Praetor

Everybody seems very excited about the new hominid fossil that was discovered in SA with more to be recovered. As far as I can gather a hominid is something between a chimpanzee and a man. But I am somewhat confused. What are the scientists really saying to us. Some scientists are saying this is a step closer to the origins of man, others are saying it is the missing link.
Just take a closer look at the scientific name of this fossil, Australopithecus sediba. Australo = Southern, pithecus = ape, and sediba = fountain, spring in Sotho. Are they camouflaging the fact that they think it is actually an ape behind Greek terminology?

Really, if you look at the skull of the Au. Sediba (above) doesn’t it look more like that of an apelike creature in comparison to the Neanderthal man (adjacent) who clearly has a human skull? The saying, beauty lies in the eye of the beholder, comes to mind. You see what you want to see depending on your point of departure, isn’t it?

Cosmologists are desperately looking for water in other parts of the universe. Why? Because water is a sign of life. Water is a commodity we encounter daily, but have you ever given it a thought?

The wonder when you walk out in the early morning and you see the dew on the grass. Why do these droplets form on the grass? Why don’t they just run off? Oh, the splendour of the dew on a spider’s web! It’s like a net of fine diamonds. Are they stuck on the web because the spider’s web is so sticky?

Since man has gone to space we see photo’s of mother earth - a blue hue wrapped in a cloud cover. 71% of earth’s surface is covered by water.  Oceans are 97% of this surface water, glaciers and polar icecaps are 2.4%, the final 0.6 % are found in rivers, lakes and ponds. Look at your body, you seem quite solid. Some of us more than others. Have you felt the hardness of the body builder’s muscles?  To think that it is made up of 70% water! We can survive 40 days (or longer) without food, but we begin to be dehydrated (on a hot day) within hours. Development level of countries are among others determined by the availability of clean, safe drinking water. All living things on earth are dependent on water to survive.

Is it just accidental that our while life system on earth is centred around water? I doubt it. When you look at some of the characteristics of water there is nothing random about it. Water is made up of two hydrogen atoms that bond to one oxygen atom. But the extraordinary thing is that they bond at an angle of 104.5°. This 104.5° is magic. It causes the water molecule to be bipolar in other words it has a small negative charge and a small positive charge and gives water its peculiar characteristics.

Did you know that water becomes less dense from 4° Celsius and colder? So ponds & puddles freeze from the top to the bottom, but before it reaches the bottom, the top layer of ice isolates the terrible cold temperature in the air from the rest of the water below. All the water creatures survive and the Russians, Norwegians and Swedes can make a sport of swimming in the water under the ice cap of the river!

Those of you who play chess will know that any of the major pieces have greater striking ability from the centre of the board in contrast to when they are stuck at the side of the board. Well the dipoles of water also pull the ones at the surface down causing water to have a curved surface in any container. The interaction of the dipoles at the surface are so strong that it gives the water surface a skin effect. The water strider and ants use this characteristic of water to walk on the water. It’s a pity we are so heavy, but you can make a paper clip float if your are careful! Due to the interplay of these properties water can reach the tips of very large vascular trees overcoming gravity! We work up a sweat just to climb up the outside. This surface tension causes the beautiful drops to form on the spider’s web and the grass when it dews.

Now do you expect me to believe that all of this happened through a natural process?? I will believe you if you can prove to me that a delicate, precisely made Aquaswiss or Seiko Premier Sapphire watch or a shining red Ferrari also came about naturally.

We ascribe the making of these designs  to Intelligent Design. I think water also falls in this category, don’t you?

At the change of the year I inevitably think of the Book by Henry Blackaby, “Experiencing God”. He refers to Noah. Doesn’t matter what Noah had planned if God was going to destroy the world through the flood. I inevitably wonder, What is on God’s mind for 2010?

We are all excited about the Soccer World Cup. I am amazed at some people’s optimism that Bafana Bafana is going to win the world cup (in spite of their poor performance to date). We make our new year’s resolutions. We plan for the coming year, but what will it avail to, if it does not fit in with God’s plans?

