Cock And Bull

• What Is In A Name, Really?

  Posted: November 21, 2008, 2:28 pm by Administrator

  My Mom joined a church sometime ago that is headed by a woman who has the gift to ‘see’. And recently at the behest of my parents, I agreed to pay her a visit. When I went to her place, we had a chat and this is what she told me: that my given name ‘Njuguna’ has a curse associated with it. The reason is because of the history of the man that I am named after; my grandfather from my mother’s side. He had two wives, and my grandmother was the second. The first wife was so bitter that she consulted powers of the darkness and in the process putting a curse on all the ‘Njuguna’ that will come in the lineage of her rival. She said that the curse has the power to affect the lives of all those named ‘Njuguna’ in our family negatively. I happen to be one of them.

  And so I asked the seer, what the solution would be. And she jokingly suggested that I could change my name. But then she said that in her next fasting and prayer session, she would present the issue to God for a resolution. She also instructed me on how to pray in order to break that curse – not just for me but also for the other males names ‘Njuguna’ in the family. I did as she instructed and believed that it was done. That was about a month ago.

  A friend of mine actually changed her name some time ago. She went about it through the legal system. When I asked her the reason why she changed it, she said that because it meant ‘The one who keeps going back, or going round and round’ – which is what she believes she has been doing all her life, and which she didn’t like. That is why she changed her name to one more in line with what she wants out of life. I remember that at that time, she asked me if I knew what my name means.

  What’s in a name? I would have to say everything and nothing, depending on who you are.

• Walk In The Spirit

  Posted: November 21, 2008, 2:05 pm by Administrator

  I got the following story from a friend this morning. I want to share it with you:

  Today God has taken me for a walk. It all started when I asked Him questions early this morning. “Why do you not answer my prayers?” “Why are you so silent?”…questions flowed and so did my tears. Then the answers came, not the ones I wanted to hear, but they came. He told me that Monday was still days away, it was not late…that Xmas was still a month away, so why the tears?

  Then came my frustrated answer, “Because I need reassurance God that all will be well.” And he took me for a walk…..in a ‘matatu’ on my way to town.

  The first seat I took, I felt that I had to move. And so I went and sat at the back seat where I had a view of everyone. Usually I would have reasoned that I am inconveniencing others by changing seats but I didn’t. A few minutes later, a lady entered the ‘matatu’ and she was wearing a blouse similar to mine which got lost months ago. I was even convinced it was the one. It was a unique blouse and all I was thinking about was that I needed to check one little mark and confirm it was indeed mine.

  Then the voice came to me again and started a revelation by answering some of my most persistent questions to God: “How do I know that you will answer my prayers? How do I know I am not doing this in vain?”

  He told me this; “Just listen to your heart, for your mind sometimes will work against you by starting to have reasons and logic. When you pray or do something and in your heart it feels right, then it is right. There should never be reason to question your actions if they feel right in your heart. You will just know it.” And for the first time in many days, I felt that whatever I was doing was right, that He is listening to me….I felt it in my heart.

  Then came the reassurance I had asked for: He made me realize that He has our life story before we even start living it. By taking the case of the blouse, he made me see sense. When I was given the top, I had sawn it at the back using a very bright thread which was visible against its black color. And all the time I considered re-sewing it with black thread, but I did not bring myself to do it. So, that bright thread was today going to help me identify this blouse. “You see, months ago when you sew the blouse with the bright thread, you had no idea why you did it, but I did, for I knew this day would come….and this is the same way that I know your life story. You may not know why some of these things happen today this way, but they happen for your life story to be. And you should not worry, for I know your future.” As I alighted from the ‘matatu’, the blouse didn’t seem to be important anymore, for the lessons I have learnt are worth much more.

  You may not understand my point or story, but it was the most amazing thing I have ever experienced. The conversation and the walk in the spirit.

• A Favorite Shirt

  Posted: November 21, 2008, 1:43 pm by Administrator

  My favorite shirt has a plain beige color, is short sleeved and has a light material. It is not my most expensive and neither is it at the top of my most spectacular outfit list, but still I often choose it over all my other shirts. And this is because it is just right for Nairobi on a sunny day. Unlike the long sleeved shirts, it enables me to directly feel the sunlight on my forearms and unlike the heavier shirts, I like the way it allows the air to circulate over my upper body.

  For God to use you, you do not require to be very smart, or wealthy, or good looking. For when God has work for you, you are the right person for the job. When God uses you, it might seem like you have to go through more trouble than other people. That just means that He needs to sanctify you a little bit more than others – just as a favorite shirt goes through more washing that all the other shirts.

• Being Straightened

  Posted: November 21, 2008, 1:18 pm by Administrator

  When I picked up the shirt that I wanted to wear today, it was creased and needed to be straightened out. And so I rigged up a temporary ironing station by spreading a towel on top of my dining table, and plugged the iron box into the socket. As the iron box was heating up, I laid out the shirt on top of the towel and was soon passing the hot box over the shirt. With each pass, the material would flatten and all the creases would magically disappear. And as I passed the iron box over the shirt and in different sections, I could see it transforming into what I wanted.

  As I thought about what I was doing to the shirt, I realized that this must be what God does with us each day we come to Him. When the many cares of the day crease our spirits, the temptation we cannot resist creases our resolve, the doubts that creep upon us crease our faith, and the disappointments of life crease our hope, God is there to straighten us out using the hot iron of his word, our prayers, and communion with Him. And as I ironed one shirt after another, I realized that the different types of cloth required different treatment in order to be straight. Some were easy and required minimal heat, while some were tough and required the iron box to be set to maximum heat. Some stubborn ones even needed to be sprinkled with water in order to straighten. Isn’t this just like the days that we have? In some days all our affairs are in order and our interaction with God is easy, some days are flaky and we need to spend a bit more time presenting our grievances to God, other days are simply unmanageable and we surrender and break down in His presence. Whatever the day might be like, He is capable of straightening us out, just as I managed to straighten out all those different clothes this morning.

Blah blah blah

Fish cakes

Alas a fish cake.

Yet more fish cakes

Guess what ... yeah ... fish cakes.

The end of the fish cakes