Mon, Dec 16th - 4:02AM
They Reqieum
The
choir was wonderfully clad in their African attires, they sung Abide with
me, Maskani Yangu, Mbinguni ni Salama, It is well with My Soul among other
songs. The altar boys wore their purple vestments with white surplice, their
steps were solemn they too understood the mood of the occasion. The main
celebrant and the con-celebrants filled the altar, on this event they used
incense.
They
attended his requiem, the requiem mass took long than it was expected. Speaker
after speaker spoke well of him, he might have been happy as he lay motionless
in his state of art casket. The Cathedral was well packed beyond its stretches.
Mourners from all walks of life came in droves to pay their last respects to
their fallen comrade, only good words came from their mouths, he had really
touched their lives, his demise had a left a ‘gap’ that no one could ever fill as
they claimed.
One
of the speakers, a close friend of his since their childhood, urged Maria to be
strong now that her husband was no more. He spoke of hope and strength that
only God can give. He also spoke of the void that Mheshimiwa death had created,
a void so great; a void that that was greatly being felt, a void that many knew
would not be filled by anyone. He spoke and spoke about the consequences of
Mheshimiwa’s death to the party, his businesses, the country, friends.... he
rebuked death for his bad choice and timing.
Maria
his wife sat pensively in the front pew with their two children; they were
amazed with the great sermon and eulogies that were delivered, it was bad he
was gone, moreover, he was their blood. Although, Maria was not a catechist
neither a reverend nor an usher. She has
been a parishioner at the cathedral long enough than she can remember, Maria had
seen three sitting Archbishops. Today they met as parishioners, she never knew
that he was a Catholic like her but at least today she discovered.
Maria
looked at the crowd that had been part of her husband funeral convey, some of
them accompanied his hearse from the funeral home; others had lined across the
road, while some were at the cathedral to receive his body as well as attended
his requiem mass. He had been one of them, he was lost in them. The only time
they shared was in the Morgue when she went to view his body together with her
children; they sat with his body for sometime, he was still elusive since he
was incomplete.
Maskani yangu - My hiding place
Mbinguni ni salama - Heaven is safe
Mheshimiwa - Honourable
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Sun, Dec 15th - 9:29AM
MANY WANT TO BE CELEBS
I do not know what being a celeb implies or what makes one a celeb. All that I know is that more and more people desire to be celebs in their own individual rights and are striving to achieve celebrity status. There is no doubt that most celebs greatly influence some people lives, they are also keenly followed by their fans and loved. Yet, one thing stands out; celebs are human beings flesh and blood, prone to error, pain, suffering and death.
The main illusion is that achievement of celebrity status in the eyes of men and women leads to satisfaction, recognition, honor, respect, wealth, among other human earthly desires is often misguided. The intentionality of many a people desire to become celebs is often driven by negative intentions that lead to nothingness. Since life is not all about becoming or being a celeb. Being a celeb or becoming a celeb is not a measure of that which is good, acceptable, marketable, honorable, right, wrong, best, religious, human values, success, etc and will never be.
From an existential point of view, most celeb fans stop living their authentic lives due to great influence of their role models (celebs) whom they religiously adore, love and follow. This results to loss of individual human existential uniqueness and unrealized human essence. Our focus as human beings should not be obscured by our fellow human beings, no matter what! No human being is better that the other, we are all equal.
The present illusions about celebs are obstacles towards the full realization of individual human potentials. Majority of human beings are forgetting about their own individuality as they seek to live other people individuality. Many people too are forgetting the existence of individual uniqueness that should enrich their lives and other peoples lives too. Most people are also becoming imitators of other people lives instead of living out their lives.
The most important thing is living out our individual lives authentically as we strive to make the world a better place than we found it. The authenticity of our lives is not determined by other people standards but our own individual uniqueness with respect to the other human person individuality.
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Wed, Dec 11th - 9:56AM
ROAD SAFETY BEGINS WITH ME
The death of our beloved brothers and sisters as a result of road accidents is alarming. This is not the first time that concerns are being raised about road safety on our roads. Innocent passengers, pedestrians, cyclists, drivers and even conductors have either been injured or lost their lives. The most disheartening thing is that figures of victims of our road carnage are escalating at a very high rate instead of being minimized or being eliminated.