I was watching a challenging movie last night. (I seem to be watching out of the ordinary movies at new year’s eve - see post of 5th January 2009). It is a movie by Cloud Ten productions called “Tribulation”. It reflects on the persecution and oppression the followers of Jesus will experience in the end times before the return of Christ. That made me think … what if Christ’s return will be this year? How will that affect my agenda? Quite some thought!

People see good or bad omens in unnatural occurrences. Last night there was a moon eclipse that happens “once in a blue moon” (literally). Some people were reading a good omen into it. Then there was an albino deer that was born, also a once in a life time occurrence. White being a symbol of purity, they said the new year will be one that brings purity (or something to that effect). It made me think of Scripture where Jesus answers the question of his disciples namely, When will the destruction of Jerusalem be and the end times? (Matthew 24).

Among other things He says that at the time of his return the people will marry, bury, and go on with life as usual. Many people love the heat of summer, so they immediately notice when the cold of winter is over. But they are not particularly observant of the trees budding and the flowers sprouting decorating nature in a beautiful cloak of colour. The rat race of everyday life preoccupy them. There is no time to appreciate the change in nature or to reflect on it (that you perhaps do whilst on holiday). So the people will not understand the signs of the times and will be ignorant of Christ’s return.
What will 2010 bring us? Will we understand the signs of the times that things are not progressing as “normal”?

The dreaded holidays are here again. Yes, I know it is supposed to be a happy time, a relaxing time, a time of good will. Unfortunately we try to find happiness in a bottle, we can’t relax without the help of liquor, we only show good will to someone who gives us a drink. What is the end result? Accidents! People land in hospital, are maimed and the “lucky” ones die.

The TV is playing its part in this new culture. Since last Christmas the liquor adverts on TV has gone on unabated. The last two months it has picked up. From early to late you are invited to make a choice of your favoured brand. If you look carefully you will see a white band at the bottom of your screen saying that we should drink responsibly, drinking and driving kills, not for persons under 18 years of age. Do you seriously think that makes any impact at all? I wonder if anybody sees it, if they do, do they read it? If I wasn’t so concerned about the impact of liquor adverts on the lives of people, I probably would also have ignored it.

Great was my surprise to see that the ANC Youth League actually agree with me. Surprised because my world-view and theirs differ vastly. The only problem is that they have adopted an extreme standpoint. They want to ban all advertisements and close all liquor outlets after a certain hour, stop all sales on a Sunday. I can live with the last two, but what the Youth League don’t take into consideration is the vested interests of the liquor companies. They are unconcerned about the impact on children and teenagers. They say all the right things, but their action speak so loud nobody can hear what they are saying. If their adverts did not lead to higher liquor sales, why advertise? It would be bad policy to continue an activity at such tremendous cost (advertising during peak time must cost a packet) if it did not bring in lucrative rewards. More liquor sales, more drinking, higher chances of driving under the influence, the higher chances of making (fatal) accidents. The tragedy is that people who do not drink during the year, may indulge during this “festive”  season and fall victim to an accident, a fatal one.

The SABC and e-tv are also more concerned about their profits than the effect these liquor adverts have on the lives of people. Trying to get them to change their policy on liquor adverts is a futile effort. They have Board members, CEO’s and senior staff members to pay handsome salaries. [They try to save money by showing us the same films over and over again. For a change of spice they dig up some (very) oldies out of the archives. You can only watch the same film so many times before it becomes real boring]. So liquor adverts are a very lucrative source of income!

It is quite disturbing to me that few people seem to care about the liquor adverts. They are silent. I have however also learned that the pen is mightier than the sword; the newspaper editor is mightier than the politically incorrect correspondent. They say we have a democracy. Unless you have a platform to speak from, you don’t have a voice in the public media if they don’t like what you are saying.

I trust that in your part of the world things are not so gloomy or do you also brighten it with a cognac.

