Perfection is what I seek
but isn’t the search so bleak?
My search makes me feel so weak,
Within I’m about to break,
Things aint right,
At least for what’s in and within sight,
I wish I could be at ease,
but the world is no longer one big piece,
Nothing is more impossible than searching that inner peace,
Sirens-like sounds are dominating my mind,
All I can hear is a not so good sound,
I feel like things are getting out of hand,
Nothing is clear anymore in my head,
Everything around me seems to be going round and round.
Is it me alone or it’s the whole wide world?
Am I about to hit the ground?
‘cause I feel balance aint a part of me and am lacking a place to stand.
Look at me now,
No longer in charge of what I thought was mine,
Somebody come and rescue my soul,
If no one comes the enemy will let me drown,
I thought I could manage this on my own,
But my inability has made me the laughing stalk of the town,
Don’t you think I am more of a clown?
I’m missing out on the rhyme,
but I hope this aint a poetic disaster about to come,
so don’t be afraid to sound the alarm,
just in case nothing comes my way but harm,
just in case my mind goes blank,
and articles aint flowing into my blog bank.
Hold on.…is my mind a victim of a prank?
I’m I losing out on reality?
Surprisingly, my slogan says I fear no one,
Yeah, not even one but only God,
No one scares the hell out of me,
But I still aint at peace with the inner me,
I have a new enemy,
Somebody bigger than a whole army,
“But wait a minute….do you know what you are murmuring?”
Yeah…I know…I fear the potential lying within,
I don’t fear that no one is concerned anymore,
I fear that the world does not know,
I fear the one in me is planning a revolution,
Big enough to change my life’s perception,
Just in case you said you didn’t know.
I am my own enemy,
what lies within is more than an army,
I am about to explode,
I am about to positively self destruct as 50 would say,
So stay away,
So that you be safe in case the bullet went stray,
I am the perfect me,
I got potential lying idle within,
I got to sit and allow things to settle
I got to look at the issue at hand from a new angle,
You can do this Steve,
Only if you make that single step out of your cave,
Only if explosion is your crave,
Only then will you know,
The cave darkness that has made your life so low,
Only then will you know that like an eagle you can sow
Come out of yourself and let the seed grow,
Only God can dictate how far you can go.
Monday, January 24, 2011
Friday, January 21, 2011
VERTICAL CHAT
1715 pm “…………a person’s Character says a lot about them. It opens or closes ones doors to opportunities that life has to offer. Skills, expertise and experience are good but they are short lived if character is missing. He who is faithful with a little can be entrusted with much………
Be willing to sacrifice the small you to achieve the big you(Chinese proverb). Take the not so prestigious opportunities, not so well paying or those voluntary tasks that come your way. Do that extra assignment when asked to and don’t find it so hard to extend your day by an extra thirty minutes even when you are supposed to be out of office. From such, the bigger you gets a chance to grow and other doors of opportunities open.
Humility is the willingness to be corrected, the courage to own up to your mistakes and accept to bear the consequences. It’s that attitude that pushes the words “I am sorry for what happened. I am ready to bear the penalty and willing to do everything to repair our relations”
Be humble enough to accept other people’s opinions. Until we were humble, we would never have managed sitting all those years listening to a teacher in front of a class. Knowledge is acquired when we are humble enough to listen and accept to be taught. Open your ears to instruction and take note when rectified.
Team work means you value the fact that a complete staff is composed of not only you. It implies looking at progress from the holistic team perspective rather than seek individual glory. It means you value everyone’s contribution and you consider a task incomplete until everyone has played their part. Working together equates success.
Money is important but it is not everything. Great people are those who do not necessarily have money as their motivation but those who strive to achieve things beyond their selfish selves. A well lived life is a life lived with the bigger picture in mind. Whatever you do affects other people in two ways. Chose to live a life beyond the selfish you.…………..” 1756pm
Be willing to sacrifice the small you to achieve the big you(Chinese proverb). Take the not so prestigious opportunities, not so well paying or those voluntary tasks that come your way. Do that extra assignment when asked to and don’t find it so hard to extend your day by an extra thirty minutes even when you are supposed to be out of office. From such, the bigger you gets a chance to grow and other doors of opportunities open.
