tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5846671056195917287.comments2024-03-12T00:51:27.766-04:00Ground Motiveadmin1http://www.blogger.com/profile/16479743334126277132noreply@blogger.comBlogger785125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5846671056195917287.post-69898811228856416072023-10-01T13:13:35.458-04:002023-10-01T13:13:35.458-04:00Just learned that the man who changed the course o...Just learned that the man who changed the course of my life forever, has exchanged this world for the next. I will be forever grateful. I have been a babysitter for Esther and Klaas, I have cherished the love and care of Anita. I will never forget.jamesnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5846671056195917287.post-26830310331269588262021-02-04T14:09:04.243-05:002021-02-04T14:09:04.243-05:00Dear Henk,
I can joyfully affirm the observations...Dear Henk,<br /><br />I can joyfully affirm the observations, sentiments, eloquence, and affection noted by those earlier in this string. So grateful that you have been a significant part of our lives and a signpost-forward in so many important ways. You preached at my wedding (almost 40 years ago), focusing on John 1; one of the attenders contacted me and expressed his surprise at hearing about the importance of the fear of the LORD, an idea with which he was not acquainted. Great stuff. Love you, Henk. - Bill Garfield. Bill Garfieldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12151592165407197682noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5846671056195917287.post-8411044920475935452020-12-12T16:02:41.290-05:002020-12-12T16:02:41.290-05:00So thankful to have shared in your life celebratio...So thankful to have shared in your life celebration that you also got to witness. I love this article and plan to share it with others. So much hope and peace to be passed on! :)<br />Kathrynesandersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13209829953020023154noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5846671056195917287.post-5146133428124824812020-12-07T23:48:14.815-05:002020-12-07T23:48:14.815-05:00Dear Henk,
I remember well my first year at ICS so...Dear Henk,<br />I remember well my first year at ICS so long ago trudging slowly through Dooyeweerd’s New Critique, inspired only by the perceptive light you shone on that notoriously dense translation. In your many years at ICS, your courage, devotion, insight, and wisdom enriched many of us who had the privilege of linking with you in a myriad of ways. Thank you! Peace as you journey beyond the veil to creative fulness on the other side.<br />John ValkJohn Valkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09713924175896854635noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5846671056195917287.post-45373229815716150142020-12-06T16:36:40.216-05:002020-12-06T16:36:40.216-05:00Dear Henk, you were courageous in your passion for...Dear Henk, you were courageous in your passion for the truth and justice, in your faithfulness to the church, and in your devotion to teaching generations of students. Now you are courageous as death approaches. Your teaching stays with me in my preaching, in my teaching, and in my everyday activity as I seek to be a trustworthy servant of Jesus Christ. I am everlastingly grateful for your influence in my life. May God’s blessings rest upon you and give you peace.Gary R. Shahinianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09081612185305030969noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5846671056195917287.post-44245190614869841182020-11-28T11:16:36.309-05:002020-11-28T11:16:36.309-05:00Thanks very much for your comments, Bob. I agree t...Thanks very much for your comments, Bob. I agree totally that the struggle against racism and white supremacy will be liberating for white people as well, and I do not want to be heard as saying that this struggle is "not for us" as white people in any absolute sense. My concern in the above is largely about how the problem of systemic racism is articulated and understood, and in this sense I am trying to respond to the ways that efforts to dismantle systemic racism are *first and foremost* not "for me"--that is, are not in the first place articulated in terms of my own liberation (liberating though they may be in an ultimate sense). Systemic racism is indeed about me as a white person, and in this sense it is assuredly "my problem." But my hesitation to articulate its dismantling as immediately "for" me comes from my worry that the specificity of what BIPOC voices are saying about systemic racism will be missed if we rush to articulate the struggle against systemic racism as something that's also good for white people. I'm not saying that I don't think this struggle is good for white people; I just think that the call to reflect on and decentre whiteness is a call for white people to get behind a struggle that does not necessarily benefit them directly or immediately. When what I'm being saved or liberated from are the benefits and privileges I have derived from racist social arrangements, I can't expect my salvation to be all that comfortable. