It’s almost midnight and I am seated on my bed after fruitlessly tossing and turning trying to get some sleep. The ticking wristwatch by the bed side is the only sound I can hear apart from the sound of a stubborn mosquito continuously buzzing around the mosquito repellant net.
Having waited in great anticipation for a reply to a text, I can assure you I was dying inside. It does feel terrible waiting for something you have no control over and can do nothing about. Thus at this point, I went back to my ideological stand that at times patience has its negative side when there is little you can do to avert a not so pleasing situation.
I have been at war with myself and with Patience my dearest friend. God being who He is demands patience from His children but at times I think He calls on us to play our part. I remember coming across an illustrated caption of a man beseeching and weeping to Jesus" Lord Jesus, please help me win the lottery....." For days he would come to the church very early in the morning to tell God of his dearest desire then wait PATIENTLY the whole day for the miracle. This went on for days and months but nothing happened. He remained broke doing nothing but waiting PATIENTLY for a miracle. Then one day, the pastor having noted this repeated tendency, waited for his faithful believer to say his usual prayer then he asked him if there was anything that he could do to help. The poor man broke down into uncontrollable sobs crying and complaining of how God had forsaken him. For a whole year he had been coming to say his prayer but God has always turned a deaf ear to his request.
After listening to the man's side of the story all the pastor could say was" But you haven’t bought a lottery ticket yet, have you?" The old fellow left the church with his head bowed down in disappointment. From his encounter with the pastor, it appeared to him that the whole world had conspired to ensure that he dies a miserable man.
How many of us have been in such a situation? I have. Patience is a positive thing. In fact it’s a virtue biblically speaking. Its unfortunate impatience is a part of the majority of us. But don’t you agree that there could be a positive side of the perceived negativity?
I am aware the following phrase generates heated debates among some groups of people “God helps those who help themselves” I do believe that God expects us to totally trust in Him and in His providence. I also believe that God is willing and always ready to help his children in everything. But how come that despite the regular church attendance, endless prayers and cries to God, some people still remain miserably poor while others are stinking rich? Does this make God an unjust father?
I would have responded that I don’t know but apparently my mind denies me the pleasure of saying so. Why is it that people attending the same colleges end up on different achievement scales over a period of time? Why is it that some siblings brought up in the same family by the same parents end up on the opposite sides of the social-economical standings divide? I would have said that fate predestined it that way. But I don’t want to be a false sympathizer.
While some sit and PATIENTLY wait for the rains before they can plough their land, others are IMPATIENTLY looking for tractors and seeds in readiness for the rains. It’s all in the act of living your life playing your part and leaving the rest, that is beyond your control to God.
Do we expect God to do the planting? I am sure God would love a farmer who PATIENTLY waits for the rains after having ploughed his land. Patience is for those who have bought the lottery ticket.
This reminds me of my high school years. Normally, we used to have optional morning prayers in the school chapel. As usual, many final year students would hardly miss these prayers. Having noted the trend, the school chaplain would tell us, “ …prayers are good for the sake of our general well-being but as far as sitting exams are concerned, it’s a question of how well you prepared yourself…”
Let us wait for God’s blessings this New Year after we have bought the lottery ticket.
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Monday, January 10, 2011
GOD'S NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTIONS
As we approach every New Year, it has become an obvious ritual for most people to formulate resolutions which are their plans for that particular 365/6 day duration. I happened not to have resolved to do anything in particular this year apart from writing more articles for my unknown readers. Not that I subscribe to the unfocused lot, neither am I planning to fail since that’s said to be the destiny of those who fail to plan ahead of time.
It’s only that more often than not we fail to abide by those resolutions anyway. Apart from the palpable goals I have for this year, I realized how fortunate I am being a member of a bible study group which has helped me note what I should be doing at a personal level in 2011.
Experiencing God happens to be the theme of the bible study for the coming three months. When the study manual was unveiled last Friday for the fast time, it dawned on me what should be my key spiritual resolution for this year.
Being born again is one thing but walking the talk is totally a different thing. If I can quote this Sunday’s preacher, “Many of the people baptized have one thing in common. If you have been keen, they leave the stream smiling as a confirmation of the new sense of peace and joy they have undergone by the act of accepting Jesus as their Lord and savior. But that is expected of them because of the naivety that explains their inability to see the apparent call for commitment and the challenges that lies ahead…..”
At that particular point one is like a young person eager to graduate from high school or to become an adult unaware of the responsibility that comes with the acquired status. “Salvation is a process and not a onetime event” When we are called by a God who took and still takes the initiative to save, he expects us to walk with him from the beginning of the relationship onwards. Unfortunately, we miss out on God when we backslide and start following our own maps later to wonder whether it is God calling us cause we hardly recognize His voice.
Out of the introduction of this theme, a number of points came out strongly to me. One of them was the fact that God desires an intimate relationship with us. Another was the fact that when we are called, we surrender the control button and the steering wheel of our lives to a God who knows our destiny better than we do.
As the day’s study came to an end, the pastor shared his thoughts on the communication channels in the new partnership between God and us. This triggered a question that offered food for thought and entered my New Year resolutions list as the main spiritual agenda for the year.
The question was; how can one discern whether it is God speaking to us or it’s the forces of darkness trying to win one to their side? It is a fact that both spirits do work to win converts to their side. This reminded me of a skit role play where a guy contemplates stealing but he gets to hear the Holy Spirit warning him not to do so while on the other hand the devil is also convincing him that there is nothing wrong with the act. Both sides are trying to make sense of what they deem the right thing our guy in question should do.
I loved the response from our study instructor. The analogy he used was simple, practical and to the point. It brought out clearly how personal our relationship with God should be for us to experience Him. “How many of you know Museveni (the president of Uganda)?” he asked. Everyone raised their hands. “Who amongst you is known to Museveni?” he went on. There was grave like silence in the room while mouths were now curved into smiles followed by side to side movements.
“In case your best friend called you on an unknown number, will you be able to recognize who they are on hearing the first words they uttered without disclosing their identity?” came another question. There followed a number of related questions that left our minds pondering the subject experiencing God at a personal level.
From the day’s study, it came out clearly that experiencing God implies relating with Him the way we do share with our closest friends. We should be able to know when he is talking to us, learn to trust Him with our secrets, consult Him when we need advice and follow His direction like we do with our best trusted friend. Best friends know each other’s voice, ways of doing things and can distinguish each other from a far off distance.
Many times we want to write down plans and New Year resolutions which we later invite God to join and endorse. God is calling us to discover what His plans for us are this year. It’s a question of trusting God and riding in His bandwagon other than telling God. “…Dear God I have some plans here which need your approval…”
Happy New Year to all of you. May we seek to experience God through a personal relationship of studying His word and listening to what His plans are for us this year.
