Author Archives: Bert Hielema

THE LORD WILLING. A biography, of sorts. Next month I hope to reach my 96th birthday, DV, which stands for Deo Volente, the Latin for ‘The Lord Willing’. I once saw this DV limitation, on a note from a prominent economist, … Continue reading →

AND THEN SHALL THE END COME. And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world, for a testimony to all nations; and then shall the end come. (Matthew 24: 14) I am pretty sure that theologians … Continue reading →

KNOW THYSELF That was the heading above the entrance to the Greek temple in Delphi: Gnoothi Seathon, Know Thyself, a quest we all are engaged in, whether we actually pursue it, or ignore it. I learned from translating a book … Continue reading →

BACH, VAN GOGH, SHAKESPEARE, AND GOD. But ask the animals, and they will teach you,    or the birds in the sky, and they will tell you;8 or speak to the earth, and it will teach you,    or let the fish in the sea inform … Continue reading →

RELIGION-LESS CHRISTIANITY Is it curtains for the church?                                                 I don’t know where the expression “It’s curtains” originates, but it’s meaning is clear: it signals the end of something, such as, “if the plane crashes, it’s curtains for all”.  Perhaps it … Continue reading →

THAT GOD IS GONE. In my early youth, he was there, God. That was more than 8 decades ago, in, what now in Canada is called, the Dirty Thirties. I saw God, symbolized in my grandparents who lived godly lives in … Continue reading →