Koffie

Van geskiedenis op skool kan ek nie veel onthou nie, maar een beeld uit die Voortrekkerdae bly my by: die smouse wat oor velde heen moes trek om daaglikse gebruiksartikels na die verafliggende gebiede toe te vat. Hulle moes die wind en weer, gevaarlike omstandighede trotseer om trekkers eenvoudige artikels soos koffie en suiker te voorsien.
Ek sou dink dat hulle elke koppie koffie net soveel meer waardeer het.

In ons familie is nie net koffie-drink 'n tradisie nie, maar ook die voorbereiding daarvan. My ma het op 'n plaas grootgeword, waar my Ouma self haar koffiebone gebrand en gemaal het. Ou Johanna het vir ure met 'n houtlepel, so lank soos syself, die swart pot met koffiebone om en om geroer en miskoeke gestook tot die bone soos toffie aan mekaar begin koek het. Op die regte tyd sou my Ouma 'n "sampletjie" kom vat, dit maal en dan besluit of die bone nou al lank genoeg gebrand het.
Dit is my koffie-herinnering. Vanuit hierdie raamwerk meet ek my koffiebelewenisse.

Vir elkeen beteken koffie iets anders. Meeste van ons gebruik dit om wakker te word in die oggend, vir ander is dit die enigste poeding wat hulle nodig het na ete, dit is boeretroos, kuiermateriaal, hou studente laatnag wakker.
Vertrekke voel geselliger, deurdrenk met die reuk van koffie.

Vir sommige is dit 'n blote verslawing, ander is fynproewers (of eerder drinkers). Enige uitgeputte stapper of reisiger besef gou die waarde van die lafenissie. Elke stad maak ruimte vir koffiewinkels en of jy dit uit porselein of kartonkoppies drink, meeste van ons het dit broodnodig vir oorlewing in ons gejaagde lewe.

Ons almal kan dit bekostig of dit nou Frisco or Douw Egberts is, dit kom in alle vorms en geure. Bone, as jy die volle koffie-ervaring van maal to drink wil beleef tot kitskorrels vir die wat wil gryp en hardloop.

Vele gesondheidsberigte is al gewy aan die nadele van koffie vir die liggaam - hartkloppings, angs, osteoperose - alles is al aan koffie toegeskryf.
Verlig was ek toe ek nou die dag op die beriggie afkom wat beweer dat 2-3 koppies koffie 'n dag eintlik goed vir mens se gesondheid is. Dit verminder kolonkanker en selfs Parkinson's.
Sjoe, miskien rede om minder skuldig te voel.

Koffie is op een of ander manier deel van meeste van ons se lewens. Vir almal het dit 'n sekere plek en funksie en al skryf ons nooit opstelle van bewondering of klink glasies koffie op ons heil nie, wil ek tog 'n bekertjie op koffie klink.

'n Onfeilbare metgesel, 'n stil bron van vertroosting, 'n vriend op lang kuieraande, studiekameraad voor eksamens.
Wit of swart, soet of bitter, sterk of flou - op koffie!
Prost!

Dimensions

Everyday I learn something new about myself. As time passes by I discover more and more dimensions of my personality which I didn't even know existed.
It is as if the light of every different circumstance we are placed in reveals a kaleidoscope of personality colours previously unseen by the inner eye.

Like an onion with different layers we also have layers in our personality. The first layer is what I know about myself. Then there is the layer consisting of other's perspectives and opinions of me (which I may only partially comprehend), then what I know about myself but hide from others and finally what only God knows about me (those things hidden in my subconscious that I don't even have access to).

I realise now that I may never be able to know myself to the fullest - there might always be parts of myself hidden, waiting for exploration.

I have to therefore create opportunities, make time to spend in God's presence to listen to His revelations about me. I have to hear from him who I am in Him, confirm that my desires are in line with His will for my life. Only through time spent with him will I be able to get the the most inner layer of my being.

I also realised that if I am not able to even comprehend the depths of my own existence, how will I ever be able to understand someone else completely? Therefore every moment with someone else is special, because every moment is an opportunity to explore the hidden treasures in someone else. We should not waste time on negative attitudes, hurt and bitterness. Every moment lost is a moment we don't have to spend on discovering the hope, love and joy within someone else.

God also uses circumstances in our lives as filters to purify some of our personality traits. Through this we are transformed. People who were aggressive become calm, the impatient become patient - all because they have opened the doors of their minds to the inspiration and presence of the Holy Spirit. He has the power to peel through all those layers of dimensions in my personality and bring me to a point of perspective. A point of self-conscious awareness. A point where I will be able to make decisions not based on what I believe others think of me, but rather on how I know God perceives me.

Greatness

"We can't do great things. Only small things with great love."
Mother Teresa

We are all born and bred in the soil of aspirations. Even before we were born our parents, even grandparents had some aspirations for us, some more realistic than others. Very often parents aspire their children to be the person they could or never had the opportunity to be themselves. You get raised with those aspirations spoken into your life everyday.

As you become older you develop aspirations of your own. We all remember the fireman, policeman era. You want to rescue others, be a hero, be remembered.