It’s only that more often than not we fail to abide by those resolutions anyway. Apart from the palpable goals I have for this year, I realized how fortunate I am being a member of a bible study group which has helped me note what I should be doing at a personal level in 2011.
Experiencing God happens to be the theme of the bible study for the coming three months. When the study manual was unveiled last Friday for the fast time, it dawned on me what should be my key spiritual resolution for this year.
Being born again is one thing but walking the talk is totally a different thing. If I can quote this Sunday’s preacher, “Many of the people baptized have one thing in common. If you have been keen, they leave the stream smiling as a confirmation of the new sense of peace and joy they have undergone by the act of accepting Jesus as their Lord and savior. But that is expected of them because of the naivety that explains their inability to see the apparent call for commitment and the challenges that lies ahead…..”
At that particular point one is like a young person eager to graduate from high school or to become an adult unaware of the responsibility that comes with the acquired status. “Salvation is a process and not a onetime event” When we are called by a God who took and still takes the initiative to save, he expects us to walk with him from the beginning of the relationship onwards. Unfortunately, we miss out on God when we backslide and start following our own maps later to wonder whether it is God calling us cause we hardly recognize His voice.
Out of the introduction of this theme, a number of points came out strongly to me. One of them was the fact that God desires an intimate relationship with us. Another was the fact that when we are called, we surrender the control button and the steering wheel of our lives to a God who knows our destiny better than we do.
As the day’s study came to an end, the pastor shared his thoughts on the communication channels in the new partnership between God and us. This triggered a question that offered food for thought and entered my New Year resolutions list as the main spiritual agenda for the year.
The question was; how can one discern whether it is God speaking to us or it’s the forces of darkness trying to win one to their side? It is a fact that both spirits do work to win converts to their side. This reminded me of a skit role play where a guy contemplates stealing but he gets to hear the Holy Spirit warning him not to do so while on the other hand the devil is also convincing him that there is nothing wrong with the act. Both sides are trying to make sense of what they deem the right thing our guy in question should do.
I loved the response from our study instructor. The analogy he used was simple, practical and to the point. It brought out clearly how personal our relationship with God should be for us to experience Him. “How many of you know Museveni (the president of Uganda)?” he asked. Everyone raised their hands. “Who amongst you is known to Museveni?” he went on. There was grave like silence in the room while mouths were now curved into smiles followed by side to side movements.
“In case your best friend called you on an unknown number, will you be able to recognize who they are on hearing the first words they uttered without disclosing their identity?” came another question. There followed a number of related questions that left our minds pondering the subject experiencing God at a personal level.
From the day’s study, it came out clearly that experiencing God implies relating with Him the way we do share with our closest friends. We should be able to know when he is talking to us, learn to trust Him with our secrets, consult Him when we need advice and follow His direction like we do with our best trusted friend. Best friends know each other’s voice, ways of doing things and can distinguish each other from a far off distance.
Many times we want to write down plans and New Year resolutions which we later invite God to join and endorse. God is calling us to discover what His plans for us are this year. It’s a question of trusting God and riding in His bandwagon other than telling God. “…Dear God I have some plans here which need your approval…”
Happy New Year to all of you. May we seek to experience God through a personal relationship of studying His word and listening to what His plans are for us this year.
Thursday, December 16, 2010
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.
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.
Saturday, December 11, 2010
PHILOSOPHY 101
Good morning/afternoon/night (whatever time it is your eyes are going through today’s class notes) class. My name is Professor Pogrey Kiogothe and I will be taking you through this introductory Philosophy unit. Welcome to Introduction to philosophy 101. I believe you all decided to join this fundamental unit out of your own individual initiative and on that I congratulate you because as the Son of Man puts it, no one revealed to you the importance of the unit but the heavenly Father for the believers and for the rest I don’t know but all the same here you are, at home away from home.
Let me commence by saying that you aint philosophers because you have attended this lecture but rather by virtue of being a human being. I never did Philosophy in my undergraduate studies but all the same, here I am your philosophy professor.
I didn’t go through my notes for one reason or another but by my own definition, philosophy implies the study of the pursuit of truth, wisdom and knowledge. If I may refer to my earlier statement, we are all philosophers in different capacities because the pursuit of truth defines who we are; human beings with the ability to reason and make judgment based on our conclusions.
Still on my first objective of making sense of what philosophy is by definition, I will synonimise the word with our pursuit of the inner us, existence, our basic principles and beliefs, our core, what drives us. Philosophy according to me can be equated to our perspective of issues. That makes our philosophy. From such originates statements like “a school of thought, philosophies of life, the relativity of truth, differing perspectives”
My next objective will be to introduce the core of philosophy which is the term “relative” and in my case I call it relative relativity. This is a core phrase in philosophy. Still referring to a phrase earlier used, philosophies is a plural term because of the basic principle that distinguishes man from other living beings; the ability to reason and make choice thus the different perspectives to issues. With this at the back of our minds, another very core element is “discussions and arguments” What else can one expect from a plurality of capable minds with differing perspectives to issues? Arguments. Thus in our introduction today, I want to make it clear that different points of view on specific issues is healthy as long as the argument generated is sensical and tolerated by the parties involved because of reasons explained above. The rationale behind this is because of the warning advanced by the wise man Solomon in his writings that forbids arguments with the perceived fools.
Despite efforts to discourage a prospective philosophy student from taking this core unit, I still strongly deem it basic which tempts me to write to all the institutions of higher learning to reconsider and make it compulsory. The reason I say this is that as much as we pursue different courses at college level, some of the basic skills intended for the students could be traced to philosophy. For instance one of the early orientations I got before joining college was on the idea that no answer given on an essay question could be wrong. At that point, I did not know exactly comprehend what my early tutors meant. Later on It made more sense when I joined college. Essay and discussion questions set approve the fact that we all have our own different perspectives to issues thus we argue out questions based on our understanding of the issue at hand.
That reminds me of the exam guide books at high school level. There was one of the authors who took the burden of explaining the basic terms in exam setups. One of the obvious terms was ‘DISCUSS” In his explanation of this word, he considered it exigent to most students, he advised the young readers to watch out for the word. To make it short, a DISCUSSION sheds light on both sides.
Long ago when education and the study of knowledge was more important than the search for gold and oil mines, scholarly arguments were a common thing. As my college professor once put it, people literally travelled far and wide in pursuit of knowledge. Literal scholarly works were subject to arguments and discussions. Theories were approved and disapproved. Literal works were challenged and defended. Thus came the era of defense of thesis, dissertations and theories which are still the way of life in the corridors of knowledge. One did not just wake up one day and earn the respect of fellow scholars. You had to prove mental muscle before a panel. This makes sense of the doctor of philosophy; doctorate degree at the PhD level.