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00632619990068395392noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5846671056195917287.post-55091114915738232372020-11-27T16:27:14.997-05:002020-11-27T16:27:14.997-05:00I really appreciate your careful reflection here a...I really appreciate your careful reflection here and the account of a plausible movement of reflection from initial impulse to help to the final conclusion that we come to realize that to take up issues of race as white persons means we enter a field of investigation that is "about us but not for us". There is something deeply true being communicated thereby. But I wonder if on another level it isn't "for us" too. What I mean is this: white supremacy as a systemic condition of our social and political lives oppresses racialized people and corrupts "white" people or the chief beneficiaries of a "white supremacist" society and polity. To face up to the implications of "whiteness" in this context is a true beginning but only a beginning down a road other than that "old white magic" to play on a Frank Sinatra lyric. Eventual transformation of the social arrangements that constitute white supremacy would involve liberation of one kind for our racialized and oppressed fellow citizens, but wouldn't it also liberate those of us who benefit from the present arrangements though in a different sense? For our privilege corrupts us just as assuredly as it undermines our racialized fellow citizens. Neither outcome is near, nor sure as far as I can see. To begin to follow a different road is not to say it will turn out to be the 'right' road, once and for all. But it might be blessed, and if so, thank God. In the present context we cannot but be formed by our privilege to live as the beneficiaries of that privilege, and that means to be corrupted as a matter of fact, quite apart from our intentions. Isn't it true that we need to take this examination of "whiteness" and "white privilege" on for the salvation of our own souls, so to speak? Doesn't that mean that on some level it is "for us" too?bob sweetmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02020964276816359915noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5846671056195917287.post-37094674496035168432020-11-18T23:47:50.296-05:002020-11-18T23:47:50.296-05:00Beautiful. And inspiring. Wishing you peace and a ...Beautiful. And inspiring. Wishing you peace and a smooth transition from this world to the next. <br />Lynnette Postuma, ICS Board & First CRC TO<br /><br />Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15703806234627475764noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5846671056195917287.post-86925305448421794932020-10-01T23:02:00.908-04:002020-10-01T23:02:00.908-04:00Dear Henk, when I read your words,I hear your voic...Dear Henk, when I read your words,I hear your voice, the cadence of your speech and you feel very close. Thank you for your honesty about dying. You always had the courage to be frank and outspoken. You don't go this last stretch alone. Gott befohlen. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05045585194655163511noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5846671056195917287.post-57847526993168351962020-10-01T11:44:10.382-04:002020-10-01T11:44:10.382-04:00Beloved Henk.
The beloved senior member.
The one w...Beloved Henk.<br />The beloved senior member.<br />The one who is so much like St. John.<br />Profound in wisdom.<br />Unflinching in truth.<br />Always, always, always all about love.<br /><br />Our debt … my debt … is quite literally eternal.<br />You have shared so deeply with me.<br />You have been a cherished friend.<br />We have held each other in tears.<br />We have prayed together.<br /><br />And now, my beloved teacher and friend,<br />as you prepare for the resurrection,<br />know that we stand with you in hope,<br />and we long for the coming of shalom.<br /><br />Go in peace dear friend.<br />God in peace.Brian Walshnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5846671056195917287.post-51690077974412509402020-09-24T22:08:29.806-04:002020-09-24T22:08:29.806-04:00Dear Henk.
