Dienstag blues

back to routine :p funny how tourists see more of a country than the locals. makes you wonder why spend all the money going elsewhere when even your backyard is a strange land. next travel itinerary is now kenya! considering the numerous number of churches in Germany it is surprising how small the christian community is. and lets not forget how old..... most are already knocking on heaven's doors by the time they carry the cross or are they the few surviving remnants of a time past. a time when many only knew the lowest of lows and the comfort of God at such times. it is hard to believe when all your needs are covered and even your wants can be matched in a blink. so it turns out christmas officially starts 4 sundays before the actual day so chriskindle market is up and guys can get drunk on gluwine. any reason to drink.

the faces of love

so what was meant to be a tour of germany has become a tour to see friends. the smiles of whom tower well over the brick and mortar architectural wonders that are all around. when one travels the heart reveals itself in glorious light. paris has the louvre and the eiffel: hamburg has the harbor and the reeperbahn: cologne has the rhine and the dome (germany's biggest church-and its big): munich has maximillianstrasse and the weisse beer: amsterdam has hemp and red lights and the canals..... but even the aztecs had great buildings and the pyramids gleamed like molten gold at the height of their construction. the twin towers were a wonder to the eye and macchu pichu still fascinates centuries later. the untold story is the day to day life of the people there and how much more precious that is for all. all these cities may sparkle on their own but they sparkle, dance and sing when experienced with friends. thank's faith and sandra for an awesome visit to hamburg. thanks auntie mary for the welcoming open hands, felt like i had gotten home in your house in lubeck. Arnim and Daniela who would have imagined that we would be sharing dinner in Frechen konigsdorf after meeting so briefly. PK GODincidence all the way. the coffee in cologne could not have tasted any better.

christmas fever

xmas seems to be very important, not yet out of november and even in the hospital wards they are dangling decorations. hard not to imagine chris not flying his sled right over head. the dedicated fervor with which the whole affair is being handled begs the question: isn't europe in a euro crisis or is that just a paper crisis!

insanity of cold

madness- jogging at night in the deafening cold that marks the end of nov in europe equal madness- as a black man from the equator experiencing his first near zero and sub-zero temps and deceiving himself he can seat on a metallic bench in the middle of the night, please don't..... your butt gets numb and you can't walk till it defrosts!!! Doubly madness-playing night soccer matches in this weather just so you can fill the stadium!!! Triply mad- attending the afore mentioned soccer match parting shot-boots were made for white people to walk in the snow not for ladies in the equator to wear and look like their bodies are slowly gravitating into their legs starting with the fluids

the answer remains the same

who's power is it to rule the world? who's power is it to rule our lives? in the beginning men ruled their own lives. one hunted for their own food, one farmed for their food, one built their own shelter. one was free to live or die as they pleased. community developed and even then man had his autonomy but..... slowly law and order came to be beasts that road on trade and commerce and ever so slowly........ man found himself shackled. slave to the system. a system that feeds many but serves few. today we have little control of our lives our only choice is to live as society demands education and employment in services and industries that feed the beast called economy programming that tells us that is the only way to live life. constantly aspiring to get more and better than others a warped value system that values law, order, money more than it values human life only one law does matter the law of love..... but even that has taken new form "show people how much you love them by throwing money at them"-take them out for lunch, buy them some jewellery and accept them as they are yet most of this is motivated by selfish gain to gain a heart to belong to who needs our love most? those who have been buffeted with good fortune in this world of steel and money? or the suffering and sick? those who have helped us through our lives? or those who despise us? those from who we gain and grow? or those who drain us of our last energy? ALL OF THEM and what of the slavery we now live in? this slavery to the system. the greater slavery is of the heart who's cruel slave master is the mind pumped with dictum and ideas and principles..... unfounded in the understanding of the gift of life. the fullness of which is known to the smallest and the largest both inanimate and animated by grace we are here by love... wellspring from our hearts... boundless and encompassing all love with no i love with no me love for all only by love can we celebrate the grace of living only by love can we truly worship only by love can the world as we know grow from evil into glory

living life

waking every morning to the same life is wonderful: there is security and comfort in the familiarity that each morning brings. and that is why waking every morning to the same life is dangerous: familiarity dulls the senses and most importantly our understanding of the world gets fixed. however short a journey this is it is nevertheless a shot in the leg. a shot that draws pain and in that pain life is revealed. we derive great pleasure through association with others and the esteem drawn from them so much so that many lives are a product of expectation. we endeavour to express ourselves in language, cloth and demeanour in a fashion that best exemplifies us. when all this is stripped away, what is left? i think Life is left with the many gifts it brings: the gift of waking, the gift of breathing, the gift of being aware, the gift of presence. it is no wonder that mother teresa gave away everything material and then herself to be with those with none. she truly understood the value of life, seeing the beauty in those we have not. the beauty that is a life graciously given. a life that should be graciously shared through love. and love's language is a verb. i pray for the weakness to love others as God loves us.

reflection on a word

it is a beautiful thing to love. it is a hard thing to love. it is the only thing: to love. what 1000 words say a single action manifests in a moment. better then silence.

affirmation

i am most blessed in my life