Humility is the willingness to be corrected, the courage to own up to your mistakes and accept to bear the consequences. It’s that attitude that pushes the words “I am sorry for what happened. I am ready to bear the penalty and willing to do everything to repair our relations”
Be humble enough to accept other people’s opinions. Until we were humble, we would never have managed sitting all those years listening to a teacher in front of a class. Knowledge is acquired when we are humble enough to listen and accept to be taught. Open your ears to instruction and take note when rectified.
Team work means you value the fact that a complete staff is composed of not only you. It implies looking at progress from the holistic team perspective rather than seek individual glory. It means you value everyone’s contribution and you consider a task incomplete until everyone has played their part. Working together equates success.
Money is important but it is not everything. Great people are those who do not necessarily have money as their motivation but those who strive to achieve things beyond their selfish selves. A well lived life is a life lived with the bigger picture in mind. Whatever you do affects other people in two ways. Chose to live a life beyond the selfish you.…………..” 1756pm
Monday, January 17, 2011
THE PARTNERSHIP
In any partnerships, the equality principle should never be downplayed. In fact for it to be called a joint venture in the human perspective, the involved parties must have the same contribution in terms of ideas, investment, control and the eventual returns must be at the same time equally enjoyed depending on the part each plays. There should also be room for questions whenever doubts arise. Clarity of issues surrounding the venture helps build trust. Partnerships in human sense are more of synonyms to at par.
“What exactly do you want us to do, where are we headed in this, how well are you informed, how sure am I that you can be trusted. What is there for me to gain in this? Do you have the map to the destination that I am even not aware of?”
These and other question cloud our minds making it hard for one to trust anyone interested in having a partnership with us. Imagine someone approaching you with a business idea. Will you just embrace the proposal whole heartedly without questioning the business’ viability, the person’s intentions and the chances of it being a profitable business venture?
Trust is a key word for any possible partnerships to be effective. In the spiritual realm, trust implies we give up in surrender to people we consider a solution to our problems. A classic example is in the practice of magic. It’s amazing how we meticulously follow the instructions.
In a discussion the other day, I heard of a woman’s confessions of how she would follow a witch doctor’s instructions so as to elude fighting her co wife over the husband’s attention and control of available resources. In the course of her visit, she would ask “…what do I need to solve a domestic crisis?” “All you need is this stick.” The witch doctor would respond. “But how sure are you that a mere stick will help me tame my husband?” she would ask. “ Trust my words” was all the man would answer in his usual few words. Still not getting him, she would proceed to ask, “Why should I trust you?” Understanding the woman’s concern the African doctor would continue “It has worked with many others who have visited me for consultation.” The statistics bit would make things slightly optimistic. But still not getting the whole idea on where exactly the conversation was heading, she would persist “How do I use a stick to solve my quarrels with a co wife?”
Eventually after asking and getting answers to the trillion questions bothering her mind, she learnt that as a remedy to their domestic quarrels, she had to put the stick in her mouth. Whenever the co wife started an argument, she had no way of retaliating because of the stick in her mouth. She could not go against the witchdoctors’ instructions. In the long run, she gained her husband’s favor as the peace-loving woman.
There was a lot of wisdom behind the stick in the mouth prescription. This is what led to a success that was the basis of her trust in him. Do you expect that to have been her last visit to the witchdoctor? With the success she got, she developed trust in the witch doctor’s prescriptions because it had answers to all her concerns. One of the factors behind the growing trust was the responses she got whenever she had doubts on the witch doctor’s recommendation.
The above scene is typical of human beings. Questions are necessary once in a while for us to consider any possibility of working together. But what happens when God comes in as the possible partner. What are His partnership principles?
Amos 3:3 states that two cannot walk together unless they agree. God is not a mediocre partner neither is He after the equality kind of partnership because after all He is God. Nevertheless, He is a just God. He has set the highest standards as far as Faith is concerned. Hebrews 11 says that it is impossible to please God without faith.
But what does God expect from us if we are to walk with Him? In the Abraham’s call story, God tells Abraham to leave His homeland and go where He was to show Him. God does not give details of how the place looks like or what Abraham should expect. Abraham from His response earns the title “father of faith” While in the New Testament, Jesus calls the brothers Simon and Andrew, John and James, Matthew and they leave what they were doing and follow him without questioning.