In the last bit of our class today we are going to sample some probable philosophical arguments. In my slight imaginations of how an undergraduate philosophy class would be like, I came across this school of thought that stood for the perspective that philosophy is for the liberal atheists, controversial people. The baseline behind this view was that philosophy questions the existence of a supreme being. This meant that those sitting these lectures should brace themselves for arguments such as “Prove that God exist!!!”
I am a believer in a Supreme God who created the universe thus if the paragraph above is factual then I would not have been a philosopher. What does that mean? Philosophy argues out issues and facts to prove their worth as universal facts. The last two words introduce my students to yet other key terms in philosophy. If I may ask, are their universal truths?
Let us go back to our introduction where we noted ability to reason as a key distinguishing characteristic between human beings and other living things. If I was to be asked to respond to the above phrase, I would base my argument on the bible which is my reference book as a Christian. I would then conclude it to be a universal fact but then I realize that not everyone shares in my perspective.
The ability to reason, to analyze and make best conclusive choices makes us uniquely more of human beings than mere animals. We all have different perspectives to issues. Does that mean we cease to be human when we cannot reason? You know better.
As a key phrase, universal truth has been subject to arguments not only in the philosophical or scholarly world but in the world in general. As a sample argumentative term, let’s use the principle “truth”. What is truth? In simple lay man terms, truth is the absence of deceit. As your professor, my stand on truth would have been neutral. At least that is how I am expected to present myself. But am I not part of the human race? Yes I am. That implies that I have my views on this term too which I won’t shy from sharing. Just to jog your mind, what is the difference between these two definitive phrases? “ Truth is the absence of falsehood” and “Truth is the total absence of falsehood” The first one gives room for the exposure of the components in the word truth; relativism while the second phrase is the ideal definition that tempt us to believe truth to be a universal principle.
As earlier seen, different perspectives to issues is the obvious situation in a world with plural minds. Picture this; boy A steals sugar from his mum’s kitchen and shares with boy B. Boy B is not aware that the sugar was stolen. Later, mum catches boy B licking the sugar and accuses him of being a thief. Boy B swears that he did not steal which is true. But the law considers beneficiaries of a stolen item equally predisposed to punishment. Cries of innocence by boy B is truth as far as he is concerned but the law says otherwise. Both have their own angles on the issue. Both are right in their own perspective.
Thus ignorance or lack of information disqualifies truth from being a universal truth. Same view points originating from presence of knowledge or right information would be the only ground under which truth is truth which in this case close to universalism. We all have our versions of truth on an issue. Does that make us all liars? Depending on the reference point, liars and truth Sayers can be separated. Reminds me of Galileo Galilei and the church in the early days. One camp had science as a reference point while the church had a theological reference point.
By the powers bestowed on me by the Blog University, I am tempted to present some of my own philosophical phrases such as positive impatience, positive negativity, perfect imperfections, contradicting contradictions etc etc. Just to shed some light on a number, positive negativity can be a situation of a good side realized from a perceived negative thing. Eg manure makes organic fertilizer. This means there is a positive side of a perceived negative thing. On the other hand, impatience can be a virtue if viewed from a different angle….i know she disagrees.
My dear student, looking at my watch, it’s about fifteen minutes to time and being the good students you are, I’ll spare some time for questions and answer session. Any queries?
:L;;./l;,kl;hjmiuhmiuhmiu?/// ????mn.hk u hkigt 8yu29 0i92i09i,0,8m t9p3 jkhu fyrdvx bcnvm ??????
Thank you for being attentive and for your active participation. As your weekend assignment, I would like you to argue this out;
As the adage goes, knowledge is power; one school of thought may argue that what you do not know cannot hurt while another camp can make reference to the book of John 8:32 in the Bible that advocates for knowledge of truth as a key to freedom or emancipation. But if we looked at it illustratively and site an example, we realize that knowledge or truth if not used constructively can be destructive. An example is the knowledge of our ethnic identities which may turn one into a stereotype of “we verse them” mental slavery. Such knowledge to children depending on how it was disseminated from parents may cage the youngsters in cocoons which instead of freeing them and enabling them relate well with people of other nations, tribe and race, turns others into ”them” Is epistemology and search for truth worth our time and can it be destructive? Argue for and against (30 Marks)
In conclusion; education makes us all philosophers in our own different capacities since it sharpens our ability to think critically and empowers us to make reasonable conclusions.
(Four years later at the graduation grounds; “ Now by the powers rested on me I allow you to go out there and reason. You may now drop your tassels on the left side of your caps.”
Let me commence by saying that you aint philosophers because you have attended this lecture but rather by virtue of being a human being. I never did Philosophy in my undergraduate studies but all the same, here I am your philosophy professor.
I didn’t go through my notes for one reason or another but by my own definition, philosophy implies the study of the pursuit of truth, wisdom and knowledge. If I may refer to my earlier statement, we are all philosophers in different capacities because the pursuit of truth defines who we are; human beings with the ability to reason and make judgment based on our conclusions.
Still on my first objective of making sense of what philosophy is by definition, I will synonimise the word with our pursuit of the inner us, existence, our basic principles and beliefs, our core, what drives us. Philosophy according to me can be equated to our perspective of issues. That makes our philosophy. From such originates statements like “a school of thought, philosophies of life, the relativity of truth, differing perspectives”
My next objective will be to introduce the core of philosophy which is the term “relative” and in my case I call it relative relativity. This is a core phrase in philosophy. Still referring to a phrase earlier used, philosophies is a plural term because of the basic principle that distinguishes man from other living beings; the ability to reason and make choice thus the different perspectives to issues. With this at the back of our minds, another very core element is “discussions and arguments” What else can one expect from a plurality of capable minds with differing perspectives to issues? Arguments. Thus in our introduction today, I want to make it clear that different points of view on specific issues is healthy as long as the argument generated is sensical and tolerated by the parties involved because of reasons explained above. The rationale behind this is because of the warning advanced by the wise man Solomon in his writings that forbids arguments with the perceived fools.
Despite efforts to discourage a prospective philosophy student from taking this core unit, I still strongly deem it basic which tempts me to write to all the institutions of higher learning to reconsider and make it compulsory. The reason I say this is that as much as we pursue different courses at college level, some of the basic skills intended for the students could be traced to philosophy. For instance one of the early orientations I got before joining college was on the idea that no answer given on an essay question could be wrong. At that point, I did not know exactly comprehend what my early tutors meant. Later on It made more sense when I joined college. Essay and discussion questions set approve the fact that we all have our own different perspectives to issues thus we argue out questions based on our understanding of the issue at hand.
