Sell that thou hast, give to the poor, and follow me

I have had an interesting spiritual journey this morning, thinking about how to respond to a request from someone that I shall call Ruth who is in a really challenging situation at present. She came to South Africa because things were difficult in her home country. I have encouraged her to return to her home country, no matter how difficult that may be to do.

Sometimes we are where we are because of bad choices that we or someone else made, or because an angel sent us as Joseph and Mary were sent to Egypt, sometimes like Joseph sold into Egypt as a slave, sometimes like those following Moses out of Egypt, maybe sometimes because we were invited to sell all that we have and give to the poor and to follow Him. The past cannot change, but the future is what we need to determine. We need to go, do, say, be what He wants us to go, do, say, or be.

And then I read a scripture and it brought to mind my thinking earlier in the morning. 'And now, O king, if thou wilt spare our lives, we will be thy servants. And the king said unto them: Arise, for I will grant unto you your lives, and I will not suffer that ye shall be my servants; but I will insist that ye shall administer unto me; for I have been somewhat troubled in mind because of the generosity and the greatness of the words of thy brother Ammon; and I desire to know the cause why he has not come up out of Middoni with thee.'

We have decided to help this friend with a request for financial help in a difficult season of her life like when Ruth and Naomi were facing challenges in Moab. We hope that she pays it back in due course. More importantly, we hope that she is not robbing the Lord, but bringing her tithes and offerings into His storehouse in her branch or ward here in South Africa, in her home country, or wherever she may be at any time of her life. We challenged her to not let paying it back delay her going to her country, because she can pay it back from there, and she will be with her beloved family!

Whither Thou Goest, by Sandy Freckleton Gagon

I challenged her to think about where she would be now if she had not left her home country to come for what she hoped was a brighter future. How would she and her family be financially, but, more importantly, on the covenant path? I do not know if she was a member of the Lord's true and living church before she left her home country, or if coming here helped to add that wonderful blessing to her life and to her family. 

Also, will it be better for he to leave here without delay and go back to her family and get employment using her skills and qualifications in her home country, or to wait here for UIF (Unemployment Insurance Fund)? I presume that she can have the UIF sent to her without her needing to stay here, or sacrifice it if it will be better to go back to her family now!

I challenged her to please, ask the Father, in humility, what His will is - liken the Garden of Gethsemane experience of the Saviour to herself - Not my will, but Thine be done.

I know that many people have made serious decisions that have led to blessings in disguise, despite challenges that those decisions produced. We have been listening againto the history of the 1820 Settlers, British subjects who moved to the Eastern Cape in 1820. It was a real challenge for them. They had been facing real challenges in Britain after plagues, Napoleonic battles, and all sorts of things, and this was an opportunity. They had real challenges in the Cape due to war, sickness, crops failing due to rust disease and drought, but they did some good while they were here. 

Then the Lord sent missionaries to the Cape in 1853 and one of those missionaries was directed to the Eastern Cape where he taught those 1820 Settlers and others about the restored Gospel and most of them then went to Zion. The Lord knew where His children were, His sheep that would hear and recognise His voice and would follow Him.

Despite their faults and failings, while they were here, they did lift the local inhabitants as well and they prepared things like family history information that help us now to do Temple work to unite those who died to be part of our eternal family.

The Lord knows what He wants her to do, where to go, when to go, why to go, what to say, and what He wants her to be! Ask Him, and if He says to leave today or tomorrow or next month or next year, then obey! Don't tell Him what to do. Let Him guide her.

Her patriarchal blessing is His word to her, but the scriptures are His word to all of us. Read the scriptures and let His Spirit guide her. Read her patriarchal blessing prayerfully and regularly and let His Spirit speak to her. He knows her, and He loves her. Let Him be her guide and follow Him.

Can I give some mercy, the benefit of the doubt?

Samson and Delilah

Sally and I watched Jared Halveson sharing some insights about the Book of Judges in the Old Testament. He shared a lot of insights about Samson. I have often wondered about Samson, and many other imperfect people mentioned in the scriptures and the amazing things that they accomplished while fulfilling their missions on this Earth. I hope that I will fulfil the mission that I was sent to fulfil, even although I know that I will make mistakes, have shortfalls, bloopers, errors, flops, or whatever one wishes to call them. 

