Category: Food for thought

When did the whole world go crazy?

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When did the world go crazy?
it seems we are now changing the meanings of things, including legal definition to suit our preferences. Since when did it become fashionable for people to drink till they pass out? Children roam the street late at night, children have no respect for adults or authority and they behave like fools all in the name of rights! We have people who have never had children calling themselves child experts and calling for the change of laws to stop parents disciplining their children. No two children are the same and not all parents are the same. Not every parent is out to harm their child and I think most are discerning enough to know better than the “experts” what is good for their children.

We have taken private intimate acts and put them out for public viewing in the name of  adult entertainment and told our boys that it was okay for men to indulge in pornography and now, as a result, we have raised and are raising men who call themselves “Bitch slayers” and have no respect for women. In a world where it seems people want equality for men and women, isn’t it funny that we then turn around and offer people a commodity that objectifies women and tells men not to respect them? We then give out contraception and condoms to kids and tell them it is okay for them to have sex with whomsoever they choose, when they choose and wherever they choose but are shocked when the age at which children first have sex reduces.

We tell pregnant teens that abortion is okay that “it’s just tissue” but neglect to tell them there is a greater price to pay. How can it be okay to pull a child out of its mother’s womb and before the head exits the womb, puncture the head and suck the brains out? If the child had been born 2 days earlier it would count as a person. So what separates a human being and tissue is whether or not it is wanted or whether or not it exits it’s mother’s womb before it is killed? How can we live with ourselves when we can leave a child to die, alone, crying, in a pile of dirty linen because it was born as a result of a failed abortion? Can that ever be justified? Should a child ever have to pay for our mistakes or those of others? In today’s world it seems a tree has more rights than an unborn child.

In today’s world we compare the fight for homosexual marriage to the civil rights movement of the 50s when the two have nothing in common. People go around killing each other because they don’t agree; people rape homosexuals to get them to go straight, worse still, others burn them. Paedophiles also want a cut in the sexuality debate and so do the polygamists…where do we draw the line if right is only determined by what we feel? Men and women fight to be above the other and in the end both lose out. People walk out of marriages because they have “fallen out of love”, “found someone else”, “come out of the closet” with no regard for the vows they made. In today’s world people’s word counts for nothing and people use “love” as an excuse to follow after selfish desires when deep down it is lust that drives them. Have we forgotten that love is selfless?

Scientists can not explain how they gave evolution “theory” status and yet most defend it as if it were proven fact and treat anyone with a differing view with contempt and a lack of respect. Tolerance…funny how it was never a complement to the tolerated but now has become the word everyone throws around, asking that we accept all world views and yet the minute our views differ from theirs, we become high and mighty and demand they change their “narrow-minded” views. That is the world we live in. Where definitions don’t matter, where truth is relative…

When did the world get this crazy?

Direction

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I have been very quiet of late on this blog. I recently started working and have been struggling to get posts out on a regular schedule. I pretty much need to organise myself and get a schedule going. I plan on expanding what I post one my wall to include Zambian cuisine, culture and also how to speak one of our 72 languages, called ici Bemba, while still keeping short stories and the things I’ve been writing about a big part of the site. I think this is still in line with what the blog is about. Things that I am passionate about.

Ponderings brought on by a book

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Some times, you read a book and find yourself the centre of the story. It puts what you have never been able to articulate, into meaningful sentences, leaving you feeling exposed and raw. It leaves you in tears and tears open the bandages you’ve covered over the wound that have not allowed it to heal. It has festered, and where you once had soft tissue, your heart has hardened. You find yourself in pain again, only you know it’s always been there and sometimes you’ve acknowledged it, but most times, you push it down. In trying to escape it you find you lose yourself and the confidence you once held. You don’t know the person you’ve become and you wonder when the struggle for peace and sanity ends. The book makes you realise that you might never totally heal and the things you are holding on to are things you know are choking the life out of you but you are not willing to let go because you don’t really know what else you have left. That’s what Francine Rivers’ Her daughter’s dream did for me and God I pray that somehow, you soften this heart.

