Echoes in Joy and in Ashes

A couple of days ago, a friend asked me tips for becoming a better writer. Honestly, I was flattered by that request. I am not a trained writer in the sense that I have not undergone any formal training specialized in writing. I am not a professional writer, meaning writing is not my career. I am not a bold writer because despite the encouragements that came along the way, I have hesitated to actually put it up for a very long time (for a small read on how I began to write follow this link ). So when the request came, first I was flattered (in a good way) and second I was glad that my writing style was being appreciated. But, I still have much to learn and much to be careful with as I practice and continue writing. So what are some of the tips that I have learned for writing, basically in a non-academic setting such as the posts on this blog? Well, I owe these to teachers who have taught me and made comments in the margins on my assignment papers, works I have admired and s...

As I sat in a funeral  service many years ago, the sister of the deceased said "Grief is never easy and we are never prepared enough to meet it." These words became much truer for me a few years ago; grief is indeed never easy and irrespective of the many fore-warnings we may have had, when the moment comes it unleashes its pain and all emotions are let loose. But I suppose this is the natural way for us to deal and cope with grief for I can only imagine what will happen in the absence of the ability to respond as such. This pandemic has been a season of grief as people we know either succumbed to COVID19 or passed on in their appointed time to the next life. However the pandemic has made the sad event of death doubly painful as most are either not able to pay their last respects or say their goodbye in person. While we have been hearing about deaths around us it was not too close and so the news came as a shock. My wife's paternal grandfather and the father o...

Some many months ago I saw a question about what one could do about their flaws. It made me curious and I gave a response that I thought was fair. Not a good move when you do not know the backstory, but I guess the I-want-to-give-you-my-advice-anyway-syndrome kicked in. I still do not know the finer details of the backstory but then a small conversation ensued and stories flowed. Well, months later here we are, revisiting that question, not exactly as it was posed but in a more general and broader sense. But still at the centre of this thought is this question: "what do we do with our flaws?" In one of the many bygone years, my colleagues and I were asked to take a personal examination exercise in which we were to discover our strengths. I did the test and was pleasantly surprised by the result that was given to me. But then a senior spoke up and burst the happy bubble I was in. He said some thing like this, "It is good to know our strengths, but what about o...

When it comes to prayer, I am not much of an expert on the subject, more of a pilgrim who is still making the journey to grow deeper. I am blessed as I listen to sincere prayers offered in the worship services or the prayer times. I am blessed listening to the manner in which the prayer is crafted and prayed, and while we might say it is also an art, the deep beauty lies in the sincerity and the conviction with which the prayer is said. There are five images that come to my mind when I think of prayer. The first is a song that I sang as a kid in Sunday School: "Read your Bible pray everyday, you will grow, grow, grow." This simple chorus goes on to say "leave your Bible forget to pray, you will shrink, shrink, shrink." I must say I have sung this song full-throatedly but have not practiced this full-heartedly. When it comes to prayer, there is a mismatch between what I know to be good and what I practice. It is not that I do not understand that prayer is a good spir...

The subject of history has never been my forte and my classmates would wonder why economics was my choice over history as my fourth subject (it was this system where out of four subjects, you could assign one as your fourth, or an elective: if you passed it, well you get credit, and if you flunked, it made no difference to the final result). History with its many places and dates and not to mention who is who, and  of where and how many of who (the same name in a roll call list) you have was not my favourite place to be running around.  My late professor of world history however had his own way of telling us why learning history is significant. He would do so by asking the class a question, "Why was Napoleon defeated when he tried to invade Russia?" As we pondered what  the answer might be, he would reply "because he did not study his geography." Simply put, the mighty army of Napoleon (in a wrong calculation of time) is said to have been defeated by the...

Ever since the lockdown was initiated, the big question has been "When is it going to end?" How long till we can get up and about the normal life we are so accustomed to? That is still the question today as we carry on through a second extension of the lockdown. If I may say so, it is like further extending the ticking time on a bomb waiting to explode. Just that in this case, it is a desperate bomb of people waiting to run out into the streets and immerse themselves in the business of life again. I will leave the analysis of such a scenario to others though I do hope that the eventual lifting of the lockdown does not throw the town into a frenzied celebration. I want to rather think of how I am living in these days. Am I living well (with a good spirit) despite the inconveniences? Am I living with gratitude (for I know many are not as fortunate as me)? Am I living with fortitude (rather than complaining and getting dragged into some long winded discussions)? Am I living w...

As I type this, a good part of the whole world is gripped with a sense of uncertainty about what will happen next. This comes in the aftermath of a new strain of the corona virus that caused the outbreak of a sickness last December 2019 in Wuhan, China. However, in that bleak city that went through its trial of fire ordeal, there is a fresh hope as a section of the many medical volunteers vacate the city today to go back to their own cities, homes and families. The city and the country is making its way back to being healthy, though slowly. On the other hand, other parts of the world are being infected and for some, they are almost hitting rock bottom. The news is filled with statistics of new infections, of deaths, of efforts being made to find a cure - a vaccine, a race against time. Plans are being cancelled or at best being deferred, containment measures introduced and it had been said that "the long haul" is most likely it. Amidst all these, there has also been a bit of...