Just read your "Confession of a Dy...Dear Henk.<br />Just read your "Confession of a Dying Man". I know you may not have the energy to read this, and you certainly should not try to respond.<br />Thank you for you, and your vulnerability.<br />Very touched by what you wrote.<br />Have always very much appreciated your deep faith, vision, insights, humour and honesty.<br />Today, also learned of your very generous donation to the ICS. THANK YOU!<br />In so many ways the ICS is you, not only because you were there from the start but also and especially because of your exceptional scholarship, vision and leadership.<br />Love from Ingersoll.<br />John Joosse, Chair, ICS Board of Trustees.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10579509360837828060noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5846671056195917287.post-35265348208146708112020-09-22T06:41:18.797-04:002020-09-22T06:41:18.797-04:00Dear Henk - you do not need to answer. I pray with...Dear Henk - you do not need to answer. I pray with you. We have been friends for very long. Shared many ideas, struggled together and also against one another. You have had to let go of an infant, a wife and a daughter - God put you there for them and for us. While you are leaving us - go in peace brother. <br />pontihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08560066060312447301noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5846671056195917287.post-47182147139362005912020-09-21T20:10:25.840-04:002020-09-21T20:10:25.840-04:00Thank you Abbi, I loved reading this post as a win...Thank you Abbi, I loved reading this post as a winsome effort to get us moving forward. I have a few brief comments. As was evident from my response to Dean, I take racism as including pretty well all discriminatory practices between a group wielding power and a group suffering from this in some way. Your pyramid of white supremacy as well as some parts of Ground Motive fonts are unreadable for me. That's probably because much of that work is done by younger people with good eyes. For me it's a nightmare. Writing this comment takes a lot of commitment simply because of font size. I trust this is not hard to change soon and it's worth doing.<br /><br />If we take racism as focused on Black people it's harder for ICS to deal with it than with a focus on non-white people, because ICS has had more relationships with Koreans and Japanese and other Asian people. And if we asked Alan Boesak to help us we might find Black in South Africa who might be ICS-friendly. <br /><br />The character of ICS as a progressive Reformation institution could be another important focus. Must ICS stay what it is now? If so why and in what ways. Many of the forms of racism at ICS that have already been flagges, and probably more, are likely related to this issue. We would do well to start looking into this. It seems important. <br /><br />I thought I had one or two more items to touch on. But they have disappeared into the potholes of my age.<br /><br />Henk. Epiphyllumhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10406934398017361986noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5846671056195917287.post-36381965851798660262020-09-21T17:36:05.592-04:002020-09-21T17:36:05.592-04:00My dear Henk. Accept our love without needing to r...My dear Henk. Accept our love without needing to respond or acknowledge. You have given, accepted, challenged and loved us in so many ways. This is just a token of reciprocation. Blessings to you. Harry kitsAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01912343029378309608noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5846671056195917287.post-76461199837205595362020-09-21T17:02:02.486-04:002020-09-21T17:02:02.486-04:00I will always fondly remember teaching a summer co...I will always fondly remember teaching a summer course with you at ICS on religion and science; what a great way to transition from your being a mentor to being a colleague. Clarence Joldersmanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5846671056195917287.post-62420196721362548032020-09-21T17:00:10.341-04:002020-09-21T17:00:10.341-04:00Thank you, Henk. I will always remember fondly tea...Thank you, Henk. I will always remember fondly teaching a summer course together on science and religion: what a great transition from mentor to colleague! Clarence Joldersmanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5846671056195917287.post-10991390650237260592020-09-21T16:18:08.857-04:002020-09-21T16:18:08.857-04:00Thanks for these words, Henk. They are beautiful i...Thanks for these words, Henk. They are beautiful in the way that an honest soul is beautiful. Josh Harrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11907966074456360007noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5846671056195917287.post-8659067525631734532020-08-31T12:19:08.284-04:002020-08-31T12:19:08.284-04:00Thanks for your comment, Bob. I agree, it would ce...Thanks for your comment, Bob. I agree, it would certainly benefit us to interrogate our own habits and assumptions by examining how whiteness itself is constructed, becoming a retroactive filter for how we are taught to understand history--a point James Baldwin was also very skilled at explaining! And if we could dislocate that myth of whiteness, I think you're right that we would also find points of resistance, or that such a dislocation itself would be a point of resistance. We would also find, I think, a more complex and useful history of the development of race and racism, seeing how the seeds for whiteness and antiblackness can be identified also in the racializing narratives of European Christians (I always think of the 15th century Spanish "limpieza de sangre" in Spain).Dean Dettloffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09562985108214085534noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5846671056195917287.post-76155958557921634162020-08-24T17:32:32.778-04:002020-08-24T17:32:32.778-04:00A