Gratefulness

If you're reading this it means that you're alive because corpses don't read unless you're a ghost, which I think you're not! So you're alive, and that's quite something. It's something special to have the breath of life. You may even be going through a dry spell financially, and wondering how you will go through Christmas like that. Nevertheless you're alive, and that's something to be very, very grateful for.

There's always something to be happy and thankful for

To be alive means you still have work to do on earth. The challenges that confront us from every side will pass away like nighttime passes away for daytime. It really is true that no situation is permanent and no one is going through such a hard time that he cannot find something to be grateful for.

Many people are currently going through trying times. I watched a woman on TV whose husband was one of the victims of the Kasese killings, leaving her five little children. My heart went out to her and I prayed: "God, the Bible says You're the father to the fatherless and husband to the widows; please help that woman; give her the favour, the wisdom and the strength to raise those children to grow into men and women this country will one day be proud of." Then I felt that despite the enormity of her grief, she's still alive for her children. There are many children without any parents but somehow they get by difficulties notwithstanding. 

As an optimist I've learnt to find something to be grateful for no matter the challenges. Daily thankfulness is the fuel that keeps my engine going during tough times. So I'm writing this to encourage others that there's still hope. Use this last month in the year to forget the hurts of the past and the frustrations of today. Forgive the 'unforgivable' and crown the year like a free soul; free from baggage, and alive with a heart pulsating with the endless promises that are waiting to be embraced in the new year.

A conversation about the prosperity gospel

FRIEND: Man, you can get lost!  Must be the business of winning souls for Jesus. I hear you even went to Bible College.

ME: You know, man, things happen. It's true I've been pursuing a Diploma in Theology. 

A preacher and his translator

FRIEND: What! You want to become a Hummer-driving pastor?

ME: Ha-ha. What do you have against pastors living a good life anyway? 

FRIEND: I don't hate the players but I hate the game they play. Conning poor folk of their hard-earned money saying "bring the tithes and offerings into the house of God and the heaven will open and pour down a blessing you cannot contain!" Meanwhile it's only those pastors that become rich while their flock remain broke. 

ME: I tithe not because my pastor tell me to, but in obedience to God who through the Bible tells me to tithe and give offerings. 

FRIEND: So are you blessed? If that's the case why do you still 'pad' (walk) to work? 

ME: You are better than that, man. Owning a car has no nothing to do with being rich or poor. 

FRIEND: But why are those pastors obsessed with 'big-ass' cars and 'big-ass' mansions yet Jesus whom they preach had nowhere to lay His head? 

ME: You say Jesus had nowhere to lay His head yet He had the power to feed 5000 people with five fishes and two loaves of bread. And once He sent Peter to pick money for taxes from a fish. Man, all the silver and gold in the world was Jesus's and is still the Lord's. There is no testimony in His servants and those who believe in Him living in lack. He came that we may have life and live in abundance. So there is absolutely nothing wrong with teaching people to hate poverty and believe they were created to live in prosperity. 

 FRIEND: I see you're already talking like them prosperity preachers! Anyway it was nice chatting but I've to go. Let's stay in touch; I'm interested in talking more about this. 

ME: Sure. God bless you.

Without life there's no life

What is the most precious thing? To me the most precious thing in life is life. It is the thing everyone will do his best to protect and sustain for as long as possible because without life there is no life. That is why even the oldest man with all his teeth long gone and eyes so dim that he can no longer see, does not want to die. I know what I am talking about because in my teenage years I lived in a hospital where I witnessed many people on their death beds, and I testify that the fiercest battle is not the front-line battle between enemy armies. The fiercest battle is the battle to stay alive.

Some of the victims of the Rwenzururu attacks. In the background the palace is burning [Internet photo]

 And death, when it happens, leaves deep wounds in the lives of those left behind. Every person alive means a whole lot to some one out there; maybe a friend or relative. I will never forget the day death stole my cousin who doubled as my best friend. I had grown up with him; we had attended the same schools and lived in the same village right from primary to high school. Five years later I still struggle to believe that he died. He was the realest, nicest person ever. He had the biggest heart, had the warmest personality and was the only guy I know you never managed to provoke into rage. But what stood out was how selfless he was; the epitome of humanness.

He was one of those few and rare gems who live a life of such quality that just thinking about them alone inspires the best in you and provides sufficient fuel for you to excel at everything you do. That is the kind of mark some people leave in the lives of others. 

Imagine then how hurtful it can be; how deep the wounds go when such lives are unfairly snuffed out by political monsters as was the case in Kasese recently when the Ugandan army attacked the Rwenzururu Kingdom and killed over 80 people including burning down the palace.  If you take away precious lives ingloriously, how do you expect those in their lives not to fight back?

There's more to winning than a cabinet of silverware

It's over ten years since my favourite football club, Arsenal, won the English Premier League. My friends who support other big clubs like Manchester City, Chelsea and Manchester United wonder why I stick with a club whose trophy cabinet is full of "cobwebs". They don't get that Arsenal is about art, and art cannot be understood or appreciated by unartistic minds.

The 'Invisibles'. Internet photo

We are living in times where winning is more about collecting trophies than creating beauty, or doing something in a way that reminds us of the magnificence and splendor of the heavens.  Arsenal is about the latter.  It is managed by a French professor of Economics who is obsessed with beautiful style that in 2005 his team were dubbed the "Invisibles" after displaying  aesthetic, lightening-quick football that took them through the entire season undefeated. It was a feat that has since not been replicated, and Arsenal has continued to play beautifully like no other English club. 