It’s amazing how these people trusted Jesus and joined Him in His mission without any slight objection. Mark puts it well in verses 18 and 20 of chapter 1 “….straight away they forsook their nets and followed him” Had they been aware of the power of the Son of Man? If so, many Israelites would have accepted His message after witnessing His miracles but many didn’t. This confirms an extra ordinary faith the disciples had in their new master.
How many times have we had doubts when He calls on us to do something we thought needed assurance of how it was going to be done, where, with whom, how, and why? These endless questions storm our minds many times when hear His call for partnership.
God wants us to respond in faith without questioning because history proves past God-man partnerships where faith was present have always ended well. Walking with God is a walk of faith.
“What exactly do you want us to do, where are we headed in this, how well are you informed, how sure am I that you can be trusted. What is there for me to gain in this? Do you have the map to the destination that I am even not aware of?”
These and other question cloud our minds making it hard for one to trust anyone interested in having a partnership with us. Imagine someone approaching you with a business idea. Will you just embrace the proposal whole heartedly without questioning the business’ viability, the person’s intentions and the chances of it being a profitable business venture?
Trust is a key word for any possible partnerships to be effective. In the spiritual realm, trust implies we give up in surrender to people we consider a solution to our problems. A classic example is in the practice of magic. It’s amazing how we meticulously follow the instructions.
In a discussion the other day, I heard of a woman’s confessions of how she would follow a witch doctor’s instructions so as to elude fighting her co wife over the husband’s attention and control of available resources. In the course of her visit, she would ask “…what do I need to solve a domestic crisis?” “All you need is this stick.” The witch doctor would respond. “But how sure are you that a mere stick will help me tame my husband?” she would ask. “ Trust my words” was all the man would answer in his usual few words. Still not getting him, she would proceed to ask, “Why should I trust you?” Understanding the woman’s concern the African doctor would continue “It has worked with many others who have visited me for consultation.” The statistics bit would make things slightly optimistic. But still not getting the whole idea on where exactly the conversation was heading, she would persist “How do I use a stick to solve my quarrels with a co wife?”
Eventually after asking and getting answers to the trillion questions bothering her mind, she learnt that as a remedy to their domestic quarrels, she had to put the stick in her mouth. Whenever the co wife started an argument, she had no way of retaliating because of the stick in her mouth. She could not go against the witchdoctors’ instructions. In the long run, she gained her husband’s favor as the peace-loving woman.
There was a lot of wisdom behind the stick in the mouth prescription. This is what led to a success that was the basis of her trust in him. Do you expect that to have been her last visit to the witchdoctor? With the success she got, she developed trust in the witch doctor’s prescriptions because it had answers to all her concerns. One of the factors behind the growing trust was the responses she got whenever she had doubts on the witch doctor’s recommendation.
The above scene is typical of human beings. Questions are necessary once in a while for us to consider any possibility of working together. But what happens when God comes in as the possible partner. What are His partnership principles?
Amos 3:3 states that two cannot walk together unless they agree. God is not a mediocre partner neither is He after the equality kind of partnership because after all He is God. Nevertheless, He is a just God. He has set the highest standards as far as Faith is concerned. Hebrews 11 says that it is impossible to please God without faith.
But what does God expect from us if we are to walk with Him? In the Abraham’s call story, God tells Abraham to leave His homeland and go where He was to show Him. God does not give details of how the place looks like or what Abraham should expect. Abraham from His response earns the title “father of faith” While in the New Testament, Jesus calls the brothers Simon and Andrew, John and James, Matthew and they leave what they were doing and follow him without questioning.
It’s amazing how these people trusted Jesus and joined Him in His mission without any slight objection. Mark puts it well in verses 18 and 20 of chapter 1 “….straight away they forsook their nets and followed him” Had they been aware of the power of the Son of Man? If so, many Israelites would have accepted His message after witnessing His miracles but many didn’t. This confirms an extra ordinary faith the disciples had in their new master.
How many times have we had doubts when He calls on us to do something we thought needed assurance of how it was going to be done, where, with whom, how, and why? These endless questions storm our minds many times when hear His call for partnership.
God wants us to respond in faith without questioning because history proves past God-man partnerships where faith was present have always ended well. Walking with God is a walk of faith.
Thursday, January 13, 2011
POSITIVE IMPATIENCE
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.
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.
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.”
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