So happy you are dead???

There are pictures of celebration in all of the media. People are dancing with fists in the air. Flags are being waved proudly. Smiling people embrace and look ecstatic, as they informally congregate in front of government buildings.


And all because somebody has been killed!

Perhaps I have missed the point; America is a safer place without Bin Laden, and hence celebration is justified? Or have the American people now received the vengeance and retribution they were looking for in terms of 9 11? Is the world really safer now that the general of a terrorist organisation has been destroyed? Was Bin Laden even alive or was his mere existence an election fabrication? Have the politics in America revolved for too long around the ‘war on terror’ and hence ensured a public incapable of seeing outside of this frame of reference?

I have neither answers nor any wonderful insight into world terror. I do however have a view on the acceptable amount of celebration for a carefully planned operation aimed at the termination of an individual. Surely, America, jubilation is too much?

If I compare Bin Laden to Hitler, two megalomaniacs intent on forcing the world to bend to their wills, it perhaps puts this celebration into a different light. Would I have been happy at the news of Hitler’s death? Honestly? I probably would have been, but my celebration would have been for the end of a terrible war as opposed to the death of an individual.

This ‘war on terror’, a battle between an old religion and the secular West, will continue to play out for a long time to come. I wonder if more would have been achieved to dampen this war if the news of Bin Laden’s death caused all of the religious to head for special church services to pray instead of heading for the streets in unbridled joy?

Love in the morning

I recently visited a mate in Johannesburg for a good chat. One of his sons mentioned something about car prayers and I pricked up my ears. My mate has 3 sons, all 13 years old, cool teenagers, and yet comfortable with the concept of prayer with their father on the way to school. I liked this a lot!

One of the problems with prayer is that unless you teach someone to pray, it really seems a little ilogical. As a Christian parent, I have a responsibility to ensure that my children can pray, and to guide them in their development in this area. It has of course been one of those areas that I have neglected, and hoped that they would just learn, like I did!

So about a week ago, I tried out car prayers on the way to school. My boys were totally enthusiastic, which I found rather surprising. Even more surprising were their beautiful prayers. Filled with love and concern for all of those around them! Driving to school for the last week has been a humbling experience as they have made car prayer time their own.

It would seem that I am now the one learning how to pray!

Thoughts about Thoughts

I have not made any deep and meaningful posts of late. They all seem to have been about the goings on of my life. I was hoping to make this post a deep one, until I realised that I had no real deep stuff to blog about.

This is a little worrying as I consider myself a bit of a thinker. Have I not been thinking lately? Has my depth of thought been blurred by the constant need to meet deadlines, invoice clients, and meet all of my obligations? Let alone catch some sleep between the endless waking of my baby daughter?

The little reading that I have managed to snatch has been rather uninspiring. My morning prayer and mediation sessions have gone out of the window in my frantic bid to get some sleep. Life seems to have filled up to overflowing with meetings and more meetings. I suppose it is little wonder that clever thoughts have failed to trespass my synapses.

Man, I hate living life on this superficial level!

There is no doubt in my mind that although I am super busy, I am hugely ineffective as clear thought has migrated with the change of seasons. Yet I know that It is in times of business one most needs to make time for a little bit of silence. Without silence there is no time for reflection and thinking; and certainly no time for personal growth.

Now all I have to do is say NO more often, and remove the clutter from my life, in order to create more time. Some people are going to be a little disappointed, but then again, others are going to be much happier!