It is not that people are ignorant of the sanctity or dignity of human life for them to contribute to the escalation of road accidents. Every time we are pedestrians, drivers or passengers we are at a higher risk of being injured or killed as a result of road accident most of which is avoidable. Whenever road accidents occur lives are lost or injuries occur; careers are lost; poverty crops in, children are orphaned, widowhood occurs, childlessness occur, etc.
Nothing should be esteemed more that human life, human life is precious and remains precious in all circumstances. Anything that comes in between the preciousness, sanctity and dignity of human life should be eliminated.
A lot has been said by many stakeholders about the issue of road accidents on our roads. Great and noble ideas have been postulated by the concerned (stakeholders). But the state of affairs is moving from bad to worse as we keep on pointing accusing fingers on each other. As individuals we have a responsibility of not only protecting our own lives but also those of our own brothers and sisters.
I believe that as individuals we can be agents of positive change on our roads. We do not need a multitude of people to bring about the desired change, but through our good actions we can positively influence others to become practitioners of road safety. All these is possible and it all begins with me (you).
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Mon, Dec 9th - 10:53AM
THE PRESENCE OF THE OTHER
Is it that we are too busy with our “I-ness” for us to notice the other? In as much as we may be “I-centric” one thing stands out that even in our “I-ness” we cannot avoid or evade that as human beings we are relational beings. And, our relation nature is an integral component of our human essence and nature. It is either majority of us have lost or are in the verge of losing our relational nature clearly depicted in our actions towards our fellow brothers and sisters.
Majority of us are no longer concerned with whatever happens to our brothers and sisters in our own homes, neighborhood, work places, communities, and even in our religions. They are not also concerned whether others are dying because of hunger, poverty, war, ethnicity, racism, hatred, unemployment, widowhood, and orphan-hood among other human concerns. In so far it is not us as individuals who are not affected or those dear to us.
This lack of concern for our brothers and sisters brings a lot of doubts about our personal values and perceptions in relation to the human person. The importance of the human person as an individual transcends all created things. The value of an individual human person cannot be defined or limited in terms of who he/she is in relation to human negative perceptions that tend to distort the true essence of what being human is. But rather, the value of an individual human person is inherent.
We need each other as human persons in many immeasurable ways. Where then have we gone wrong that the sight or presence of the other never matters? What is my own contribution to the other person hunger, poverty, sickness, unemployment, isolation, widowhood, orphan-hood, death and sufferings among other dehumanization factors?
The presence of the other is God’s own presence reflected in him/her. To mistreat the other is to harm God. As God’s children all of us are equally created in His own image. Seeking the good of the other for the sake of the other should be our top priority and not dehumanizing the other. The other is my love and relation who can not be replaced or ignored. I (we) need the other to be human.
The other gave birth to me, protects me, cherishes me, loves me, educates me, humanizes me, lives with me, will bury me… because he/she sees himself/herself in me. He/she sees the image of God in me. And he/she is not doing me any favor by recognizing and appreciating me, but he/she is just being human. Therefore my “I-ness” is against human essence and nature.
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Thu, Dec 5th - 11:06PM
ABORTION: THE RIGHT OF THE UNBORN BABIES
Call me old fashion or whatever name you may have in your mind. But, all I know is that abortion is murder. All the so called rights concerning women bodies in so far as they infringe on the rights of the unborn are null and void. We may humanly justify our actions or choices on abortion using human reason or science. No matter how good our reasoning or science argues abortion is evil, and evil is evil.
The unborn babies have the same dignity like us, they too are created in the image and likeness of God, they are also precious and are fully human beings like us. No human being has a right to take the life of his/her fellow human being. Our freedom as human beings also comes with responsibility as an integral part of it (freedom).
In own my understanding as a human being no one knows with certainty when human life begins except God the source of all and our creator. Science may argue otherwise but in many ways human reason is limited. As a philosopher I am aware of the existence of divergent views on this issue (abortion) from different schools of thought and I have studied most of these views. But one thing still stands out that no one knows when human life begins except God. The question/problem of when does human life begins remains a mystery for us human beings.
It bits my imagination on why we should just sit and watch as many innocent human beings are killed (aborted). If we were never aborted, perhaps may be we escaped being aborted or survived abortion why should we abort others? All in all no human person ought to abort or to be aborted. The sanctity of human life is innate in all human beings and this sanctity must be safe guarded always. For the many brothers and sisters we have killed may their souls rest in peace.
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Name: FREDRICK WANJALA NAFULA
