Churchill Quote

'Tact is the ability to tell someone to go to hell in such a way that they look forward to the trip.'

~ Winston Churchill 

Letters to my Child: your name

#LetterstomyChild
Beloved child, don't you ever forget your name you hear?

Others may try to change it to suit their tongue. You may dislike it and change it because you have heard too many whispers and you may doubt yourself.

You may forget who you are. When you forget you will become anything the first person decides you will be. You are not your insecurities.

You are beloved. You are created in the only image worth imitating, the image of the one and only Holy God. Shake off all other images for they are false images.

Letters to my Child

#Letterstomychild
Precious child, however old you are, wherever you may find yourself, when you are broken do not fight it.
Yield to the thumping sound. If you do, you will not shatter into pieces when the hammer is greater than you can bear. Be too soft to break so that God can easily mold what He wishes. So that the enemy finds pleasure only for a little while but soon he shall realise that his hammer was a useful tool. For you will not be scattered nor will you have to explain yourself.

Dear Child, learn the art of surrender, you might never have to fight. You will only ever fight yourself to surrender after that you are the winner. You will learn that the hammer is not your greatest adversary or form of suffering but you and your choices are.

Jada Pinkett-Smith Confronts the Hip Hop Culture's ideologies on women and men

 Stolen from Facebook

Jada Pinkett-Smith: "The War on Men Through the Degradation of Woman"

As we look at societies where the women are lost, struggling for education and otherwise disregarded, versus those who consider women the center of their communities, Jada's words ring all the more truer. Read what she has to say below:

How is man to recognize his full self, his full power through the eye's of an incomplete woman? The woman who has been stripped of Goddess recognition and diminished to a big ass and full breast for physical comfort only.

The woman who has been silenced so she may forget her spiritual essence because her words stir too much thought outside of the pleasure space. The woman who has been diminished to covering all that rots inside of her with weaves and red bottom shoes.

I am sure the men, who restructured our societies from cultures that honored woman, had no idea of the outcome. They had no idea that eventually, even men would render themselves empty and longing for meaning, depth and connection.

There is a deep sadness when I witness a man that can't recognize the emptiness he feels when he objectifies himself as a bank and truly believes he can buy love with things and status. It is painful to witness the betrayal when a woman takes him up on that offer.

He doesn't recognize that the [creation] of a half woman has contributed to his repressed anger and frustration of feeling he is not enough. He then may love no woman or keep many half women as his prize.

He doesn't recognize that it's his submersion in the imbalanced warrior culture, where violence is the means of getting respect and power, as the reason he can break the face of the woman who bore him four children.

When woman is lost, so is man. The truth is, woman is the window to a man's heart and a man's heart is the gateway to his soul.

Power and control will NEVER out weigh love.

May we all find our way.

Jada Pinkett-Smith

DearBlackMan's greeting will save the day

Yesterday, after a long day, on my way to see a very gracious #dearwhiteman, I am worried that I am just not in a great emotional space. There are too many thoughts in my head and I have not been able to shake them off as things have been so intense. I do not want to dump anything heavy on him as I love processing in my head/heart first. However I cannot shake off the heaviness as I am still caught up in the emotion of it all and the questions are plaguing my mind. I do not want to be heavy but I am. Then, I walk past  a #DearBlackMan in my pensive state. I am also rushing. He is a security guard and full of dignity. He looks at me or was it right past my pensive face and into my soul. With dignity and patient purpose he says: "Hello sisi". I look back at him quickly as though surprised that someone would find it within them to greet such a pensive person who is walking fast. I look back at him, curiously, honoured and I say "molo bhuti." 

As I looked him greet me I felt his entire soul physically uplift me, like one placing me on their shoulders to remind me that someone thinks I am great. 

I felt him lift me up with every ounce of his being. My heaviness left immediately and I was amazed at how it was that one can greet another with such simple words and yet simultaneously 'unburden' them. How do you greet someone using only two words and yet leave them feeling as though you lifted them on your shoulders? Exalting them above yourself and thus above their own problems? I have experienced this on several occasions, but this time was the second most memorable moment, well, excluding one other greeting by an older dear white man that whose simple greeting became not so simple and powerful. It was a greeting that changed the atmosphere and left light mysteriously hovering above where we sat. We talked of it for days to come. Well, he only greeted me that way, to my horror making me the center of attention while I was completely unprepared for this sudden spotlight particularly from someone so influential. Someone who was only supposed to walk past me, as they often did. I did not judge them for it either, I expected to be ignored. This was a man whose name I dared not ask. All I knew was that he was important to those who walked with him as they seemed to worship the ground he walked and positioned their speech so that he may favour them. He was in his fine working suits. I was just young and doing something worthwhile but bottom of the chain but he greeted me like he'd met the most important person there. It was awkward but amazing. Of course that was a once off situation. Sometimes that is all you need.

Yesterday was not a once off situation. I have been healed by many nameless a #dearblackman on the road on many occasions. He will find an honest soul to soul or spirit to spirit connection in the most effortless and natural way, saying 'hello' and meaning it to his core. The results will be almost spiritual. It will be as though he sees your soul. He sees that you are good and he awakens that goodness with a compassionate greeting.

A few minutes later I met my friend, as gracious, humble as he always is. It had been a long day at his work too. I was joyful and light and dancing to the music of the marimbas playing next to where I found him. I was so glad that the nameless #dearblackman interrupted me with his soulful, uplifting "hello" because it would have taken much longer to feel joyful.

