Dokiek gesels uit die hart/Dokdiek talks from the heart 31 - Omgee
DOKDIEK PRAAT UIT SY HART 31
Dis Maartmaand, die oorgangsmaand na ons winter toe , en weer tyd om met julle iets te deel wat ek dink vir julle van nut sal wees as God se medewerkers en Sy aardesorgers.
Eers moet ek, soos gewoonlik, meld hoe ons in ons gemeente vorder met ons herwinningsprojek. Al hoe meer lidmate (en firmas van lidmate) begin deelneem, so ver so dat ons op 16 Maart 2015 reeds by die 23 ton merk is, d.w. s. meer as 23000 kg se herwonne materiaal is gelewer. Vir ons het dit ook beteken dat ons meer as R6000 kon oorbetaal aan ons pas-getroude gemeenteseun-sendeling in Matiplula in die Limpopo provinsie. Die geheim van ons aksie is volharding, dienskneg en leierskap. Ons is nie te slim of te besig of te “grand’ om hande uit die mou te steek en eenvoudige sleurwerk uit te voer nie. Ons uiteindelike motivering is ‘n skoner aarde vir ons Here Jesus Christus. Romeine 8 vers 28 sê, “Ons kan van een saak seker wees, God gebruik elke ding wat in ons lewe gebeur om sy doel te bereik. Vir ons wat vir God liefhet, werk alles tot ons beswil uit”.
Toe Max du Preez onlangs in ‘n koerant artikel (Die Burger , 28.2.2015) beweer, “Dit gaan beslis nie goed met ons sieleheil hier aan die suidpunt van Afrika nie”, het my hart saamgestem. Ek kon egter nie saamstem met die oplossing wat hy bied nie. Hy het verwys na die bergkoninkryk Bhoetan in die Himalajas, waar hulle hul heil meet aan ‘n indeks met die titel Bruto Nasionale Gelukkigheid (BNG), in plek van ons gewone maatstaf van Bruto Nasionale Produk (BNP).
Hierdie indeks is gebou op 4 sg. pilare en 9 sg. domeine. My beswaar is die weglating van ons Christelike geloofsbasis, waarop ons weet ons al ons vreugde, geluk en tevredenheid kan bou, dus as ons hierby ‘n ekstra pilaar en ‘n ekstra domein byvoeg, lyk dit vir my asof ons ons gelukkigheid sal kan meet en uitleef.
Die 5 pilare is dan
’n Christelike geloofsbasis.
Regverdige sosio-ekonomiese ontwikkeling.
Stimulering van ‘n lewenskragtige kultuur.
Bewaring van die omgewing.
Die 10 domeine waarbinne dit bewerkstellig word, is dan
Die lewenskragtigheid van gemeenskappe.
Die gebalanseerde gebruik van tyd.
Integrasie met die hele ekologie.
Bhoetan , ‘n Boedistiese land, is volgens die 4/9 BNG indeks die gelukkigste land in die wêreld (maar vervolg sy Nepalese inwoners en verbied Christene om te evangeliseer). Ek is seker as ons die 5/10 indeks op onsself toepas, kan ons baie gelukkig ons Hemelse Vader dien en bystaan om die aarde in stand te hou. Ja, dit vat veelsydige aandag en toewyding, maar die resultaat is die grootste Bruto Nasionale Gelukkigheid.
Pas dit gerus toe op jou eie lewe, gesondheid, verbondenheid aan Christus, jou medemens en veral in verbondenheid met die hele ekologie om ons. Sterkte!
DOKDIEK TALKS FROM HIS HEART 31
March is with us-the transition month to winter. And time to share some thoughts with you to empower you to be a better Earth Keeper for our Lord. As usual, I am first reporting on the recycling situation at our congregation, because, where others have discontinued their efforts, we are still going as strong as ever. We reached 23 tonne of recycled material delivered on 16.3. 2015. We have an additional incentive because the income of more than R6000 from this project is sent to our recently married congregational member-cum missionary in Mapitlula in the Limpopo province. Our secret is commitment and servant-leadership. None of us think it difficult to regularly do menial work. Our ultimate motivation is to assist our Lord Jesus Christ to have a cleaner earth. Romans 8 verse 28 says, “That’s why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good”.
In an article in our local newspaper (Die Burger, 28.2.2015) Max du Preez maintains, ”Here at the South point of Africa our soul’s delight is most certainly at a very low level”. This remark touched my heart because I notice the same lack of delight in people around me. But I do not agree with the solution he comes up with. He refers us to the tiny mountain kingdom Bhutan in the Himalaya Mountains, where they measure their level of welfare or delight in an index they call the Gross National Happiness (GNH) index , as opposed to our well known Gross National Product( GNP) index.
This GNH index is based on 4 pillars and 9 domains. My concern is the absence of the specific reference to the basic Christian foundation our lives are based on. So, by adding a pillar (no.1) and a domain (no.1) we now can adapt the Buddhistic origin to an index acceptable to Christians.
A Christian faith base.
A just socio-economic development.
Stimulation of a vigorous culture.
The 10 domain areas, within which happiness is engineered, are:
Christ centred discipleship.
The vitality of communities.
A people’s directed government.
A balanced utilisation of time.
Complete ecological integration.
The Buddhistic Bhutan is according to the 4/9 BNH index one of the happiest 5 countries in the world (but persecutes its Nepali people and bans all Christian proselytization). I am convinced that we can even better serve our Heavenly Father in the sound maintenance of our earth. Yes, it embraces attention to a diverse set of standards, but the ultimate result will surely be a high Gross National Index of Happiness.
Start applying these pillars and domains in your own life and experience your growth in relationships with your fellow human being, with your God and with all living creatures on earth—with all of Ecology. Enjoy the introspection! dokdiek@gmail.com