The Apprentice

It’s Monday again and like most of the 7billion people on this planet, I’m not to excited about it. But to be honest, i have it really good compared to many. For instance, have you ever stopped to think about the self worth of a street-sweeper? Do they even have the slightest passing thought that they are making a difference in this world or that they are people who deserve respect and honor? Who even thinks about street-sweepers?

But more importantly, who even thinks about you in your current choice of work?

Many of us wake up each morning struggling with our jobs, we think, its crap and i’ll never get any recognition or fulfillment for what I do. There’s a deep gnawing in your heart that you’re at the very bottom of the career pit and nothing you do can make a difference in the world. You long for the fame that comes with being a Fortune 500 CEO, a world renown busty musician or even an LCIV chairman in banana republic.

Well here’s something to think about. The Master requires the utmost best of us wherever He has called us to be. Did you know that you are worth so much more than your job and you aren’t defined by it? Actually, your job is defined by you! But be warned, the quality of your work does say a lot about you as a person. So whatever it is you do, do it to the highest possible excellence; even if it is sweeping the dusty roads of Kampala. Shalom

If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted or Beethoven composed music or Shakespeare wrote poetry.He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say: Here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well. ~ Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

A long time ago In a galaxy far, far away…

For those of you who don’t know where that line comes from, I suggest you crawl back into the pre evolution slime that you came from cause the line is infamous. George Lucas made it part of every great story after the success of his very own fantastical adventure about a desert farm boy who discovers his destiny lies in wielding a sword of blue light, fighting his robot father who has a fetish for black plastic headgear and to top it all off, he doesn’t get the girl. It’s called Star Wars by the way.

As you can probably tell i’m rambling on about nothing in particular but there is a method to my madness. In the first part of this story, the boy pulls off a spectacular defeat of the evil empire. We’re all happy. Then in the second part of the story, the empire strikes back at the boy. His robot father cuts off his hand, the girl falls for another man who ends up being turned into a charcoal piece of art for a giant worm! Phew!

Well in the first part of my blogging story, i defeated the evil Blogcks. As you bloggers are very aware, the evil blogcks can stop the mightiest of jedi in their writing tracks. Alas, it has struck back on this naive banana republic boy and quite viciously. For the whole week my mind has failed to conjure up anything worth writing, as if my hands were cut off and i was looking at the bloody stumps dripping on my keyboard.I am reminded of Lucas’s story. Thankfully my father, God rest is his soul, wasn’t a robot and I did get the girl. 

So there ends another useless blog post. I beg your tolerance but one has to do whatever one can, to get rid of the Blogcks. If left unchecked, it could turn into blogckrastination. You don’t want me to get started on that one, do you? I’ll save it for the next fight.

Till the next episode of Secreto de Blogcks…

Shalom

Sometimes you’re just soaking in lots of reading when something so spectacular just jumps out at you almost knocking you off the chair. It’s as if the Master is speaking to you from the midst of the burning laptop. This is an excerpt from a post on Dan Millers blog-he’s a self help guru with a strong faith in Christ. Enjoy and do check out his blog. Shalom

A Russian priest (1829 – 1908), Father John Sergiev first thought he wanted to be a monk in the remote areas of Siberia – but after a vision, he realized God wanted him to be a missionary right where he was – in the hustle and bustle of the big urban city of St. Petersburg.  While most priests remained in the safe confines of their cathedrals, Father John would go out into the noisy, dirty, crime-ridden slums and back alleys of the city. 

He would find someone down and out in the gutter, sleeping off the effects of the previous night’s drink and activities.  Father John would cup his chin; look him in the eyes and say, “This is beneath your dignity.  You were created to house the fullness of God.”  Wherever he went, people found new hope and optimism because they discovered, or were reminded, of who they were.  Seeing ourselves in the light of who God made us to be is both exciting and contagious…

Can you remember what you were created for?  When I hear people complain about how bad their lives are I’m going to start saying, “This is beneath your dignity.  You were created to house the fullness of God.”

I have honestly tried to resist blogging about Obama and his victory but finally I give in. It’s not what you think. No praises and high expectations here, no sir. Obama’s victory as the first ever black president (forget all this politically correct crap of African-American) is undoubtedly the stuff of history. Martin Luther King Jr. must be jumping for joy in his grave while the KKK must be looking for lots of rope to end their lives. 

