I remember traveling to Angola a few years back. My business travel was nearly postponed due to a lethal virus causing Marburg hemorrhagic fever in some villages in Angola, close to the Congolese border. This virus is closely related to the Ebola virus but with an even higher mortality rate. The reports from the villages were absolute devastating. The virus was causing a terrible death and striking the people in the villages hard. The company I travelled for gave me the option not to go, but as the danger of being infected was considered to be like zero I went. And I had some interesting weeks in the beautiful city of Luanda.

My favorite movie this Christmas holiday is Inception with Leonardo DiCaprio in the role as Mr Codd, the main character. In the opening scene Mr Codd is saying:
“What is the most resilient parasite? A bacteria? A virus? An intestinal worm?
An idea – Resilient – Highly contagious.
Once an idea has taken hold of the brain, it’s almost impossible to eradicate.
An idea that is fully formed, fully understood, that sticks.”

And I am thinking it’s all biblical. There are thoughts that should be planted and there are thoughts that should be renewed, removed and replaced.

King Solomon, considered one of the wisest men that ever lived, said the following about the human being:
“For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.”

In Inception this is furthermore discussed:
“And the smallest seed of an idea can grow. It can grow to define or destroy you.”

I am voting for the good thoughts… and building up my immune system to fight the bad ones.

Virus illustration found online.

In accordance to the Bible it all started with Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden. From this point onwards all kinds of things happened. All the animals and the creation were in place and then there is the love story with the two first people and their relationship with God.

I found this interesting article online about marriage. A study at Michigan State University has come to some fascinating conclusions. Associate professor of psychology S. Alexandra Burt says:

«Marriage is generally good for men, at least in terms of reducing antisocial behavior, but the data also indicate that it’s not random who enters into the state of marriage.»

The study has been done on male twin pairs and looks into the genetic side of things as well as levels of antisocial behavior.

And I just wonder. This was the first thing God saw after creating us:

The LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”

Then there were fellowship, some kind of balance and it all got more exciting and difficult… And for sure it is not for all to get married, but the study in Michigan kind of concludes that it is the more social men that get married, and from there they get even “lower level of antisocial behavior”.

And I wonder. Maybe there is some correlation with the female behaviour here. There is for sure a tendency in many women to try to influence men, trying to help them out with things they never wanted help for. In a way it gives the woman a definite feeling of belonging and purpose.

I just wonder.

It is boring to be bored. It is extremely sad to be sad. It is fun to be funny.

I once read an article online about the benefits of boredom. It is said to be fruitful because it makes you creative. So boredom is supposedly something that should be useful, and I should feel happy, but it only makes me feel even more bored. At the top of this I think I am boring and I might even bore others with these thoughts.

It is interesting to realize that this is a new word. You don’t find it in the Bible. Actually some research has led me to find that this word wasn’t used until the nineteen century. And then it was said to be a sin. Imagine that. The reason for this: Boredom leads to dangerous decisions. People get desperate; they invent new lethal weapons, write new crazy ideas and jump from planes.

Even if it is dangerous I think it is smart to let both grown-ups and children get bored every now and then these days. We need to develop our creativity, and then of course, the creativity should to some degree be supervised to avoid the most dangerous results.

I do get new ideas when I am bored, but I also do try to test them on the source, or try to think about both the source of the idea and the consequences of doing something with the idea. Maybe God was bored when he created the heavens and the earth?

«In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.»

And then he must have had a lot of fun.

God's Hand

Photo taken by NASA’s space-based Chandra Observatory telescope.

I am star-struck. From a dictionary I find the definition of this word: «fascinated and greatly impressed by famous people.» And I have concluded that’s the diagnosis of my condition just now.

I met two really beautiful and great women last week. Both of them are famous and have during many years achieved great things in their lives. I had the honour of meeting one of these in person. She has done amazing work for the poor and needy. Her work has touched thousands of children’s lives and met needs in a poor country, and she still aims for bigger goals. The other one is a celebrity within the music industry. She has sung her way to thousands of hearts and still does. She is using her gift to uplift the people she sings to. She is singing out the life she’s got on the inside.

Both of these women are directing the attention to somebody greater than themselves. Both of them are giving God the glory for their gifting, their accomplishment and their energy. Both of them are stretching to reach even further, to see even greater crowds of people being helped, comforted, encouraged and blessed.

And I am star-struck and I am thinking: What is beauty?

