Author: Soulsunshine.

Has someone ever told you these words? Or better yet, have you ever told someone these exact words? Well maybe not exact.. We will also be told or say ourselves to someone, I can’t live without you. Sometimes we even go a step further and show it. Or have you not heard that someone committed suicide because “waliachwa!”. But perhaps in this case this person should have really said, ” if you leave me, I will kill myself”

But I’m sure you have heard someone died because waliachwa…No? Well, of course not! Either way, people will still say it, lovers will still quote it and some will even show it. But how does it feel? How does it make you feel when someone claims they cannot breathe when you’re not around? That they can’t fall asleep when they think of you? That they cannot taste any other food if its not yours? That they cannot walk if you’re not by there side? Okay, I’m taking this too far… But have you not fallen in love before? You have? Then you must be relating. You haven’t? well be my guest as I unfold this rather absurd, seemingly mythology but actual reality!

The truth is, deep down you feel nice don’t you? To know that someone’s world revolves around you, to know that you’re the one who supplies their flavoured oxygen, that you are the nerve behind the pumping of their heart, the impulse behind every blink of their eye…too much? I think not. For these are the among many vitalities to survival, which apparently you seem to be the giver when someone claims they can’t live without you. Well probably you’ve never thought about it that way. Sounds tedious, right? Where I’m I going with this?

I think I need to shed some sunshine, as I would call it, on this. You see,there are people who love to build on things/relationships, people who will bend over backwards for the sake of love. You will recognize them easily because we tell them, ” you have attachment issues“..this is not the case for everyone, but after giving my all, isn’t it only fair that I hang on regardless?

To be fair, I’m not saying we sit on the fence. I don’t mean that we should be in relationships with one foot out. Rather, give it your best. Give your friends the best of you, your boyfriend/girlfriend/wife/ husband etc..give them your all. As long as you’ve well-defined your “space bar”. In a world full of angst and perplexities, show them that there can be bliss and beauty. Someone said love makes the world go round. But of course I need to point out some repercussions…

You realize how temporary life stages are, including life itself. We tend to draw some entitlement to things that we have worked for. I will even adjust to just a society of people and feel that they shouldn’t or I shouldn’t leave merely because I’m used to them and that they should be a constant part of my life experience. No, Its not necessarily because change is scary, but maybe because I don’t want to lose pieces of my heart every time someone has to leave..that, is scary!

But God did not create us to be desperately dependent on each other. And I thank Him for that. Even a new born baby, as helpless as it may be, is not desperately dependent on the mother. We (believers) serve a just God that does not allow us to draw our life from mere mortals. If you’re undergoing a heartbreak, you might feel like that’s the case, and my apologies for how insensitive this may sound. But that’s where reasoning comes in, for feelings are not altogether valid. God is the only life giver and sustainer, and rightly so! Otherwise think of how many would perish because of their source of being is one who can also die or leave.. I think that’s why God is love, the source of love, and so if love makes the world go round, He is the One that makes the world go round.

Cherish and build what you have now as if you will have it forever, you might. But if/when the time is expired and nature takes its course, be ready to let go. And if it hurts bad enough to break you, maybe it wasn’t good for you, I mean, if it hurts that bad, maybe you made it a god, and now that is scary! And no one wants that, right?

There’ll be days..there’ll be days with no sunshine..there’ll be days with no blue skies

There’ll be days, when you will have nothing to say, when you cannot even pray

There’ll be days, when no friend can help, and no hope presents its self

Yes, there’ll be days, when no promise comes to mind, and your vision is dim and blind

There’ll be days, when you will find no stones in your sling, when Goliath draws his sword..

And yes, there’ll be days, when you will have to flee instead of fight

I just came to remind you, those days are there.. They will come as long as we’re here below.

It is true that sometimes you will have to look for help. Sometimes help will not readily avail itself unless you seek it.

And yes, sometimes still, nothing can possibly seem to help on those particular days. And you will sit all day wallowing in pain and sorrow. And at times the help you need is yourself, when you realize that you have failed in your sphere, when all odds were for you. When Divine power was supplied, but you did not meet it with your effort.This is the worst side of those days. When you know that you are the one who can get yourself out of that situation, but you ransack yourself and you find no strength whatsoever. On some of these days, it is okay to “give up”. Maybe, it is okay for you to step back a while. But let your awhile be awhile not forever. On those days let the stepping back last for those days. Maybe it is a sign you need a break.

