Archive of articles of the Johannesburg Congregation
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The opinions expressed on this page are those of the individual authors.
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Gratitude Transforms
by Rev. Reingard Knausenberger
When waking up in the morning and feeling the challenges of the day coming to meet us, it can be a source of comfort and strength to know there is an altar in this city, this country and this African continent around which people gather to nurture consciously the same flow of life which re-enlivens us every night. To Feel the connection with the Christ-deed and participate in the building of community around this can lay a foundation of deep gratitude beneath all the events a day brings towards us. THANK YOU for your part in sustaining this Spirit-light-network during the past year!
When waking up in the morning and feeling the challenges of the day coming to meet us, it can be a source of comfort and strength to know there is an altar in this city, this country and this African continent around which people gather to nurture consciously the same flow of life which re-enlivens us every night. To Feel the connection with the Christ-deed and participate in the building of community around this can lay a foundation of deep gratitude beneath all the events a day brings towards us. THANK YOU for your part in sustaining this Spirit-light-network during the past year!
All Hallows Eve
by Rev. Malcolm Allsop
All Hallows Eve, always the last day of October and this year just falling within Michaelmas, has the sung and unsung saints as its backcloth. It heralds in the weeks of the Christian Year when a particular openness is present to “commune” with those who have gone before.
Our Hallow-een gathering picked up on some of the elements which have collected around this date in the calendar. Out in the garden all ages gathered and first joined in the fun of communal games, with or without costumes, until the three intrepid pizza chefs were ready with supper. As it grew dark the brazier fire was lit and all gathered around for the Russian story of Wassilissa and Baba Jaga. Surrounded by hollowed out pumpkins and watermelon faces, smiling uncannily out of the dark, the story emphasized the fearless journey to be trodden through the twilight regions, in the cause of holding the inner light.
Hot chocolate with a difference sent us all on our way, after an evening filled with fun and content.
All Hallows Eve, always the last day of October and this year just falling within Michaelmas, has the sung and unsung saints as its backcloth. It heralds in the weeks of the Christian Year when a particular openness is present to “commune” with those who have gone before.
Our Hallow-een gathering picked up on some of the elements which have collected around this date in the calendar. Out in the garden all ages gathered and first joined in the fun of communal games, with or without costumes, until the three intrepid pizza chefs were ready with supper. As it grew dark the brazier fire was lit and all gathered around for the Russian story of Wassilissa and Baba Jaga. Surrounded by hollowed out pumpkins and watermelon faces, smiling uncannily out of the dark, the story emphasized the fearless journey to be trodden through the twilight regions, in the cause of holding the inner light.
Hot chocolate with a difference sent us all on our way, after an evening filled with fun and content.
Advent Fair - What Joy |
by Karyn Cardoso
This year’s Advent Fair was a great success in many ways. Not only did the church meet its target financially, the quality of what was offered on the day was rich and meaningful and a space for true community building and heartfelt meetings was created for all to enjoy. The atmosphere on the day was a real testimony to how the community has matured and settled down. There was a wonderful hum and a sense of peace and harmony and a calm productivity that comes with everyone knowing their space and place. This reflects a shift from a selective few taking responsibility to more of a whole.
Reingard and Simone deserve our great appreciation for being the ‘head’ of the fair and for making sure there were lots of 'hands and feet' to run things on the day. Without them the fair would not have happened. Reingard had a grip on absolutely every area and she directed things with a very calm and collected energy and focus. A real gift was the appearance of Dean Miller, a former confirmee and youth, who stepped in a week before the Fair with his talent and practical expertise to lead the set-up, manage the nitty-gritty of the day and stayed until the bitter end of clean up in the following week. This gave the Fair the 'hand and foot' it needed for a last push for it to land.
The day certainly lived up to our expectations… The homemade food was lovingly offered. The music filled the garden with an upbeat energy and so did the top class coffee. The crafts were meaningful, especially the candle decorating in the wake room, which had its own special atmosphere. The forge was, as usual, a great attraction for both child and adult. The children’s activities, namely the Light Boats, Mother Goose, Water of Life and Puppet show offered deeply meaningful and impressionable experiences which carry the true spirit of our Advent Fair. The unique, handmade crafts are a main attraction and have become the heart of the fair. And what would we do without the fun and jokes at the White Elephant, the delight of discovery at the bookstalls, the mouth watering deli, the fun and games, and everything else that added to a day of celebration and community.
Such a day comes with much hard work, personal, family and work needs are put aside, routines are disrupted, one is challenged to stretch just that much more… but it was well worth the rewards and may the fair and our community continue to grow from strength to strength!
