Very Special Thoughts

Today was a blessed day, a full day.  Part of the time was spent with Andrea and Reka who are going out of their way to help me find the things I need, so I can move into my new home.  No one ever had finer daughters or granddaughters than these two young women.

Tomorrow, when Reka finishes at her school, she will take me in her car to buy the weekly groceries.  This is to be our routine.  I will buy my groceries when she does her weekly shopping.  That way, I won’t have to go to the store every day or carry heavy bags of groceries back to the apartment.  Praise God who provides my every need.  — Anne

“100 Little Thoughts about God, Man and Society,” a collection gleaned from 49 years of conversations between Dan and Dr. Dick van Geet, our former neighbor in Utrecht, Holland.

ROOTS

We could learn something from storms. When does a tree come into troubles ? If its roots are not deep enough. From the outside it might look well, but inside it dries up gradually and eventually starts rotting. One autumn storm and it is blown down. Thus is man. Thus is marriage or friendship. Thus are cultures. Thus is religion. Without deep roots everything will collaps.  Sooner or later.

SCIENCE AND FAITH

In a certain sense  knowledge by faith is more reliable than scientific knowledge. Nothing more sure than direct experiences.

If I have a toothache or if I love or hate someone etc. no one can tell me it is not true : they are just direct and therefore unrefutable and undeniable experiences. The same applies for my (religious) beliefs, my faith. Science however, is based on a lot of assumptions and presuppossitions, which after some time can turn out to be inaccurate or false (consider e.g. the methodologies of  Popper, Kuhn, Lakatos and Feyerabend). However, how undeniable they may be, my personal feelings, my inner experiences can – contrary to science – never pretend  general truth.

THE BIG SEDUCERS

Power, money and sex are the most dangerous seducers. Especially if there is a relation between them. Sex and money means prostitution, power and money (often) corruption, and power and sex often sex slavery.

SELF-DEIFICATION

It is our unconcious tendency to consider ourselves as a kind of god – how little it may be – that is responsible for the majority of our fallacies and misconceptions.”

(to be continued)

Canepei Street approaching my green house.

Front entrance to my house. The entire little front yard will be an English style flower garden with 10 rose bushes and other flowers.

The garage is on the West side of the house with the terrace (in Texas, it's called a back porch) facing NW.

Returning to Romania

People are asking, “What is your flight schedule?  Where will you fly from?  When will you arrive in Sfantu Gheorghe?”   Some are saying, “I’m concerned you won’t be safe traveling alone.”  So, here’s the latest info…

Tuesday, Aug 11, at 3:10 p.m., KLM Airlines takes me from San Francisco to Amsterdam in 10 1/2 hours!  After a 2 hour layover there, I go to Bucharest.  Using air miles, I upgraded to Business Class which makes travel much easier. Eugen and Petronela Ana, (new friends that I met through the American missionary in Bucharest) will pick me up at the Bucharest airport 4:50 p.m., Wednesday.

The Anas invited me to spend Wednesday night with them.  Thursday morning, Adolf will pick me up and bring me back to Sfantu Gheorghe.  I don’t know my arrival time, but I think we will be back in town by 15:00. Yes, I will be safe the entire trip even though I am traveling “alone.”

But what I’m coming to learn is that when I choose to walk with Jesus, I am never alone.  And, no matter what happens, I will be okay.  Sounds rather air-headed to some people.  But think about Dan…he is okay now.  He is well.  He is free.  He is alive in Heaven.  And, look at me…I am able to grieve my loss but my faith in Jesus is keeping me safe.  I don’t have to sit in a dark room and cry all day.  I do cry, but most of the time I save my grief for when other people are not around.  And God gives me joyful things to think about after I have finished crying for that moment.  — Anne

HERE  ARE MORE OF THE  “100 Little Thoughts About God, Man and Society,” by Dr. Dick van Geet, Utrecht, Holland.

THE LOST CODE

Man is like standing in front of a safe that contains the secret meaning of life. But alas, the code word is lost. Now what to do. One could try thousands of combinations, but the chance of finding the successful key word is extremely small. One could invite the most brilliant scientists, but intelligence will not be very helpful. The only possibility is: wait until someone turns up with the pretention that he knows the right code and subsequently applies this code hoping it will work. See whether it can really open the safe.