That reminds me of the exam guide books at high school level. There was one of the authors who took the burden of explaining the basic terms in exam setups. One of the obvious terms was ‘DISCUSS” In his explanation of this word, he considered it exigent to most students, he advised the young readers to watch out for the word. To make it short, a DISCUSSION sheds light on both sides.
Long ago when education and the study of knowledge was more important than the search for gold and oil mines, scholarly arguments were a common thing. As my college professor once put it, people literally travelled far and wide in pursuit of knowledge. Literal scholarly works were subject to arguments and discussions. Theories were approved and disapproved. Literal works were challenged and defended. Thus came the era of defense of thesis, dissertations and theories which are still the way of life in the corridors of knowledge. One did not just wake up one day and earn the respect of fellow scholars. You had to prove mental muscle before a panel. This makes sense of the doctor of philosophy; doctorate degree at the PhD level.
In the last bit of our class today we are going to sample some probable philosophical arguments. In my slight imaginations of how an undergraduate philosophy class would be like, I came across this school of thought that stood for the perspective that philosophy is for the liberal atheists, controversial people. The baseline behind this view was that philosophy questions the existence of a supreme being. This meant that those sitting these lectures should brace themselves for arguments such as “Prove that God exist!!!”
I am a believer in a Supreme God who created the universe thus if the paragraph above is factual then I would not have been a philosopher. What does that mean? Philosophy argues out issues and facts to prove their worth as universal facts. The last two words introduce my students to yet other key terms in philosophy. If I may ask, are their universal truths?
Let us go back to our introduction where we noted ability to reason as a key distinguishing characteristic between human beings and other living things. If I was to be asked to respond to the above phrase, I would base my argument on the bible which is my reference book as a Christian. I would then conclude it to be a universal fact but then I realize that not everyone shares in my perspective.
The ability to reason, to analyze and make best conclusive choices makes us uniquely more of human beings than mere animals. We all have different perspectives to issues. Does that mean we cease to be human when we cannot reason? You know better.
As a key phrase, universal truth has been subject to arguments not only in the philosophical or scholarly world but in the world in general. As a sample argumentative term, let’s use the principle “truth”. What is truth? In simple lay man terms, truth is the absence of deceit. As your professor, my stand on truth would have been neutral. At least that is how I am expected to present myself. But am I not part of the human race? Yes I am. That implies that I have my views on this term too which I won’t shy from sharing. Just to jog your mind, what is the difference between these two definitive phrases? “ Truth is the absence of falsehood” and “Truth is the total absence of falsehood” The first one gives room for the exposure of the components in the word truth; relativism while the second phrase is the ideal definition that tempt us to believe truth to be a universal principle.
As earlier seen, different perspectives to issues is the obvious situation in a world with plural minds. Picture this; boy A steals sugar from his mum’s kitchen and shares with boy B. Boy B is not aware that the sugar was stolen. Later, mum catches boy B licking the sugar and accuses him of being a thief. Boy B swears that he did not steal which is true. But the law considers beneficiaries of a stolen item equally predisposed to punishment. Cries of innocence by boy B is truth as far as he is concerned but the law says otherwise. Both have their own angles on the issue. Both are right in their own perspective.
Thus ignorance or lack of information disqualifies truth from being a universal truth. Same view points originating from presence of knowledge or right information would be the only ground under which truth is truth which in this case close to universalism. We all have our versions of truth on an issue. Does that make us all liars? Depending on the reference point, liars and truth Sayers can be separated. Reminds me of Galileo Galilei and the church in the early days. One camp had science as a reference point while the church had a theological reference point.
By the powers bestowed on me by the Blog University, I am tempted to present some of my own philosophical phrases such as positive impatience, positive negativity, perfect imperfections, contradicting contradictions etc etc. Just to shed some light on a number, positive negativity can be a situation of a good side realized from a perceived negative thing. Eg manure makes organic fertilizer. This means there is a positive side of a perceived negative thing. On the other hand, impatience can be a virtue if viewed from a different angle….i know she disagrees.
My dear student, looking at my watch, it’s about fifteen minutes to time and being the good students you are, I’ll spare some time for questions and answer session. Any queries?
:L;;./l;,kl;hjmiuhmiuhmiu?/// ????mn.hk u hkigt 8yu29 0i92i09i,0,8m t9p3 jkhu fyrdvx bcnvm ??????
Thank you for being attentive and for your active participation. As your weekend assignment, I would like you to argue this out;
As the adage goes, knowledge is power; one school of thought may argue that what you do not know cannot hurt while another camp can make reference to the book of John 8:32 in the Bible that advocates for knowledge of truth as a key to freedom or emancipation. But if we looked at it illustratively and site an example, we realize that knowledge or truth if not used constructively can be destructive. An example is the knowledge of our ethnic identities which may turn one into a stereotype of “we verse them” mental slavery. Such knowledge to children depending on how it was disseminated from parents may cage the youngsters in cocoons which instead of freeing them and enabling them relate well with people of other nations, tribe and race, turns others into ”them” Is epistemology and search for truth worth our time and can it be destructive? Argue for and against (30 Marks)
In conclusion; education makes us all philosophers in our own different capacities since it sharpens our ability to think critically and empowers us to make reasonable conclusions.
(Four years later at the graduation grounds; “ Now by the powers rested on me I allow you to go out there and reason. You may now drop your tassels on the left side of your caps.”
Friday, November 19, 2010
TRAVELER'S MIND
"Daddy,,mummy, I wanna be a....when I grow up....." I am sure we are all familiar with this phrase cause at some point or another we were wanna be this, wanna be thats. Its the norm in any ones life to look ahead of time and to imagine what life has in store for us.
I don't know exactly what you wanted to be neither do I remember for certain what my mind was up to at the very early stages of my life.
Life events can be equated with a traveler's mind with every character that comes out of the nine month hide out acting as a traveler. The journey commences and with or without our knowledge, we start emancipating the excitement and thrill that lies ahead but lack the slightest clue of what exactly it is. It then becomes trial and error cause we face all sorts of environments, nurturing and counsel, ideas that compete to shape who we are in one way or another. In the course of our living, we interact with our master source of our identity as we search for temporary and permanent stops along the way. Its a journey where by the master decides when we stop and for how long.
One influential organ that determines who we really are is the mind. Last week on 10th November, I traveled to Nairobi from Mbale Uganda. I aint going to write in detail about the entire trip in terms of what I saw or experienced along the way to Nairobi. But for the travel maniacs, I might as well say in summary that the journey was fabulous. Uganda being a great land fascinated my eyes which were glued steadily outside the window for a big part of the trip. So did the land of all beauty, my motherland Kenya.