I shared the following thoughts with Jared and those who might take the time to read and consider what I wrote. I hope that anyone reading this will consider them and reflect on the mission that she or he was sent to fulfil - the one that she or he agreed to fulfil! 

Thanks for the thoughts about the Book of Judges. I had some thoughts that came to mind about Samson. When I was on mission more than 40 years ago my father made a good observation. He said that he is very grateful that the Lord has excused us from judging others - He will do the judging. I am very grateful for that thought. I am relieved to not have to judge. I love the sinner, even if I do not love the sin! I am confident that the Lord will do a far better job than I possibly can of punishing someone for things for which they have not repented. But I also know that He looks for every reason to excuse us for things for which we repent - and repentance can happen after mortality. I often say that I am not sure if I would have volunteered for the job of Pilate, Judas Iscariot, or Samson. I wonder if Samson might have been mentally impaired? The scriptures say that Jesus went to the Jews because no-one else would crucify their King. Only the Jews were sufficiently committed to their Law that they would defend what they considered to be right, to the point of crucifying their Messiah! Maybe Samson was impaired and the Lord would not have been ignorant of his being impaired, but used him as an instrument in His hands to destroy the Philistines. I am not saying that I am right, but I am giving some room for benefit of the doubt. I have also pondered that King Saul may well have had the Bipolar Disorder since he was evidently manic at times and depressed at times. The Lord uses imperfect people - like me - to do His work. He would probably not have been surprised by what Samson did, and maybe Samson was the right person for the job. I reckon that I would have been hesitant to volunteer for the job… Would the Philistines have guessed that the lion in the vineyard would have had anything to do with the Nazarite Samson since a Nazarite ought not to have been in a vineyard, as you point out? Maybe Samson was mentally the age of a child and so did not recognise Delilah's folly. I don't know, but I try to judge on the side of mercy. I hope that people will do so when studying events from my life. Just a thought from Les Powrie in the Fairest Cape (Cape Town, South Africa)

This is a little bit of what might be in the argument for defence. I always hope that there will be a good argument for defence when I am on trial. Not denying the wrong that I did, but being merciful in the judgement if I did not deliberately choose to follow Satan, but made some errors in my thinking. 

Coping capacity in life's challenges

I'll use the names Eve and Adam and Ruth for this blog post, based on a WhatsApp interchange with someone caring for someone in need...

Good morning, Eve. How are things going now for you and for Adam? Is he receiving the medication and guidance that he needs? Are you receiving what you need? 

Well, maybe the first Eve did not have a friend to send her a message on WhatsApp - who taught the original Adam and Eve any of the things that they needed to know to face the challenges of being first parents? Who taught them to change nappies, what foods were safe to eat, and so many things that they needed to know?

Sometimes our wilderness is rather bleak, like this scene in the Northern Cape

with Sally and me travelling from Nieuwoudtville to Augrabies Falls

I asked a friend if he might have a long - or short-term opportunity for Adam in motor mechanical work. I pointed out that Adam could contribute meaningfully in motor mechanics, and could also help in Information Technology related things that are a real part of any business in 2026. 

This led to sharing thoughts with Eve, and her and Adam's family members that are supporting him in a very difficult season in his life.

More between Nieuwoudtville and Augrabies Falls

Each and every one of us is likely to face seasons in life when we are impacted by hurricanes, floods, droughts, illnesses, or other challenges. We might desire to change employment, change careers, or anything that will lessen the clouds that are hanging over us, or take us far away from where those clouds are likely to be now or in the future! We just need a change!

I've asked the IT department at Kirstenbosch, but I haven't had any response. I've asked two friends if they have opportunities for him in their IT work. Networking is not just cabling, but also describes making acquaintances in business to help exploring possibilities and potential collaborations.  

Strength to you as you help your brother in his time of serious need, and may he co-operate and do his part.  You are coaches helping him to accomplish what he wants to accomplish, but there will be times that he is not able to focus on - or remember - or believe - the good things that he actually wants to achieve.