During 2500 years brilliant philosophers have tried to open ‘the safe of existence’  but without convincing success. So let us stop trying to pull ourselves up on our own hairs and let us apply the ‘codes’ that we received. Whoever seriously tries the ‘keys’ will soon discover that there is only one key that suits precisely and that can open up the safe. Only Christianity explains why we exist, why there is  good and evil and what is the difference between them, why we have to die, etc.”

(to be continued)

All Is Well

Today, almost overwhelmed by all there is to do in order to be ready, I was feeling a bit lost.  New things keep cropping up, i.e., a large debit  on Dan’s business bank account by a company that I’d not seen any papers about.  But after an hour of searching, there it was.  It has something to do with his business.  I had too much on my mind to remember to call the company in Florida before their offices closed today.  At 2 p.m. here, their office clock said 5 p.m., and they were gone until Monday.

And what did I read in God Calling, by Russell, as part of my devotional this morning…ALL IS WELL was the title —  “My Keeping Power is never at fault, but only your realization of it.  Not whether I can provide a shelter from the storm, but your failure to be sure of the security of that shelter.  Every fear, every doubt is a crime against my love.  Oh, children, trust.  Practice  daily, many times a day, saying ‘All if well.’  Say it until you believe it, know it.”  All is well.  All is well. The interruptions will cease…or I will ignore them…and I will get on that plane next Tuesday to go back to my home in Sfantu Gheorghe, Romania.  All is well.  — Anne

God created the waters

LIMITATIONS

The ultimate cause of our problems and fallacies is an incomplete awareness of our limitations. We use to  overestimate our observations, our thinking and our influence considerably. This might be a result of our tendency to self-idolization.

LOVE

Real love transcends the visible, temporal, actual situation. It sees the genuine. That which  is real, essential, that which will last.

THE MEANING OF LIFE

The solution of the mystery of life cannot be found, solved by intelligent reasoning.

— from “100 Little Thoughts about God, Man and Society,” in Memory of Dan Boyd by Dr. Dick van Geet, Utrecht, Holland

God created the mountains, rocks and plants...and God created you and me. ALL IS WELL.

Influence, Knowledge of God, Light According to Dan

OUR INFLUENCE

Sometimes we say: I am doing so little in my life; my life is of hardly any importance. But we forget that we are only one person ourself. So if we really help one other person we have already doubled ourself. Moreover: what will be the long-run result of our activities ? Once an old grandmother lost her child and taught her grandson reading by the only book she possessed, the Bible. She thought she had done nothing that was worthwhile in her life. But much later this boy became president of the U.S.A. and ablolished slavery, as he said because he remembered this book and his grandmothers teaching. His name was Abraham Lincoln!

KNOWLEDGE OF GOD

1. Maybe men want to know more about God than he needs for himself or his fellow-men. Maybe we have just as much knowledge as we needed. What God has hidden we should not struggle to know.

2. If I really love someone no one has to describe to me in detail how he or she really is. So why do we want a precise description of how God is like ?

LIGHT

If someone is sitting in a dark room and you suggest to turn the light on, you would be surprised if he answered: ‘No, I don’t believe in electricity’ or: ‘No, it is not dark’ or ‘why, what is the use of light’. You would doubt his mental health. But this is what many people used to do if you talk with them about Christ. Maybe it is because you only realize it was dark after the light was turned on. Christ could be considered as the electric point.

— Dr. Dick van Geet, Utrecht, Holland

Today the sun came out just as I was leaving the house to go to Pacifica and Daly City, CA. It was so interesting to see the different colors the ocean took on –  grey where the clouds were thick overhead, rich blue where no clouds were hiding the sun.  It’s that way with our soul perhaps?

It took 7 hours to run errands in preparation for my trip Tuesday to Sfantu Gheorghe, Romania. I did take time at noon to order a veggie and cheese sandwich at the local deli.  Then I took it to Starbucks for a cup of rooibos hot tea to go with my sandwich.

Tonight I sent out an e-newsletter to U.S. friends to let them know I’m leaving for Sfantu Gheorghe, Romania, next Tuesday.  And, now, it’s time to put Sparky (the dog) in his box for the night, let Rainbow (the cat) in, and put me in bed.  — Anne

The sky was ablaze over the Pacific this evening.

Serious Packing Begins

Today was a day of quiet reflection. The house was quiet.  It created the atmosphere I needed to feel what is deep inside. The scripture God gave me was  part of Stephen’s sermon in Acts 7 (vs. 7), ” ‘Leave your country and your people,’  God said, ‘and go to a land I will show you.’ ”   It is no coincidence that my Bible opens to that passage often.

