HOPE

It’s one of those cold evenings and a stroll around my neighborhood is the most cherished of all the ideas that sir mind suggests as the best way to end a day. The sun’s rays are shyly peeping from the still somehow nebulous clouds. Despite the perceived nuisance that mud turns out to be when it rains, it’s a beautiful Friday evening though it looks like it is going to rain yet again.

It has been raining for consecutive days for the last three weeks and the roads don’t look so friendly for both the pedestrians that can be seen seriously negotiating where to step and the car drivers that would rather join the walking nation than risk their cars being stuck in the mud. An old mzee(man) initially on a bicycle has been forced to alight and push it around as he tries to dodge the muddy potholes. On the rear seat is a pile of firewood that extents some metres high on the bicycle’s carrier. The once perceived convenient means of transport has turned out to be the source of inconvenience.

On the left side of this path that leads to the nearby stream is a ploughed piece of land. A family of three young girls a woman old enough to be their mother and a man who must be in his mid forties are busy sweating themselves dry to ensure that the rains convert some seeds into food enough to last a year. Judging from the already ploughed piece of land, this must be one hard working family combination. This is Africa where in some areas, physical strength, the will to work plus a sweating back means a family is guaranteed of something on the table enough to make one see the next sunrise.

This might make my reader think of the article as being a geographical tour of my hood. The above scene is not in fact what inspired my fingers to have a date with this keyboard. What struck me was this neatly constructed structure. Apparently, I later realized that it was one the most common architectural designs in Uganda.

The month is early December and it has been raining for the most part of November. The grass has grown tall and most of the homesteads owners must have been forced to find out where they last stored their slashers except for this compound that struck my eyes and led my mind to wonderland.

Judging from what I see, the home owners must have lost the importance of presenting the best to visitors and passer bys long ago. Normally in most African homes, homesteads are to always be in their very best so that in the event that somebody visits abruptly he or she leaves with a positive report. But based on the assumption that the old mzee whom I met pushing his bicycle is the owner of the home gives me a reason not to be too harsh but rather embrace some lenience cause of the age factor.

As he passes me and enters his compound, he slowly pushes his bicycle and parks it near a door that triggered the writing of this article; a room that I latter realized was meant to be a car garage which now shelters this precious “car” the mzee owns. It also came clear in my mind why most Ugandans of middle and high income classes have adopted this architectural design. It now made more sense.

I love quotes and writing them down has been one of my long time hobbies that can be traced back in high school. “HOPE IS THE ONLY COMMON GOOD TO ALL PEOPLE” was written I don’t remember when and the author has failed to click in my mind too but all the same pop!!!!….this quote came ringing as a product of the idea bulb when I saw this scene.

No one can predict how their life will be. There is no point in life that we expect the worst even when the worst is inevitably coming our way. HOPE is what keeps us going. A mother hopes for a safe delivery of her child and expects ends to meet for the child to grow into an adult. When a child is born, it grows hoping for the best out of life. Even at the last dying moments when one is enjoying the free gift of air, we still hope for the best.

One funny truth is that even thugs hope that they won’t get caught. I understand that some say a prayer before they go out there and unleash terror on fellow innocent human beings. This implies that hope is still the only common good to all human beings. It does not belong to any religion, creed, class or race. It’s only human to wish the best for ourselves.

HOPE is the fuel to our inner engine. We cease existing when we stop hoping. I’m reminded of the phrase “walking corpse” HOPE is what prevents us from dying before our day. No one in their right minds can wish for the worst except when they consider themselves under qualified to live thus suicide becomes the easiest and quickest way to paradise where the opposite of their current situation is said to be a reality by the believers.

If I may go back to our old mzee, I can bet with anything that at some point in life, he was hoping to buy a vehicle and park it in the garage. I trust he does not stop hoping because God’s time is not our time. This is the beauty of hoping and trusting in God. A strong belief in most of the young people is that they reap the very best out of life. But do we all achieve the goals we wrote down as teenagers? Do we all beat the best academic record set by our predecessor? Do we all join that coveted high school, college or university? Do we all join the best corporate companies, earn the dreamt salaries or drive the posh sleek cars that make as the talk of the town? Do we all date the finest high school m’cita? Do we all live the celebrity lifestyle we once dreamed as teenagers? We don’t. Some do but some don’t. But should we cease practically repositioning ourselves to get the best out of life?

Some time ago in a staff bible study, I remember a minister of the word mentioning the same concept before serving us with drinks at his place. The teaching for the day was not even on hope. Nevertheless, he used an illustration that clearly points out to the topic of my concern; HOPE. How many of us walk with bottle top openers? This was his question. Leaving out details, I realized how such a simple habit shows what our expectations of the day are.

T.D Jakes in his book Repositioning Yourself argues for placing ourselves in a position fit for a life without limits. As much as we may hope and dream, he clearly advocates for taking action so that we maximize on our potential. As I write this article I am on page 56 and I can tell you I now understand the equation; hope/faith minus action= our death.

Stop just hoping that things work out. Stop hoping for the best in life. Stop that and ACT. Dreams are cool but its time you made that move that will convert your dreams into reality. Hope is good when we are doing something about it.

On the other hand, there are things we can’t do anything to change them. Actionless hope is allowed here. When in such a situation, say a prayer of invitation and ask God to take the driver’s seat. This is not to mean we call on God only when we are in need. It only means we have acknowledged our weakness and our inability to navigate our own way. When it gets here, you take the back left seat and leave the controls to the reliable driver; JESUS.

Don’t stop dreaming….don’t stop saying good of yourself. The tongue blesses or curses us……don’t stop hoping for the best out of life..…even as you pray and trust in His provision, NEVER STOP ACTING AND PLAYING YOUR PART.