Dear Organlearners,
Greetings which reach deep to you all.
Less than ten days are over of this first year of the new millenium. It
made me think deeply what I self did during it as one of several billion
of humans as well as what the rest of humankind also did. Because of this
year now belonging almost to the past, it made me also think of the future
ahead.
I thought that I was deeply under the impression that humankind (each of
the billions of humans) is in dire need of a spiritual renovation. But
this past year in all interactions bteween me and other humans, local,
media and in cyberspace, I became even much deeper under the impression of
this need.
Likewise I became even deeper under the impression that each of us
billions of humans has to change spontaneously as soon as possible. If
not, then some of these billions of humans are going to force the rest of
them to change non-spontaneously as a result of the very repercussions of
our deeds. Whereas spontaneous changes brings new life, forced
non-spontaneous changes are at their best cosmetic. At their worst they
will cause undescribeable miseries.
But how can we encourage rather than coerce one another to prepare for
such vast changes and eventually participate in them? How can I speak to
each of you without my words appearing to force you to act
non-spontaneously? Is there a place in your hearts as well as mine in
which the words coming from each of us will fit? Exactly what thoughts
should be carried by these words to make them so fitting?
Consider the following thought which emerged many times within me the past
year with increasing frequency:
. When we know God in good times, we need not
. to seek God in bad times. When we do not seek
. God in good times, we will not find God in bad times.
How I wish more than anything else that these words would find a fitting
place in the heart of each of you. I wish it not only because I love God,
but also because I love you. Since I love God, I have to honour God by
putting this thought through words to you.
But since I love you too, I have to honour you too by knowing what this
thought will do to each of you. I know that some of you will respond with
"How very true is this thought" because the words have found a fitting
place in your heart. And I also know that these words will appear to
others as a coersion into believing in God because I have used the word
"we" in them. I could have used the word "I" rather than "we" so as to
reduce the thought to a personal relationship with God, thus avoiding such
a coercion by respecting those who do not believe in God. Yet I willfully
used the "we" because I have learned that God loves all humans and not
merely some. I also could have used the word "one" rather than "we" so as
to reduce the thought to a distant, impersonal relationship with God. Yet
I willfully used the "we" because I have learned that since God is Love,
God is closer to us than we ever could be to each other.
How is it possible that God is Love and yet wrathful things happen to so
many humans? For me the answer became clear through the concept of
spontaneity. God created the universe with a creative power beyond even
our imagination. Some of this power is manifested in the creativity of the
universe itself as well as in our imagination. This creativity can become
either constructive or destructive. Love makes creativity constructive
while hate makes it destructive.
When a poor family living in a shack close to a meek river gets swept away
by a sudden flood, did God hate them so as to deal in wrath with them? Is
it not rather me who do not love them enough so as to convince them to
respect the 100 year flood line of the river and help them to build more
than a shack at a safer place? These occasional floods are essential to
keep rivers clean by their very power, thus serving plants and animals.
God respect each of us, but can we expect this respect to accomodate even
our disrespect for the creativity in nature, not to speak of our
dispespect for the creativity of fellow humans?
When God makes direct contact with us without employing any part of
Creation, whether physical or spiritual, it is indeed softer than a slight
breeze in the night, a feignt knock on the door or a fleeting dream in
sleep. This is how God as Love is manifested to us, honouring our
spontaneity (autopoiesis) by keeping the magnitude (but not frequency) of
direct interfering to the absolute minimum. But are we willing to do the
same when interfering directly with nature as well as fellow humans? How
much do we honour this spontaneous rather than forced creativity in all of
Creation?
What we consider as natural disasters and diseases will happen in future
as they happened in the past. However, it is up to us to make such
preparative changes that they will not become destructive events as in the
past, but constructive events. For example, when that a flood emerge in
that meek little river next time, we will all gaze in awe at it while
understanding its cleaning up work rather than rushing around saving
people caught up in immergences. All things prerequisite to preparing and
making such positive changes can be summarised by one thing -- LOVE.
I am now sure that humankind (each of the billions of humans) is in dire
need of a spiritual renovation. I am just as sure that LOVE is prequisite
to this Spiritual Renaissance. I am sure that the best partner we can ever
have is God LOVE. I wish you all a new year rich in LOVE to deal wisely
with all the "entropy production" in the coming year.
With care and best wishes
--At de Lange <amdelange@gold.up.ac.za> Snailmail: A M de Lange Gold Fields Computer Centre Faculty of Science - University of Pretoria Pretoria 0001 - Rep of South Africa
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