It is because of its inimitable style that the club has for 20 years consistently finished in the top four in the Premier League, and not missed playing in the elite league - the Champions League; something no other English club has done. That consistency has given Arsenal fans lingering memories of beauty that inspire them to sharpen their quality and remain steadfast to win in life as well. 

Every time I watch the Gunners play, I'm provoked to dig deep and give the best without losing my uniqueness. For example I strive to write this column with fluent originality and clarity. The focus thus should never be on winning an award but on producing something of pure lasting quality. 

That is what real winning is about that. It is about inspiring and mentoring, it is about standing for certain values and ideals uncompromisingly; is it about personal style and expression, about character, hardwork, patience and perseverance which combine in birthing quality and class for which one will always be remembered. That is the kind of unfading crown we all should strive to win in life.

Trump-et of courage

The protests and the tears I saw on CNN told of the trail of heartbreaks that followed the ascendancy of Donald Trump to the American presidency. During the campaigns he presented himself as arrogant, insensitive, brash and too reckless that Barack Obama dubbed him "uniquely unqualified" to be president of the United States.

Yet when it came to the polls he garnered an enviable number of votes and swept the electoral colleges to swagger into the White White, leaving the media and many know-it-all political pundits staggering from the seismic shock of the impossible having become possible! 

But what is it about Trump that got him defying the odds that were alarmingly against him? Many reasons have been advanced to have orchestrated his utterly surprising victory but for me it is the sheer enormity of Trump's courage that made all the difference. Hillary Clinton had her batteries of courage fully charged as well; standing up to such a man, but Trump is another animal! The power brokers in his Republican Party wanted to dictate his flow but he refused to toe their line; he was the captain of his own ship and he didn't care. 

 Then everything was hurled at him. The spoilers had rummaged through his old life and returned with some nasty stuff with which to tarnish his name and reputation beyond repair, but no one can stop a man whose time has come! The past was past, and in any case no one among his accusers was saintly enough to throw the first stone. They hoped the things he said about Muslims, Mexicans and Hillary's character would boomerang; the media unfurled its fangs doing its best to turn his words against him but Trump refused order his mouth alright or be politically correct for that matter. He was and is no pretender and that takes enormous courage. In the end many voters were won over because they felt if he was a devil he was a devil they knew well; a devil they would have no problem sticking with.

Trump's courage was too irresistible to them; it is like the courage that girls find very attractive about the bad boy. It is the courage that comes from knowing that you were created for greatness and nothing can stop you except God. It is an extraordinary courage that very few possess. It is the courage of big winners.

Equipped for something

"In life everybody was created and equipped for something." Those were the words of Muhereza Kyamutetera when he was hosted on Capital Fm's Desert Island Discs on Sunday. In fact we are here not just to do what we are equipped for but to do it excellently; maximising all the capacity within.

People who fail to discover what they are equipped for live a life of tinkering; doing this and that; becoming masters of none, because their  focus is on financial returns than on making a difference; adding value to humanity; a value greater than themselves. Some indeed get exponential increase financially only to realize that money does not bring the joy and fulfillment that we all crave for deep inside.  Consequently they wither and die with their potential still unfulfilled like undiscovered gems. 

Tyson's talent was spotted during a street brawl

The inability to discover one's purpose is a huge problem in Africa, unlike in the developed world where  scouts of every profession are always scouring about for young talent. For example Mike Tyson who became the youngest heavyweight boxing champion of the world at the age of 20 was discovered during a street brawl. American music sensation Justin Bieber began singing contagious tunes when he was still in his diapers, and the music scouts immediately knew the lad was born to sing. 

But in Uganda few parents and guardians have the insight and foresight to help their children discover and nurture their talents and gifts. A child who loves to crack jokes is reprimanded for being cheeky and instead of  watering his sense of humour to flourish he is sent to university to study law or medicine at the expense of his natural talent.

The essential thing is to think and do everything to discover what one is created and equipped for. Many of the unemployed people and other frustrated lot would not be stuck in a hole of stagnation if they discovered what they were created and equipped for because they would be busy enjoying the fruits of using the opportunities that God throws in our way; opportunities that have a direct connection with the potential that is in each one of us.

The age of duplicity and depravity

I was walking home on Wednesday evening reading a text message when a boda-boda rider vrooming by snatched my phone. But as he lacked the timing and dexterity of an eagle; his grip was not firm, so the phone fell from his thieving hand and landed into a roadside trench which luckily was dry. Every part flew apart and it was another miracle that its screen did not even crack.

Some boda-boda riders are crooks

After I had reassembled my phone I stood there reeling with anger at the rogue. I use boda-bodas a lot and now I'm not sure I want to ride on a boda-boda again unless I personally know the rider. A boda-boda who tries to steal your phone can drive a knife through you in order to take your wallet. They say one bad apple does not mean all the apples in the basket are bad, but we are living in desperate times that have turned good people into wicked ones. 

 It's scary that some people no longer have troubled consciences. The story that drove this point home was a story of a young lady whose handbag was snatched by another boda-boda rider in the same style my phone was almost stolen. It was a new semester and the handbag apparently contained tuition. The poor lady shouted, "My bag!" and collapsed in shock while the thief vanished on his boda-boda. After the young woman had regained consciousness all she could do was cry. I will never forget the pain and grief I saw on her pretty face. 

Some thieves don't always get lucky. Some are nabbed in the act and killed on the spot through what is known as "mob justice" yet this seems to have done little to stem the ugly wave of shameless thefts sweeping through our nation. It's so bad that even money donated to help a cancer patient go for specialized treatment is stolen. 

The only solution is for every good person out there to remain different and set an example that little ones under their care can emulate.