#DearBlackMan you are the most emotionally intelligent and spiritually aware human being I know. You are a healer and I am a better woman because of you. You have been aware everytime I have I found myself in a heavy space and you make it your duty to take off the yoke off my shoulders so that I can walk taller. So that I can remember what is important. So that I can believe and keep going. #DearBlackMan particularly you who is without status because of the job you hold, I honour you and I thank you for stopping to uplift me with your simple "hello or molo". It is as though you exist to strengthen me. Wait a minute... you did this for me in Israel too in my brief encounter with me. DearBlackMan you are the most compassionate, strengthening human being indeed. 

Cape Town's Moment

All eyes seem to be on Cape Town. The ANC celebrates its 103 celebrations in Cape Town the place where there has been much talk about racism particularly in the last few months. The ANC's choice then to bring their celebrations to Cape Town is strategic. It will be a success for that day, I do not know if it will be a success in the months to follow. It is however an important gesture to put pressure against racism perhaps. 

Cape Town is also the place where the fire of revival is supposed to breakout. Revival looks like restitution, reconciliation and healing. It's not some airy fairy thing. Cape Town is perhaps facing her finest hour. She was born to rewrite the books of history. She will turn the city on its head. She will heal the nations. If this fire is real it's going to look like love! Wait a minute didn't Jim Lafoon address this about Cape Town and the fire in relationships and healing? I think it's time to dance to the tune of healing fire. There's no denying it now. The music is only just beginning. The fire is only about to get hotter. Dance by choice or by...

The Righteousness of Nepotism a thought provoking response

This is a brilliant criticism and response to my article "The Righteousness of Nepotism". Nkosivumile Gola critics my ideas and explains why nepotism is so bad. This article was always about exploring a dangerous idea in order to get to the truth in a fresh manner. This response achieves that.

I do agree to acertain extent. This is a great read Siki thanx cc a lot for sharing such a thought provoking read. I think then we need to ask ourselves who is our brothers and sisters? I think Jesus gives us an answer to this question in Matthew 12:50. I believe Siki that in the verse you have quoted on Genesis about Joseph and brothers if our view of that verse just ends with Joseph and family and not based on the promise to Abraham our view will be very limitted. Remember here God is showing the protection of His seed not just Joseph and family.

I think also the question you pose on "how can one eats whilst their own flesh is starving?" I think the question should go beyong just your own flesh, the question should reach the point of neighbour, just to remind you the story of a good samaritan. I think we need to ask ourselves a question of who is our neighbour at each and every given moment of our lives. At the end of the day there is no one who should starve whilst I eat, be it if we from the same womb or not. This just reminded me of what once happened to me. I was on my way to work in the morning when I saw my uncle (utatomncinci) eating in the rubbish bean, I was so hurt on the day such that I returned home crying (I hardly cry Siki).

This worked me such that I couldnt face him, because I was asking myself why didnt he come home coz we always had food for him. This worked me to such an extent at which I felt like God was saying "Do you see how you feel when your own relative is in that situation? Thats exactly how I felt whenever I see any person going through that missery".

This I think it exposed me to myself, I had seen many people eating on a rubbish bean before but on that particular day when it turns out to be my own relative I was so hurt, why was it not hurting before? This exposed how selfish, selfcentric I was. I think nepotism itself is a natural response. Everone is capable of that, Especially in the natural sense. Nepotism in the way inwhich you have explained here does not carry the weight and the ability to say one of the most powerful phrases in the bible as written in the book of Acts "there is no one lacking".

As for the question of the disciples being relatives I think we need to understand God as the God of the family, I love Acts 16:31 because it says exactly that "believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, along with everyone in your household". I think you can start looking into that from Adam, Abraham, Lot, Noah, Israel itself and today its the human family. So that is Gods grace and not nepotism lol. Looking into Jesus and his believed profession, as it is said by theologians that Jesus was a capenter ofwhich the only biblical grounds that we can have as evidence to that is that His father was a capenter.

And according to the Jewish custorm family businesses were passed on to the son and siblings, I guesse that was the case with Paul and his tent making business. If nepotism was to be true or righteous then there is definately nothing wrong done by Oppeinheimer, ruperts, Debeers, Guptas hence those families will never be poor in SA. I think Jesus displays His will for the church in one of His seven sayings whilst he was hanging on that Cross. Jesus says to his mother (who is alreeady a widow as it is believed that Joseph have passed away in this time) "woman here is your son, son here is your mother". This instruction can be equated with his instruction that says "take care of the poor, widows etc". If nepotism was beyond families and reaching to the neighbours I think I would more agree to it.

Currently we are faced with so much injustice concerning it, look at the tendering system, BBBEE itself and employment in general. Many people are complaining about job promotions and the reasons behind is the fact that there are family relatives that normally comes and overtakes everone. I dont think the p[roblem we are faced with is closeness fleshly speaking but lack of leadership that identifies with the pain. Jesus did not only lead his relatives or the most influential people amongst those Jesus lead were not His relatives yet look at the impact they had in the world. Thomas sankara didnt employ that kind of family related leadership yet his impact was major. Self I think we need to define keeping my own experience in mind, I am for the bigger picture and yes the family is as important but i think we should not have borders we creating in dealing with this. Let me pause.....