Then we got to enjoy Augrabies Falls, water flowing
that had simply been held up in the sky by the Almighty

We visited waterfalls near Nieuwoudtville 

You can imagine how it hurts Ruth that her mental illnesses have taken away her ability to practice medicine and use her wonderful gift. But she was blessed for more than twenty years to be able to help in healing and blessing the lives of others. Times and seasons can change, and life can become really tough. But just because someone is underground in a mine and cannot see the sun shining, the sun is still shining delightfully. I can see it right now - well, at least I can see that light is coming through a window that suggests that the sun did rise this morning. 😉🤔😅

Some vegetation in the Robertson-Montagu area.

Sometimes it is necessary to have an involuntary admission to a mental institution like Valkenberg or Stikland. Ruth had that in Stikland, a friend's son had that in Tygerberg Hospital, another family member had that at Valkenberg - more voluntary than involuntary. It is not a desirable thing, but it can be a blessing to the patient and to the loved ones.

Imperfect people like me, your Pa and Adam, create imperfect apps like WhatsApp that are used by imperfect people all around the world and then gremlins are also around and bugs creep in and fiddle. But those apps do enough that is wonderful that we put up with the less than wonderful 😉

Sometimes our life might feel like a desert. I loved my time in the Namib Desert, seeing how much delightful life there is in the desert - spiders, geckos, gemsbok, springbok, hyaenas, grass seed that blends in with the bounteous sand until after the rain when it germinates and makes the desert look like a green meadow. The grass then flowers and seeds, and then it dries out and becomes detritus that blows around and is food for beetles, birds, mice, and many animals, and the seeds blow around with the grains of sand and wait for the next rains. 

I've asked Aunty Judy and Uncle Ron if they recall anything about a challenge that Granny Sippy had with depression. Your Mom had challenges. There seems to be an increasing frequency in the occurrence of many challenges in the 2020s, either presence, awareness, detection, or something. Such challenges have been around for thousands of years. I am fascinated by how King Saul might well have had bipolar disorder as I read about how he suddenly tried to kill David who was playing a harp to help to calm King Saul. Many great world leaders or notable people have had mental or psychological disorders. But the frequency of presence, or detection and diagnosis, certainly seems to be increasing for many issues. I think that I may well have had some disorder, but I probably still have... like ADD, ADHD, ASD (autism spectrum disorder), Asperger's Syndrome, or something 'out of the ordinary' 🤔😰🥴😂 or am I just a weirdo 🤔

Some vegetation in the Agulhas-Overberg region.

It reminds me of an insight that I gained in a workshop that I attended at United Nations in Italy. They were teaching about climate change and its impacts in the developing world. They said that averages would not change dramatically, but we would see an increase in frequency and intensity of extreme events. I certainly have been aware of that in the years since 2002 when they said that. They were encouraging working on 'coping capacity'. That year, people in Mozambique were devastated by floods along the Limpopo River and for them it was a disaster. But they pointed out that most of Bangladesh is less than 10m above sea level and on a river delta that floods every year and everyone living there loses everything, so they don't invest in TVs and things that will be devastating, for them it is not a disaster because of their coping capacity. 

Another insight that came to me was how we were taught so much about food storage, preparing for bad times, increasing our coping capacity. You remember the wheat, wheat grinder, and all that your parents had in your home ☺️

One important coping capacity in our time is coping with mental challenges that seem to be increasing in frequency and intensity, just like extreme climate events.

Eve: "Yup. But some of us make a conscious effort every single day to be the best we can be, and others don't bother and don't care about their impact on other people"

Yes, indeed. But sometimes it is not that person that is negligent, but a disability that is holding them back, retarding them, hindering them, impacting on them. It is easy to see if someone is in a wheelchair that they have some disability. But some people have very real disabilities that cannot be seen. Only trained professionals like cardiac surgeons, oncologists, neurologists, or psychiatrists can detect and diagnose those 'invisible' disabilities. 

I have had to learn to trust their diagnosis and help Ruth to keep in as good 'shape' as she can by using meds that slow her down, prevent her from being able to practice as a doctor, but give her 'mobility' that she really did not have when she was having a depressive following a hypomanic stage of bipolar, or when she has a seizure or hallucination due to her Temporal Lobe Epilepsy. She did not choose either, it was not her fault that she inherited those genes that caused her as a matric student to not get the sleep that she needed and to burn through matric in a hypomanic state and then crash in a depressed state. 

