The True Christmas

by Henry Vaughan

So, stick up ivy and the bays,
And then restore the heathen ways.
Green will remind you of the spring,
Though this great day denies the thing;
And mortifies the earth, and all
But your wild revels, and loose hall.
Could you wear flow'rs, and roses strow
Blushing upon your breasts' warm snow,
That very dress your lightness will
Rebuke, and wither at the ill.
The brightness of this day we owe
Not unto music, masque, nor show,
Nor gallant furniture, nor plate,
But to the manger's mean estate.
His life while here, as well as birth,
Was but a check to pomp and mirth;
And all man's greatness you may see
Condemned by His humility.

Then leave your open house and noise,
to welcome Him with holy joys,
And the poor shepherds' watchfulness,
Whom light and hymns from Heav'n did bless,
What you abound with, cast abroad
To those that want, and ease your load.
Who empties thus, will bring more in;
But riot is both loss and sin.
Dress finely what comes not in sight,
And then you keep your Christmas right.

Getting over the death of children...

I am not sure how many days it has been since the senseless tragedy of the shootings at Sandy Hook, USA. The last of the victims were buried today at any rate and though I knew not one of the victims personally I cried. Again. Twenty children under the age of seven. Twenty seven people in total.

I have ALWAYS been anti-guns and will continue to be. I have lived 30 years of my life in one of the most violent countries in the world and I believe that putting instruments whose sole purpose is to take life into the hands of people and not expecting innocent lives to be lost is just ludicrous. Beyond ludicrous, far beyond. Death wins again and again, that is for sure.

It is in moments like this that I always hope there is a poem which says what I cannot, and I found one which was written for the death of children (plural). The funerals are just the start and my prayer is the Comforter is with all those families who are facing probably the worst Christmas ever. A horrible irony as we celebrate the birth of the Child who is, in my personal opinion, the only hope of mankind. So starts the process of living without their loved ones, children whose lives were brutally robbed of their lives and yet who I believe are safe in the arms of the Hope of mankind.

Congregation of the story tellers at a funeral of Soweto children
Mazisi Kunene

We have entered the night to tell our tale,
To listen to those who have not spoken.
We, who have seen our children die in the morning,
Deserve to be listened to.
We have looked on blankly as they opened their wounds.
Nothing really matters except the grief of our children.
Their tears must be revered,
Their inner silence speaks louder than the spoken word;
And all being and all life shouts out in outrage.
We must not be rushed to our truths.
Whatever we failed to say is stored secretly in our minds;
And all those processions of embittered crowds
Have seen us lead them a thousand times.

"Cry, the beloved country"

"Cry, the beloved country" is the title of a recent Economist article about the challenges South Africa is facing at this point of its history. Also the title of a 1948 book by Alan Paton. This book was prescribed reading for schoolgoers during apartheid. Even then I suspected it was more of an "alibi" as school authorities attempted to prove their "non-racist" credentials. Perhaps a useful litmus test for many as to how aware they truly are of the subtext of what we were taught at white schools at that time.

That is what the title of that article evokes for very many - and content of the article aside - may explain some of the sceptism to the article!

All that aside, I want to share a passage from that book which I have always loved and somehow still resonates with something in me when it comes to South Africa, though I would use the word "injustice" instead of "fear".

Cry, the beloved country, for the unborn child that is the inheritor our fear. Let him not love the earth too deeply. Let him not laugh too gladly when the water runs through his fingers, not stand too silent when the setting sun makes red the veld with fire. Let him not be too moved when the birds of his land are singing, not give too much of his heart to a mountain or valley. For fear will rob him of all if he gives too much.

Alan Paton
Cry, the beloved country
1948

How a funeral could inspire a life

It feels kind of odd that it is halloween and yesterday was our Prime Minister's mother's funeral. Today a colleague buried her father, and tomorrow another colleague buries her mother.

Just too much death out and about at the moment!

But death is something that simply cannot be avoided, it is the one truly inevitable thing in life.

I went to the funeral today, and really there are two things that have given me food for thought.

The first was it turns out I work in a place where it is not practice to go to the funerals of colleagues family. This is nothing I have given a great deal of thought to, but it seems to me quite natural. Specially when it comes to colleagues one works closely with. Anyway, I went, and have apologised to the colleague whose mother is being buried tomorrow, as two in a row is just too much.

The other was that although I never met my colleague's father, I had heard a bit about him, as he was a pioneer in the field of social anthropology/ethnography here in Norway. It was a lovely service, what we would call a "dignified send off". One thing which was said about him, which I would love to be said about me too when the time comes: everyone is important.

When it comes to what others may say about you at your funeral, I can think of nothing I would like more than that something like that be said about me.

It helps not to be afraid of death, but the challenge is how the inevitability of dying inspires one's living, wouldn't you say?

Strike while the iron is hot

See this is what I think I am learning, well finally at any rate. Write even short posts while the idea and/thought is fresh in your mind.