Differences

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There are times I find myself angry at what happened during colonial times, but then I know we have come a long way, and we cannot treat people a certain way because of mistakes made by previous generations; look beyond the skin and you find we are all just people…People with fears and dreams, you find that we are all capable of untold evil but that with Christ, we can change this world and make it better. In Christ, there is neither Greek nor Jew. That does not in any way diminish the wrongs done, nor should it ever be said that people “should just get over it” but reverse racism, creates a never-ending cycle.

When we are hurt by a group of people or person, for some reason, we see the difference between us and make it the reason for the offence and yet the reason we hurt people isn’t even our difference, it’s not that we are white or black; Chinese or Zambian; Lozi or Bemba; male or female; the reason is our one common denominator, we are all inertly evil.

Influencers

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This week past, has been a huge blessing for me. Monday to Wednesday night, we attended the Influencers conference in Perth Western Australia. It happens every year in Adelaide and Perth in January.

I was deeply challenged, convicted and encouraged to be more than I am now. One of the greatest questions I was asked amidst all the teaching was “Am I carrying my share of the burden?” Its a question worth asking any one of us, Zambian, Australian, those countryless…anyone. As a Christian, am I carrying my share of the burden? As a family member, am I carrying my share of the burden? As a Zambian am I carrying my share of the burden? As a person living in Australia am I carrying my share of the burden?

We all have something to offer even though we think otherwise, but it’s time we got over ourselves and lived for Someone greater than ourselves. Dr Ravi Zacharias said, it takes one man to lead people into untold evil but it also only takes one man to change the world for good. What is your contribution to this world? When will we stop waiting for someone else to bring change and be the ones that stand for truth and justice?

I was convicted because I know in whom I have believed and yet do not live my life as one with conviction. I am not a source of hope for broken people. There’s a need in the world, we are meant to meet. As Zambian’s what are we doing but sitting and waiting for change to come or seeking to better our own lives and not the lives of those around us? As people, we uproot boundaries wanting to live free but true freedom has some boundaries. The consequences of removing those boundaries will be devastating. When will we stand up for what is right and true?

I was challenged to live out my faith, to get over my small life, small world and focus on Christ and live for Him. I was challenged to forgive and move on, to not let the past determine where I am going; I was challenged to let go once again.I was encouraged because I have great dreams that I believe were planted in me. Dreams that seem impossible but I know that the one who placed them in me, will fulfil them, if only I believe. In the end, it’s all for His glory

Happy Australia Day

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Yesterday (by a few hours) was Australia day. People were posting on social media about enjoying the celebrations. People lined the foreshore of Perth to see the spectacular fireworks display, others having too much to drink, while others had nice picnics with their families. Even the Tennis went on break at the Australian open in Melbourne, while fireworks were heard and seen, exploding in beautiful colours.

With so much life surrounding this day, it’s so easy to get caught up in it. But that’s not really all there is to this day, is it? While others were rejoicing yesterday, others were burning Australian flags, some just out of hate and disregard for the law, others out of true hurt at the fact that the day celebrated is the day their lands were invaded and taken away.

I can’t help but wonder, if what we are meant to celebrate is being Australian, the people, this vast nation and all it has to offer, why then is it so hard for people to agree with something as simple as the day Australia is celebrated. Shouldn’t it bother us that something we are doing now, offends our neighbour?  What would be lost if the date were moved? it doesn’t have to be the 26th of January, it can be any other day of the year. Why pick a day that changed the lives of the Aboriginal people of these lands? Does it aid the building of bridges or just fuels tension.

i think of Australia Day as a day where unity despite the differences held, is celebrated, so why should a day like the 26th of January be the day, when all it does is fuel anger in the Indigenous people? Sometimes we need to consider others and do what benefits all parties.