But on these days, I hope you will remember, that there is One by your side. You may not feel it. You may not see it. But maybe that’s where faith comes in. And it sounds like to much to ask, but on those days, I hope that only this one thing remains.

And when the sun rises again, I hope those days will be behind you. And maybe you cannot trust yourself to venture out, to cast drop of ink to another chapter, but I hope you can trust the One that woke you up, the One that helped you out of those days. For the day is His day, and as the day, so is the strength.

A survey was done on a street recently of free money. So they went with a crew of hidden cameras and tried to offer free money.

With or without the pandemic, money has always been an issue. In fact my fellow economists from the basics we know that generally it is the study of how human beings strive to meet their unlimited wants with the limited resources.

The people however refused the money amazingly. I mean, would you take it? Let me hear your views. Either way, frankly, with the tough economy, its not easy to believe that someone would just handover free money. You’ll probably be wondering, what’s the catch?

With that being said, it is unfortunate to realize how such a mentality could seal us a fatal fate.

We are often stunned with the offer of salvation.
Born and raised in corruption, our retarded understanding cannot comprehend the love of the cross.

Don’t get me wrong.. I have nothing against you earning a paycheck, in fact far from it.. Wasn’t it the decree that In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread? And rightly so! For the vice of gambling and cheap money is slowly creeping into our society.

But we need to stop treating salvation as a paycheck. Or is it that God has lacked labourers? Is it that He is in need of our reeking sweat? That He needs our toils and tears, our decency or whatever men offer out of their poor stocks and languishing deeds?

Or is it not He that swung the galaxies into place out of nothingness? Is He not the one that breathed the life into everything that is? Tell me, is He not the One whom glorious, sinless hosts of angels adore and turn their faces at the sight of His majesty? Is He not the One, whom they would readily, swiftly render a faithful service at His utter decree?

But who has lied to us that filthy sweat would deserve the life of God? Who has deceived us to even imagine that He died because of our faithful record of giving? That He should leave His lofty throne, because of your faithful church attendance? That He should make known to us the transcript of His character because of our perceived high intellectual capabilities and talents?

The starting point is grace! Its starts and ends with grace. That the Creator should contend to even be born of a woman. That He should make His dwelling place with wretched, sinful men. That He should sink to such depths of poverty. No! That He should have even assumed the man-made throne of Herod in exchange for His. No obedience nor work, not even an eternity of toil could render one worthy for such a manifestation of this mystery of love! It emptied all that heaven had to offer, but for us it is simply free!

If men would flee from the religion of earning, we would be naturally drawn to Him, we would exclaim with awe ” heaven is cheap” (on our side), this love would constrain us to will and to do of the good pleasure of the One who has loved us!

We cannot earn it. We can only respond to it through faith in Him and faith would wrought good deeds we so readily seemingly want to offer otherwise.

I have seen a soldier, the strongest of the fold, his stature punctuated with muscles, built from the long strife. But what is this I see, the soldier is wounded…he staggers away from the battle, and the crowd that cheered him forgot him..

I have seen a soldier, so brave so true..he has fought for long, whether the sky be gloomy or blue. But for his long consistency, they forget to cheer him through. For he has become to them, just one who’s always been.

I have seen a soldier, so small and seemingly unworthy. Oh I see the soldier’s armor, it wears him down, what sympathy! I see how they jeer at him, that he should quit the fight. Oh little David, where could your strength be?

And I see another soldier, the battle has been rough for him. And in the little army, the blows seem to aim at him. I look closer and behold!, what is this I see..his brow is bereft of despondency, his countenance full of cheer.. And as the battle rages, his joy is increased. Oh rare, joyous soldier, what buoys your spirit up?

I look a little higher and what do I see?.. You guessed it right, yes…another soldier, who fought for them all. Then my heart is wrung, as I see Him struck down. But the last soldier told me, “He has to lose for us to win”. And I see the triumph, as he rises up again.

