thinktoomuch.net

Words are interesting in their nuance and their power. Languages are interesting with regards to how they differ in what they can express. I remember seeing my favourite pastor back home using the English word “community” in an Afrikaans sermon/talk/whatever-it-was, because the Afrikaans words available simply don’t catch the idea that well. (Suggestions welcome! What [...]

[Read more →]

During a recent vacation to South Africa I met up with many old friends, including having tea with my favourite pastor. Many an interesting thing discussed, as usual, as well as catching up with some news, he pointed out an interesting stance:
Many seem to think Christianity is about community. It isn’t about community, it is [...]

[Read more →]

It seems to be better that I don’t say what I’ll be writing when, since I so seldom keep to such plans. Anyway, consider this blog to be back from hiatus. Also, subscribe so that you don’t have to keep visiting the site to see if there’s something new.
Thanks to all supporters!
While I [...]

[Read more →]

Found via a blog post on his blog, in this video of Peter Rollins, he shares an ancient Jewish parable about what it means to wrestle with scripture, what the tradition means to those that belong to the family.

the essence,
not that we find the right answer, but that we
wrestle with the tradition
fight with it
love it
are [...]

[Read more →]

In the previous post, I mentioned I prefer sanity to be found within the context of relationship, rather than by rules. In particular, I would like this to be the case for this site: I would have loved to have no rules or guidelines. But this isn’t a closed community, and while anyone on the [...]

[Read more →]

Stellenbosch Gemeente is busy with a series titled “Breek Uit”. (I was not sure whether to translate this to “Break Out” or “Break Free”. I went with “Break Free” due to inspiration from Queen.) This Sunday’s theme was “Isolasie”, presented by André Serfontein.
Homo Sapiens are a gregarious species. Theory has it that we have large [...]

[Read more →]

It has been a long time since I went to watch a movie. What a choice we made. 30 Days of Night. Horror. I’m not sure I’ve ever watched a horror movie on the big screen. It was horrifying.

[Read more →]

It is currently 02:46. Yes, early morning hours. Ideas do not keep a schedule.
On Friday night, I attended a brilliant set of talks given by the NG Church. This is the church that used to be married to the state during Apartheid era South Africa. My respect for this church is growing tremendously.
At this meeting, [...]

[Read more →]

There is one serious problem, or danger rather, with communication media like the Internet. It is absolutely brilliant how it can bring such vastly diverse groups of people together, but there is something fundamentally dangerous about that two-edged sword.

[Read more →]

A Freethinking Maties General Assembly took place last night. There were nine new faces (more than half of those attending), and the direction the discussion took pleased me tremendously. Below I share some thoughts about the society, and mention some other groups, including Stellenbosch Humanists.

[Read more →]