undefiled

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There’s a girl, a lot like myself…not much different from any other girl.
She’s never known what it feels like to be pure, to be untouched. She’s been used her whole life by those who should have known better…Those who claimed to love her
She is scared, broken and unable to love…
Christ has saved her but she finds herself struggling with the same demons of the past. She can’t let go.
The thought of trusting any man is just impossible; to love him would be weakness. She can’t bring herself to lie with a man she loves, one she’s married to because it just seems wrong somehow…
If only she was clean, pure, untouched, undefiled…

There’s another girl, lost and pregnant.
She thought it wouldn’t happen to her.
Oh God what is she to do? It was just one time and now she’s paying the price.
She’s only in high school, her parents will kill her. She has nowhere to turn!
She’s given them reason to throw her out…what will she do? She was right after all! “You’re a naughty girl!” she would say
She decides to have an abortion…better that than having to face that witch of a woman…better than proving her right!
As she walks out of the clinic…she wishes she could undo what she had done…but she can’t! the baby is gone…she feels cold inside…empty
They said it was just tissue…not yet alive but she knows it’s more
“it’s moving,” she had heard the nurse say. Her baby is gone
“you’ve already proven her right!!!” she hears a voice say, “you’re naughty even without the baby to prove it! You are defiled, unclean…”
She wishes she were untouched

There’s another girl, she’s a mother.
People ask, “How come? Isn’t it wrong in Christianity to have a baby before you’re married???”
they question her beliefs, they question the existence of her God.
She proclaims Christ and yet is bound by sex. She can’t bring herself to be with anyone, and yet she touches herself. She knows it’s wrong and yet she can’t seem to stop.
She can’t stand men. She’s been hurt to many times to know…to many times to let go…
She met a man, who’s just lovely and knows he’s not like the rest.
She’s been abused and has herself abused.
She is unworthy of him just as she is unworthy of Christ
oh how she wishes she were clean, pure, a virgin,
“Untouched”

There’s a girl, she sees her friends, one after the other, falling prey to the culture around them.
She decides to join in…
They Party like the world, dress like the world and make sure they are in Church on sunday
they sleep around, always making sure they use contraception
they look down on the unwed mother…they gossip about the one caught in the arms of the married man
They pretend that’s not them. Testing forbidden treasures, ,one, two, three, four, playing with toys and all, It’s just experimenting…No one need know, forgetting that “there are no secrets in life.
They are fooling everyone including themselves. And yet Christ knows…he sees them just like the others. Just like those they look down on
They might just be worse off because remorse does not touch them
They are unclean, untouched, defiled

There’s a girl, she introduces her friend to the party scene…tells her friend lies…handing her over to the lion himself.
She sees her friend going astray but only gossips…She doesn’t want to be judgmental, after all, Christ said “judge not!”
her friend is taken by the world…her Masters voice she no longer hears. Yet she has her legs still crossed and that’s all that matters right???
Both are unclean and defiled…touched

There’s another girl,
She dresses just right…nothing vulgar, decent.
She’s in the house of worship every service
she gives her tithe, serves, says her prayers, refrains from forbidden foods, does what is required of her…the whole deal. She sometimes thinks bad thoughts and occasionally lies…but it’s nothing serious…you can’t do everything the holy book says….
She follows the law of God
She sees girls throwing their lives away and sleeping around, living like the world and thinks she’s better than them. She thinks, she is clean, undefiled, untouched.
She doesn’t share Christ because they are unworthy of Him.
She forgets that she like them, like all humanity is  unclean, not untouched, defiled…that it is Christ who cleanses us.

If only

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Lord, if men would realise that women are to be treasured and protected…not to be used to fulfil selfish desires but to be honoured…that girls will give sex in exchange for companionship, love and respect because they are disillusioned and that their hearts break when that love and respect is not shown…if only men could open their eyes and see that the girl they lie with today, is beauty that they might destroy. Worthy of the respect due a mother; she might one day mother their own son’s wife. That she is a grandmother, mother, wife; she is a child, a sister, a granddaughter, a friend; maybe even your own. If only they would open their eyes and see that she looks enticing, yes, but let the man who she was meant for enjoy her, just as you will one day hope to alone enjoy yours. That they owe their wives nothing less than what they expect, a man who is untouched. That as enticing as she seems, she might just be the seam ripper that makes you come undone…

