I spent the past week at home with H1N1 – it was bothersome, but not particularly bad. I felt like one of those baby dolls with eyes that close when you lie them down: I could sleep anywhere, anytime, just by lying down. Interestingly, I didn’t have any noticeable fever, except perhaps during the first night, when I woke up in the middle of the night because I felt cold.
As Bob Dylan once sang, “it’s all over now”, and I’m glad it is.
Wie ein Koffer, nur umgekehrt?
Verirrt, verwirrt, verlogen,
verlockt, vertan, verbogen
Das Präfix “ver” deutet oft auf etwas schlechtem oder falschem hin.
Aber “verreist”? Heisst das, jemand ist ungewollt unterwegs? Oder wie ein Koffer am Flughafen, aber umgekehrt, sein Gepäck ist am richtigen Ort angekommen, er aber in Murmansk? (Wer weiss, warum ich diesen Ort genannt habe?)
Rechnungen weggeworfen!
Wer wollte nicht schon Rechnungen wegwerfen, ohne zu bezahlen? Dieser Traum ist für mich heute in Erfüllung gegangen! Ich habe drei Rechnungen erhalten, Gesamtsumme etwa SFr. 2,000 (€1,300/ US$1,800), die mit der Gründung von BuSoCo zusammenhängen. Ich konnte alle drei direkt wegwerfen – ohne schlechtes Gewissen! Die “Rechnungen” waren tatsächlich Offerten dafür, die Firma in unterschiedliche privaten Register einzutragen – aber so aufgemacht, dass sie wie Rechnungen von Amtsstellen aussehen, und auch ähnlich viel kosten wie der HR-Eintrag. Einer “Rechnung” lag sogar eine nur unwesentlich veränderte Kopie des HR-Eintrags bei. Zum Glück habe ich “Kassensturz” und ähnliche Sendungen geschaut, die immer wieder vor solche Maschen gewarnt haben.
Ich kann Firmengründer nur davor warnen, “Rechnungen” von NMC-Register AG, IfWP Institut für Wirtschaftspublikationen AG und “Zentral-Register-Handel der schweizerischen Wirtschaft” ohne genaue Überlegung zu begleichen.
Throwing bills away!
Who hasn’t wanted to simply throw bills away instead of paying them? For me, that dream was fulfilled today! I received three bills totalling around SFr. 2,000 (€1,300/ US$1,800) related to founding my company, and could trash them immediately with no bad conscience. The “bills” were actually offers for listing the company in business indexes, but presented as an official-looking bill from official-sounding registries. The amounts were all different, but very similar to the real bill for the official company listing. If you’re founding a company in Switzerland, watch out for “bills” from NMC-Register AG, IfWP Institut für Wirtschaftspublikationen AG and Zentral-Register-Handel der schweizerischen Wirtschaft.
Reimagining church
I’ve just finished reading Frank Viola’s book “Reimagining church“. I find it a good introduction to the reasoning and desires behind the organic church movement. His thoughts about the Lord’s supper opened my eyes to some aspects which I cannot remember having heard before. To quote him (Chapter 3, p. 78):
It is a reproclamation of the Lord’s sacrificial death for us in the past. It’s a redeclaration of his ever-abiding nearness with us in the present. And it’s a repronouncement of our hope of glory – His coming in the future.
He continues:
The Lord’s supper is a living testimony to the three chief virtues: faith, hope, and love. Through the supper, we reground ourselves in that glorious salvation which is ours by faith. We reexpress our love for the brethren as we reflect on the one body. And we rejoice in the hope of our Lord’s soon return.
I find both aspects touching and significant.
His thoughts on church unity and the reasons for the great disunity often seen in the local church are also well worth reading.
The second half of the book deals with leadership, structure, and existing renewal movements. On first reading, I found some of his critiques somewhat harsh and arrogant; after a break of several weeks, I was able to approach the passages differently, and found his comments justified and tone more factual.
He doesn’t say anything about the organic church which you won’t find in other books, but provides a lot of food for thought and helpful criteria for judging our own ideas and actions. The appendix dealing with common objections and misunderstandings of Biblical texts is valuable reading.
Welcome BuSoCo GmbH
This morning, we finally founded BuSoCo GmbH, the new star on the software consulting stage! The idea originated around the time I left my previous employer, and I spent a significant part of my break finding out what the legal requirements are and planning what I will be doing. It was a very interesting process – I’ve learned a lot. The next one will be easier!