Today began with grey fog.  Later the sun burned the fog away.  But clouds were hiding the sun when I managed to get down to the beach.  I stayed for 1 1/2 hours watching the quiet swells rolling towards land, breaking into 12′ – 15′ high waves before they hit the shore.  The rhythm of the waves relaxed every muscle in my body.

When, I came back to the house, I worked at not doing any packing.  Moving is stressful for me.  I normally put it off as long as possible.  So, I am beginning early.  Tomorrow I hope to get my International Driver’s license at AAA, get my hair trimmed, buy groceries, let the chiropractor work on my sore shoulders…and pack some more!  With God’s help, step by step, doing one thing at a time ,  I’ll be ready to fly half way around the world to Romania next Tuesday.  — Anne

And, now, more from “100 Little Thoughts About God, Man, and Society,” written by Dr. Dick van Geet in memory of Dan and the conversations they had during 49 years of friendship:

IMPORTANCE

Looking back in my life I discover this: what seemed extremely important to me afterwards often turned out of little value. While matters of seemingly secondary importance appeared  to contain the real thing. Many troubles you can hardly remember, but you remember quite well  the friend who helped you to overcome them.

INFERIORITY AND SUPERIORITY

Who believes in the creation cannot consider himself as inferior. Nor as superior.

Man is well-created

Remember the words of Genesis where repeatedly was said: ‘And God created… and saw it was good’.  Now we believe that God also created every human being. So if we combine the two it reads: ‘And God created Tom Brown and saw it was good’ Or: ‘And God created Elisabeth… and saw it was good’. Many people have identity problems because they do not really believe the above. If they just realised, deep in their hearts, that it was God’s will that they exist and that He created them well, as a unique person, no one could convince them that they are not worthwhile, not OK. But of course this is only true under one condition: that you really are or try to become as you are meant by God. That you stop comparing yourself with others and also stop believing all the people that are telling you that you are nothing or not worthwhile. But most people believe more in the judgment of other people (as if those people are gods) than in the creation by God. — (to be continued)

Our LST Reader, Kati, a 2nd grade school teacher, asked for Hungarian Children's Bibles for her school, but we did not have enough to go around. Maybe next year?

“100 Little Thoughts about God, Man and Society”

Written by Dr. Dick van Geet in memory of Dan. These thoughts are the “tiny purple drops” resulting from 49 years of deep conversations that Dick and Dan began when we were next door neighbors in Utrecht, Holland.

HAPPINESS

1. The expression ‘happy few’ should be replaced by ‘lucky few’. It is not richness nor success that makes someone happy.

2. You want to be happy? Forget your ego !

HEAVEN

1. Our image, our idea about  heaven often is just a simple extrapolation of our earthly experiences. Or projections or desires. With bad reasons!

2. How full is heaven?

Some people say: If something like a heaven might exist it would be a rather busy place with so many people. So they mean: it cannot exist. But did they ever hear from Immanuel Kant ?  The famous philosopher said: Space is just a form of observation; we cannot do without it but it does not belong to the ‘real reality’ (‘Ding an sich’). Said in a popular way: In heaven there is no such thing as space, so the whole problem is illusionary, it does not exist. A problem like fullness cannot occur there.

HONOUR AND POWER

In principal there is enough of everything for everyone. But if we have to divide honour or power there is  never  enough.

IMAGE OF GOD

1. Making ourself  an image or conception of God (and we all do) is a kind of using his name in vain.

(to be continued)

And how is Anne?  People are wondering, guessing, being concerned.  Anne has benefitted from deep healing grief recovery therapy, and is doing well.  I’m thankful that I have no more lethargy.  I still, and always will, miss my Dan.  He was my soul mate who helped me learn more about God, more about God’s love and grace, who helped me walk closer with Jesus.  Now, I commune with God daily, am comforted by Him.  God promised to be a husband to the widows.  He will provide what I need.  The adventure called “Life” goes on for me. — Anne

I hope there will be flowers around the monument of Hungarian leaders on the pavilion in front of the House of Culture in Sfantu Gheorghe when I arrive.

A Glimpse of More of Dan’s Conversations with Dr. Dick van Geet

Much to my delight, the rest of the “100 Thoughts” Dr. van Geet wrote down in memory of Dan have surfaced.  These made it through Cyberspace to my computer last week.   Both Dick and I will appreciate any thoughts you may have about these statements.  May these thoughts draw you closer to God.

