OF LIFE AND LIVING

There is something about life that gives me 'life'. It is in the early morning happy screams of my nephew next door as though he is welcoming the sunlight or trying to out compete the birds a-chirping; It is in the incessant knocking at my door by my daughter who wants a pin or rubber or pen or even a hair band as she prepares for school; It is in the bouncing dog - Sockey - a Maltese terrier I think - which is excited to see me as though for the first time ( i might be mistaken - she is excited to be free from her kennel)

Life is in the architecture of the termite mound (erroneously called Ant hill); it is in the gait of the chameleon as he moves from one branch to another( a lesson in patience?); it is in the brush of  human bodies in the busy St. Balikuddembe market; It is in the thick of traffic jam ( wouldn't life be boring without any other cars on the road?)

Oh life - what a gift

Life - 

Life is  in the big hug that my son gives me as if his goal is to chock the supply of air to my brain; Its in the crow of the cockerel at dawn, the kiss of the chilly air in the morning, the sound of the hymn on radio. Life is in the smile from that stranger with red lip stick as she crosses the road ( or is she appreciating the fact that I stopped for her to pass by?); it is in the buzz of market women over the dim of traffic at Kalerwe market -

We often miss the true life moments as we chase the winds of success or what we consider progress. These winds blow from left to left to center to left and then sometimes right. They follow no rules and can be quite frustrating. The writer of Ecclesiastes said it all. It is vanity. It reminds me of the rat race, or better still, i can clearly see her - Sockey (the maltese terrier)- trying to catch her tail - often growling, often falling over and leaving me laughing until it hurts. Is this what God does too? Laughing at us when we are chasing the useless things in life? Trying to impress our neighbors with the latest model of SUV? Trying to show off our most recent acquisition of smartphone? Does God laugh at us when we leave the more important things like our families and try to impress the joneses?

Where therefore is my life? It should be in responding to the greetings on WhatsApp from my loved ones. My VIPs ( Very Important People); It is in calling up a friend who is bereaved. It is in encouraging that student who didn't perform well in class. It is stopping to listen to a distressed wife who is talking about a cruel spouse or greeting the stranger on the street

Ooops! i need to call up my mother. Without her, there would be no me. No life