Helmut und Patrizias Hochzeit
Am Samstag haben sich Helmut und Patrizia das Ja-Wort gegeben. Es war ein wunderschöner Tag, sowohl was das Wetter wie auch das Feier und die Gäste betrifft. Wir haben einige alte Bekannte wieder getroffen, und interessante Menschen kennengelernt.
Fotos gibt’s hier.
Enjoying my break
Taking a break is wonderful! With no appointments or pressing work, I was free to go hiking with a friend yesterday simply because the weather was so beautiful. Today, I was suddenly struck by how much I enjoy eating lunch at home with Mary-Anne. It’s entirely different to eating an evening meal together, because we’re not tired and stressed after a day’s work. Having time to sit around to talk for an hour or two over morning coffee has also been a rare experience in recent years. I’m glad for this break and how it’s turning out, even if it’s not what I had originally planned.
Note to self: pack spare batteries
Several years ago, I drove through an interesting-looking area, and have long wanted to return — but could not remember exactly where it was. Yesterday, I drove around looking for it. I found it again, but the weather was too overcast for good photos. My camera battery was running low, so after a while looking in vain for an interesting shot, I drove on to look for other interesting spots in the area. In the late afternoon, I ended up at a place with a wonderful view of the Alps. Hoping that the battery would last long enough to capture the entire panorama, I started shooting… and only got two photos before the battery ran out. The photo above is all you’ll see of the wonderful view I had.
Next time, I’ll be careful to check the battery before I leave home, and take a spare with me.
(Click on the photo above, then the ‘full size’ icon to see a larger version.)
Systems, power, repression
The church has been (rightly) accused of abuse of its power in the past. How much of this is a particular failing of the church, and how much is due to other factors?
After its founding around 30AD, the church suffered persecution for some time, but grew in influence, finally becoming the state religion of the Roman Empire. Its influence continued to grow, and outlasted the Roman Empire itself; in the Middle Ages, the Catholic Church was probably the most influential force in Europe. As its power and influence grew, so did the abuse of that power; the Inquisition and Counter-Reformation are prime examples, as is the practise of the Indulgences.
The Catholic Church persecuted the Reformers, but these, after successfully establishing their teaching and structures, in turn persecuted subsequent groups such as the Anabaptists.
That’s truly a poor record, and it is quite understandable that it led to increasing secularisation. Even after increasing separation of the church and state, the church retained a strong influence on local levels; the prevailing views and behaviours are today often viewed as hypocrisy and proof of a negative influence from Christianity or religion in general.
Let’s look at more recent developments in the secular West:
- in Britain, it is increasingly difficult to do anything in an inhabited area without being filmed by a surveillance camera, and it was recently divulged that the Border Agency has been testing a database aimed to capture all travel to and from the UK since 2004, and plans to register 95% of travel by December 2010. The Government is also working on tracking mobile phone calls, e-mails and web sessions.
- the German Government has similar plans for mobile phone calls and web sessions (based on EU legislation), and is currently proposing enforcing filtering of web content, currently targeting paedophilia.
- the US has been registering foreigners entering and leaving the country for several years, and has increased its efforts since September 11th 2001, now requiring fingerprint and iris scans on entry, and details (name, credit card, dietary preferences etc.) of all passengers travelling to the US before they arrive. The Customs officials may confiscate electronic equipment including laptops and mobile phones without prior reason, and travellers are legally required to provide access to all information contained on the device.
- the current economic/bank crisis is giving rise to calls for more regulation and state control of the financial system – although the US had access to all transfers in the SWIFT interbank network for several years.
Those are only the first examples which come to mind. The reasoning behind the surveillance and legislation is always increased security and crime prevention, both legitimate concerns for a state system. However, the developments all point in the direction of repression of non-conformist activity, much as the church is accused of doing in the past. Dictatorships do the same, but generally in a much shorter period; the rise of a dictator is generally coupled with widespread dissatisfaction with the existing system, but the dictator then cements his power through repression of dissenting opinions.
I’m beginning to think that the criticism of the church’s role in the past is both justified and misdirected! Misdirected, because the criticised behaviour is apparently endemic in an established and generally accepted system; justified, because the behaviour is basically evil, and the church is called to be different. (Of course, in order to be different, the church must effectively disciple new believers. But that’s another story.)