HEART OF WISDOM

HEART OF WISDOM


"Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom." A psalm of Moses (90:12)



I turned another year old today. But I really stopped celebrating birthdays after 16. I wanted to stay there forever. Sometimes I think I am. Anyway, it's a time where I'm reminded of how precious life is (not that I forget on ordinary days): to know and be known by the Maker of the Universe; to love and be loved by an incredible woman; to belong to an awesome family; and to dwell in the sweetest country. Such is my lot.



What does it mean to be Papua New Guinean? We were deliberately placed here by God. He didn't randomly chuck us here. Or throw us into the air and see where we'd land on Earth. He deliberately decided I'd be Papua New Guinean. He could've made me Jewish so I'd be real smart. Or German so I'd be real tough. Or African so I could run marathons. Or Jamaican so I could run fast. He made me here, before I was even conceived. Before the foundations of the Earth, He decided to make me PNGean.


I didn't ask Him for this. I couldn't walk up to His drawing table and make corrections to His earlier designs of me. It was all on Him. In that infinite wisdom of His, He decided this. He must have had a plan. Surely better plans than I could ever have. And so here I am. Here we are. I’ve been a Papua New Guinean for 10,227 days. I'm learning to number my days. Maybe so I can gain a heart of wisdom. Just like Moses said.



Speaking of Wisdom, maybe this a good time to tell of 2 of my life verses: (1) "If any of you lacks wisdom let him ask of God who gives liberally and without reproach." [James 1:5]. (2) "So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?" ~ Solomon [1 Kings 3:9]


We don't seem to seriously seek wisdom these days. We think a modern information-age education is synonymous with wisdom. Far from it. Solomon's wisdom was a direct result of his prayer. It was God who gave him wisdom, increased his powers of observation and guided his learning. As a result he could recognized reality correctly and make calls that have stood true and profound through the ages.Here's my definition of wisdom: wisdom is the true understanding of truth and reality, for the accurate utility of knowledge, to the perpetual and eternal benefit of man, for the ultimate glory of God.


Foolishness is therefore knowledge un-girded by truth, not perpetually beneficial to man, and un-glorifying to God. And our knowledge is wreaked with those 3 negative characteristics. My definition of truth is "reality translated into information." If information does not accurately correspond to reality, it is not truth.


We need truth. But to discern truth one must have wisdom. Why is truth vital? Because without it we don't have an accurate grasp on reality. We haven't yet recognized the problems to even begin addressing them. If we are honest enough we'd realize that we're far from correctly discerning reality. We do not have truth. We're groping for answers and pathways but we don't know where or what the obstacles are. Nor do we know where we're going. We're blind. But we don't know it, because we have not seen the light. We don't know if there should be a difference.


We mistake digress for progress. Up for down. Childishness for manliness. Weakness for strength. Good for bad. Lies for truth. We celebrate vices and scoff virtues. Darkness for light. Revenge for justice. Insanity for freedom.


Today we're surrounded by leaders who think they know enough to not need wisdom. And so we have a nation that has every indication of a lost and degenerating society. And yet we glorify ourselves in our foolishness.


If we would only humbly ask God for wisdom we could probably figure out how to run our country better. My prayer is that these life verses will become cornerstones of the daily prayers of young people of PNG. That more would be constantly asking God for a heart of wisdom and the ability to distinguish between right and wrong. That they'd seek after His Word and read into books to gain a correct understanding of reality.


We would do well to seek wisdom above all things. Like precious and rare rubies. Like treasures stashed in some secret place, requiring vigilant seeking, and asking and knocking.


A nation of wise people per our Vision 2050 is an impossible dream if our youths are not interested in gaining a heart of wisdom.


Heavenise day!


Ganjiki

NATIONAL DOCUMENTS SHOULD BE COMPULSORY READING

For some inspirational and nationalistic reading, try the Constitutional Planning Committee Report.

It's one of the most inspiring documents you as a Papua New Guinean could ever read. It contains the ideals of a new nation. An attempt at harmonising conflicting values of diverse cultures and a modern western-influenced world.

It will also tell you where we went wrong. We set for ourselves a goal. We wrote it down. But as soon as we started the journey our drivers threw out the roadmap and tried to figure it out on their own. As a result we've had successive governments simply continuously trying to undo the work of the previous, and trying their own thing every time. And we have a people who don't know what we started out to do so we don't know how to get our government back on track.

