I was reading about Jonah and the whale as one does when Stephen King starts to get boring. You know the story. God commands Jonah to preach repentance to the city of Nineveh. Jonah wasn’t keen on this. First, the city was known for its wickedness. Second, it was the capital of the Assyrian empire, one of Israel’s fiercest enemies. So, Jonah bolted and fled on a ship to Tarshish, in the opposite direction of Nineveh. God sent a violent storm which threatened to break the ship into pieces. The crew tossed Jonah overboard to appease God and he ended up in the belly of a whale (or fish). The sea calmed and they were saved. After three days in the whale he was spat up on the dry land of Nineveh. After lots of gnashing of teeth and praying, I might add. He then preached to Nineveh. And saved its people from a terrible trauma that God had planned for them. Everyone was happy. Jonah not so much ... but I think he was a miserable character to start with. The story plays out like the The Hero’s Journey by American Mythologist, Joseph Campbell. Loosely and not quite in the correct order, here’s how the Hero’s (Jonah’s) Journey plays out. Call to adventure - preach repentance to citizens of Nineveh. Refusal of the call - get the heck out of there and head for Trashish. Adventure - ship almost sinks in storm. More adventure - thrown overboard. Adventure/salvation - land in mouth of whale. Dark night of the soul - how’s he going to get out of the whale? Salvation - whale spits him out onto dry land after three days. Climax - saves Nineveh by finally obeying God's call. My interpretation of the Jonah story is a bit different to my Sunday School teacher's one. Either way, I think the story of Jonah has relevance to all our lives. Some of us know what our calling is. But we refuse to heed the call. We stay where we are. That’s when we end up in all sorts of misadventures which steer us back to our calling. God purpose for you will not be denied. And, even when you find your calling, the adventures don’t stop. Sometimes you’ll falter and think that you made a big mistake (dark night of the soul). Of course the trick is to figure out what your calling is. Sometimes it's foisted on you (just when things were going so well). Sometimes you have an idea about where you should be going but you ignore the call (refusal of call). “We must be willing to get rid of the life we've planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us.” Joseph Campbell You’re actually lucky if you get a calling and figure out how to follow it. Because most men as Henry David Thoreau so eloquently puts it, “… lead lives of quiet desperation and go to the grave with the song still in them.” That which makes your heart sing and that which calls you is seldom an easy journey. But, it’s a necessary journey if you are to make something of this life you have chosen to live out on this planet.

1. Volksrust Recorder - Column / Rubrieke10 Recorder 13 November 2015
Minister moet waterkwaliteit
verslae publiseer-AfriForum
AfriForum het Maandag 'n aanmaningsbrief
sowel as 'n navraag ingevolge die Wet op
die Bevordering van Toegang tot Inligting
(PAIA) aan Margaret-Anne Diedricks,
direkteur-generaal van die departement van
water en sanitasie, gerig om agterstallige
waterkwaliteitverslae te publiseer.
“Met 'n waterkrisis in Suid-Afrika, is dit
uiters belangrik vir landsburgers om te weet
wat die kwaliteit van hulle water is, sodat
hulle waaksaam kan wees teen
gesondheidsrisiko’s. Weens die skaarsheid
van waterbronne en die gebrek aan
reënwater om die besoedelde sisteme in
hierdie droogtetydperk aan te vul, is die
kwaliteit van water besig om te versleg en
sodoende meer druk op munisipale sisteme
te plaas,” het Julius Kleynhans, AfriForum
se hoof van omgewingsake, gesê.
Kleynhans het bygevoeg dat afgesien van
Change
Your
Story
With Jacques de Villiers
I was reading about Jonah and the whale as
one does when Stephen King starts to get
boring. You know the story. God commands
Jonah to preach repentance to the city of
Nineveh.
Jonah wasn’t keen on this. First, the city
was known for its wickedness. Second, it
was the capital of the Assyrian empire, one
of Israel’s fiercest enemies.
So, Jonah bolted and fled on a ship to
Tarshish, in the opposite direction of
Nineveh. God sent a violent storm which
threatened to break the ship into pieces. The
crew tossed Jonah overboard to appease
God and he ended up in the belly of a whale
(or fish). The sea calmed and they were
saved. After three days in the whale he was
spat up on the dry land of Nineveh. After
lots of gnashing of teeth and praying, I might
add.
He then preached to Nineveh. And saved
its people from a terrible trauma that God
had planned for them. Everyone was happy.
Jonah not so much ... but I think he was a
miserable character to start with.
The story plays out like the The Hero’s
Journey by American Mythologist, Joseph
Campbell.