There’s a crowd that is watching, to cheer or jeer. But the reality is, they are soldiers too. As they lay indifferent, to the battle throng, they are losing their own souls. Their mutiny is directed,to the soldier who won.. They are sealing their fate; as the ones who never fought, can never win.

Look up wounded soldier, look up little one. The One who won reminds you, you also won too. Fight on He bids you, for the fate of the battle is sealed. Why should you fear, for a war already conquered?…

adapted from ” I saw one weary” hymn 441.

Hypothetically, let’s assume you’re a lady and you’re alone at home. Its evening and you’re preparing your supper. Now suppose a guy, maybe your neighbour comes knocking at your door and on opening, he just says that he wanted to say hi, but he remains standing at the door…would you ask him to come in? Its only neighborly, right?

Now what is personal space?.. Aah my memory takes me back to the good old high school English classes which I would gladly attend once more if offered, for the teacher was quite the character. But little did I understand this topic up until now… Well personal space is generally a perceived region surrounding an individual which they regard as theirs. Now the reason it is perceived is because there is no definite standard to measure this. It varies from individual to individual based on factors like personality and temperaments, relationship etcetera.. It is like a second skin.

Now without delving much into proxemics, can we just talk about how this space is important!!.. Observe how this perceived region is violated today. You meet a guy today, tomorrow the only way for him to say hi is to hug you! Cohabiting now is the order of the day. It can even come down to just someone holding on your hand for a bit too long!

It is sad to see just how low we have stooped. And the effects are quite evident and distinct. Look at how many deaths are reported of people allegedly killed by their lovers! Could it be that they let them in their space too soon? Listen to how many cases of rape being reported. I’m sure some are the results of trusting people too much to let them into space that should be yours or forced themselves into spaces not theirs.

Something nearly similar to the illustration I gave above happened to me. Now I did not welcome him in and it has made me to question myself a lot especially in line with my Christian walk. Now perhaps he is just friendly…and to be fair he did not force nor ask to come in. I’m I selfish?, Was it rude? I don’t know you tell me.. But my dear reader, presumption is sin. You do not walk right into a hole then pray that the Almighty should defy the laws of gravity to come to your rescue. He doesn’t work that way. Instead He invites us to be reasonable, He says, ” Come let us reason together. “. Where did the rain start beating us?

As I conclude allow me to propose a few recommendations.. Can we learn to speak up when someone is crossing the line? Can we even first draw our personal space line? Can we stop placing ourselves in positions that will force us to compromise our space? Shall we try to respect the spaces of the people around us? I think the bar is too low!

Loving your neighbour as you love yourself will be easier this way. At least for me….

They said “Mgeni njoo, mwenyeji apone,” . With nostalgia, I reminisce our typical African home when visitors came around. Oh how even our pots knew that there were guests, because the food they prepared, was not in our usual menu.

But the saddest part is when they had to leave. For me it left, and still leaves, a dreaded emptiness as though I wasn’t completely fine before they came.

But now that’s beside the point. However with the illustration, come with me to my recent school of thought… How does it feel to be always left behind? To be always the one sending them off with a goodbye? To be always the one to applaud when they move to a better stage, a better age or just another step?

I’ll lay down my pride and frankly say, I hate it! It doesn’t sit well with me. Well at least up to now..Listen..

We are so often in an illusion of a better place, a better time or more, I’m sure you’ve heard, “brighter days are coming,” Now, who I’m I to say no..but hear me out before you go, listen…” Our consciousness is almost completely preoccupied with memory and expectation. We do not realize that there never was, is, nor will be any other experience than present experience. We are therefore out of touch with reality. ” Alan Watts.

And before my Christian brethren stone me, I do not seek to recant my hope of the heavenly abode. But could it be, that we’re so heavenly-minded, so “better days”-minded, that we forget the beauty of now, the beauty of where we are. How ever hard now may be, I dare quote at the expense of being mediocre, that there is a silver lining.

How about we live the best out of now. How about we applaud for them not because our turn is coming, but that there is beauty in walking your own journey. Beauty in trusting the hand that leads. That when tomorrow comes, or ‘ better‘ comes, you’ll leave with nothing left.

I want to stay where I’m at, to do what I need to do, as if there is no other place I could be. And when I leave, if I leave, I’ll leave with nothing left!

But godliness with contentment is great gain.1Tim6:6