The CPC Report should be compulsory reading for every person (citizen or not), in the PNG education system. Without it and the without the Preamble of the Constituion being compulsory reading, we the people have ended up with a massive vacuum in our mindsets. Our philosophies are lacking a major component. And without that component we continue to be a lost people.

The Preamble of the Constitution is one of the most profound pieces of literature this nation owns. Its ideals are so sound it rivals the profundity of the American Declaration of Independence (at least in my view). The words can move you. The goals contained in the National Goals and Directive Principles are noble and perpetual. If our leaders would take those goals to heart they would realise what they're doing wrong. They'd change and start taking us where we need to go. (That's presuming they are remotely interested in taking us where we need to go).

So we are a nation of blind people being lead by blind leaders. We don't know where we're going and we want to get there real fast. We penned a vision, but threw it out as soon as we started the journey. Now we're travelling a hundred miles an hour not really going to a predetermined destination. We're circling a roundabout of conflicting visions and dreams imposed on us by leaders who want to make a name for themselves but end up mudding our nation's name.

So if you as a resident, or a citizen of this country, are interested in knowing what we should believe as a nation, and where we should be heading, and how we should get there, read the CPC Report and the Preamble of the Constitution.

It'll be worth it.

God bless PNG.

Ganjiki D Wayne
Patriots PngInc

Short Good Friday Message from Tokaut Tokstret

There are two kinds of people in the world: The Judases and the Peters.

On the night of His arrest both Judas and Peter betrayed Jesus. Perhaps one's betrayal was deadlier than the other, but they were both betrayals by Jesus's most "loyal" friends. After realizing their acts of treason, one went and hung himself, thinking his sin was beyond forgiveness. The other went and repented in shame, and became the Rock on which the church is being built.

Peter understood and received God's forgiveness. Judas thought God could never forgive him. I'm convinced if he repented like Peter, God would have forgiven him. Although Judas was born to betray Jesus, he wasn't outside of God's infinite grace and mercy. He only needed to believe and receive it.

You and I betray Jesus everyday, for we all sin and fall short of His glory.

Question is: Do you return like Peter, or are you slowly "hanging" yourself like Judas?

No matter how grave a sin you think you've committed, God's grace abounds above it.

Don't hang yourself...

I guess that's why it's called "Good" Friday. Despite all the bad things that happened, good triumphs above it all. That can even go for our soul.

Heavenise Good Friday

Ganjiki

A Confused World

By GDW

“You shall know the Truth, and the Truth shall set you free.”

~Jesus

We live in a morally confused world. Where philosophers tell us even the notion of morality is an irrelevant consideration in the makeup of society. "What you believe in private doesn't matter in public". So keep your  morality at home.

In the book of Genesis, in the Garden of Eden the Devil, through a serpent, tried to convince man he didn't need God to know good from bad, right from wrong. That we could be like God. Nothing has changed except the form of the devil’s messenger. The message is still the same. Now he just uses secular philosophers, high-powered media, politicians, and "special interest" groups to push this agenda, not mentioning Hollywood and the entertainment industry. They're excellent salesmen for a very bad product. And the world is totally buying it.

Meanwhile, the people who do have the best product to sell to the world are the most miserable salespeople. Christians are selling the Gospel short, through their lack of assertive communication and of course their (our) blatant hypocrisy. In fact they're even buying that dangerous product dished out by its aggressive salesmen.

The world thinks it can fix this itself without God. And people who believe in God are starting to believe that to be true too. We somehow think that by walking away from faith in the one who gives us a choice to believe in Him, we're becoming liberated, and somehow more advanced in our humanness.

But look around. See how lost we are. By being our own "god" we've almost blasted morality into oblivion, and inserted our own preferences for determining what's right and wrong. And we’re getting “loster”. We don't know what's right or wrong anymore. We go by the majority and by the loudest philosopher, like Oprah or Chopra. And grasp the air for some longer-lasting point of reference from which we can know what's right is really right. Because our private preferences are wearing thin. We say things like:

•   It’s ok if it feels good
•  As long as you aren’t hurting anybody else
• As long as the person you’re doing it to/with consents to it, it’s ok
• You have the power and freedom over your own body
•  Be yourself!
• Don’t be held down by religion. Be free.
•  Look out for yourself, your happiness is all that matters
•  If it makes sense to do it, do it!
•  God is what you say it is.
•  God only thinks it’s wrong if you hurt others

If you push those statements to their logical end, you’ll find a world of contradictions, inconsistencies, clashes and lies. Let’s talk through a few of them.  