Black people the world over are hysterically happy at the reality of one of us being President of the US of A. It is rather ridiculously cool to be honest. I was one of the unbelievers. It is scary too. I remember some hip-hop artiste aka nigga’s, back in the day doing a video about being in the Black House and I thought, God forbid…Uhm…yeah…well….

But enough rambling. The black guy came from nowhere and won. Hoorah. Lets pat ourselves on the back. Those white people have finally got their comeuppance! Life as a person of color is forever going to be changed, right?

No.

The truth of the matter is Obama has only done one thing that we as black people should look to. He has proven that if you have a dream, believe in yourself, commit to improving yourself and working really hard despite what people say about you, you can achieve it. Even the odds are stacked against you cause your black with a terrorist sounding name and have close to zero experience, you can rise above your circumstances no matter what they maybe.

But it is still YOU who has to have the dream and work at it. Obama won’t do it for you. He isn’t the Messiah.

And there in lies the fundamental problem with his win. The black race in general (not you intelligent people reading this blog, of course) tends to expect things to be done for us, handed to us in an expertly weaved kibo basket. The American people didn’t just hand the presidency to Obama. After two years of effective and grueling campaigns; not to mention all the years working his way upto Senate, I’d say he earned it, wouldn’t you?  Everybody believes to some extent or another, that just like that, our lives are going to be automatically improved because the President of the US is a black man. Let the dollars and opportunities flow like the Crystal in a P. Diddy music video.

Sorry, it won’t.

The American Ambassador was on telly last night. He bluntly assured the public that America’s foreign policy regarding Africa isn’t likely to change one bit just because of Obama. He then went on to say, Obama serves the American people and won’t do anything unless it’s in America’s best interest. Ha! Chew on that one abit. Obama won’t be rushing to the aid of Ugandans over the Temangalo saga, or the potholes or the umeme loadshedding.

So let’s all stop sitting around feeling good about ourselves, waiting around for “ebyaffe” to be handed to us by Obama, M7, or even NSSF. Let’s get back to our own dreams, responsibilities and be the change we want to see in the world. Then we too can stand proud as Obama did on Tuesday night. We are all victors. But only when we take responsibility for our own lives and choose to live them well and live them fully as God has called us too. This is the only way, the so called plight of the black man is going to be improved, each individual improving themselves, their thinking, their lives will lead to a global change in us all. As iron sharpens iron.  

Let me end by congratulating Cousin Barry for doing humanity proud by becoming the second youngest and most tanned president in the history of the US of A. Truly it is the land of dreams. God speed ma nizzle, I luh you man. I’m down wit you. Yo off the chizzo. Holla at the First Nizzles.

Shalomizzo

“Yes we can” Barack Hussein Obama, 44^th President of the United States Of America

I was doing a small assignment at work that led me to an all time favorite poem by Marianne Williamson

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light , not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn’t serve the world. There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We were born to make and manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

I first heard part of it in the movie Coach Carter. It basically makes you realise, that the thing we fear most in this life is not some dark evil out there but rather the immense light within our God given spirit. The fear that we can actually be successful, loved, accepted, appreciated. Its actually rather amazing that many of us aren’t even aware of this fear. 

Recently i’ve learned something very disturbing in my personal development. I have a fear of being successful! Yeah you heard me, I’m afraid of success. I’m afraid of the work it takes to be successful and afraid of the way people will treat me when i’m successful. Afraid of people hounding me for money and bad mouthing me because i’m wise enough to know not to lend them any. Afraid of alienating my friends and family who aren’t near the level of success i envision.

Think about it. So many of us have the fear of the greatness within us that we are so good at sabotaging ours paths to success and we aren’t even aware of it. But i’d like us all to be encouraged by this poem. Be brave enough to let the light inside of you shine brightly forth so that we give others permission to do the same.

Shalom

Darn it, I have a major, major case of the Blogcks, that nefarious condition that sneaks up on you in the busyness of everyday life. The blogcks is a very shady pseudonym for Bloggers Block or Writers block, that i not so inspiringly have decided to write about today.

