If you can’t Convince them, Confuse them

 A letter to my grandchildren: African Ancestors did nothing wrong!

Africans for some time have been labeled backward people even after getting the education they prescribed for them. The prescribed education in fact only created employees and never employers. Therefore, we were trained to take care of other people’s possession and never to own anything. The Religion they brought to us managed to convince us that our African Ancestors committed high treason before the face of God and we are paying the price of their supposed sins hence, we are supposed to repent for those sins and iniquities on their behalf in order to see the perceived change and enjoy the prosperity that is idolized in certain parts of the world. Every week the African has continued to repent of these ancestral inequities with no sign of change in sight, the poor are still poor. Religion has even designed the picture of the devil with our black skin color while all the angels in the supposed presence of God are all white in color. Talk about killing the self-esteem of people at a deeper level with such an illustration. We walk as broken people under sin and have been hypnotized to the extent that we have even rejected our own traditional names and norms in preference for the ones recommended by our spiritual educators including their cultural norms hoping that will change our circumstances and in the process make the African look distinguished. But we are forgetting one truth that a Rose flower under any other name will still smell a rose flower.

If our African ancestors were as backward and evil as we have been made to believe, then let’s consider the facts. How did my ancestors manage to move from wherever they came from whether it is in the mountains of Cameroon in West Africa without shoes or clothes, braving the most hostile African jungles, unpredictable climatic conditions, crossing some of the most turbulent rivers, fighting off wild animals, providing child and maternal health services until they were able to settle in the various places that the white missionaries found them. If you ask me, our ancestors were true heroes and someone deliberately did not want the Africans to view their past in that positive light. Hence, make people be ashamed of their history

Well, let’s ask the question, who led our ancestors through their journeys and whose wisdom did they use to enable them to brave the difficult great treks that they undertook to the point where the African we see today was born and is alive fully formed. Is it the devil? Consider for a moment if the African migration and spiritual journey were well recorded in the same manner the Jewish history has been recorded in the Torah, wouldn’t we see the hand of a divine God somewhere in there? The fear-based religion that we have been exposed to, has truly made zombies out of some of our people today. One thing is true, Nobody can pray themselves into prosperity otherwise the Africans would have been the richest people on the face of the earth because they are true prayer warriors trying to kill the devil who is the supposed author of poverty. Except I don’t really know who gave Africans the idea that the devil is hiding in the mountains.

We have been asking our religious teachers to show us how to get to the abundance that God promised in various religious texts and the answer we normally get is so familiar, do not aspire for these worldly treasures as your true treasure awaits you in heaven. Wow! Can somebody remind them that nobody gets out of life alive! To get to heaven one has to die and be buried hallelujah.

The solutions to Africa’s economic problem actually lie in the problems themselves except that we have been trained always to look elsewhere first like an academic text book written in 1950! God in his divine wisdom prepacked solutions in the problems themselves like the maize crop is in the maize seed itself. For example, if we consider Africa’s agriculture problems, is the African arable land located only in Europe, Asia or America? Are the people who are supposed to farm the land only in Europe, Asia, or America? Many times the solutions are just as simple as that. But Africans are too educated and always believe it’s complicated to solve agricultural problems. Who knows maybe that’s the reason Jesus Christ did not attend any Earthly University so that he can uncomplicated life as we know it. Seriously can we for a moment unlearn things and get back to the basics.

Well at least I can finally declare as the Mexican proverb says “They tried to burry us, but they didn’t know we were seeds” Africa will wake up one day and take its destiny in its own hands and the liar will be exposed

When Yesterday is Gone

“Thank the past for all the lessons it taught you; anticipate the future for all the blessings it has in store for you.” ~ Matshona Dhliwayo

What is Yesterday doing in your present moment? What is the value of bringing up the horrors of Yesterday in your now moment? You may have made terrible mistakes yesterday or you could have been misunderstood and treated unfairly. The question of life you would consider is that are you sure you can travel back in time and undo what happened yesterday like one would do on a Computer? Unfortunately, it is an exercise in futility to try that impossible adventure. Many times the people who get stuck in the pains of yesterday look for sympathy from those around them. and they are not ready to move to the next adventure of life. Maybe they are scared of the changes that tomorrow or today require them to make to fit in. 

Yesterday is like torn pieces of paper that have been thrown into the air and have been dispersed by the fast blowing wind in different directions and cannot be regathered and pieced together again and its done. Therefore, why would someone waste time trying to cry over milk that has already been spilled? Look back and ask yourself the questions of life like "What is the lesson that was hidden in yesterday?" "What is the treasure that could have been wrapped up in yesterday?" You will discover that the greatest treasure in yesterday is that you are here alive today. The almighty God has hidden all your promises and blessings in time. Every minute ahead of you holds something of value to your future. Therefore, don't waste valuable energy getting stuck in the past. 

Charles E Hudson could not have been more clearer when he said “Don't let the pain from yesterday ruin the new day that's ahead of you.” However, it is Mehmet Murat ildan, who once said “If your yesterday was much better than your today, then today you will most probably walk around in your yesterday!” in essence we should not define today by yesterday's standards which may be outdated today otherwise we will never grow beyond yesterday's limits. Remember the Fax machines were relevant yesterday but today we have email. Yesterday we had Kodak photo cameras that needed a darkroom to develop images to get a photo, but today we have digital cameras and digital printers to achieve the same thing. Like one wise guy once said "Expectation is the Pillar of Life" Our today should always be filled with higher expectations than yesterday. Hope for tomorrow should always be the last thing we should ever lose no matter what we go through in life

Choose to live in the moment and enjoy life as it has been given to you by God. Life is what it is and you make it what you want it to be. Above all forgive everyone who has hurt you in the past. You have no business carrying the burden of unforgiveness instead of spending quality time creating your future. You are a creator and nothing else 

When Life hits you with a Low Blow

 "If You Accept the fragrance of a Rose, You must accept the thorns that it bears" ~ Isaac Hayes

Bret Michaels once said "My life is part humour, part roses and part Thorns. There comes a time in life when one goes through thorns of Life. A time when even those you think are close to you seems so far away when your cry is not loud enough for anyone to hear you. A time when one even thinks God has gone quiet on you. When it's daytime but you wish it was in the night when time simply stops and seems to take an eternity while your mind freezes. You can't even turn to the left or to the right with no place to lay your head in peace.

Is there a way out? Yes! Ask yourself the question, If it's not me then who? The thorns of life were divinely designed to keep you in motion. No one sits on thorns and never rises up to escape the pain of thorns. God never designed a perfect path for you lest you fail to grow in wisdom but He ensured that the devil was standing at every corner so that you don't ever stop moving towards your destiny. Therefore, make friends with the thorns of life and you will thank God. Every encounter with evil is replete with a valuable lesson to move you to the next best version of yourself for the prepared higher level. Remember the day when even the people you hope to encourage you, all of a sudden just develop amnesia and cant even remember that you exist.

When evil shows up like it has come to derail your journey, Thank God because its the signal you have been waiting for that the day of your rising is just on the horizon. Therefore, just make friends with the thorns you encounter in your journal. Life is not a mystery just flow with it with your eyes set on the goal.