way in which a preference for "white" ...A way in which a preference for "white" thought is maintained is in the "white-washing" of Western culture, including of course, Western Christian culture. But if one thinks about Northern Africa and Egypt, so crucial to the formation of the Christian theological tradition one can begin to see that that tradition emerges from 'racially' heterogenous sources. Moreover, if one sees the role of Persian, Moorish and Middle Eastern Jewish thinkers in the renaissance of European thought in the thirteenth century, the effect of Sinhalese Theravata Buddhism on western understanding of the conditions of possibility for moral rectitude, one sees further evidence of the cultural and racial heterogeneity of that thing we call Western Civilization or Judaeo-Christian culture. Now this "white-washing" plays right into the narrative you present us with Dean, but it also points toward a possibility of resistance--the recognition of and documentation of the cultural and racial heterogeneity of Western Christian culture as a matter of wonder and gratitude. We are required to do similar work with respect to the formative meaning of women's thought and work in our patriarchal culture as well. Of course, to engage in such work is no guarantee that it cannot be used to re-enforce the systemic evil you describe so well but maybe it needn't re-enforce. As such it might contribute to resistance in a small and beginning way. It is not directed at anti-black racism directly but at the whitewashing of culture that is an effect of anti-black racism. Anyway that is what popped into my head when I thought of the call to action your deliver to the community I serve. bob sweetmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02020964276816359915noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5846671056195917287.post-71537467204679314842020-08-17T12:52:08.484-04:002020-08-17T12:52:08.484-04:00Thanks for this thoughtful self-reflection on ICS&...Thanks for this thoughtful self-reflection on ICS's education. I agree that it is time to build on ICS's vision of philosophical thought/action, to include explicit and deliberate anti-racism lenses. In my experience, ICS strength is to have a porous canon, white as it is. It can only be strengthened by including scholars such as Maria del Guadalupe Davidson, Katherine T Gines (Belle), Kristie Dotson, Anita Allen, Naomi Zack, and Emily S. Lee, just to name a few. Attending to the blind spot in our social imaginary will only push forward ICS's engaging philosophy. (Clarence Joldersma, '82 M Phil)KlaasWillemhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05566786042559837395noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5846671056195917287.post-69475535613525608852018-07-19T12:20:31.100-04:002018-07-19T12:20:31.100-04:00I am so happy to see this entry on Groundmotive. ...I am so happy to see this entry on Groundmotive. The overall implication is that ethno-centrist and postcolonialist share a sense of a homogenous entity with a stable identity: the Western tradition. Such a notion is deeply reductive. This post raises the spectre that on the contrary the Western tradition owes much to heterogenous sources. I wonder if the tendency to identify with homogenous origins isn't part and parcel of the struggle to think about identity within the context of history. Tools like definition presuppose that things are largely static and once-and-for-all, or at least some characteristic core. But what if change indeed transformation is baked into historically emergent identities? Then no definition will do them justice. Homogeneity might then be seen as an attempt to approximate the conditions of a definition within historical existence. A definition, if it is doing its job, is defining and separating in thought a conceptual inside from a conceptual outside. What is inside is the identity of "x"; what is outside can be grouped under the moniker "not-x". Since "x" is never that static when it comes to historical phenomena, one approximates the stasis by grouping things under a determinate origin. Whatever can be traced back to the same origin belongs to the that historical identity we call "a tradition" But that raises the question what is meant by historical origin. What goes into such? Is language a constituent? Is "race"? Is location? And so on and so forth. It seems that there has been a tendency in some Westocentric romanticization of the middle ages to identify race with the the character and identity of medieval culture. And ironically post-colonial opposition to such construals or at least to the privilege accorded the tradition so understood often leaves such notions in place. Both groups can speak about the Western tradition as something homogenous and then bicker about how one ought to think about it. But is homogeneity really a helpful marker of an historical, cultural identity? Ibn Sina is intrinsic to the thought of medieval theologians of the late twelfth, thirteenth, and fourteenth centuries and indeed beyond. What are his origins? Or Plato and Aristotle's. Indeed all who read book two of Heroditus' Histories will have much food for thought. The author of Black Athena indeed had a field day with Heroditus' sense of what the Greeks owed to Egyptian learning. The point is that whatever constitutes the identity of a culture or a civilization, homogeneity is probably best left aside. And that means that the heterogeneous bits will not only enrich cultures and civilizations in their own right but will also mark potential bridges to other cultures and civilizations in times of increasing encounter and confrontation such as our own. In this second way they become particularly precious components within ourselves--the other within the same, we could say--that allow for a deeper and more knowing cross cultural and civilizational encounter and/or confrontation to emerge to the benefit of all. bob sweetmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02020964276816359915noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5846671056195917287.post-63075338101292748312018-04-24T10:07:37.968-04:002018-04-24T10:07:37.968-04:00Hi Caleb,