I happened to have landed the cherished any traveler's sitting position; next to the window just behind the front seats. This means I was guaranteed of all the exciting scenarios along the way from my favorite Wanale hill as you leave Mbale to the Tororo landmark hill. It was a breath taking view owing to the fact that I did not have any obstruction from my sitting point. To cap it all, sleep not being my number one friend during the day, I was hyper alert. The cool blowing fresh wind was swiftly finding its way into my nostrils heading for the lungs through the slightly opened window. Serenity was at least a part of me for long and I was enjoying an environment completely opposite to the one I am used to. Unlike the urban setting where hooting motorcycles, cars and lorries was the norm, this one was characterized by a monotonous roaring engine acting as a lullaby, soothing Benga tunes (as she calls them) from the stereo and the spacious view outside the grand bus. The driver who was an old mzee must have been a mind reader. I am not a follower of yoga though I greatly respect the practice but this was an opportunity worth giving it a shot. I was on a journey to paradise, one would think from my narration.
I was enjoying a momentary near heavenly bliss and my mind was at peace. My eyes were BUSY SPOTTING NOTHING in particular. It was a state of peacefully relaxed body verses a preoccupied optical sense and generally busy mind.
The last paragraph completely explains the title of my article; TRAVELER'S MIND. I can as well stop here because I have met a writer's number one objecting of making sense of his title to the reader. But then my conscience will never forgive me and my itchy fingers will be held to account by the supreme commander of the me; my mind. Mr brain dictates.
As my mind meandered with the direction the Uganda Roads Authority board dictated, I found myself thinking and trying to make sense of what I was seeing. I believe we have all been in a fast moving vehicle because we are in the 21st century where donkeys have had a chance to rest for a while with the coming of faster automobiles. At least that one I am sure because speaking as an African, we want to reach to our destinations faster though no one wants to be by the bus station on time. Furthermore, the faster the driver spins the wheels, the higher the chances of his children making it to college in this economic times. This also means the corrupt traffic officer will have something to take to his/her demanding boss.
With an almost flying automotive, the traveler's eyes normally have a hard time noting things close to it in detail. Everything seems to fly backwards at an alarming speed. That is a normal thing which I would have explained in detailed and sensibly if I had made it to the American Wing as the founders of this college at the University of Nairobi decided to name it. You will have to understand it in my artistic perspective because the Joint Admission Board(JAB) decided to sharpen my artistic skills at the college of humanities and social sciences at the expense of the scientist in me. At this point, a good reader should have sensed and thanked the gods that he/she is already ahead of me in the flow of my narrative events.
This state of mental relaxation and partial activity thus acted as the centre of my comparison between the way we grow up wanting this and that some of which we cant access. As I stared outside the window, a number of things were running through my mind as my eyes were not idle either. From my sitting position, people, vehicles, trees, buildings, unploughed farms were some of the sights that caught my attention.
The mind is so powerful. It has unlimited potential. There are so many ideas crisscrossing our minds that prove our potential. Some come as ideas which take time to mature. Others come as flashes which we rarely even grasp. As these objects passed the traveler, some could be identified but some could not. What fascinated me is that items or objects from a far off distance were clearly identified. I likened this to things that take time to mature in our minds and end up defining who we are. These could be the clear ideas which pop up and are build on with time thus giving us an identity. On the other hand, the unidentifiable close objects were to me the daily ideas that pop up but are never emphasized or built on. Its like the idea that comes to you;" I think I can sing" but with time you realize a croaking frog is in a better position to lure a child to sleep than you.
Early in life, I thought I would be a doctor. Not that this was my dream career. It was what every other kid at least wanted to be when they came of age. This was more so emphasized by the little priviledge of acting the family doctor when my parents were away. Coming from a BIG family, my parents had entrusted me with the key to the pain killers cabinet. Thus I could prescribe the basic dose for a head ache, cough and a bruised knee. That was a young lad whose environment wanted a doctor our of him.
But was I at my end? No. I was only beginning the traveler's mind safaris. Am I a doctor now, NO. The journey had just started.
We all have our own stories to tell. A good majority of us are not doing what they had thought they will ever be doing. Some had been into courses they never practiced latter in life. Some joined careers to please their parents. Life is a journey we travel trying to find who we really are and what we were meant to be. Our purpose. Our destiny. Our mind is our guide. We think of so many ideas which only serves to guide our search but does not necessarily guarantee our destiny. After all life is one long journey. Others landed job offers totally opposite what they studied for and this became their life. They found themselves. Their found destiny accidentally.
At the teenage and the early adult hood stage of life, the mind does not go to sleep. Music, theatre and performing arts excite us. We aspire to perform physical wonders and be the greatest athletes. Although the likes of Maurice Green, Marion Jones, Paul Tergat, Rudisha, Jelimo, Lebron James, among others made it in this industry and some how found a worth while stop, others have to move on. Some opt for music. These get carried away by rock bands, the likes of Linkin Park. Reggae fans like me loved and still love Bob Marley, while the benga fans like Ole fall for the DRC land. Hip hop and RnB does not spare others. Tupac, DMX, Scarface, Nas, T.I become our icons at some point in life. Soul, classical and the Hollywood movie idols; Brad Pit, Denzel, the Angelinas pull us making us think we are the next big thing in the celebrity world.This is normal at that point in life. After all we are only traveling as we are a traveler's mind.
Then enter Daddy, Mummy and their lecturers before the real college lectures. " Son, I want you to be this and that" " Honey I want you to be a doctor/nurse/teacher/social worker/ lawyer name it,,, because of this and that" We might do as they say but then we have our own minds which latter catches up with us. You will run but eventually your destiny is catches up with you. It might take forever, some unnecessary stops as you travel the road. Keep traveling.
I am not writing my autobiography because I am yet to make an impact in this big world. Did I get it wrong? I don't know. I thought only the big, the great and the mighty who have seen and conquered, been there done it and have testimonies to share with the world write their life stories. I could be wrong because a young ambitious man walked into GNPI Mbale studios the other day with an intention of putting his life story in the limelight through media. So I can as well go ahead and talk about my journey trying to find myself.
Just to save you the positive pain of laughing to the tales of another interesting Muturi life travels in search of a ME, God helped me make it to college where I did arts. It has been a long journey. Many interesting stops came my way. Mark you I never planned to take Arts in college though I latter realized this is the best stop I could have ever made. But that's me. You have your own journey. This was one of the best experiences in my journey. My brief four year stop is coming to an end and on 3rd Dec, I will be taking what God has enabled me achieve. I don't have any regrets whatsoever and it clearly appears to me that it was a worth stopover.