This year’s Advent Fair was a great success in many ways. Not only did the church meet its target financially, the quality of what was offered on the day was rich and meaningful and a space for true community building and heartfelt meetings was created for all to enjoy. The atmosphere on the day was a real testimony to how the community has matured and settled down. There was a wonderful hum and a sense of peace and harmony and a calm productivity that comes with everyone knowing their space and place. This reflects a shift from a selective few taking responsibility to more of a whole.
Reingard and Simone deserve our great appreciation for being the ‘head’ of the fair and for making sure there were lots of 'hands and feet' to run things on the day. Without them the fair would not have happened. Reingard had a grip on absolutely every area and she directed things with a very calm and collected energy and focus. A real gift was the appearance of Dean Miller, a former confirmee and youth, who stepped in a week before the Fair with his talent and practical expertise to lead the set-up, manage the nitty-gritty of the day and stayed until the bitter end of clean up in the following week. This gave the Fair the 'hand and foot' it needed for a last push for it to land.
The day certainly lived up to our expectations… The homemade food was lovingly offered. The music filled the garden with an upbeat energy and so did the top class coffee. The crafts were meaningful, especially the candle decorating in the wake room, which had its own special atmosphere. The forge was, as usual, a great attraction for both child and adult. The children’s activities, namely the Light Boats, Mother Goose, Water of Life and Puppet show offered deeply meaningful and impressionable experiences which carry the true spirit of our Advent Fair. The unique, handmade crafts are a main attraction and have become the heart of the fair. And what would we do without the fun and jokes at the White Elephant, the delight of discovery at the bookstalls, the mouth watering deli, the fun and games, and everything else that added to a day of celebration and community.
Such a day comes with much hard work, personal, family and work needs are put aside, routines are disrupted, one is challenged to stretch just that much more… but it was well worth the rewards and may the fair and our community continue to grow from strength to strength!
Note from the Trustees
The Advent Fair saw record attendance with net revenue reaching almost R100,000. More details will follow at the review on the 26th November, but in the meantime, very warm thanks to the entire community for support given in all forms.
The Advent Fair saw record attendance with net revenue reaching almost R100,000. More details will follow at the review on the 26th November, but in the meantime, very warm thanks to the entire community for support given in all forms.
My Spiritual Home
by Klaus Mork
Shortly after my partner of 25 years, Marieta Wright, cross the threshold, I discovered a letter emailed by Marieta in 2005 to a childhood and lifelong friend. In this letter she wrote with insight and clarity about The Christian Community as her spiritual home. I was so entranced by the beauty of her writing that I thought it desirable to give the larger community the opportunity to share in her comments.
Here are excerpts of the letter:
Shortly after my partner of 25 years, Marieta Wright, cross the threshold, I discovered a letter emailed by Marieta in 2005 to a childhood and lifelong friend. In this letter she wrote with insight and clarity about The Christian Community as her spiritual home. I was so entranced by the beauty of her writing that I thought it desirable to give the larger community the opportunity to share in her comments.
Here are excerpts of the letter:
You mentioned that you have become a devoted Christian; I’m very happy for you (but I have always known you as a true Christian). I think you have never really understood my Christianity. As I mentioned before I have always been this rebel that could never conform to anything and that also goes for organised religion. As you may know I was baptized in the NG church, but after my parents got divorced the kids at the church teased me about the divorce and I refused to go back to that church. I always thought of myself as nothing but a Christian but I was never confirmed in any church. However I was always searching for a spiritual home. After I met Klaus we started going to The Christian Community were we both felt that we had found our Spiritual home.
Let me tell you about my Spiritual home:
The Christian Community works towards a renewal of Christianity. Building free congregations, it unites people who wish to become Christians in a form adequate to our time.
In the centre of the religious life stands the new Communion Service - the Act of Consecration of Man (Sacrament of bread and wine, it indicates the ultimate aim of our life; to become true human beings). In its teaching, The Christian Community presents a world conception that recognises the Christ-deed as the central event which is decisive for the history and the future evolution of Mankind.
Rudolf Steiner, the founder of Spiritual Science, also known as Anthroposophy, was the essential teacher and helper of those individuals who founded The Christian Community. It owes its being to the spiritual world and its existence to the counsel and aid of Rudolf Steiner. In the age of natural science, it is Spiritual Science that provides the key for a new understanding of the living and working of Christ.