Once we reach the end of school, suddenly these aspirations need refinement. They need to take the shape of a career path. Now you have to start with the actual work to make those aspirations become a reality. You get disillusioned, small successes make you hunger for more. You want to be good at what you do, but keep a balance between work and play.

Through all these phases of life things change. Your aspirations might change, your level of confidence grows or gets cut down, you start to see life through a different pair of glasses. Past experiences shape your future focus.

One things never changes though - we all want to be great. Great at what we do, who we are. We want to be remembered.

Then the truth hits you, through the words of a woman who will be remembered across generations of heroes. Mother Teresa herself says that we can't do great things, we can't change the world. We will always be replaceable. This sounds hopeless.

Luckily she gives the answer as well: we can do small things with great love. Love conquers all. We can change ourselves, our attitudes. In love we can pay it forward. We can care about the person, not the cause or the task.

Through doing small things we can make lasting differences by living in the here and now, and then without even realising it we will become truly great.

Get Played

Lady Titanic vs. Lady Grey

Imagine two different scenarios:
Scenario 1 - Lady Titanic
Mario and I treated ourselves for a lunch at Moyo at Zoo Lake. They had a live band - four South Africans, two ladies and two men. One of the ladies did the vocals, the men on the drums and keyboard between the two of them and the other lady, to our astonishment played the bass guitar. Maybe not that amazing, when listening to me describing it, but picture this: she must weigh nearly 200 kg and definitely not dressed to kill.
So with this picture before us we were blown away by the sound she was getting out of that guitar.
She will make any musician envious and while playing that instrument, with passion, she looked like the queen of rhythm and jazz.
She is the player of an instrument.

Scenario 2 - Lady Grey
We are in church, time for praise and worship. The band is leading the way through their harmonious accord they create an atmosphere of holiness. They also have a base guitar player. Also a lady. She does not look like a musician either. She looks like she is visiting from a nearby retirement village. Her grey hair rhythmically banging along as she plucks the strings. One could not keep from wondering if her grandchildren enjoy her music. She made me wanting to play that instrument.
She looked like the queen of praise and worship.
She is the player of an instrument.

One instrument two opposite players.

I appreciate people who live beyond their appearances, do what they want to do despite other's expectations.

We are all instruments. Instruments with a choice. Although we cannot play our own strings, create our own tunes, we can choose who to get played by.
That choice affects the tune we live by everyday. How we perceive ourselves and project ourselves to others.

We can choose to be played by a master Musician, by God Himself. Because He created you as His instrument, he knows you. He knows how to play you to create the purest sound, so that you can fulfill the purpose for which you were created.

We can't play ourselves - we need a song to sing that was created outside of us. A song written for us even before our existence.

Don't play your own life song, rather get played by the Master Musician.

Facts and Events

In a country on the Southern tip of Africa there was a strike. People wanted more money. They decided to stay away from work in an attempt to force the government of that country to pay them what they demanded. During that time there were still people who, despite threats continued to work, believing that through staying away it may cause more harm than good.
There was one such a lady. She went to work everyday, despite the threats. But the strikers got angry. One day after work, on her way home she was attacked. The strikers hit her, broke her neck, broke her life...
These were the events that led to this contemplation.

There are a few events that lead to the attack. There was a strike. A few workers continued working. Then there were the events leading to the attack and the actual attack.
Could these have been prevented. We will always be able to see opportunities for possible prevention of events when we look at life retrospectively.

Through this story we also come in contact with many facts. Money makes the world go round. People are cruel. People kill. People hate others.
No matter how long we stare at these written facts, we can't change them.

A fact is defined as: something known to be true, a piece of information about circumstances that exist or events that occurred.
When looking at the definition there is a finality surrounding it. It cannot be changed by circumstances, feelings, relationships.
We have to stare the facts in the eye - and we can only stare, because we can't change a fact.
Facts can make us feel helpless, hopeless, frustrated, but on the other hand there are also facts that can serve as anchors and guidance in times of uncertainty.

Then there are events. Things that happen in life - good or bad. Knowing that we can't change facts, we as humans attempt to take control over the events in our lives. We make choices in the faith that those will guide the course of our lives into a direction that will favour this one life of ours on earth, into a accumulation of positive events.
Our environments get policed, events legalised, others banned to mould the events surrounding us into a governable environment.

Once an event has occurred, it becomes a fact, or as we like to refer to it: history. We try to prevent events - which we can control, to a certain extent, from becoming a chaotic accumulation of facts or history. And yes, we are successful at it, to some extent. But where we fail people can get hurt, they can even die.

As humans we can't change facts, only prevent certain events.

As I was sifting through all the events surrounding us, turning into facts and history through the arms of time I realised: that is why Jesus came. He came to change facts, that which is humanly not possible. By dying, mutilated on a cross, He walked through the gates of death to change all the known facts about humankind.
By conquering death he turned the cruelty of humankind into kindness, hatred into life, killers into life preservers.
He gave us hope, our only hope... Those who accept him, know him will see the facts written over their lives, the things that they thought nobody would ever be able to change, all changed in an instant.

Only He can change the facts of time.