So here is one: a great new blog from Rachel Bertsche, author of "MWF seeking BFF". It is really what I learnt from her book to - everyone is waiting for someone else to take the initiative. Some can afford to wait, and others (of us) simply cannot.

Friendship has always been an obsession of mine, I have just never felt satisfied in that area of my life. What I am realising is that that is probably a huge part of the problem: obsessing over it. Well at least partly. In any rate, enjoy the blog (not mine, silly, follow the link to Rachel Bertsche's)!

Follow up to "After the Party"

Wow! How kul - a comment!! Now THAT is inspiring :)

Yes, in case you're wondering have just spotted a comment, made two months ago to my posting after I read Andrew Feinstein's "After the party". Which in turn reminded me that as a follow up it is worth noting that subsequently the Constitutional court in South Africa has ruled that the appointment of Menzi Simelane to the position of head of the National Prosecuting Agency (?) was not rational. Okay, that may seem absurd, but that is the long and the short of it.

It gives one hope really, although things are more challenging than ever. Especially as last week the Economist had South Africa on its front page and it was depressing reading. What also threw me for a loop was not one but two things I read subsequently. In the one, an article from the Daily Maverick, where the writer argues that the Economist is giving into a stereotypical view of Africa as hopeless. In the other, a letter on facebook, the writer lambasted expats for contributing to the negative of South Africa overseas (which I do agree with!). On the other hand, I do fear that both of the writers are also being a bit naive about the challenges which South Africa is facing at the moment.

However, I have to say that it fills me with some pleasure that in both cases the writers are white. Far too many white South Africans are precisely so negative about South Africa that I actively make sure the same could never be said of me. That said I will not gloss over the challenges. That would be disloyal to what was achieved when Apartheid was overthrown.

Now this is the type of musing which I may in future put on my new blog thinks&writes.

Just because

Check out my new blog - readsandthinks.blogspot.com

Don't ask me why I have "started again" (it may very well mean the death knell of this one).

Fresh starts when one is starting with new resolve is somehow a good thing, no? Well time will tell.


In the mean time, I did it "just because" :)

"After the party" by Andrew Feinstein

Hmmm, you know that you may need to reconsider being a blogger when it is so long since you have been to your own site that you have forgotten the name of your site! How embarrassing.

Nevertheless I cannot quite give up on blogging. It is not lack of ideas, it is rather just tricky to remember them and most of all sit down and do the writing.

It is already April, but neverthless a new year (at least in terms of my blogs), so here we go again.

FOr my "opening shot" - I have just finished reading "After the Party". First and foremost it confirms what I have already known (and this is not what you think!). I really do not follow things that closely. Perhaps it is remarkable that despite working for the South African government for almost a decade that I am so incredibly ignorant of its political workings! After a mere two years in Norway I feel as though I am better informed here than I was there. To be honest I cannot be sure.

Nevertheless, it was both fascinating and distressing to read more about the Arms deal. Of course all the things which I did notice now make much greater sense. It really is very disturbing and makes me quite sad. I think I am quite ambivalent whether it would have been better to have known this when making my decision to leave. On reflection I think that I am glad that I made the decision on personal grounds. The "inklings" which I had are unrelated.

I tried to read the book somewhat critically, yet I have no major criticisms against the author. I am bemused by his obvious admiration for Vlaclav Havel and Edward Said (who are both quoted on several occasions) and am tempted to read the former myself. I respect the fact that he somehow manages to not vilify anyone (which with my view and perception of whites South Africans is quite admirable) and the real bad guys are without a doubt the arms industry. This in no way causes problems with my own worldview.

I think that the one area which I found lacking was that of the role of culture. Is it coincidental that he and Gavin Woods come out as the crusaders for truth in this story. I can understand why it is not his place to go into detail as to the ultimate fate of some of the other players (like Laloo, who makes up a trio with Feinstein and Woods initially, but somehow disappears, something which I consider with some foreboding). Given the complexity of the "Rainbow nation" in terms of its multicultural population, I personally think that this is also a major factor in how things have played out. (Note, I in NO WAY consider any culture to be better than any other, quite to the contrary I think that every culture has significant strengths and weaknesses. Cultures, like most things, can also benefit from a dialectic process whereby they can build on their strengths and work on their weaknesses).

I also am amazed that the author manages to retain such idealism, though I sincerely hope that he is no longer naive (how can someone who has been through what he has remain so?). Which is why I respect his idealism and certainly see the logic of much of what he posits is required to ensure that any country avoid such a quagmire in the future as this entire saga has, is and I fear may continue to be for a while to come.

On a final note, I could not help but chuckle as the irony of Menzi Simelane's appointment to head the National Prosecuting Agency after Vusi Pikoli became apparent. In fact if it wasn't so tragic it is nothing less than quite absurd. I found myself wondering if it was not his reward for being the scapegoat, while other fish swam away unhurt.

A good read indeed. (Buy it here at Amazon)