That we women would open their eyes and see that if he loves “me”, He will wait. He will want the best for “me” even if it means he loses “me” . If only we would realise that compromise leaves us lost and broken…unsatisfied…pleasure lasts a moment but when it’s gone, what do you have left? If only we could treasure what is right and true, closing our ears off to the sweet nothings he whispers and hearing the truth in his words; hearing that we will get hurt and that he cares very little in the end.  Hear the truth in His words…the words of a loving Father…You are precious, loved and need nothing other than Him. That honour and respect; that love does not come by giving yourself away. That letting him have his way with you, deprives you, and if he hasn’t married you, he was no right to you…That there’s something more that awaits you, a man maybe, who will value you. If only we would realise that just because you gave in once, you don’t have to keep giving in, or that just because he denied you your right to “NO!” does not mean you lost the right…If only we realised that just because he ignored your “NO!” doesn’t mean that all men seek to take from us, by force if need be… If only we could see His tear-stained face, with arms outstretched, sweat beading, bleeding  for us, His deeds shouting as loud as His words, I love you this much!

IF ONLY…

Zambia the Christian nation…Really?

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With the current state of affairs in Zambia, I wonder, are we really doing justice to the name we profess. I also wonder, is it even right to impose Christianity on a nation when it’s something so personal?

I’m one of those who have rejoiced at the declaration but over recent months I wonder if at all we are not dragging Christ’s name in the mud. I’ve heard it said, “Zambia will be governed under Christian principles” but that has not been the case since the declaration was made. There is no justice in our country and I believe we cannot blame the current situation on the government but ourselves. I do not mean to say that our country has no good happening…there is a lot of good going on. But if we want to keep flying Christ as our country’s banner, there is no room for apathy.

In a Christian nation, children should not be living on the streets fending for themselves. The poor should not be oppressed. Pollution would not be as high because we wouldn’t just bury our heads in the sand while the vulnerable ingest lead. Fear would leave, and the need to do what is right would take over. We wouldn’t be so moved by competing with each other wanting to be the best dressed or to have the best weddings or best cars because Christianity pulls people out of ditches not burying them as we rise to the top.

Yes, we have a rich culture, where we believe in taking care of each other, but then how did corruption become so rampant? If we are a Christian nation, why isn’t it visible in our treatment of prisoners? In our care for the sick? If we are a Christian nation, why isn’t it visible in the integrity of our education system? Why do we pay bribes to those in authority just to get the services that should be and on paper are entitlements? Why isn’t it reflected in how we choose our leaders? Why do teachers just get transferred to another school when they get a school girl pregnant? Is that in any way, a reflection of Christ? When a woman is photographed with her legs in the air, having a papsmear done and pasted on a news website, is that a reflection of Christ? When we allow people to take photos of the vulnerable without their consent and use them to show the plight of our people is that right???

I am not calling for the removal of the clause but for an evaluation of whether Christ sits on the throne in the minds of Zambians as we claim. What do people see when they look at our country, do they see love or greed, a spirit of servitude and humility or one of pride and “what’s in it for me?”? Do they see Christ?

Last day of 2012

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Today for me marks the end of a very blessed year. When this year started, I was pretty close to rock bottom. I remember staying in the house the whole day, only coming out at night when my sister came home from work. I was bitter, resentment filled and angry. I was scared to leave the house because I felt if I did I wouldn’t come back. I imagined myself jumping in front of the train or just getting on the train and not coming back. I felt trapped and not needed.

Over the last 10 years I’ve experienced emotional strain and extreme darkness where I didn’t know how I was going to get through the day but I wasn’t willing to give up and I always came out of it but 2011 for me was the year I lost all fight…I crumbled…I felt crushed under the weight of my life this far, crushed by yet another failure, loss of loved ones, the loss of a friend. I felt crushed by my inability to get over my past, crushed by my inability to love the ones around me. What mother resents her own? Yet my love for my daughter was still present.