This is what I believe in after death and before birth:
The question of immortality is closely connected with the question of man’s existence before birth. Since it is impossible for man’s inner being to be destroyed through death, it is impossible that his inner being originates with the body. Man has an individual spiritual existence before his earthly existence begins (pre-existence). With the awakening of the body-bound consciousness, the memory of this existence fades away; death on the other hand brings about transformation of the earthly consciousness. The immortal struggles free from the mortal.
The task of the religious life is to reawaken and strengthen through prayer and ritual those forces of the soul that unite the human being with his divine-spiritual origin.
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Thresholds
by Rev. Malcolm Allsop
The month of November brings a culmination of all the prayer, all the attention, which has been turned to those who have died in the preceding year and years. The countless moments of reflection; individual, family, community, national and even international hours of prayer, merge at a higher octave, to honour and to accompany “the other half” of humanity, that is, all those who at any one time are not here on earth.
At the end of the Christian year we reflect during Michaelmas, on the one hand, on our deeds and that which remains incomplete, before a new cycle of inner development starts with Advent. Similarly, it is a time to turn to the souls of the departed who are no longer part of those cycles which pertain to earthly development, butwhose inner path has by no means finished. To what extent that path still involves their supportive attention being directed back to events, people, places on earth, varies of course from one individual destiny to another. But OUR supportive attention towards THEM, as individuals within the wider context of all those souls who have ‘gone before’, nurtures an essential aspect of mankind’s furtherance.
On Sunday, 23rd November (at 11h30) there will be a talk entitled “Meeting at the Thresholds” where this theme will be explored further.
The next monthly gathering to remember those who have died will be on Saturday, 29th November at 17h00 (in the Wake room).
The month of November brings a culmination of all the prayer, all the attention, which has been turned to those who have died in the preceding year and years. The countless moments of reflection; individual, family, community, national and even international hours of prayer, merge at a higher octave, to honour and to accompany “the other half” of humanity, that is, all those who at any one time are not here on earth.
At the end of the Christian year we reflect during Michaelmas, on the one hand, on our deeds and that which remains incomplete, before a new cycle of inner development starts with Advent. Similarly, it is a time to turn to the souls of the departed who are no longer part of those cycles which pertain to earthly development, butwhose inner path has by no means finished. To what extent that path still involves their supportive attention being directed back to events, people, places on earth, varies of course from one individual destiny to another. But OUR supportive attention towards THEM, as individuals within the wider context of all those souls who have ‘gone before’, nurtures an essential aspect of mankind’s furtherance.
On Sunday, 23rd November (at 11h30) there will be a talk entitled “Meeting at the Thresholds” where this theme will be explored further.
The next monthly gathering to remember those who have died will be on Saturday, 29th November at 17h00 (in the Wake room).
Recycling Success
by Sophia Turner
The community needs to be congratulated on rising to the challenge Mpact Recycling set for us half a year ago. Our waste paper collections have increased dramatically and the church is benefiting greatly from the income generated. From a mere 2 000 kg collected in the 1st quarter of 2014, before the price increase offered as part of our challenge, already in the 2nd quarter we increased it to 2 764 kg, while in the just completed 3rd quarter the weight stands at 3 563 kg. This is an impressive success and, combined with the 50% price increase, our income from recycling has almost tripled from R460 in the 1st quarter to R1 218 in the 3rd. Collections from our ever supportive partner, Multotec, have also benefited from the price increase, and the combined payment the church received at the end of October stands at R2 880 – money generated from absolute waste!
In the three months of the 3rd quarter we managed five collections and have a good reason to celebrate. I hope we shall continue on this upward path until we reach the target of regular fortnightly collections, which Mpact expects. Many thanks go to every single person who has brought waste paper to the church.
The community needs to be congratulated on rising to the challenge Mpact Recycling set for us half a year ago. Our waste paper collections have increased dramatically and the church is benefiting greatly from the income generated. From a mere 2 000 kg collected in the 1st quarter of 2014, before the price increase offered as part of our challenge, already in the 2nd quarter we increased it to 2 764 kg, while in the just completed 3rd quarter the weight stands at 3 563 kg. This is an impressive success and, combined with the 50% price increase, our income from recycling has almost tripled from R460 in the 1st quarter to R1 218 in the 3rd. Collections from our ever supportive partner, Multotec, have also benefited from the price increase, and the combined payment the church received at the end of October stands at R2 880 – money generated from absolute waste!
In the three months of the 3rd quarter we managed five collections and have a good reason to celebrate. I hope we shall continue on this upward path until we reach the target of regular fortnightly collections, which Mpact expects. Many thanks go to every single person who has brought waste paper to the church.