see it, theonomy and autonomy is a deceptive distinction, for the reason that the two have too much in common. A new category is needed as the alternative to both. But, let me get back to the paper ...

Wetland Walk

I took this photo today in our local urban park. Funnily, the sign says: "Wetland Walk". I needed to abandon the walk as my shoes sank into mud. Wetlands may be seasonal. You may click on the photo to enlarge to VGA.

"Off Air"

On this day, I signed an agreement which takes most of my blog (thousands of posts) "off air".  To meet a deadline, I shut down the entire blog, but hope to restore posts gradually which do not fall under "removal".

Smoking

 
I had an appointment in St. George's Mall this morning, when I spotted this woman chatting and smoking in the morning sun -- a plume of smoke rising from the warmth of her body.

Audio Blind Aid

I used to be well known (perhaps still am) for electronic design. A number of my concepts were developed commercially after I sold the copyrights (which is not the same as patenting something). Here's a concept that I didn't get as far as a copyright, yet I think it still deserves to be developed if it hasn't been already. It was a device which gave the blind an "audio picture" of what was in front of them. But I shelved the idea when I ran into problems with the vertical plane (for instance, "picturing" stairs going down). But looking back, I should have partially developed this one, and let others run with the remaining problems.

Camps Bay Anglican

One of my hobbies is photographing Churches. I took this photo this morning of St. Peter's Anglican Church in Camps Bay. It was a simple service. The sermon was delivered by the Venerable Julian Titus, on Luke 7:11-18. This passage is about the pity and power of Jesus in raising the son of the widow of Nain. He focused on the pity of Jesus.
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NOTE:  For whatever reason, this turned out to be a popular post. I therefore "upgraded" the photo to a more expansive fisheye view.

Puppy Linux

Linux Fedora (an operating system) was becoming problematic on my old netbook -- simply because it was way outdated. Today I plugged in the latest Puppy Linux (pictured) with what one used to call a dongle. This works very nicely -- and pull out the dongle, and everything is back to Linux Fedora. Not only that, but if one plugs the dongle into another computer, Puppy Linux with (if one desires) all one's files is transferred -- it's like using the same computer. However, the Puppy Linux file system seems a little obscure -- compared with (for example) Linux Ubuntu.

Missions

Missions may be harder than one thinks. I keep in touch with several missionary friends. Two of them had to evacuate their daughter to the West this week: "The doctor in the ER suspected some type of virus." What type of virus, no one knows. OBSERVATION: More often than such emergencies, missions just eats away at people's health -- and stamina.

Cold Snap

 
Our office secretary sent me this photo today -- taken in a nearby suburb. It would seem like a snowy day in Europe. In fact it is hail. Such a sight is rare. Our cold spells originate in the Antarctic.

Interplanetary Travel (Not)

The photo (right) is not about interplanetary travel. My wife and I had been out for a birthday dinner, and were waiting in the car to hear the news on Radio Sonder Grense. She noticed the effect: the light of a street lamp falling on my beige jeans through a rain-spotted windscreen.