find a path with heart
TRANSCRIPT
Volksrust Recorder - Column / Rubrieke10 Recorder 22 May 2015
ChangeYourStory
With Jacques de Villiers
Find A Path With HeartSpoiler alert. This article is going to make a casefor “the journey is more important than thedestination”.On this plane, there are no permanent destinationsexcept for one: death. Of course, depending onwhat you believe, death is either an end-point(you die and that’s it, game over) or a startingpoint (you go to heaven/hell or you reincarnateinto something else).So, whatever your destination is, it is really apath to nowhere.“How can that be?” you may ask. “Paths lead todestinations, they can’t just go nowhere, surely?”Well, yes and no. All paths lead to temporarydestinations and then we find other destinations.We never stay in one destination.Let’s take our life path. Our parents meet and getmarried. They conceive us. We make it to primaryschool, then high school, then (if we’re lucky),university, then our career, we marry, we havechildren, we become grandparents and finally ourtime arrives and we are no more. Our children andour grandchildren will go on a similar journey.Each phase of our life and the events that colourit, are temporary destinations.Maybe you buy this argument; that there’s nodestination. But, let’s say you don’t buy the
argument and you do believe that (besides thefinal destination, death) there are manydestinations. Ask yourself this question.“Whenever I’ve reached a ‘destination’ have Iactually become happier and more important,stayed happy?” I think if you’re really honest,your answer has to be “no”. For example, formost of us our wedding day was supposedly thehappiest day of our lives. Ask yourself if youstill feel that happiness in that marriage today?So, destinations and happiness are temporarynotions.So, what’s the answer?For me it is about the path I take. Find a pathwith heart. I’ve taken hundreds of paths in mylife and because I believe that they don’t leadanywhere, if I’m on a path that doesn’t feel rightto me, I get off it.Why? Because I’m on this planet for such a shorttime, I don’t have time to waste on a path thatdoesn’t have heart and bring joy to me. And, themore joy I have in me, the more capacity I have ofloving and caring for my fellow man.I believe our journey is about finding paths thatbring joy to us and that make our hearts sing. Andwhen our hearts sing, we make others’ hearts singtoo.
Neem verantwoordelikheidWare kinders vanGod neem verant-woordelikheid virhulle eie lewe. Ditimpliseer hulle hetopgehou met dieblameer speletjie. Ekstaan soms verbaasna sommige mense severskonings oorhoekom hulle sekeredinge gedoen het.Wat my die meesteskok is dat menseletterlik met “die handin die koekieblik”gevang word en nogsteeds hulle selfverontskuldig. DieHere Jesus het ons dievermoë gegee om selfte kan besluit. Onshet die vermoë omself te besluit. Somslyk dit of sommigemense dit nie ver-staan nie. Self diemees goddelose menshet die vermoë ont-vang om tussen goeden kwaad te on-derskei. Dit bring myby jou en my askinders van die Here.Ons het die HeiligeGees ontvang. DieHeilige Gees in onspraat gedurig met onsen herinner ons aandie Woord van God.Ek en jy het geen ver-skoning nie. Ons kanreg kies en reg leef.Nou praat ek nie vanvolmaaktheid nie,
