Inspirational Prose

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Action for Haiti in the city of Saints and Sinners

This is what my dear sister has said about the current situation in Haiti.

The situation in Haiti has gone way past its boundaries, this is a WORLD situation and as citizens of the world we are all obliged to reach out in any way we can to help our brothers and sisters deal with the devastation, confusion and anguish that they are now facing.

This is certainly true and yesterday when I went to church, I was glad that our own community is taking action! And not just that, I was glad that we were reminded of the virtues of serving others. A particular hymn that drove the message for me was the “Servant King”. It reminded those of us who proclaim to be Christians that our Lord is King of service. And to follow him we must be of services to others.

So let us learn
How to serve
And in our lives
Enthrone Him
Each other’s needs
To prefer
For it is Christ
We’re serving

I therefore hope that whether Christian or not, we as part of humanity will begin to serve one another irrespective of geography! We can do this by making small donations of any kind. I think many believe that one must donate money but time too can be donated!

Bottom line for this post is: We can all help the people of Haiti! So lets do it! We at G’town, the city and Saints and Sinners are proud to take action. If at all you are in G’town you can make your donations at the Cathedral of St. Michael and St. George. We will be channeling all our donations to a reputable agency that is on the ground in Haiti like the ‘Gift of the Givers’!

Otherwise donations can be made by depositing money into an account set by the Anglican main office – Church of the Province of Southern Africa (CPSA). The details are as follows.

Bank: Standard Bank
Account Name: CPSA Disaster Relief Fund
Branch: Cape Town
Branch IBT Code: 02 0009
Account Number: 07 007 8394

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Looking forward …

Since entering adulthood, I have been on a wonderful journey which I dubbed: “getting to the roots”. I began this journey by looking for a man who contributed partly to my good looks 🙂 . In the very first birthday card I got from him, he wrote the following:

One cannot change the past but can shape and help influence the future… Look forward always and your life shall be true!

Today, it is his birthday and while I may not have any words of wisdom, I am looking forward! I am looking forward to many years of his positive influence in my life. I am looking forward to all that life has to bring. I am looking forward …!

Indeed, not with certainty but I am looking forward. I am looking forward because I now fully understand that nothing can be gained by reflections of the past. So, I look forward in faith for rooted I know that I can withstand the winds of change.

To a life lived in the present whilst looking forward to what tomorrow brings. Happy birthday dad!

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My wish for 2010

2010 has finally arrived! This is the year that I shall turn 30 and all I wish for as I enter my third decade of existence is a life filled with no dilemmas. I simply want my life to be dictated by my priorities.

I have come to a realisation that dilemmas only serve to put us at crossroads where one only has the option of making it or breaking it. And because of possible fear of not making it, one often fails to take appropriate action especially when that action may lead to others disapproving. I don’t want to be a prisoner of fear and for this reason I want a life where I won’t have to make a decision about anything because all will be decided by my priorities. At times, this won’t make me popular with some of my loved ones but my goal is not to hurt anyone. My goal is to live an inspired life filled with water walking experiences! Yes it is a tall order but its time I compensated for my height 😉 .

This is my wish for 2010 and years to come. I don’t know what wishes all my friends and family have but I hope that the wishes come true.

God Bless !

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"Memento mori"

This is Latin and translates roughly to “don’t forget one day you will die”. This may sound a bit depressing but it is not. This is but a reminder that we need to enjoy every moment of life for life is too short. Today, is my mother’s 55th birthday. She never thought she will live to see this day but despite cancer and all that life threw at her, she is alive!

So when I say “memento mori”, I am simply saying we need to recognise that each day is precious. Therefore, we should remember to tell those we love how much we do love them. We should forgive those who have hurt us knowingly or unknowingly. We should put on a smile everyday because even in a stormy weather the sun can shine. Most importantly, we should stand up to any obstacle and believe that if anything must break; it will be the obstacle and not us.

Memento mori, I declare! And to all I say, let us celebrate the gift of life whilst we still have it. Memento mori, memento mori!

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Chimamanda Adichie: The danger of a single story

Let me put it out there that I am a feminist of sort. However this should not be a red herring. Chimmamanda Adichie is a lady with a powerful message to be shared. The message put succinctly is be weary of a single story for not only is it apt to be incomplete; it can create perceptions that can be dehumanising.