Those episodes were not dramatic then, and she and her colleagues did not diagnose her disorder! As she got older, those episodes caused more and more damage to her brain and so now she is far worse than she would have been if she had received medication earlier in life. She had many wonderful years, but those came to an end - a horrible end. Yes, she was suicidal on several occasions. Ruth did some things that Ruth would never do, going off driving up the West Coast and not having any idea where she was going and what she would do, or why she was going off on her own. That was not her choosing, but her malfunctioning brain making her body do things that Ruth would not do. She might have been at a lower percentage performance level for decades if she were having medication, but she would have been able to, and still be able to, treat patients and prescribe medication if she had been receiving the preventative maintenance that she needed. 

Blessings on you as you help Adam to cope with this nightmare season that he is experiencing. Sometimes it is really best to hand over his treatment to trained professionals in a hospital to care for him and help him to get to a stable state, and then to regularly have them help to keep him in as stable a state as he can be in for the rest of his life. He does not seem to need a wheelchair, but spectacles, hearing aids, heart pumps, knee replacements, medication, and other treatments and interventions help many people to be far more capable than they would otherwise be.

One thing that I often share is that in the last few years in my work, Performance Evaluations were introduced in the Public Service. Every six months we would meet with our supervisor and evaluate ourselves, and they would then agree or modify our evaluation and report it to their supervisors and submit it to the HR department. My boss, who was at Director level, and I at Deputy Director level at the time, told me during one of those assessments that the CEO, his supervisor, had told him that he was not expected to be at 5 all of the time. The expected level on the scale of 1 to 5 was 3. If someone had 2, then training and correcting were needed. If he was at 1, then discipline and warning, potential dismissal were needed. If at 4, credit and congratulations were appropriate. If at 5, then acknowledgment, merit, salary level increase, and sometimes promotion in rank were appropriate. 

But to try and be 4 or 5 at everything would lead to burnout and the person could not be expected to keep it up. Of course, the more one learned and advanced, the more was expected. A good performance evaluation was rewarded by moving up the ranks. Then the next assessment would be in the higher rank. More was expected from scientists or accountants or IT systems analysts than from gardeners or cleaners or security guards. It is saddening to me that some people never tried to advance beyond gardener level in all of their 45 years at Kirstenbosch. But I cannot judge them. If they were excellent gardeners, they were extremely valuable. If they were just mundane gardeners for 45 years, then that would be kind of disappointing. 

Granny Sippy often said "The world needs streetsweepers, but, more importantly, the world needs excellent streetsweepers." That has been a meaningful concept for me all of my life. On one occasion, I was pondering this and wondered 'What if every citizen in Cape Town were to be responsible and never littered?' The Spirit whispered moeniwarrienie, the trees will always drop leaves and there will be space for excellent streetsweepers. 

But, there will almost certainly be times that an excellent streetsweeper is sick or less than well enough to be their normal selves. We need to then be compassionate and try to help them to become what we know that they would want to become again. I was fortunate to be sent on a coaching course at one stage in my career - the focus of that was helping others in our team to be what they wanted to be, but needed encouragement, support, and so forth to achieve their own goals. It is important to bear in mind that a coach helps someone to achieve their own goals, and not goals that the coach sets for the team member that is being coached.

And then, of course, there is the delightful view of Table Mountain from across Table Bay.

Ekpraatteveel 😉 Enough for now. 

I would love to take you to Kirstenbosch for you to enjoy some re-creating in what Grandpa Ken loved to call a little bit of the garden of Eden that has remained intact. Even if you just go and walk ten paces into the garden and sit in the shade and sleep or read or have a picnic, it is a wonderful place to be for ten minutes or for ten hours. The offer is always there. I love to have the privilege of taking up to five family and friends in with me. Then, they do not have to be in my presence once they are inside the gate - I just hope that they will not misbehave 😉 and break any of the rules of the garden 😂☹️😖😭🤔but that they will be excellent streetsweepers or whatever they choose in their career.