Yes, the blogcks…this is whats happening to me now. For days so much has been going down in my life, the Master sometimes doesn’t go easy on His trials of fire, and i’ve been feeling the need to vent and rant on here but I couldn’t. My mind would go blank everytime I think about blogging. Strange. But i’m sure all you bloggers have experienced a case of the blogcks.

I guess it also comes down to an unconcious pressure that comes from being a part of a vibrant blogging community. Like some unspoken expectation that everyday, you log on to blogspirit looking to see what everyone has written. Then you start getting this nawing feeling in the back of your skull that you aren’t on the days updated list. So you feel the need to write something clever, something moving cause everyone else’s entries are just so darned good and you can’t stand not to be counted. Ego demands it.

But, here’s the catch. For the life of you, you can’t seem to think of anything that will be good enough. Your mind goes further into the blank. Soon you start screaming at your inner self. “What the effin hell is wrong with you, you’ve got tonnes of stuff you can blog about….Yeah but i’m really busy write now and besides, the internet keeps timing out.” Excuses, self condemnation, guilt, ego, Blogcks.

So there we go. I’ve added an entry that you’ll all stumble onto shortly. It’s not pretty, clever, probably not too interesting but it will give the allusion that I’m as good a blogger as the best of you. And you’ll respect me. And you’ll keep trying to find out what other shenanigans i’m gonna get up to on my blog. And the next thing that will happen, several undeserved bloggers awards?! Mwah ha ha ha ha

Er…probably not.

Alot more Blogcks me thinks.

Shalom

Riiiiiiiiiigght!

For the last few days i’ve been in a completely bamboozled state of being. Interesting how we can make so many plans for our lives and meanwhile, Abba is up there shaking His Glorious head in bemusement. The All knowing God has majorly different plans for our lives but we’re not too bothered about that, now are we?

We think we can control everything. We’re not even interested in His plan for our lives. Oh sure, we all make a good show of it with each other, “oh i wish I knew Gods will for my life”. Lets be honest here…No your don’t! Cause we’re selfish and self driven and His will usually means self sacrifice and giving, not receiving and being pampered. We want what we want not what He wants us to have.

Anyways, I wanted so many different things for my life and I had this pretty good idea of how to get them, when to get them. To say that this year has proven me soooooooo wrong is the understatement of my 29 years. The Great Master has pulled move after move to show me that I am so incapable of being Him.

You see, I have a very analytical mind. I turn things over and over in my head. My wife calls it mental O.D. I need to figure everything out, see how all the pieces will fit together, all the possible outcomes, all the angles. This makes it very difficult for me to be still and let God handle the heavy lifting.

Don’t get me wrong. God is good; In fact He is super awesome. But you have to agree with me that His way of doing things not to mention His timing are usually quite…well…ridiculous, totally unexpected and most definately not the way we’d do it. Examples. Telling a 90year old geezer that he’s going to have a son. A starving widow to give up her sons last meal to feed a fugitive prophet, telling a coward to lead an army of only 300 men to defeat nations of hundreds of thousands, making a skinny little mulaalo the greatest king of Isreal and the most mindboggling and prepostrous of all examples, saving the world by shedding His Glory & splendour and becoming one of HIs creations, one of us, a Man.

Whats my point. My point is that this year has to have been the most curve ball, exciting, freaky, not exactly-according-to-plan time of my life. So much has happened to me that I honestly can’t say I’m ready to handle. I’m just no where near the man who I need to be to be handle all this stuff. Right now The Master has called me to something thats so ridiculously amazing and yet equally daunting & terrifying. I’m swinging between moments of Praise and Depression. Who needs drugs when you have life?

But this keeps me going:

2 Corinthians 12:9 “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” and Joshua 1:9 “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.”

Isn’t He great. He speaks to me even now as I write this. What a Glorious and Wonderful Master. He knows i need encouragement, He knows i’m scared and full of doubts and He doesn’t condemn or judge. He speaks with authority, love and firmness. He reminds me that He will never leave me nor forsake me. Though the rivers threaten to overflow, though the fires burn hotter, i shall not drown, I shall not even have a whiff of smoke on me. He Himself will lift me with His victorious right arm. And what do i need to do?

Be still and know that He is God, not me.

Shalom

I’m quite concerned right now.I have heard from a friend who lives in Entebbe that everyday now, there has been road work in preparation for the Tripartite conference to be attended by 26 african heads of state. By road work, i mean they are washing the road. Literally. Over 30kms of it too.

