Upya Fresh

 If you attended Sunday School, CRE lessons or go to church, you are probably familiar with the question above: What’s in your hand? Then, God was asking of Moses what he had that He could use through him in the saving of the Israelites. The answer? A staff. A simple staff, nothing as ornately carved as those of our African leaders (can’t blame them – they got swag, they got style – if only they were more visionary…). Just a simple staff. The current status of Kenya, Africa, the world … rising cost of living, rampant unemployment, economic recession, culture clashes, worrying climatic changes, political instability, uncertainty about the future, angry populaces… indeed, it seems as though we are teetering on the precipice. That said, in most of these instances, we are powerless – relatively speaking – as they are beyond our control. But again, that eternal question: What’s in your hand? Perhaps, you’ve lost a job or a business, lost a child or spouse, fell sick, been divorced...

  Likinifika kubwa, nisilolitaraji Nijaze nguvu, nilistahimili Nipe nguvu upya, ili nilikubali Gumu kwangu, nyepesi kwako, barafu maji. (When great tragedy visits Give me strength to overcome Give me the serenity to accept As ice is to water, hard to me is easy to you.) It is not easy to bury a child. This wide-eyed, wondering angel that gives the mother and the father reason to be. Reason to wake up early, in hustle and bustle, turning a house into a home. And so, Ken was interred. Then, my little mind couldn’t comprehend as to where my dear playmate had gone to. The details were sketchy – someone had cut off his legs and he had died as a result. How mean, I thought, a great terror visiting me. Diabetes. I attribute this to my attachment avoidance, such a loss too great to relive. Elsewhere, a woman goes for a routine medical check-up. She is on her second pregnancy, first trimester. She was wedded a virgin, did a big church wedding to boot. Big, brown, beautiful. She ...