Village boy Impressions

1.      A person who abuses others is hardly ever asked to stop. We don't want to stand up to the person doing wrong. Rather, we ask the victim(s) to tolerate the abuse. And if the victim refuses to accept our advice, we conclude that he/she is a bad person - not the abusive person. People who abuse others are like 'small gods' to be complained about but not stood up to. They are treated like victims to be understood and pitied and their victims are to be advised and praised for tolerating abuse. 2.       Praying in tongues is a shouting competition. A test of endurance. At the first Pentecost, we are told that the tongues (languages) of the apostles were understood by a multitude of devout men from 'every nation under heaven' (Acts 2: 1 - 8). In our time, no human being can understand the tongues we speak; an endless stream of discordant sounds emitted by people in seeming agony and disarray.  3.      We swat a fly with a sledgehammer but always attemp

HEALTH: 1.        Drink plenty of water   2.        Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a beggar   3.        Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less food that is manufactured in plants   4.        Live with the 3 E’s – Energy, Enthusiasm, and Empathy   5.        Make time to pray   6.        Play more games   7.        Read more books than you did last year   8.        Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day   9.        Sleep for 7 hours   10.    Take a 10 – 30 minutes’ walk every day. And while you walk, smile.  PERSONALITY: 11.    Don’t compare your life to others… You have no idea what their journey is all about. 12.    Don’t entertain negative thoughts on things you cannot control; Instead, invest your energy in the positive present moment. 13.    Don’t overdo. Keep your limits. 14.    Don’t take yourself so seriously. No one else does. 15.    Don’t waste your precious energy on gossip. 16.   

“6th of March! March!  Nineteen fifty-seven, seven!  Ghaaana, independence day! Ghana is marching,  Ghana is marching, Ghana, Ghana,  Ghana is mar—ching!” Those were the words we sang, with our shrill voices Shuffling our feet and swinging our arms  Proud even though we knew little of what we sang And we all loved the '6th March' marching day, But surely that was a long long time ago. But what is there to tell about mother Ghana now? They say, we said our country was free forever And yet every day I see her in heavy chains They say, we said, we could manage our own affairs But when last I checked,  The Impossible Mission Fund (IMF) was still in charge. They say, they said, well, isn’t that all we know? The days have gone down in the west;  and now you are old, dear mother. The elderly should recount the good old days.  And the young talk endlessly about dreams,  And castles in the air But what do you talk about at your age?  'good ol

1.         I beheld a jolly chap in the parkland;  In the warm sunny morning air.  With an old hat over his head,  An old bucket at his side,  An axe  over his shoulder,  And whistling a faintly familiar tune;  He wandered about to and fro  Collecting the dried cow dung.  I smiled in recognition and remembrance  As my heart rolled back the years  To when I went collecting termites. I also had an old bucket and a hoe  But alas! no hat of my own  As I marched into the scrubland,  With great eagerness or reluctance  Humming happy or melancholy tunes,  As my mood might happen to be.  A man returning to his house with a bucket of termites 2.         After the early rains, I go in search For crusts of clay  on the ground That shows where the woodworm lurks. There, I plant a pot of broken-up dung That will nourish and lure them To build and multiply for a day or two. And in the warm sunrise, I come To harvest and gather with my bucket!       The

“God chooses things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise and chooses what is weak in the world to shame the strong” - 1Cor1:27 (my translation).   I visited a library for the first time in my life when I was 13 and in J. H. S 1. Then, my small stature coupled with the fact that I was new and not very confident restricted me to the children's section all through my adolescent years and even beyond. Nevertheless, I was really enjoying the stories in that section. My favourite story was;  "The Emperor's New Clothes ” by the Danish author, Hans Christian Andersen. I do not know exactly why it was my favourite then. Perhaps because it was so hilarious (the thought of a king walking down the street naked). Today, I remember it and love it not because it is so hilarious (for it is no longer so to me) but because it speaks volumes about society. I have come to learn a lesson from it that I can’t forget. The Pl

There was an old man in my village who didn’t like to be greeted “Saliu’wa?” (Good morning?), or for that matter good afternoon, or good evening. He preferred to be greeted in the traditional exchange which entail a recital of enquiries about a person’s health, and that of their spouse, children, siblings, parents, other relatives and even neighbours. As children, we took delight in arousing his anger by shouting “saliu’wa!” at him from a distance before we took to our heels and run for dear life.

I wander through every mucky street,  Near where the choked Odaw cannot flow.  And mark in every face I meet,  Marks of weariness, marks of sorrow In the very sweat of every chap,  In every driver's cry for way,  In every voice: in every shack,  The decay of a nation holds sway. Have you read:  The Hustler in the City? How the street-sleepers cry,  Every trader's stall in choking spaces,  And the shirtless truck pushers' sigh,  Ring of the sleaze in high places.  But worse, in the perilous nights I see  How the youthful harlots and hustlers sleep  As the cargo of cursed slave-ships at sea  And chars with shame the conscience deep You may also like:  The Kayayei's Tale

To everything there’s a season  Or so it is written in the Book  But now that is untenable  In fact, we reject it!  We do everything in the same season.  A time to sleep and time to wake?  No, it is all preaching time  If they sleep or we rest,  We lose collection!  A time to work and time to church?  No, it is all preaching time  There is no time for anything else!