want ons is nog niedaar nie. En ja, onsgaan nog baie foutemaak. Tog leefChristus in ons. Onsis nie meer dieselfdemense nie. Ons leef,dink, hanteer enreageer anders asvoor ons Jesus aangeneem het. Paulusstel dit baie duidelik.Rom 8:11-14, “Enas die Gees van Homwat Jesus uit diedode opgewek het, injulle woon, dan salHy wat Christus uitdie dode opgewekhet, ook julle sterflikeliggame lewendmaak deur sy Geeswat in julle woon.Daarom dan, broe-ders, is ons skulde-naars, nie aan dievlees om na die vleeste lewe nie; want asjulle na die vleeslewe, sal julle sterwe,maar as julle deur dieGees die werke vandie liggaam dood-maak, sal julle lewe.Want almal wat deurdie Gees van Godgelei word, dié iskinders van God.”Christus het niehalfpad uit die doodopgestaan nie, needie Heilige Gees het‘n volkome werk ge-doen. Dus: As ekbeweer om kind van
God te wees dan sê ekeintlik die HeiligeGees het ‘n volmaaktewerk gedoen. OmdatHy ‘n volmaaktereddingswerk ge-doen het kan ek en jyook alle sondige ofvleeslike gewoontesaflê. Ja kind van dieHere - jy hoef nie meerte sukkel met ‘nhumeur, rook, vloekslegte drink ge-woontes ensovoortsnie. Ek en jy kanwaarlik oorwin en inoorwinning beginleef. Onthou ons isgeroep om heilig ofeerder “anders” teleef, sodat die watnog nie Christus inhulle lewens ontvanghet nie, Hom deur onsheilige lewenswandelkan ontdek. Grootuitdaging maar togmoontlik. Hoekom?Dieselfde Gees watJesus uit die doodopgewek het leef inons. Dieselfde krag-werking is werksaamin ons. Paulus skryfook: “As jy inChristus is, is jy ‘nnuwe skepping, dieou dinge het verbygegaan, kyk alles hetnuut geword” Daar isgeen middeweg nie.Of ons leef vir Chris-tus of die wêreld. Sowat glo jy werklik?
Hoe lyk jou lewe ofoptrede? Word Chris-tus verheerlik? Onskan nie anders as omdiep vrae te vra nie.Paulus skryf die vol-gende aan Timoteus.2Ti 2:19 -21, “Ewenwel, die fonda-ment van God staanvas met hierdie seël:Die Here ken die watsyne is; en: Laatelkeen wat die Naamvan Christus noem,afstand doen van dieo n g e r e g t i g h e i d .Maar in ‘n groot huisis daar nie alleenvoorwerpe van gouden silwer nie, maarook van hout enerdewerk; en som-mige tot eer, maarander tot oneer. Asiemand hom dushiervan deeglik rei-nig, sal hy ‘n voor-werp tot eer wees,geheilig en bruik-baar vir die Here,toeberei vir elkegoeie werk.”Neem van vandag afverantwoordelikheidvir jou eie lewe.Luister na die Stemvan Heilige Gees.Doen afstand van alleo n g e r e g t i g h e i d ,sodat jy gereinig,heilig en bruikbaar virGod kan wees.VredePastoor Johan Venter
*BRIEWE* LETTERS *BRIEWE* LETTER *BRIEWE* LETTERS *BRIEWE* LETTERS*
Questions raised after meeting regardingAmalgamation with MsukaligwaMuncipality
Notice is hereby given in terms of Section 19 of the Local Government Systems Act 32 of2000 that the Council of Dr Pixley Ka Isaka Seme Local Municipality will amongst otherreports consider the 2015/2016 Budget on a Council meeting which will be held onTuesday, 26 May 2015 at 11:00 in the Council Chambers, Volksrust.
Members of the community and interested parties are invited to attend and observe theproceedings.
