In my last article on the family, I wrote about the protection and the joy children bring into our lives and the potential they have of deepening one’s relationship with the world. On the other hand, it has been said before, that “the way a society treats its children is a reflection of the dynamics...
When, in 1137, the Abbot Suger announced plans to build a new choir for this Abbey church in St. Dennis, France, and adorn it with gold, his long-time friend, the Cistercian Abbot, Bernard of Clairvaux, critised Suger’s taste for excessive opulence: “What is the good of displaying all this gold in the church…?. You display...
The most important issue in a mission is this element of word and action. There are those who think that a mission is primarily about talking but if we take a look at the biblical tradition, we will see that the sharp distinction which we are inclined to draw between word and action is not...
Christianity is a historical religion, and this piece is grounded in the primary lesson of history, hence the need for a brief historical analysis of the key facts from church history. The story of Christianity shows that it is possible “to read the Bible as a textbook on the pathology of religion giving rise to...
The importance of elections cannot be doubted or over-emphasised. At the very least, they provide the public with its clearest formal opportunity to influence the political process and help, directly or indirectly, to determine who will hold government power. From this perspective, elections are about results. In other words, who wins and who loses. ...
Children are the future of society in that they are tomorrow’s adults, who will then mould their families. It is befitting that we look at the challenges they face, especially when their mental safety is under attack. There is a saying that goes, “A child is like a blanket sheet of paper on which every...
Grönvik, in his work on the definition of disability in the social sciences, displays a photograph of a body, with the person’s head and face cut off, in a wheelchair at the bottom of a flight of stairs, and then proceeds to explain that the photography could be seen to reflect no less than five conceptions...
IN his work on the definition of disability in the social sciences, Grönvik displays a photograph of a body, with the person’s head and face cut off, in a wheelchair at the bottom of a flight of stairs, and then proceeds to explain that the photograph could be seen to reflect no less than five...
Descartes’ old maxim says, “I think, therefore I am.” Much has been said and written about thinking, thoughts and ideology. Some schools of thought have even suggested that there is a component missing, namely: “I think and belong, therefore I am, and African thinking is said to be saying: take away the thinking and simply...
Writing legibly has never been one of my strongest points. I have often wondered whether exasperated examiners passed me at school and university on the assumption that one so lacking in handwriting skills must obviously have used his time to soak up the more important facts of the subject matter being examined. Letters to family...