“If it feels good it’s ok”. But for some people it feels good to kill others. It feels good to rape and taunt others. It feels good to hurt themselves. It doesn't work. So enter another assertion: “As long as you don’t hurt others”. But hurting others feels good. And besides, the other consents to it. So here he is, killing because he feels good, and the other consents, but the world doesn't know so the world prosecutes him. “Be yourself!” But he was being himself when he was raping the kids. He can’t reconcile that need to be himself with the need to not hurt others without their consent. “You have the power and freedom over your own body”, so kill that child in your body before it has a chance to breathe on its own. But then why are we concerned that people should live healthy lives? Or why do we try to discourage them from using drugs and wasting their lives? And when they want to commit suicide—which means consenting to your own death, and executing yourself, because you just want to be yourself and people won’t let you—we tell them no please call us on this hotline and we’ll talk about it first. And when they call we tell them “don’t do it!” Aren’t they entitled to do whatever they want with their live and just “be themselves”? Aren’t they being themselves? Maybe not existing anymore is better for them than existing miserably? They’re not “hurting” others right? And finally, God thinks it’s wrong only if you hurt others. But if God cares about not hurting others, how could He not care about you hurting yourself. Contradictions abound!

Back to the earliest line that’s supposed to dismiss even this kind of essay: “What you believe in private shouldn’t be shared in public!” So moral convictions should not be brought in to the public discussions about how society is shaped. Morality shouldn’t be a major factor in politics and social re-programming. But think about that statement; a self-contradictory statement: It is itself a private belief being shared publicly, in the attempt to discourage the public sharing of private beliefs, by private individuals. You might as well say “my opinion matters and not yours. My word is truth and not yours.”  

Secular teachings can get us into deep deep trouble. It cannot provide a coherent set of answers to life and society’s moral dilemmas.  You’ll have to amend the principles every time a situation changes.

One time at the crowded bus stop at Waigani a man had a carpenter’s saw sticking out of his back pack, bare and ready to slice an unaware commuter. I asked the man kindly to be careful about his saw as it may cut the others when we all rushed for a bus. His arrogant answer was “wari blong ol!” He couldn’t care less if someone got hurt by his equipment. But you wonder how his response would be if he was another commuter who did get hurt by the saw sticking out of someone else’s back pack. He would probably retaliate in anger at the person’s carelessness. He would have amended his “wari blo ol!” principle. In fact he would have completely about-faced on it.

And that’s what the secular world tells us: to amend every time the situation or some other variable (e.g. popular belief) changes.

Sure we can be "good", do "good" things and generally not do anything considered "evil" in this world. Even in a god-less state of mind. But if we push our self-induced morality to its ends, we'd likely find a whole heap of contradictions, and ultimate a weak foundation. Like houses built on sand instead of on rock.

And oh how we try to redefine God according to our preferences. Maybe He cares about this and not that. Maybe He thinks this way and not that. As if His nature is dependent on our beliefs. Like if I believed strong enough a stone will turn to bread. Some things can't be altered no matter what or how strongly we believe. Same for truth. We don't like it so we change its very definition, making it malleable.  We want "truth" that's amenable and subjective and relative...and of course convenient. But that isn't truth. Truth (a translation of reality into information), isn't dependent on our beliefs. It can't be changed. 

Ray Boltz, a Christian musician responsible for some of Christendom’s most popular songs such as “I Pledge Allegiance” and “Thank You (For giving to the Lord)”, came out publicly declaring that he was gay. Then he said, “If this is the way God made me, then this is the way I'm going to live." So he divorced his wife and pursued his homosexual practice. But did God really “make” him that way? Does God want Him to stay that way? He seems to have amended God’s character without God’s consent, only to suit his sexual proclivities. It would have been better if he said clearly that “there is no God”.

The question "Is there a God?" can only be answered "yes" or "no". We can't ever say "it depends!" Yet the most intelligent people and nations in the world would say "it depends". If yes, does He give us our moral code? Did He write them in the deepest crevices of our souls that we can know it without knowing Him? If no He doesn’t exist, then no problem. Everything is permissible. And anything that is not permissible must be explained to be not permissible. If it depends, then morality is just a matter of “it depends”. It depends on anything: feelings, gains, science, security, happiness, selfishness, pleasure, pain, etc. etc. etc. 