Loosely and not quite in the correct order,
here’s how the Hero’s (Jonah’s) Journey
plays out. Call to adventure - preach
repentance to citizens of Nineveh. Refusal
of the call - get the heck out of there and
head for Trashish. Adventure - ship almost
sinks in storm. More adventure - thrown
Forfurtherinformation:
JacquesdeVilliersjacques@jacquesdevilliers.com
0829063693
“We must be willing to get
rid of the life we’ve planned,
so as to have the life that is
waiting for us.”
Joseph Campbell
Jonah,theWhaleandYou
overboard. Adventure/salvation - land in
mouth of whale. Dark night of the soul -
how’s he going to get out of the whale?
Salvation - whale spits him out onto dry land
after three days. Climax - saves Nineveh by
finally obeying God’s call.
My interpretation of the Jonah story is a bit
different to my Sunday School teacher’s one.
Either way, I think the story of Jonah has
relevance to all our lives.
Some of us know what our calling is. But we
refuse to heed the call. We stay where we
are. That’s when we end up in all sorts of
misadventures which steer us back to our
calling. God purpose for you will not be
denied. And, even when you find your
calling, the adventures don’t stop.
Sometimes you’ll falter and think that you
made a big mistake (dark night of the soul).
Of course the trick is to figure out what your
calling is. Sometimes it’s foisted on you (just
when things were going so well). Sometimes
you have an idea about where you should
be going but you ignore the call (refusal of
call).
“We must be willing to get rid of the life we’ve
planned, so as to have the life that is waiting
for us.” Joseph Campbell
You’re actually lucky if you get a calling and
figure out how to follow it. Because most
men as Henry David Thoreau so eloquently
puts it, “… lead lives of quiet desperation
and go to the grave with the song still in
them.”
That which makes your heart sing and that
which calls you is seldom an easy journey.
But, it’s a necessary journey if you are to
make something of this life you have chosen
to live out on this planet.
die droogte, is die grootste risiko vir Suid-
Afrika die versuim van die DWS om te
reguleer. “Omdat die reguleerder versuim om
te reguleer, het slegs 25% van
drinkwatersisteme in 2013 aan
waterkwaliteitstandaarde voldoen en word
nagenoeg 4 miljard liter gedeeltelike en
ongesuiwerde riool daagliks in ons riviere
en damme uitgestort, wat die risiko vir
besoedeling en die uitbreek van siektes
buitensporig verhoog,” het Kleynhans
bygevoeg.
Ten eindeAfriForum in staat te stel om Suid-
Afrikaanse burgers se reg tot skoon water te
verseker, het die organisasie dringend
versoek dat die DWS die volgende lewer:
1. Afskrifte van die volledige 2013
Groendruppelverslag wat veronderstel was
om in Julie 2013 bekend gestel te word en
waarvan slegs 'n bestuursoorsig in Januarie
2015 aan die publiek bekend gestel is;
2. Afskrifte van die volledige 2014
Bloudruppelvorderingsverslag wat in
September 2015 bekend gestel moes word;
en
3. Afskrifte van die nuutste Regulatoriese
Prestasiemoniteringsisteemverslae.
“In die inleiding van die 2013 Bloudruppel
Bestuursoorsig het die DWS geen voorneme
getoon om op te tree teen kriminele
munisipale amptenare nie,” het Kleynhans
bygevoeg. Hy het toe die volgende
aangehaal uit die 2013 Bloudruppel
Bestuursoorsig: “It is not the purpose of
this assessment to criminalise poor or high
risk drinking water services and water
quality,
but rather to act as a precautionary tool,
warning the Water Services Institutions in
the country about the level of risk at which
water services and water quality is delivered
to the citizens of South Africa.”
AfriForum het genoem dat die verslae deur
hardwerkende belastingbetalers gefinansier
word en indien daar in ag geneem word dat
dit die eiendom van die publiek is, moet die
volledige verslae bekend gestel word.
“Indien hierdie verslae nie binne die
raamwerk van die PAIAbekend gestel word
nie, sal ons die howe nader om 'n interdik
teen die DWS te bekom wat hulle sal dwing
om die dokumente aan die publiek bekend te
stel,” het Kleynhans afgesluit.
SMS “Water” na 45354 om byAfriForum aan
te sluit en die organisasie se inisiatief te
ondersteun om die volhoubare gebruik en
beskerming van Suid-Afrika se waterbronne
te verseker. (R1/SMS).
~AfriForum~
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for easy movement. “We also have the ‘my-
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Part of its Solsave range, all three products
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this in effect means, is the ability to charge
these items either by making use of the sun’s
rays or via the grid when the power is on.
The Solsave ‘my-lamp’ also comes with a
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Whilst the compact and easily transportable
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