Thank you for calling this to my atten...Hi Caleb, <br /><br />Thank you for calling this to my attention! It's really encouraging to see a different Christian response to these events. I will definitely check out the talk. <br /><br />KieganAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02164392543001537835noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5846671056195917287.post-7169096294606327372018-04-24T09:58:42.725-04:002018-04-24T09:58:42.725-04:00Thank you for this considered comment. You have gi...Thank you for this considered comment. You have given me lots to think about, my response here isn’t exhaustive, but I’ll offer a few remarks. <br /><br />My comment about finding it difficult to understand the actions as part of a broader strategy was meant to own my own stance. It's very true that most anarchists are not productivity minded marxists. Thanks for the reading recommendation!<br /><br />You raise a really interesting point about YHWH and holy rage. However I think there is a distinction to be drawn between this sort of Old Testament violence and the actions of the incarnate Jesus. Christians are called to emulate Jesus. And what I hope I was able to call attention to in my interpretation is the social context of Jesus' actions. Jesus disrupts the stability and 'peace' of the economic processes in his world.<br /><br />I absolutely do not want to be understood to be saying that we should be invested in just anyone's violence due to their claims to be acting as/for God. I'm saying that Christians ought to be attuned to disruptive action even--or perhaps especially--when it disturbs economic processes and hierarchies. My reading of John places Jesus' opposition to the dominant order and economic injustice as foundational for his ministry. <br /><br />And finally, I’m not sure if building the kingdom has very little to do with the world of Marxists and Anarchists. I’m reminded of Walter Benjamin who poetically brings these temporalities together as opposed to an empty vision of the future where facts continue to pile up. Instead each moment is a revolutionary chance in the struggle for the suppressed past. Every second is the “narrow gate through which the Messiah could enter.”Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02164392543001537835noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5846671056195917287.post-53079321929926353742018-04-24T09:38:20.954-04:002018-04-24T09:38:20.954-04:00Hi Kiegan Irish,
I no longer live in Hamilton, b...Hi Kiegan Irish, <br /><br />I no longer live in Hamilton, but still connect regularly to a Mennonite Christian Community there called The Commons. The event in question was of particular interest to this community as they have members who provide leadership at The Tower (the anarchist group) and others who own a targeted storefront on Locke Street. Although I don't subscribe to their radical pacifism, it was interesting to observe their response. In addition to an earnest consideration of the events and despite some significant criticism from within and outside the community, one way they responded was by raising money for The Tower to help repair the broken window and build understanding.<br /><br />What initially attracted me to this group of inspiring commoners was their commitment to opposing the displacing power of gentrification through neighbourhoods. Recently a friend from The Commons gave a fantastic talk on this topic, you can find it here: https://www.facebook.com/matt.thomson.1610/videos/10102474081129107/ <br /><br />CalebCaleb Ratzlaffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00563114899219817143noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5846671056195917287.post-44959099921177858102018-04-23T06:32:29.550-04:002018-04-23T06:32:29.550-04:00I just have a few comments I'd like to make. Y...I just have a few comments I'd like to make. You say:<br /><br />In fact, I find it difficult to understand that night’s actions as part of a broader strategy to fight back against the forces of capital, <br /><br />but I think this position depends on denying that there could be an individual response. Obviously if a person embodies personal rage at targets x, y, and z, it takes courage to do something satisfiable about it. And the satisfaction might be enough. Or not. Most anarchists, in other words, are not productivity minded marxists. One need not act because it leads to the glorious REV; one might find joy in the mere act itself. For more on this, check out the post-marxist thinker Alfredo Bonnano. <br /><br />Second, I don't think it follows that just because Christ overturned the tables, that Christians are therefore to act similarly, however ambiguous your gesture is intended to be. Is it not possible that that holy rage is akin to YHWH torching the guy that touched the ark? or sodom? If God himself carries out the act, so be it; but I'm not invested already in some random person's claims to be YHWH in the context of just violence just because he is Christian. If there is just violence, it must be YHWH. It cannot be us by a flimsy analogy. We're not zealots. <br /><br />What this leads me to wonder about is how the production of the kingdom now is like living on the holy mountain after the terrible day of the lord. Our future utopia has very little to do with the humanistic world of the marxists and the anarchists.<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com