Paul wrote something interesting about women’s appearance in the Bible. He was saying something about decency and not focusing too much on the outward. Was he against beautiful women? I think not. I mean, he was living in the Middle East and the women there are smashing and fabulous. But he is directing the attention to what beauty really is:

“…adorning themselves, not with elaborate hairstyles or gold or pearls or expensive clothes, but with good deeds, appropriate for women who profess to worship God.”

Photo: Magnar Børnes, www.magnarbornes.com

On November 13 this year Aung San Suu Kyi was released from house arrest. The last 21 years she has spent 15 of them in her house in Burma. Time magazine’s November issue covers her story and quotes what she said in her famous “Freedom of Fear” speech two decades ago:
“It is not power that corrupts but fear… Fearlessness may be a gift, but perhaps more precious is the courage acquired through endeavor, courage that comes from cultivating the habit of refusing not to let fear dictate one’s actions.”

I face this type of challenge in my life in different ways, and I think we all do. There are different kinds of fear and there are different ways of handling the fear. I might be locked up in a prison of fear, I might ignore the fear, I might face the fear and I might fight to overcome the fear.

Through all kinds of training and psychological techniques we might be able to overcome different specific fear, for instance fear of spiders, flying, hights, commitment, sickness and what have you. But as Aung San Suu Kyi is stating, the freedom is in not letting the fear dictate your actions.

The Bible is talking a lot about freedom and fearlessness. Paul writes in one of his letters:
‘It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.’

Safe with her dad

In the TV series Prison Break Michael Scofield is working hard using his brilliant engineer skills to get his brother out of prison. Describing Michael’s strong love for his brother Lincoln the series is both exciting and challenging. Lincoln is not always acting wise and he is not the nicest boy in class, but he is innocent. Michael is ready to do anything to get him out. 

The concept of prison is interesting. I discussed this with a lawyer starting with the sentence: «I’m thinking about how it is to be in prison.»  My friend looked at me and went: «Do I have to worry now?» But the subject was really not why you go to prison but what happens to you when you’re there. You have the physical boundaries, but what about the mental boundaries?

Recently the famous boxer Rubin Carter, «the Hurricane», was interviewed on TV on his experience of 22 years in prison. He said something like this: ‘I never became a prisoner. I never became guilty.’ Even in solitude he had kept his regular clothing and he never gave in to get better conditions. He knew he was innocent.

If I am innocent and not guilty I should act as a free person regardless the circumstances. Sometimes I think I am in my own prison. I should then realize the doors are open and that I can freely walk outside.

Jesus went all the way to set us free even taking the punishment to liberate us. I should embrace that. And I should visit people that are in prison and try to get them out.

The Bible tells us that this is the mission of the Messiah (Christ):

‘He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners,’

Sunset at Grand Canyon

Photo: Erlend Krumsvik, www.naturlegvis.no

English version follows after the illustration.

Det er mange menneske som strever med å finne tilhørighet i livet. Alle leter etter den store kjærligheten, og når man innimellom har funnet den, leter man videre etter noe annet. Ukebladene og avisene i vår del av verden er fulle av tematikk rundt lykke. Hva er lykke? Og stadig er det en som kommer opp med en spenstig ny formulering. At lykken kanskje ikke handler om lykke, eller noe sånt.

Det hele peker for meg på de sentrale spørsmålene som handler om fred i hjertet, tilhørighet og hensikt.

I Bibelen sier Gud at han har skapt oss i sitt bilde, og at vi hører til hos han. En erkjennelse av det skaper en stabilitet på innsiden, en tro på fremtiden og et overskudd i hverdagen som savner sidestykke. Det er min personlige erfaring.

‘Og Gud skapte mennesket i sitt bilde, i Guds bilde skapte han det, til mann og kvinne skapte han dem.’

Jeg er ikke typen til å sitte i en blomstereng og lytte til fuglesangen mer enn, la oss si 30 minutter, men i dag har jeg lyst til å gi plass til et nydelig dikt som beskriver hva det hele handler om. Det er et dikt av Jan-Magnus Bruheim:

Å vera

Å vera ein blom
og ikkje veta um venleiken sin –

Å vera ein stein
og kjenne små kravlande kryp
som kjærtegn mot harde steinhud,
og kjenne solstrålar leike
som barnefingrar
over det kalde kinn.
Um steinen har hjarte
må det ikkje slå av lukke?