In case you have forgotten, I am still a traveler. My mind is still busy looking around for the next thing to do. I fancy sitting by the bus stop cause that is where I belong. My favourite book is in my hand. I have already said my prayers. God knows where I am headed next. I am sure when the time is right, the next bus that comes to a halt will be the one to take me there and just in case you have forgotten, I AM A TRAVELER.
After all life is one big journey where we travel blindly with the mind serving as a walking stick.
Dear traveler, you have just boarded Mind Airways flight number....Welcome aboard. Its the traveler's mind.
I don't know exactly what you wanted to be neither do I remember for certain what my mind was up to at the very early stages of my life.
Life events can be equated with a traveler's mind with every character that comes out of the nine month hide out acting as a traveler. The journey commences and with or without our knowledge, we start emancipating the excitement and thrill that lies ahead but lack the slightest clue of what exactly it is. It then becomes trial and error cause we face all sorts of environments, nurturing and counsel, ideas that compete to shape who we are in one way or another. In the course of our living, we interact with our master source of our identity as we search for temporary and permanent stops along the way. Its a journey where by the master decides when we stop and for how long.
One influential organ that determines who we really are is the mind. Last week on 10th November, I traveled to Nairobi from Mbale Uganda. I aint going to write in detail about the entire trip in terms of what I saw or experienced along the way to Nairobi. But for the travel maniacs, I might as well say in summary that the journey was fabulous. Uganda being a great land fascinated my eyes which were glued steadily outside the window for a big part of the trip. So did the land of all beauty, my motherland Kenya.
I happened to have landed the cherished any traveler's sitting position; next to the window just behind the front seats. This means I was guaranteed of all the exciting scenarios along the way from my favorite Wanale hill as you leave Mbale to the Tororo landmark hill. It was a breath taking view owing to the fact that I did not have any obstruction from my sitting point. To cap it all, sleep not being my number one friend during the day, I was hyper alert. The cool blowing fresh wind was swiftly finding its way into my nostrils heading for the lungs through the slightly opened window. Serenity was at least a part of me for long and I was enjoying an environment completely opposite to the one I am used to. Unlike the urban setting where hooting motorcycles, cars and lorries was the norm, this one was characterized by a monotonous roaring engine acting as a lullaby, soothing Benga tunes (as she calls them) from the stereo and the spacious view outside the grand bus. The driver who was an old mzee must have been a mind reader. I am not a follower of yoga though I greatly respect the practice but this was an opportunity worth giving it a shot. I was on a journey to paradise, one would think from my narration.
I was enjoying a momentary near heavenly bliss and my mind was at peace. My eyes were BUSY SPOTTING NOTHING in particular. It was a state of peacefully relaxed body verses a preoccupied optical sense and generally busy mind.
The last paragraph completely explains the title of my article; TRAVELER'S MIND. I can as well stop here because I have met a writer's number one objecting of making sense of his title to the reader. But then my conscience will never forgive me and my itchy fingers will be held to account by the supreme commander of the me; my mind. Mr brain dictates.
As my mind meandered with the direction the Uganda Roads Authority board dictated, I found myself thinking and trying to make sense of what I was seeing. I believe we have all been in a fast moving vehicle because we are in the 21st century where donkeys have had a chance to rest for a while with the coming of faster automobiles. At least that one I am sure because speaking as an African, we want to reach to our destinations faster though no one wants to be by the bus station on time. Furthermore, the faster the driver spins the wheels, the higher the chances of his children making it to college in this economic times. This also means the corrupt traffic officer will have something to take to his/her demanding boss.
With an almost flying automotive, the traveler's eyes normally have a hard time noting things close to it in detail. Everything seems to fly backwards at an alarming speed. That is a normal thing which I would have explained in detailed and sensibly if I had made it to the American Wing as the founders of this college at the University of Nairobi decided to name it. You will have to understand it in my artistic perspective because the Joint Admission Board(JAB) decided to sharpen my artistic skills at the college of humanities and social sciences at the expense of the scientist in me. At this point, a good reader should have sensed and thanked the gods that he/she is already ahead of me in the flow of my narrative events.
This state of mental relaxation and partial activity thus acted as the centre of my comparison between the way we grow up wanting this and that some of which we cant access. As I stared outside the window, a number of things were running through my mind as my eyes were not idle either. From my sitting position, people, vehicles, trees, buildings, unploughed farms were some of the sights that caught my attention.
The mind is so powerful. It has unlimited potential. There are so many ideas crisscrossing our minds that prove our potential. Some come as ideas which take time to mature. Others come as flashes which we rarely even grasp. As these objects passed the traveler, some could be identified but some could not. What fascinated me is that items or objects from a far off distance were clearly identified. I likened this to things that take time to mature in our minds and end up defining who we are. These could be the clear ideas which pop up and are build on with time thus giving us an identity. On the other hand, the unidentifiable close objects were to me the daily ideas that pop up but are never emphasized or built on. Its like the idea that comes to you;" I think I can sing" but with time you realize a croaking frog is in a better position to lure a child to sleep than you.
Early in life, I thought I would be a doctor. Not that this was my dream career. It was what every other kid at least wanted to be when they came of age. This was more so emphasized by the little priviledge of acting the family doctor when my parents were away. Coming from a BIG family, my parents had entrusted me with the key to the pain killers cabinet. Thus I could prescribe the basic dose for a head ache, cough and a bruised knee. That was a young lad whose environment wanted a doctor our of him.
But was I at my end? No. I was only beginning the traveler's mind safaris. Am I a doctor now, NO. The journey had just started.
We all have our own stories to tell. A good majority of us are not doing what they had thought they will ever be doing. Some had been into courses they never practiced latter in life. Some joined careers to please their parents. Life is a journey we travel trying to find who we really are and what we were meant to be. Our purpose. Our destiny. Our mind is our guide. We think of so many ideas which only serves to guide our search but does not necessarily guarantee our destiny. After all life is one long journey. Others landed job offers totally opposite what they studied for and this became their life. They found themselves. Their found destiny accidentally.
At the teenage and the early adult hood stage of life, the mind does not go to sleep. Music, theatre and performing arts excite us. We aspire to perform physical wonders and be the greatest athletes. Although the likes of Maurice Green, Marion Jones, Paul Tergat, Rudisha, Jelimo, Lebron James, among others made it in this industry and some how found a worth while stop, others have to move on. Some opt for music. These get carried away by rock bands, the likes of Linkin Park. Reggae fans like me loved and still love Bob Marley, while the benga fans like Ole fall for the DRC land. Hip hop and RnB does not spare others. Tupac, DMX, Scarface, Nas, T.I become our icons at some point in life. Soul, classical and the Hollywood movie idols; Brad Pit, Denzel, the Angelinas pull us making us think we are the next big thing in the celebrity world.This is normal at that point in life. After all we are only traveling as we are a traveler's mind.