I had lost sight of what was important. I had allowed my problems and insecurities and people’s views to finally matter where they never had. I had allowed fear to reign in me. for grief and anger and resentment to become me. I remember talking to my brother on the phone, laying on the bed, tears flowing, unable to control them. I was unable to hold it all together. I remember him saying “you have a love affair with where you are at.” That was in January 2012. He had been talking to me about crying out to God but I couldn’t do it. I was in pain and yet I wasn’t willing to submit because I was afraid that what lay ahead with God might just be more painful. I felt wounded afresh at the loss of friendship. I remember writing “You healed only to wound again.”

At that point I had tried to get in touch with a counsellor and had failed. I remember talking to my parents and not being completely honest with them but at least the doors of communication had been opened and on my terms, eventually managed to find a counsellor. I remember invading my sister’s room and telling her things I’ve never told anyone else before. I had to be honest with my leaders at church. I remember sitting talking to my counsellor and telling myself I wouldn’t cry and yet breaking down.

I remember living with my brother and his beautiful wife, my elder sis and them challenging me to be better. I remember the birth of their child and the joy it brought…I remember mum coming and the blessing she was  to me. I remember connect group meetings…3 different groups where I was challenged…one controversial but causing me to analyse and re-evaluate where I stand. I remember a friend challenging me, refusing to accept I wasn’t okay, challenging me in my Christian walk. I remember getting to my counsellors house and telling myself many reasons why I should not knock on the door. I remember feeling like I had failed because I couldn’t get my life together on my own. The hardest thing for me to do is depend on people, even my family. I remember deciding to tell people the truth about going for counselling when they asked what I had been up to and it helped me get over the shame of it. I remember crying to God and journaling and praying and laying things bare before Him. I remember advice and hugs from those who have my best interests at heart. Those I kept up late when I needed advice or just a listening ear.

This year I got some of my confidence back. I had allowed life to reduce me to an unsure fear filled person and counselling was where I learnt I was really okay, not consumed by my past and I had to re-learn to be comfortable in me. To own my choices from here. Yes listen to what people have to say but in the end decide on my terms what course my life will take, because in the end, I can never blame anyone else for what I do wrong.

2012 for me was the year I saw a counsellor who helped me deal with some of my issues. I am in no way at the destination of wholeness but I’m on the way. It was the year I saw more transparently my father’s heart. I saw the restoration of a friendship I never thought possible. My nephew was born. My daughter turned 10, like previous years it has been a continuation of my journey. Where I see God’s hand. It was the year He again bent my knee to His will when I was unwilling and unable to within myself. It was the year I saw the most progress in my fight for purity. It was the year I stopped running. The year I attended a leadership course, the year I performed my own written poems live. The year I finally finished medical science. I got to get involved with life changers who are scattered around the world. people I love got engaged and married, babies were born in our family. This  year, my hope was restored.

So why am I telling you all this? Isn’t it funny how you hear Christians talk about going to the doctor for a common cold and demanding antibiotics when there’s no need for them, forgetting that Jesus is the great physician by whose stripes we are healed, and yet the same people will stand and declare that your faith is weak when you see a counsellor for emotional turmoil? We’re all different and while others have no need for counselling, others do. Do whatever it takes to get out. You can never tell whats around the corner. Darkness is relative to light. just because the sun is on the other side of the world doesn’t mean it stopped shining. Just because one door closes doesn’t mean you’re closed in. Sometimes all that’s stopping the light from trickling in is the walls you’ve built. Remember when in a dark room, you can’t see further than a few steps ahead of you and sometimes you can’t even see yourself. But feel around, stumble and even fall, if you take your eyes off the darkness and your predicament, you might just turn a corner and find hope, little rays of sun where there  seemed none, blocked by that one wall. Don’t give up! It’s okay to ask for help. Also never forget, that behind the smiles we see, there might just be more pain than we realise and you might just be what the other person needs to get through. Happy New Year and for those who have walked with me this year, may God bless you. Looking foward to 2013