Å vera ei grein
og kjenne den lette tyngd
av småfugleføter i millom lauvet.
Må ikkje treet drøyme
det sviv til himmels
i fuglesongen?

Å vera eit menneske,
femne det heile,
ta det inn til sitt hjarte,
og gle seg ved dette:
Å vera.

Foto: Magnar Børnes, www.magnarbornes.com

To Fit In

Many people struggle to find affiliation in life. Everybody searches for the love of their life, and when they have found it, they search for something new. Magazines and newspaper in our part of the world are full of articles on happiness. What is happiness? And constantly somebody comes up with some new definition. Maybe happiness doesn’t have to do anything with happiness, or something like that.

For me it all points in the direction of the big questions related to peace at heart, affiliation and purpose.

The Bible tells us that God has created us in his own image/picture and that we belong to him.  A realization of this creates stability on the inside, confidence related to the future and energy in the everyday life like nothing else. That is my personal experience.

‘So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.’

I am not the type of person you find in a field of flower listening to the birds singing for more that, let’s say 30 minutes. But today I want to give room for a beatiful norwegian poem that describes what’s it all about. It is written by Jan-Magnus Bruheim.

I would really destroy it if I tried to translate it. But it is about a flower that doesn’t know its beauty, it’s about a rock that would feel happiness if it could feel the insects and sun at its surface, it’s about a branch of a tree that should enjoy a bird sitting on it. And it is describing that a human being should let it all in and just enjoy being – a human being. 

English version follows after the illustration.

Folk sier: ”Ting tar tid”. Og dermed er det liksom slått fast, og man kan ikke kunne gjøre noe med det. Men ”Eg beliter meg ikkje”, som bergenserne sier. Det må da gå an å få ting til å skje raskere? Noen artikler i avisen fikk meg også til å reflektere over dette. Selskaper som jobber med å få resultater, endringer til å skje og så videre. Det må gå over tid. Det skjer sjelden over natten.  En metode innen logistikk og lager snakker om ’Just in time’. For å unngå lager og kostnader ved å ha ting på lager, skal ting leveres bare akkurat i tide. Kort forklart.

Jeg tenker på Noah. Han visste han skulle bygge en båt og han begynte å bygge. Ille nok at det var midt på tørre landet. Noe tyder på at det tok hundre år. 100 år! Tenk for en påkjenning det var for han å få spørsmålene fra naboene; spørsmål om når den skulle bli ferdig, hva han egentlig holdt på med og hva det skulle være godt for hele greien.

Det er vanskelig å forstå seg på tid. Når er det riktig timing? En forretningsmann jeg snakket med sa at han alltid hadde bommet med sine gründerselskaper: ”Jeg er dårlig på timing. Jeg har alltid vært litt for tidlig ute.”

Jesus sa også noe til brødrene sine da de maste på han at han burde dra opp til en av høytidene i Jerusalem:
’Min tid er ennå ikke kommet, men for dere er det alltid den rette tid.’

Gud har greie på tid. Paulus skriver:
’Men i tidens fylde sendte Gud sin Sønn.’

Kanskje jeg må belite meg likevel. Tid for å justere klokken.

Tegnet på avtalen

Just in time

Some things demands a lot of time. People tend to say: ’It takes time!’ and by that it’s all said and you can do nothing. I don’t approve. There has to be a way to make things happen quickly? Some pieces in the newspaper made me reflect on this too; companies that try to achieve big goals, changes that should be done and so on. It all needs time. Rarely does it happen over night. ‘Just in time’ is a well known process within fabrication and logistics. In order to avoid big costs related to warehouse and storage, everything should be delivered just in time. In short.

I’m thinking about Noah in the Bible. He knew he was building this big boat and he got going. It was bad enough that it was on dry land. Something tells us it might have taken one hundred years. 100 years!  Imagine the burden of getting all the questions and comments from the neighborhood; when will it be finished, what are you thinking and what’s the point?

Time is a concept it is difficult to understand. What’s the right timing? I talked to a business man that always has struggled with this. He told me: “I am not good at timing. I have always kicked off too early.”

Jesus told his brothers something as they were nagging him about going up to Jerusalem for the festival:
‘My time is not yet here; for you any time will do.’

God, who has created us in the concept of time, will always come at the right time. Paul writes:
‘But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son’

Maybe I have to approve after all. It’s time to adjust my watch.