A moral code keeps people from freedoms they think they must have to be happy. Renowned atheist Aldous Huxley said it himself, betraying that the true reason for people like him rejecting a God-ordained morality is their selfish lusts. “We objected to the morality because it interfered with our sexual freedom.” (in Ends and Means).

That kind of world, Papua New Guinea, can get as confusing as confusion can get. Yet it seems to be what the world wants. As a nation we would do well to steer clear of it.

Heavenise day!

Ganjiki

Akwinamak

Akwinamak

27/02/13

This day o'er two decades ago

While I was just learning to talk

Looking softly and tenderly

The infinite God He spoke 

"I shall make for this son a helper

A companion, his steady staff

A pillar of strength

His prime care giver"

And so she arrived

To tend with me this garden

Bred in central modesty

Guided by His Majesty

She waltzed into my vision

With a brethren's acute description

"Talk to the hand" said she

First attempt, oh poor me!

But love and curiosity grew

So much so that she consented

To hear me pledge allegiance

"Forsaking all others" I commented

This bride, me she dazzled

This man of many words 

I am left baffled

That God would give me this masterpiece

Carved by Mercy

She forgives my faults

Seasoned by truth

She affirms belief

Endowed with strength 

Steadies a shaky pace

Gives pause for wisdom's embrace

With drops of compassion

She points to vital burden

With wings of peace

She steadies my storm 

Her way of love

Never lets me starve

As St. Paul said before

She is my glory, my pride and more 

That Maker His mercy knows no end

His love it knows no limit

His faithfulness I can't comprehend

Amazing grace I do understand 

And I trust you see it too

All because He gave me you...

(c) Ganjiki D Wayne

27/02/13

AND THEN? AND THEN?

AND THEN? AND THEN?

By GDW 

They say they'd look into it

And so we waited...

And crossed our feet

That crook who was a politician

Those missing millions

Those laws broken

Those lives that sank

Those jaws broken

By cops who were smoking

That plane that came crashing

Those ladies who were raped

By what couldn't have been apes

Those ladies burnt

By villagers vigilante

Those aliens that take our bread

Those fugitives who bought citizenships

From crooked selfish Ministerships

They said they'd investigate

They set up an inquiry shop

Then they enquired

They tasked the force to sweep

Sweep em clean

Block a sewer leak

They commissioned the Ombudsman

To go get em

Put em in jail

So they went to get em

And we waited

For thieves to be caught

For money to be brought

Back from dirty hands

To restore cheaply sold lands

For that reckless shipman

To pay for dead family man

For those stoned murderers

Of suspected sorcerers

They said they'd catch them

That justice would be served

They'd put them in jail

But alas

The justice league it failed

Still we stand and watch

And cry time and again

To them we cry

“And then? And then?....”

© Tokaut Tokstret

On Police Brutality and Police Theft

By Ganjiki

Multiple reports surface every week of some rogue police activity in our country. Accidental driver gets shot in the foot.  Arbitrary "confiscation" and consumption of informal vendors' property. Theft of wallets and personal property. Receiving "fines" for made-up traffic offences (such as driving too slow in a car park). Private armed escort for politicians, foreign businessmen, and corrupt bureaucrats. And of course the regular brutal beatings (and sometimes slaying) of innocent citizens and surrendered crime suspects. It seems endless what abuses our "law-enforcers-slash-disciplined-force" can cook up. More than half of all of the Solicitor General's defence of claims against the State are police brutality claims.

These are men and women (just keeping feminists and gender equality people happy) who seem to have lost all moral restraint. There's a vacuum in their mindset and conscience. They lack the ability to put themselves in the shoes of their prey. They have no concern for their own and their victims' dignity. Nor for the respectability and the integrity of the office and uniform they occupy. Nor loyalty to their Commissioner (who only last week spoke strongly against such rogue behaviour), the Constabulary, or the Nation. They have no fear of God. No regard for their code of ethics. How they sleep at night I don't know. I suspect they drink themselves to sleep; to shut out the voices of conviction that keep ringing in those heads.

