Here I am again after some time of absence, which was due to my being occupied with last Sunday’s talk titled “Body & Soul. Made in Africa.” There are times in those preparations that I do not want to interrupt my concentration on the talk topic with unrelated ideas. This is the reason I suspend the daily entries at times. Yet on the other hand I also want to report what is going on, relating to the preparations. All this varies with the topic and this one had many unexpected aspects coming and going; there is more to follow under ‘Writings’.

There are times in those preparations that I do not want to interrupt my concentration on the talk topic with unrelated ideas.

This talk came off much better than the last one titled “Mani’s Lost Religion” and was well received by the audience. This is something the hearers always make clear to me. Just for the record I’ll mention the first names: Ken, Jack, Rene, Leila, Larry, Shirley and Dan, with Hanna and Garda lending a hand. It was one pm before I left and literally turned the lights off. Actually the last act was to get the announcement panel back into the room.

This talk on African Religions - some aspects - is my last one on religions specifically. I started with the Gnostics in 2004, gradually adding all the world religions, with a few additional topics - Existence Divine - in between.

I now aim to shift my focus onto what I conceive to be a belief framework that addresses our present global societal situation. I have learned a lot from my studies in preparation for these talks and now want to apply some of that as a contribution towards a better understanding of our many humanitarian conflicts on our ‘closed’ planet. I say closed, because we can no longer escape our problems by emigrating to a new land.

I have learned a lot from my studies in preparation for these talks and now want to apply some of that as a contribution towards a better understanding of our many humanitarian conflicts on our ‘closed’ planet.

The unexpected perspective that emerged while preparing for my talk “Body&Soul” was that the humans that left the continent of Africa to populate the world may have left behind the awareness of the heart that is so prominent in all of Africa’s traditions and values.

This idea slowly emerged in me. The emigration through the challenging and restricted areas of Sinai’s Mediterranean coast in the north and the southern crossing from Somalia’s ‘Punt land’ to Yemen, acted as selective barriers in an adaptation and development process. Those that left were shaped by leaving, while those who remained were influenced by there staying on the continent of Africa.

Since I myself emigrated from Holland in 1959, I know that such action changes you as a person. You have to shed taught values, customs and habits, while learning to adapt to and acquire new ones, all with the aim to succeed in your intended endeavour. That drastic shedding of a large part of the familiar is not required of those that do not emigrate, though they too must deal with other types of change.

You could say that those who emigrate initiate change, while those that stay choose for change that comes to them. In other words, one seeks change, while the other minimises change. It is a choice between living from an attitude of initiative, versus one of coping with what comes.

I recall entertaining such a choice while still a student at College [Utrecht] in the land surveying profession in Holland. Would I live in the active west of Holland or withdraw to the quiet north of Friesland? As I mentioned, I emigrated instead! This resulted in experiencing both choices and many others besides!
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