I would think that it takes an expensive night out at a posh restaurant, with a big, very big bouquet of flowers to impress your lady to try to survive a dwindling relationship. I was most surprised that in “The Love Dare” that was not the first thing on the agenda. Usually things have deteriorated to the point where it is difficult to have a civil conversation with one another. She is not impressed at all with your expensive lay out. You will be fortunate if you complete this expensive evening out together in one another’s company.

The first dare is very simple. Don’t fight. Rather keep quiet than say something negative. After a few days of this approach she will definately see the effort you are making, especially if she has been giving you a hard time. Let me tell you, don’t be decived by the simplicity of this dare. It takes guts to do it. The easy way out is to fly off the handle and give her a piece of your mind. That is the natural inclination. So how do you manage to go against your natural inclinations?

We are quick to judge. We have preconceived ideas about the other’s behaviour and motives. Today I greeted a man feeling very bland, smiling at him. He said you are angry at me are’nt you? I know I can read your mind. We are usually not so presumptiously blunt, but we react in the same manner. The consequence is that we don’t really listen to what the person is saying and we react to our preconceived ideas.

So we don’t have to white knuckle it to be patient. We must just put the brakes on our tongue long enough to listen to what our partner is saying. To reflect the underlying feelings with sympathy so that we can be sure we are hearing her correctly. E.g. You sound upset; or You are angry? Then big red lights must flash for you not to react to what she says next. Don’t go on the defensive, but keep on reflecting her feelings to show you are trying to understand.

If she prefers to ignore you, bite your tongue and let her go. Don’t retaliate by saying something nasty or defensive. She will go away puzzeled by your atipical response!

Have you watched the movie Fireproof? A great movie that really speaks to one about relationships and your marriage relationship in particular. In the movie the main character is given the Love Dare. It is a book that gives the 40-day challenge for husbands and wives to understand and practice unconditional love. In other previous posts I have shared some of my own insights, but this is really a challenge, which I would love to share with you.

Stephen & Alex Kendrick give some of the purposes of marraige, but then leave this bombshell: “Marriage also shows us our need to grow and deal with our own issues and self-centeredness through the help of a lifelong partner.”

This is not quite the way I was looking at my partner. I saw her more in terms of the one satisfying my needs, putting demands on me that I have to fulfill if I want the relationship to work. But that is rather selfish, isn’t it?

She must grow up and come to terms with my issues as much as I have to tolerate hers. Now I am challenged to come to terms with my own issues through her. Oh boy, do I have issues. I think that will take a lifetime to deal with! And I was blaming it on her all the time.

This just made me realise that if I am not prepared to honestly face myself I need to do one of two things.  Get out of the relationship immediately or throw the book The Love Dare in the fire. Ignorance is bliss, they say. But otherwise it is going to be one long hard look.

Are people today prepared to face themselves honestly, openly?

Recently I was part of a church group that was picking up rubbish and trash in a poor neighbourhood. I did not know that bending down for two and a half hours, sitting on my hunches from time to time could be so exhausting!

At one point some of the children came to help us and later a few adults also joined in. It was great that members of the community were prepared to take some responsibility for their surroundings. I noticed a number of things. Firstly, the people clean their yards very neatly, but outside in the street is a different story. People don’t care what they throw in the street. Somebody else has to pick that up. They don’t care if any cost is involved.

Lastly, I want to share an incident. A man walked by and was trying to incite the children to claim payment for the “work” they were doing. Then it struck me. We live in a society that doesn’t do anything for free or for the sake of patriotism or for charity.

Take the soccer teams representing their countries. They get paid for representing their country. From time to time you hear of teams threatening to go on strike because the pay is too little for their liking. If we want them to win we must offer them lucrative incentives.

My friend, who was hijacked a few years ago, is paraplegic and was dependent on someone to help him upload and download his wheelchair from his small truck. In town he had to pay the people to do this menial task for him. If he did not pay them sufficiently enough to their liking they just pass him by and ignore him. This was so demeaning to him that he installed an apparatus that would hoist his wheelchair up and down. Now he can be independent and save face.

You are travelling to town. Someone in your neighbourhood is asking for a lift. Some people would only do it if he pays a handsome fee.

What has become of our society? Or is your experience differently?