Now, i don’t know about the rest of you, but the image of guys on the road with brushes, blue bar soap and jerrycan’s of water is extremely depressing. Does anybody else think that this is a terrible sign of the multitude of underlying problems that are slowly but surely eroding this country away. Washing the road????

Back in the day, the rogueking and I learnt a truism that kept us sane. “Never under estimate the ingenuity of idiots” How else on earth can we justify scores of men and women, getting up everyday, earning a living by going to wash a road because some presidents are coming and we can’t afford to look bad and all because another idiot decided to embezzle the funds that were meant for building a proper highway with good drainage?!

As you can tell, i’m extremely frustrated. No, I’m disgusted and outraged. This is just one of the many symptoms you can observe in this country. And scarily, every one of us seems to be quite comfortable continuing with the status quo, deluding ourselves as we drive around in our ancient second-hand japanese cars, yapping away on our expensive trendy cellphones and living the good urban life. People, this country is sinking under our feet! Our economy is mostly held together by the thin threads of airtime, bank loans, Beer and donor funding.

In ancient times, inorder to distract the people from the truth about the state of their poverty and disease, the Roman emperors would put on spectacular shows in the Great Colosseum; you know gladiators, christians being killed in spectacular fashion by lions or something, you’ve seen the movies. This is what the powers that be are doing here. Hosting CHOGM and the queen, 26 presidents, encouraging the proliferation of booze, tabloids and pastors attacking another pastor on sodomy, MP’s being propositioned with prostitutes while they’re supposed to be on a secret investigation retreat, foiled bank robberies which were supposed to be aggravated assault yet no guns were reported anywhere near the bank…I wonder what next?

I’m not a political activist or a doom preacher, but people, we need to wake up and smell the sewage. The wool is being pulled over our eyes as our society, economy and morality goes to hell on an express train. What can we do about this? Well I’m not really sure. But for starters, lets all stop deluding ourselves that Ug is the most developed country in Africa, that we have everything we need and are right on track. Trust me, we are not. Just looking at Rwanda next door; they had a genocide just over 10years ago but have bounced back and surpassed us in nearly everyway.

But, we do all have great power in our individual circles of influence. When there is something you can do-as the nike mantra goes-just do it. Many small actions repeated multiple times can cause the mightiest change.

Somethings gotta be done or else, we truely will be Ungifted by Nature. In more ways than one.

I’m out.

My wife is not all happy with me. Every married man knows, that thats not a good place to be. What’s the reason you ask? Dishonesty. Yes, you heard right, DISHONESTY. Ironically, not my dishonesty but another mans! Ok I guess this is begging to sound like “Secreto de Amor” – for those who don’t watch Ugandan television, that’s a terrible south american telenovela.

The man in question, is a carpenter.

A little background. Two and half months ago, I commissioned the said carpenter to make my then fiance’s and my dream bed. He said it would take 3weeks. I liked his work, his smooth professional demeanor and nice office setup. Without hesitation, I gave him 50% down payment. The deal was set.

3weeks later, and 2weeks to my wedding, no bed. I’m not worried. The worst he could take is another few days, just on time to have it delivered so my new wife can find it after the wedding. Yeah right! Up until the wedding day i was calling him. He continued to speak smoothly and assure me how the polish needs time to dry properly and so it would be ready for delivery Saturday, the day after my wedding! Did I mention i had given him the balance of 50% just so i wouldn’t use the money on wedding stuff?  

Frustrated and besides being stressed out enough by the wedding itself, i let it be. I had my wedding and went for my honeymoon. I return at the end of the second month of his workmanship. Guess what, it’s still not ready! I don’t believe he’d done anything at all! When I asked to see my bed, he assured me how he doesn’t work like that and he will present me with a finished product. Somehow, I wasn’t convinced but yet the nice guy in me who believes people are generally honest, let him be. He gave another week deadline. Besides, the thought of abandoning the whole thing after all this time didn’t seem like a plan. It’s the third week now and all i have are pretty slick receipts.

After this all my wife decided to take over and follow up. I gave her all the info. She called the dude. She was warmly recieved with a healthy dose of arrogance, standoffishness and more dishonesty. She lost her marbles. She doesn’t want the bed anymore. *sigh*

Whats the moral of this story?