Then enter Daddy, Mummy and their lecturers before the real college lectures. " Son, I want you to be this and that" " Honey I want you to be a doctor/nurse/teacher/social worker/ lawyer name it,,, because of this and that" We might do as they say but then we have our own minds which latter catches up with us. You will run but eventually your destiny is catches up with you. It might take forever, some unnecessary stops as you travel the road. Keep traveling.
I am not writing my autobiography because I am yet to make an impact in this big world. Did I get it wrong? I don't know. I thought only the big, the great and the mighty who have seen and conquered, been there done it and have testimonies to share with the world write their life stories. I could be wrong because a young ambitious man walked into GNPI Mbale studios the other day with an intention of putting his life story in the limelight through media. So I can as well go ahead and talk about my journey trying to find myself.
Just to save you the positive pain of laughing to the tales of another interesting Muturi life travels in search of a ME, God helped me make it to college where I did arts. It has been a long journey. Many interesting stops came my way. Mark you I never planned to take Arts in college though I latter realized this is the best stop I could have ever made. But that's me. You have your own journey. This was one of the best experiences in my journey. My brief four year stop is coming to an end and on 3rd Dec, I will be taking what God has enabled me achieve. I don't have any regrets whatsoever and it clearly appears to me that it was a worth stopover.
In case you have forgotten, I am still a traveler. My mind is still busy looking around for the next thing to do. I fancy sitting by the bus stop cause that is where I belong. My favourite book is in my hand. I have already said my prayers. God knows where I am headed next. I am sure when the time is right, the next bus that comes to a halt will be the one to take me there and just in case you have forgotten, I AM A TRAVELER.
After all life is one big journey where we travel blindly with the mind serving as a walking stick.
Dear traveler, you have just boarded Mind Airways flight number....Welcome aboard. Its the traveler's mind.
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
WHICH GOD?
The word God has been equated by the majority of human beings, Christians in my case to a singular being who is either the sole, one and only deity in monotheism. God is most often conceived of as the supernatural creator of the heavens and earth, the creator of both the living and the unliving.
The other day, i heard my brother spelling our his dreams and aspiration for life. What left me smiling is his emphasis of which God He was talking about. Not that i even asked him or that he read my mind. No. He just said.." I pray that the God who made the heavens and Earth may answer the desires of my heart" Not that i am praising him or making him seem the best of Christians. No. This just left me wondering how many times people call on god who may not necessarily be the Supreme.
In various contexts, the use of the word may not necessarily mean the God you think of as a Christian. This is especially so owing to the inability to pronounce a capital letter different from a small letter. What does this mean to me as an individual? One can say " Praise God" but mean " Praise god" I am certain that the two phrases sound more of the same if said unconsciously without emphasizing one more than the other.
The word is used by nearly every religious gathering to mean some deity believed to be their head.
What interests me is the knowledge that our words alone cannot take us to Heaven. The bible says not everyone who calls my name will inherit the kingdom. Thus christians are known by the kind of fruits they produce.
Yes we are saved by the grace of God and i also agree that not by our might or actions do we redeem ourselves but by confessing that Jesus is Lord and Saviour, Son of the Living God and the atonement for our sins.
I thank God because its like He knew how the word "God" may be misused thus He sends His son Jesus to be our way to the father.
I have heard of testimonies of people who have joined churches, religious groups and gatherings thinking that these were the true Godly groupings only to be surprised when called upon to sacrifice their loved ones or partake in some weird rituals. Their are millions of religious faiths with not so clear beliefs, rituals, doctrines but still they claim to be followers of the one "God/god"
Test the fruits before its too late. The bible is the sieve through which we know truth which sets us free.
The other day, i heard my brother spelling our his dreams and aspiration for life. What left me smiling is his emphasis of which God He was talking about. Not that i even asked him or that he read my mind. No. He just said.." I pray that the God who made the heavens and Earth may answer the desires of my heart" Not that i am praising him or making him seem the best of Christians. No. This just left me wondering how many times people call on god who may not necessarily be the Supreme.
In various contexts, the use of the word may not necessarily mean the God you think of as a Christian. This is especially so owing to the inability to pronounce a capital letter different from a small letter. What does this mean to me as an individual? One can say " Praise God" but mean " Praise god" I am certain that the two phrases sound more of the same if said unconsciously without emphasizing one more than the other.
The word is used by nearly every religious gathering to mean some deity believed to be their head.
What interests me is the knowledge that our words alone cannot take us to Heaven. The bible says not everyone who calls my name will inherit the kingdom. Thus christians are known by the kind of fruits they produce.
Yes we are saved by the grace of God and i also agree that not by our might or actions do we redeem ourselves but by confessing that Jesus is Lord and Saviour, Son of the Living God and the atonement for our sins.
I thank God because its like He knew how the word "God" may be misused thus He sends His son Jesus to be our way to the father.
I have heard of testimonies of people who have joined churches, religious groups and gatherings thinking that these were the true Godly groupings only to be surprised when called upon to sacrifice their loved ones or partake in some weird rituals. Their are millions of religious faiths with not so clear beliefs, rituals, doctrines but still they claim to be followers of the one "God/god"
Test the fruits before its too late. The bible is the sieve through which we know truth which sets us free.
Friday, November 5, 2010
FAITH, TRUST AND MIRACLES
Disclaimer; this is not a sermon but an article inspired by an incident that happened lately. Not that my trust or faith can move mountains but I picked my lost item (sim card/line) from a busy road somewhere I did not expect weeks after it had got lost. That to me was an odd event which latter I classified as a miracle. Although I trust God to do wonders as He has always done, the incident got me thinking. Others may call that fate or coincidence but I attributed it to God.
I have been planning to write on faith/trust for quite some time. I did have the skeleton but for some time the flesh was missing until recently. Some incidences that happen in our lives offer an excellent platform to communicate and hear from God. This only happens when we are open in the inside to hearing His somehow faint voice that can be heard by only a few.
I don’t expect it to be easy hearing God’s faint voice when our life is bombarded by all sorts of hustles, struggles, trials, hardships, sounds, voices, sites and echoes. But even in such environments, God still talks to us in various ways when we get out of, beat or grow above our hustles and meditate. This explains why the ancient prophets and gurus would leave the society and exclude themselves in search of the divine voice. It is faint. God does not stand on the tallest building in town and talk loudly to us. He whispers.