They got into the Uniform for all the wrong reasons (it's just bread and butter). These are toddlers in adult bodies. Worse, the State (WE THE PEOPLE) clothed these toddlers with the vicarious authority to pull-up any vehicle or person simply by waving their colours and displaying their arms. And WE THE PEOPLE agreed to subject ourselves to their authority. We get more than we bargained for.

Toddlers. Babies. Whose world revolve around "ME". They cry for milk, you must give. They hunger, you feed. They thirst, you give water. They hurt, you comfort. They freeze, you warm. They soil their diapers, you must clean them up. They cry, you soothe. They take, you give. That is the nature of infants. Despite adult bodies we lack the emotional intelligence to subject ourselves to codes that should provide restraint. We are a nation of toddlers. And a lot of them wear blue and carry not-toy guns. (A hundred or so sit in Parliament accusing each other of wetting their diapers.)

The problem isn't the training (or lack of) that they get, or a lack of understanding of the law and human rights. That's a scratch above the surface. The real lack is the loss of moral consciousness. And so the real challenge is to "refill" those gaps. The crimes committed are completely identifiable as crimes (theft, assault, unlawful use of firearm, murder), and as blatant evil deeds. Any sane person should be able to tell that the unlawful use of his authority to steal wallets and personal effects is an immoral deed; an attack on basic human decency; even an undermining of his own human dignity as the perpetrator. But it takes a person of exceptional moral strength to resist committing those crimes.

These are men and women who have lost that moral strength. And many involved in talking about social correction wouldn't want the work that's needed to restore such a loss. We'd rather not go that deep. We'd rather a social correction (a fleeting band-aid solution). Or a legal one (guess who will enforce!). Or an academic one (with never-ending papers and opinions). Or a training one (where we try to squeeze a lifetime of lessons into 6 months!). Or a governmental one (where we assume the Minister can flick his fingers for a solution).

We agree that wrong is wrong. It's mostly our solutions to those wrongs that take diverging paths. Maybe they're frustrated with the meagre pay they get. Perhaps coupled with the pressures of life they're driven to such measures for survival? It's understandable. Is it? Lack of training perhaps? Lack of knowledge of human rights? Ever noticed how our behaviour is little affected by what we know? Ignorance of the law? Whatever reason we give, we'll have to settle that ultimately it's the loss of moral strength in these people's souls that gives them no pause against such crimes. And if there is to be any proper solution, it must begin at the core of their moral beliefs. We need to restrore that moral strenght. Everything else will be band-aid.

I know good cops. But for every good cop I know there's probably 50 not-so-good cops. We live in a nation where the sight of an armed policeman or a police land-cruiser with tinted-windows strikes more fear in an ordinary citizen than a lonely drive into a crime-prone suburb. Recall that crawl up your spine as you approach a tinted cop-car? The source of terror is reversed. No longer is it the local "terrorist". It's the law enforcers who are supposed to catch that "terrorist". Drivers don't trust police road checks anymore. Victims of crime dismiss the thought of contacting police as they contemplate how vain such an effort would be. Reports to the internal complaints unit might as well be lottery tickets for a zillion kina.

No. A restoration of proper morals is needed. But there are problems with a moral-restoration approach. It's hard work. And post-modern philosophy would disagree. Post-modern philosophies that subscribe to an amoral universe would say that we should just fix society and these people will adjust with society. But to fix society you have to fix these people. A catch-22. We would have to take the discussion all the way back to the nature of morality and who would give such guidance. And there lies our problem. I could suggest get the Church to counsel these cops. But then the debate will turn to the delusional question of separation of church and State. And of course people would argue that the Church has obviously failed because these cops probably attend church every week and have gotten nowhere. So let's leave it at bandaid level.

So you would suggest get the shrinks and mental disorder experts to counsel them. Bring in the social scientists. Impose the name tags. Name and shame. Step up police discipline. Extend training. Informing human rights. Up their pay. Dock their pay. Demote. Transfer. Recruit smarter people. Remove silly people. Take away the guns. Give them Tramontinas. Take away the vehicles. Give them Landcruisers. Install CCTV everywhere. Bring the Aussies. Bring the Fijians. Send our people to Aussieland. Send them to Fiji. Send them to Iraq. Send them to college. Send them home. Don't send them at all.

Band-aids.

The best solution is usually the hardest.

Ganjiki