PB MALEBYEMUNICIPAL MANAGER NOTICE NO: 30/2015
Municipal Offices, Cnr Adelaide Tambo Street and Dr Nelson Mandela Drive, PrivateBag X 9011, Volksrust 2470
DR PIXLEY KA ISAKA
SEME LOCAL
MUNICIPALITY
ORDINARY COUNCIL MEETING: 26 MAY 2015
I wish to write this letter to inform the communityof Dr. Pixley Ka Isaka Seme, about the loosingbattle they are fighting against the ruling party ofthe Municipality.Ladies and Gentleman, fellow members of thecommunity of Dr. Pixley Ka Isaka Seme, lastweek I was invited to attend a Stakeholder meetingat the Municipal Offices in Volksrust. I was underthe impression that it will be an arranged meetingby our Municipal Officers to request our supportto fight and object against the proposedamalgamation with Msukaligwa Municipality.We were a contigency of about 50 people.The Honourable Chairperson got the meeting goingquickly and promptly allowed the HonourableMayor of Dr. Pixley Ka Isaka Seme to inform theStakeholders of the reasons for the amalgamation.I was blown over to hear that Dr. Pixley Ka IsakaSeme was a non-viable Municipality and thatMsukaligwa Municipality was Dysfunctional.Per definition it means that Dr. Pixley Ka IsakaSeme should not exist anymore. It also meansthat Msukaligwa spends its money better, altoughthey are owing Eskom about R120m and we oweEskom nothing, except the current spending.Seven to eight years ago we were the 2nd bestMunicipality in Mpumalanga.All of this after we heard at the PublicParticipation Process two weeks ago that it wasthe other way around. It was clearly indicatedthat Msukaligwa was the Non-viableMunicipality.The second shock came, as the Honourable Mayorinform the meeting, that it was because of peoplefrom this community who kept on complainingabout service delivery, that the Minister had totake matters into his own hands and the resultwill be the marrying of the two municipalities.People like you and me, who only asked for servicedelivery to take place as agreed upon between thepeople of the community and the people electedby the community to deliver such services.It means that you who live in Vukuzakhe, andyou who did not receive your house as promisedby the Government, or you who are complainingabout streets full of potholes, or you in the countryside, who must let your child walk barefoot toschool in the winter, because the bus does notpick them up that far, you are the reason that wemust now amalgamate with Msukaligwa.This coming from the Honourable Mayor, whoclearly stated to the meeting that the Governmentwhom he support, and who are ‘bias to the poor’,will do what is best for the ‘poor people’. Myquestion to you Honourable Mayor: If you arebias to the poor, why do you sell them out, asbeing the reason that we must amalgamate? Tellingthem openly, because people of this communitykept on complaining to the Provincial and NationalDepartments.
Secondly, if we are not viable, why do you brag inthe meeting Honourable Mayor, that we aredelivering our mandate with the little money wehave, and we owe nobody?If you run a business and you manage not toincrease your debtors book daily, and you stillmake ends meet, it is a business under stress, butit is far from being non-viable? Maybe poorlymanaged, but not non-viable.A question that came to my mind during themeeting also, why will anybody push so hard,stating it clearly, that no matter what the peoplesay, the amalgamation is basically a done deal.The amalgamation will save Dr. Pixley Ka IsakaSeme in the region of R20m per annum due toadministrative positions that will fall away, andno longer be required. After all you only need oneMayor, one Speaker, one Chief Whip etc. Whypush something if you know you stand a chanceto loose your work, or do you push it, becauseyou know your work is safe? What about theother people??? Is everybody safe, or are onlycertain people safe? And that then is my questionHonourable Mayor, do you know who has beenpromised what?Fellow community member, the biggest shock ofthe day, must have been the reaction, when wewhere asked to vote, informally luckily, who isagainst and who is for the amalgamation. Out ofa possible 50, of whom the most was WardCommittee Members, only two opposed theamalgamation.At the Public Participation Process which washeld on 30 April, out of +-200 communitymembers, the people responsible for electingCounsellors and Counsel Members, there wasnone who opposed the amalagamation.After hearing that they who represent the poorestof the poor in our community, and accepting thatthere is no clear plan on the table to where youhave to go to query your municipal account in thefuture, and agreeing that they will stand a chanceto loose their right to represent you(loose theirjob as Counsellor/Ward Committe Membership)and knowing in their hearts, that this process isfar from over and not to the benefit of Dr. PixleyKa Isaka Seme, they support the HonourableMayor. Also, not taking into consideration, thatwe will be amalgamated with a Municipality whowill most likely from June 2015, be 9 hours a daywithout electricity, have problems supplyingwater and allow you to find a taxi to query yourbills.A closing argument, Honourable Mayor, I wishfor you to respond, truthfully and honestly, tothis letter. I know this is not just the questionsin my heart, but also in thousands of othercommunity members of our community.Honourable Mayor, if you really listen to yourcommunity, and speak to them, and not try toinfluence them, we will have a chance of redeemingour community from its fate, and restore it to itsformer but also future glory.
Cllr. Dup Du Plooy
Letter to the Recorder