Friday 30 September 2011

Moment with the Creator


Going through the activities that characterize the life of human beings and also which are different for each individual, it is allowable for one to pause and think; just how did it all start?

A news reporter will wake up each day, having an event in mind to cover or ready to get to office and find an assignment waiting for them; a teacher, with a new topic to cover that day or may be determined to make a concept that didn’t find its way into the students’ brain sink; a mason, with the client’s assignment in mind or probably determined to nail a new contract that day; a serious student, ready to grasp a new concept for the day and probably for the future.

The various events that we all wake up to are bred nowhere else, but in our brains. In our minds. The brain is a powerful asset.

What if one wakes up one day and decides enough is enough with these life hassles, then sits and waits for the day to end then another and another! Do not imagine this because it is the most boring experience, any culprit would concur.

Life can be overwhelming, the ventures that people go into are at times enough to make them forget some aspects of their life; that people are social beings; that people are forgetful and this amounts to negligence; that people are religious if not superstitious; that people are not like wild animals- wild animals are of different kinds, some are marine while others are terrestrial, unlike human beings that are terrestrial, they only turn marine on improvised survival means. The responsibilities that people wake up to are too many that at times they- as dedicated and overburdened mothers would say- ‘forget themselves’.

Forgetting oneself here includes forgetting the ‘God element’ that is a characteristic of every man, I mean human being. Forgetting oneself also includes being unaware of what impact one has to those around them and vice versa.

People and especially Africans are notoriously religious-it has been said. There is a great element of truth here. Now, this takes me back to the County edition that NTV Kenya has been showing for quite a while. The different counties in Kenya are demarcated mostly on the bases of culture or rather peoples’ background. A common feature of many societies that were shown was the distinctive ancient believes that people living in the various localities held/hold.

There was this edition in Namatunga, Turkana County where they showed stones piled up in one place, all of different sizes and shapes, arranged not in any specific manner. The dwellers there believe they are remnants of people who failed to obey; as a result they turned into stones. The ground there was regarded as holy-place of worship. From the difference in height and width of the stones, I could imagine they were people of different sizes; some slim, others plumb, some short, others tall. The small stones, well, maybe they were the toddlers who were accompanying their parents but when the punishment -read capital punishment, like Troy Davis’- struck, they too fell culprits.

What happened those days as is written, in the Bible about Sodom and Gomorrah! When Lot’s wife turned back to look at the city, she turned into a pillar of salt.

The two stories depict the aftermath of what people believe in or rather, that people will attribute certain happenings to a supreme being, which is okey and it keeps people moving, it makes people stick to upright modes of behaviour, it makes people keep up good deeds, it helps protect the ‘weaklings’ from the adversities of the ‘powerful’.

Now, moment with the creator; it is a worth concern to take a break from the usual do’s and acknowledge the creator/ God/ the Supremacy at any given time. Many times one will only remember or better phrased, be prompted to mention the name God or Jesus when in trouble and occasionally unnecessarily!

It is easy to spend a whole day chatting with friends and catching up but rarely does one give even a single minute to acknowledge God, just to be thankful, let alone ask for guidance. But worship is here to stay; from the efforts different religions are giving to establish modern prayer facilities. A visit to the ‘Resurrection Garden’ in Karen perfectly demonstrates this. The modern touch given to this place of worship is just encouraging, it puts you in a Godly mood; you just don’t talk anyhow unless you are talking to your God, you just don’t eat anyhow, unless you are partaking the body and blood of Christ, you just don’t loiter, the message of God inscribed on well cut walls amidst perfectly manicured vegetation will call you to stand, read and reflect.

I would call it preservation of heritage. Though the Bible content doesn’t change, it is quite a good effort to deliver the same message but through different avenues. A moment with the creator. Take time and pray; take time alone, or with others, to be with your creator. Our ancestors did it. It is a way of life that has stood the test of time, others come and go but this one is here to stay.

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