She is a story teller and a good one at that. Therefore, I urge all to watch this video : http://vodpod.com/watch/2303869-chimamanda-adichie-the-danger-of-a-single-story. I hope that after watching it, we will all be inspired to seek the other stories that exist for people, events and everything else. I truly believe that if “we reject the single story” as she aptly puts it, then we will for example begin to see people for who they are and not what they do! It really drives me mad that I live in a society where it matters most about what you do and not who you are and what you believe in.

That said, thank you sister for a lovely and inspiring message.

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Remembrance Sunday

Well it is that sunday of the year where we remember the fallen heroes – our fathers and grandfathers who fought in the world war. This particular year as we celebrate the freedoms that these men fought for, one song comes to mind. This song was written by Ntate Karabo Eric Lekhanya and its chorus is as follows:

“Khotso e rene kahohle-hohle
Pula li ne melubela;
Batho ba lule ba ratana
Ba lese ho loantšana.”

Translated:

Let peace reign all over
Let the rains rain
All people must continue to love one another
And they should not fight each other.

It is therefore my hope that all the prayers made during the 2 minutes of silence can result in a renewed commitment to peace. Khotso Pula Nala!

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Sing and dance through it all

This evening I went to Rhodes University Chamber Choir concert. I must say the performance was impressive—but if the truth be told, Wits choir is a little bit better than us. This is not really about comparing the two choirs, my point is while listening to the choir, I was reminded of an article I read not so long ago — the jive that kept us alive —a tribute to John Matshikiza.

The gist of the article was about dancing and singing through all that life has to offer us. Yesterday, we were hit by a mini tornado here in Grahamstown; it is still relatively windy to be at ease, but despite this, it was impossible not to enjoy the singing and dancing. Strange as this may sound, it suddenly made sense to me why music is such a huge part of our culture. For example, in my own culture, we sing virtually for every occasion including war. We have songs known as mokorotlo (war songs) and koli-ea-malla (sad songs), which I provide as support for my statement.

Much as I had never thought about singing and dancing as part of culture, I never underestimate the power of song. The repertoire included songs in isiXhosa, Sesotho, IsiZulu, Germany, English and I think Latin as well. It wasn’t just the language factor but some compositions were dated as far back as the pre-Christ era. This means that the choir, through song and dance, was able to transcend it all — language, time and differences in culture.

So, as food for thought, we should consider singing and dancing through it all — be it we are in pain or filled with joy. Whilst, of course, taking heed of advice given in a song Nna Na (I think it should have been: Nnana). In this song, a person called Nnana is asked to remember that life is like a spinning wheel (bophelo ke lebili); what goes around will surely come around!

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Lesotho Independece Day

I am uncertain about whether to celebrate the Independence day tomorrow (4th October) or not. I am yet to get a proper exaplanation on why we celebrate the day. Basically I still don’t understand why we needed to declare independence when we were but a protectorate and not a colony. As far as I understand, when we sought out protection to become Her Majesty’s subjects, it was never at the expense of our freedom. Thus, I still don’t understand how the British ended up setting their own government in our own country. Moshoeshoe in his submission to the British crown made it clear that he will continue to govern and provide leadership for his people. This was captured by the supposed statement he made: ‘le nkuke le nta tsa kobo ea ka, empa le tlohelle sechaba sa ka ke se buse’ (rough transaltion: take me together with the lice from my blanket, but allow me to remain the governor and leader of my people).

So the question is why did the British decide to treat us like a colony of sort? The answer doesn’t really matter for this posting. All I want, really, is for those who will celebrate the day to remember that freedom is never free, even though it contains the word free. Freedom comes with great responsibility. We need to honour those who sacrificed themselves in fighting for freedom by doing our best to make this world a better place. Yes, this sounds all cliché, but we need to start taking to heart what it means to be truly free to be whatever it is we want to be. I know for example that the dream of prosperity might seem to be hard to attain, but no one ever said it will be easy. As it was, the journey out of Egypt to the promised land was slow and filled with trials and tribulations which at one point resulted in Israelites worshipping false gods. (In Sesotho: leeto la ho ea fihla Kanana ebile le letelele le nang le mats’oenyeho, Maisaraele chaba sa ‘Moloki ke botele ba leeto, babile ba rapela melimo ea bosaoana). So, whilst it is certain that we will meet some challenges let us not despair!

Happy Independence to all!