Author Archives: Bert Hielema

January 12 2019 SILENCE IN THE FACE OF EVIL IS ITSELF EVIL Double, double, toil and trouble; Fire burn and cauldron bubble. …By the pricking of my thumbs, Something wicked this way comes. – William Shakespeare, Macbeth, Act IV, Scene … Continue reading →

January 5 2019 BROTHER, ARE YOU BORN AGAIN? “Brother, are you born again?” I have been asked that question a number of times. Not in the Dutch religious community where I had been active for many decades, but doing appraisals … Continue reading →

DECEMBER 29 2018 THE FINAL REFORMATION. I seriously wanted to write an up-beat piece. So I sat down and tried to conjure something positive. Hey, I thought, perhaps what I wrote last year at the end of 2017 might help … Continue reading →

DECEMBER 22 2018 IS THERE A HELL? NO. WILL THERE BE HELL? YES. All requiems start with DIES IRAE (pronounced dee-es ee-ray) the entire text in church Latin. I have five or six CDs of different Requiems, my two favorites … Continue reading →

DECEMBER 15 2018 LEARN TO LIVE ETERNALLY My mother once told me that when she expected me she prayed that I would become a minister of the gospel, a preacher, in other words. Fourteen years later I was sent to … Continue reading →

DECEMBER 8 2018 WE ARE KILLING GOD! When last week I read about the sad situation with our insects, I was overcome with emotion: tears filled my eyes. It’s not that I have a special love for bugs – I … Continue reading →