GOOD AND EVIL

1. ‘There is not such a thing as good and evil’, the naturalist said: ‘it is just an illusionary invention of human beings’. But by teaching us this ‘truth’ he was convinced to make a good statement about what he considerd as a wrong (evil) misconception; thus refuting his own statement.

2. Evil is not an exclusive quality of any nation, race, political system, doctrine or theory. It hides in every human being, in human being as such. It can awake in any person, in any place, in any nation, in any race. No person or group has a monopoly.

GOOD DEEDS

Every real good action, any good deed makes a person a little bit better. Any bad deed a bit worse. But good means: done without self-interest, without the hope of a reward, be it in this life or after.

GUIDANCE

The Spirit is always trying to guide us to our destiny, to the person that was intended when we were created. This applies to every human being, not only the believers. Follow this Path, follow your bliss, nothing is more important. But both the outside worlds as well as our eagerness and greediness are continuously trying to send us in another, a wrong direction.

–more to follow.

A precious young mother wrote today, “How is your heart?  How is your spirit?”  My heart misses Dan; my spirit is subdued.  But I feel very blessed today.  This afternoon, my family honored me with a going away party.  Over 30 friends from church and the area came to learn about the work of God’s Children in Romania.   As I told of how God is letting me serve Him in Romania, I felt a deep joy, a sense of direction…a reconfirmation that Sfantu Gheorghe, Romania, is where God intends for me to be.

— Anne

Dick and Hanny with Dan near their home in Holland

Anne, with Dick, & Hanny at their home in  Austria

In Memory of Dan, Part 7

100 Little Thoughts About God,

Man and Society

about subjects I had the privilege to discuss with my dear friend Dan Boyd during 48 years

By Dr. Dick van Geet, Utrecht, Holland

Dick & Dan talked while hiking in the Austrian Alps

“FATHER IN HEAVEN OR UNCLE IN HEAVEN

1. Are we taking ‘Our Father in Heaven really serious ?

It is prayed all around the world every (sun)day: ‘our father in heaven…’. But do we really believe such a thing ? How seriously are we taking it ?

A father is the source and cause of your existence. Someone whose characteristics you have inherited, whose genes you received. Do we really believe that ? Or do we only believe in someone who takes good care of us, who protects us and maybe guides us ? Of course the latter is of the utmost importance. But a father is more. Aren’t we in fact praying: ‘Our good uncle in heaven… ?’ Maybe we only start realizing who we really are when we start considering our Father in heaven as our real Father and live in accordance with the One we stem from. Until that moment we just remain part of the earth.

2. For someone who had terrible experiences with his (earthly) father it might be hard to have any positive association with the idea of a father at all: it is connected with huge negative thoughts; the word father is almost synonymous with the word tyrant. For him or her more ‘mother-type religions’ might be more attractive.

3. Maybe we should substitute praying ‘give us today our daily bread’ for ‘give the hungry people daily bread and save us for our eating-seduction.’

4. Some people say: ’children are punished because of the sins of their fathers’. But how could they say such a thing if they also state that God is our Father. By definition He has no sins!

FREEDOM

1.  Free Will and Determinism are not contradictions.

2.  Trying to do the will of God is not slavery.

3.  Stimulating other people (children, friends, subordinated, etc. to think and act freely should not be confused with expecting them to use their free will by thinking and doing as we would like them to do.”

This concludes the thoughts so lovingly contributed by our dear friend, Dr. Dick van Geet, with whom we have shared so much.  Thank you, Dick and Hanny, for standing by us, encouraging us all these years.  — Anne

ABOUT ANNE – Today I actually got out of the house to run errands.  The drive was pleasant, but suddenly I felt so sad without Dan beside me.  Peet’s coffee tasted good, but memories of sitting at sidewalk cafes, drinking coffee with Dan flooded my mind.  I cried the entire time the car was going through the car wash.  There is no way to schedule tears.  Rejecting tears can drown a person. Thank you, Father, for helping me make it through this. — Anne

In Memory of Dan, Part 6

100 Little Thoughts About God,

Man and Society

By Dr. Dick van Geet, Utrecht, Holland

Dr. Dick van Geet

ETERNAL CREATURES

We say about ourselves (and other human beings): ‘When I was 20 years old…’. Or: ‘when I went to China in 1995’ etc. But how can we say such a thing ? Who is this I ? No single cell in our body is the same as when I was twenty. Or when I went to China. Or when I was a child etc. So was this no other man ? No, the remarkable thing is: how much I might have changed, how much my body is totally different, it was nevertheless me. It was the same person. A  person basically remains unchanged. Does this not convincingly prove  that we not fall together with our bodies, but that we transcend our bodies ? That we are more than bodies and in fact eternal creatures ?