Is dishonesty the best policy in Uganda now? Why is it so easy for people to NOT keep their word and deliver a product? To lie with such finesse? Getting a product made or a service done in this country seems to be impossible without dealing with dishonest men, women and yes, even children. Carpenters, mechanics, employers, MP’s, Ministers, Pastors. Everyone is aware of the Temangalo/ NSSF saga. More dishonesty. Whether its 1000shs or 10billion, everywhere you turn lately you can’t escape this.

I am extremely concerned at this alarming trend. Greed and impatience seem to be the jet fuel that propels this unsavory character trait. Everyone is trying to make a quick buck with the least amount of time & effort and the easiest way to do this seems to be dishonesty. The average business person seems to have no regard for their reputation any more. Just fleecing their customers at every opportunity. Disgusting.

Can someone tell me, how are we-atleast those of us who pursue progress and integrity-supposed to get anything done when surrounded by a system of dishonesty? How do i get a simple bed without my wife feeling like we’re navigating the intricate lies, intrigue and reveals of a cheesy south american soap opera? 

I need to develop and sleep in peace.

This is the question that has plagued me for a while now. What is a real man anyway? How do you spot one? Where can I find one to be a mentor? Questions, questions and more questions!

A couple of years back, I hit the age of 25 and had what I call, a Quater-Century crisis. I was going nuts because I couldn’t define who I was and what I was doing on God’s green earth. My dad had recently passed away and I was distraught because I realized I didn’t know the man. I didn’t know what he thought of me, or what he thought of himself. A son needs his father to tell him who he is or atleast who he can be.

I realised that for one thing, a Real Man doesn’t leave their children asking such questions. A real man is not defined by the size of his pecs or his bank account. Nor by the number of women he’s bedded or the size of his spinning rims. A real man isn’t even defined by conquering industry and becoming a billionaire or conquering a country and becoming a life president. 

So what is a real man? I started asking lots of questions and reading lots of books. It’s been a long journey of learning and revelation but I can finally say I think i’m beginning to understand what a real man is. Or atleast I can show you who one is…

I bet your all waiting with baited breathe eh? Well in a nutshell, a real man is Christ. He’s the perfect embodiment of what a man should be. He espouses the qualities of love, character, integrity, vision, purpose, strength, courage, leadership, justice, right attitude, teacher, spirituality, wisdom, knowledge, compassion, discipline and more that define a real man. 

A real man is a man who changes his world for better, whether the world be his home or his workplace or actually the world. A real man makes things move forward. A real man never leaves things (or people) the way he found them but leaves them better. A real man is the foundation of the family. Real men don’t fail their wives and children. Real men don’t cut corners or run from responsibility. Real men respect everyone and are respectable. Real me live by principal and not popular opinion. Real men stand and fight for whats right, even if it costs them their life. Real men are strong but never use that strength to abuse or bully but to protect and nurture. Real men, as the bumper sticker says, love Jesus. Bishop T.D Jakes suggests that if you were to fix all the men in the world, you’ll have fixed 90% of the world’s problems.

To me, that suggests that it’s extremely important for men to discover their power and purpose. Our world is in desperate need for real men of standard. I just finished reading an amazing book given to me by the lovely Mrs. Apprentice. It’s called Understanding the Power & Purpose of Men by Myles Monroe. Every man should..no…MUST read this book. It isn’t optional. You will be transformed by it. You will gain such a unique understanding of the mighty responsibility and power that is our reason for being created. We are basically designed to have dominion over all the works of creation. Being a man is not a joke or some ambigious priveledge. In the words of Spiderman’s Uncle Ben, “with great power comes great responsibility” 

Too many of us struggle with our identity and purpose, with the world and circumstances we live in. Gents, until you learn and embrace the path of a real man, God’s kinda man, you will never have a true sense of worth and fulfillment nor leave a legacy of true worth.

And we all know, we men love to be remembered.

I want people to describe me in that almost Godfather Mafioso manner, “Now that there, is a real man, real cojones!” but more so, i want to hear the words from The Master Himself, “Well done good and faithful servant. This is my son, in whom I am well pleased. Come and enter into my joy”   

So what kinda of man will the world remember you as? 

Shalom