Miracles are all over for those who see them. God speaks to us more often than we can imagine. The question is do we understand His language?
I have not been very sure on whether to tackle my article from the faith point of view or the trust perspective. The two have been close to synonyms as far as I am concerned. But then I realize that wisdom demands that we bite what we can chew which means I must narrow down to manageable quantities. I still want to go against the grains and force faith and trust to be twin brothers and for the gender sensitive reader, twin sisters from the same mother. I again want to link them to miracles. One may be asking how Faith, Trust and Miracles are related.
What is faith and what is trust anyway? While in high school, one of my friends would encourage me after sitting a tough exam paper that faith is putting all your eggs (read- answer booklets) in God’s basket and counting the blessings (read A’s) before they hatch (read- before they are marked) The little understanding I had then of the word was that faith implied total surrender of my fate to a powerful being who would make things work out.
I can’t tell if I was wrong in my belief then but I can attest that miracles did happen when the going was tougher than I could manage. I remember relatively “good” grades coming from nowhere. Was that faith moving mountains or was I just being optimistic and hoping for the best which pulled the grades my way? The latter might not be true cause we all hope for the best though not everyone have their hopes actualizing or materialize. I at the same time don’t imply that I am a modern day father of faith. All the same, I strongly believe God sends a miracle once in a while with a precondition that we first trust His ability to pull one from the blues.
Trust on the other hand connotes a transparent communication as a foundation for building relationships. A sense of safety and a comfort is present in the interpersonal interaction. Trust is sufficient in God –Man vertical relationship. Man trusts God to cater for his needs and ensure all is well. Trust means I delegate everything to you because I know you are better placed to handle things my way than another I do not trust.
My next assignment will be to define a miracle. Stanford encyclopedia of philosophy defines a miracle (from the Latin mirari, to wonder), an event that is not explicable by natural causes alone. It can also be something beyond the reach of human action and natural causes. A miracle is sometimes thought of as a perceptible interruption of the laws of nature.
First, we might be forced to examine the ingredients behind the occurrence of a miracle. One of these is the magician or miracle performer. The second component is the recipient or beneficiary of the miracle. Another important thing to note in our analysis is the relationship between the two. You will realize that the two have a vertical relation. This in simple terms is that one is above the other. The magician is considered more powerful and the recipient looks up to him/her for wonders he himself/herself cannot do or perform. Thus their relation is somehow trust oriented. One is powerful and can do what the other cannot. The weaker party surrenders to the one thought to be sturdy.
How does the miracle occur? This is my assumption; In the secular setting, one may be forced to pay for the miracle thus on his part, the magician responds appropriately. On the other hand, God responds to those who trust in his ability to do the unexpected. This in relative terms, prayer, faith and trust acts as the currency for a miracle to come ones way. ie to the believer.
Up to that point, it’s clear beyond doubt that miracles thrive in an environment where trust (read faith/ belief) and ability are present. This is the case both in the secular and religious world. The only difference is the level of trust and the ability of the powerful character to perform wonders.
Biblically speaking the writer of the book of Hebrews dedicates the 11th chapter to covering this topic of FAITH. This shows how important faith is. The chapter celebrates the great men of faith. In the introductory verse, faith is defined as knowing something to be real even if we don’t see it. It is a belief that the world was created by a Supreme omnipotent God and thus hoping for solutions from this powerful being.
These great men mentioned in the chapter did the unexpected. They knew the secret to pleasing God; Faith. Abraham left his home in Haran and headed for the unknown where the Lord was leading him. Even in old age, Abraham believed in God’s promise of a son. Abraham was 100 years while his wife Sarah was 90 years, way past menopause in “civilized” modern man’s terms. I just imagine such a promise in modern times.
Faith means we are ready to trust the unknown future to a known God. It’s like going out on a journey whose destiny is uncertain but the traveler has a strong confidence in the guide, the compass, the atlas and the map. These tools in our journey with God equates faith.
Imagine the extent of trust people have for fellow mortals like magicians, witchdoctors or practicing trained doctors. It best suite me to ask my reader; How powerful is your magician aka miracle worker. What level of trust do you bestow him? What are your reasons for the kind of trust, belief or faith in your miracle worker?
The writer of this article is a Christian but I can’t measure the level of my trust in God. I don’t know for real if God considers me a traveler in the already trodden ways of trust by the greats like Abraham. As much as I claim to be a Christian, I am subject to failure when it comes to trusting God.
Being the critic you are, I am expecting questions such as “Now that life to many is an obvious miracle, does it really require faith or trust in God?” I believe many people regardless of their religious inclination believe in some powerful being beyond them. The names can differ but there could be a similarity in the beliefs narrowing down to the same God. But this is my assumption. That’s one angle of looking at it. The other approach is that God is a just and fair God. Unlike human beings, He wants everyone to have a feel of His powers. Human beings charge for the little wonders they perform some of which are possible via twisted means. But God loves us all and wants us to benefit from His overflowing free grace thus life is given to all. To live is by grace. There is nothing we contribute towards our being alive. Life thus in itself is a free miracle for all.
Life as many will agree has many challenges. It can be a bumpy ride as well as a load. All the same, miracles are expected. We struggle and do everything we can but sometimes things just don’t work out. Especially in modern economic times, depression, stress, despair prompting suicide as the easy escape route is “normal” to many people. But does that mean life has to stop? We don’t stop the hustle just because one door has closed. When you reach the end of the rope, tie a knot and hang on there. Note: The event leading to this article happened exactly after all means of trying to get the mobile phone line back had been exhausted. I learnt that God finds us at our points of total surrender. We push on both in actions and in faith which we do knowingly or unknowingly.
One of my all time favourite quotes is that hope is the only common good to all people. We may not be religious parse but still we expect a solution to come by in the long run. Our rewards come when our relation with God entails trust and we have faith in His ability to do the odds. To a religious man, this is a miracle if we were at the end of the rope.
One Congolese gospel musician and pastor gives an illustration in his song of children playing that excites my desire to learn to trust God. One child is thrown up by the others and held before falling. That is an amazing display of trust in each other by children in their play. Parents also throw their children up and hold them as they come down. Have you wondered why the infant smiles even when this can lead to death if the infant drops. Do you think the little one does not fear heights or know the dangers involved? It does know. But it TRUSTS that all will be well since DADDY or MUMMY is in charge.
Trust is that important. With total surrender of our lives, fate, issues, problems, hustles and unknown future to a known God, the unexpected happens. He leads us to greener pastures and cool waters even when our environment is harsher than a desert.
That’s a miracle right there; a product of letting go of the steering wheel, sitting back and taking a chill mode knowing all is well. That is the beauty of TRUSTING GOD.
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