ETERNAL LIFE

If life would end with death, if there is no eternal life, in the last resort everything is meaningless.

ETERNITY

Eternity should not be confused with a ‘very long time’. It is timelessness and that is a thing we cannot imagine.

EVIL

1. An apple that has fallen from a tree will start rotting after some time.The same might happen to us and to our thinking and behaving if we fall from our Tree.

2. Don’t say people don’t have love. On the contrary, most of them have plenty of it. If you watch man carefully you will see that most people love themselves with their whole mind, their whole heart and their whole soul. Loving yourself is good, but if that is all and nothing is left for God and your neighbour we have arrived at the basic cause and principle of all evil.

EVOLUTION

According to evolution theory our senses and brains are just accidental products of evolution. But tell me, with what did we invent this very theory itself ? Yes, with  these accidental products. Formulated otherwise: if evolution had turned out a bit differently – and why shouldn’t it  – our senses and brains would have been differently and we might have invented a completely different theory ! So how could this theory claim absolute truth ? Is the evolution theory hence not contradictory in itself ?

About Anne –  today was a better day, sun all day, worked indoors on notifying agencies and companies, and  Social Security that Dan has passed from this life.  It took 4 phone calls and an 8 minute wait before I spoke with anyone at So.Sec. (It was very painful, but the calls have to be made.) I also had to stop a charge on Dan’s credit card that someone we don’t know made today.  But I did get outside at 5 p.m. for a 45 minute walk in the sun.  I’m okay.  I work awhile, then I cry a little, then I work some more, and then I cry some more.  God will help me through this. — Anne

After a 45 minute hike up a trail above a sheer cliff, Dick took a photo of Hanny, Dan and Anne where we had lunch in Austria.

Dick and Dan out for a walk near Groebmning, Austria.

In Memory of Dan, Part 5

100 Little Thoughts About God,

Man and Society

by Dr. Dick van Geet, Utrecht, Holland

“Anne,  How nice that you include some ‘little thoughts’ in your blogs! It would even be nicer if there might come any reactions. Especially critical ones would be most welcome, like Dan and I also not always had identical opinions (although we shared quite a lot of convictions). And we could really talk about everything !  — Dick”

DIMENSIONS

1. How many dimensions ?

We know three dimensions. But maybe there ‘are’ much more dimensions than we think, maybe 4, or 5. Or 10 or 100. Why strictly speaking not ? We should realize we have been created in a special way, why should we have been created in such a way that we are capable of seeing all there is ? Therefore we should not be surprised that we cannot see God. Or just see him in a way that is comparable with the way a one- or two-dimensional being sees us: as a flat creature. If this possibility cannot be excluded, it also means that God could guide us in a way we are not capable to understand. Even if it looks at first sight unreasonable or unfair. When you look from below to a lighthouse you get the impression that someone is constantly turning the light on and off; from ‘below’ you can’t see what really happens.

2. There has often been a lot of talk about the ‘fourth dimension‘; especially since Einstein. What about the idea that the Spirit and the Guidance of God is this dimension, being a decisive factor underlying the whole three-dimensional reality ?

DISTANCE TO GOD

If space is just an element of the creation and doesn’t exist outside it, this would mean that God could be unendlessly near to us.

EDUCATION

1. A possible danger of religious education could be that answers are given before the questions have come up. Hence the answers could have less power. Only he who has been terribly thirsty can really understand the meaning of water.

2. Asking more from a child than corresponds with his capabilities (e.g. by choosing a too difficult school) means critizing the way he or she is created and hence critisizing God

THE END OF TIME

If time is only existing on this earth, it would mean that there is no time difference between the coming of Christ at the end of history and in our personal life (after our death). The point of time of our death is the same as  the end of history; everything occurs in the same ‘moment.’  The ‘death’ will not have to wait.”

About Anne –  I have so much paper work to do – notify Social Security, Medicare, our secondary health insurance company, and on and on and on.  Tears come easily, but I do not sit in a dark room crying day and night. Some work, some tears – God will help me get to where He wants me to be.  — Anne

Jesus calmed the waves in the sea...and now calms the storms in our lives.