"God's Got It" Lyrics and mp3 Download - J Moss

Download the song here (mp3).

This right here is one track you can't miss out on yoh!

Song: God's Got It   
Track no: 1  
Album: V4... The Other Side  
Year: 2012 (July)  
Artist: J Moss

I woke up this morning and I told myself
Not gon' worry about what I cannot help
People dying innocently, haters spreading rapidly
I'm not talking empathy but some things God's gotta (work)  
Woah oh  
(He's gotta work) yeah ha
(He's gotta work) woah oh
(He's gotta work) yeah ha
Check it out

Chorus:
I ain't gonna worry bout' the money in the bank, (I ain't worried bout it)
I ain't gonna worry bout' the gas in the tank, (fill me up, fill me up, I ain't worried bout' it)
I ain't gonna worry bout' the things I can't control, (it is, what it is)
I ain't gonna worry bout' it, all I do is pray about it, (hold up, why?)
(God's got it...) x9

I look around and my heart's a little hithered
The money scream fast and I'm looking for a blessing
People looking for jobs, no one looking for God
I know that your hurt but in time God's really gonna (work)  
Woah oh  
(He's gotta work) yeah ha
(He's gotta work) woah-oh  
(He's gotta work) yeahah
I'm a let him do it cause...
 
Repeat chorus

Vamp:
When your loosing strength and your confidence
God's got it (God's got it) oh-ah (oh-ah)
When your money spent, can't pay the rent
God's got it (God's got it) oh-ah (oh-ah)
Oh, when a storm is passing over, don't loose your composure
God's got it (God's got it) oh-ah (oh-ah)
When your down for a while, wanna throw in the towel
God's got it (God's got it) oh-ah (oh-ah)

Chorus: 
I ain't gonna worry bout' the money in the bank, (seen it over and over again)
I ain't gonna worry bout' the gas in the tank, (I ain't gon' worry about it cause he cares for me)
I ain't gonna worry bout' the things I can't control, (His hand I'll hold)
I ain't gonna worry bout' it, all I do is pray about it, (oh oh yeah)
(God's got it...) x17

Hallelujah...
(I ain't telling you what I read, I'm telling you what I know...)

Lyrics courtesy of:  http://www.azlyrics.com



Bonface Morris.

There Is a Difference

I am sitting here again, and as usual, I'm trying to figure out life. (This chair somehow has a right to blame me, hate me or complain about so many things. I think if it had some Kenyan insticts implanted into it - blame my E. coli knowledge for this - it would give in to my weight just about now so that "it would teach me a lesson or two.")

Well, I never get to "getting it" (life), because as far as I know, this is how it rolls: "getting" life is like figuring out the universe while seated down here, right where I am - with my two big eyes and an over-curious mind. It never works. It never does. Why? The earth is out there rotating on its axis, oblivious of my existence (oh, I don't really know about that), carrying me with it, and unless I board a spaceship (some different kind of spaceship), to see it from an outer "world", "getting it" will still remain to be like some sort of video game that reprograms itself every after a few levels...

Something getting into my mind though is this: it is possible (if you frequently visit this blog) that you have read this blog post I did sometime back: "Christianity and Stoicism".
I'm on the offensive in that blog post, right? I won't defend myself. I think I did well on that one. I hit the nail on the hinge. And that's absolutely the purpose for which it was intended. I can't apologize for that.

I want to add a point to the one above though: the difference between this and that (I may not even be knowing what I am differentiating... but you'll get it along the way anyway.) :-P
You see, Christianity in the 21st Century is complicated. Okay, I bet you already know that, so let me pull it back. What if I say that Christianity today is just mud, muddy pools, flying, gardens, fields and rocks? That works, right?

Well, let's move on...

Christianity today is covered in shades of black and white: taints, pains and rains; then, reigns, gains and wins. We often taste life on both sides of the divide. Maybe that's what complicates everything. Perhaps, it's our own doing. Ask King Jesus. Ask Him. He will tell you that Christianity was never meant to be this adversarial. Never. He'll tell you that we are riding on high waters - a place where maintenance costs are froggy. We are literally running on exhumation fees, digging up and paying for what we should have left to be.

For instance, what really happens when you meet a person who is always judgmental and condemning every other person he/she meets? What of the other one who thinks that his/her denomination is "some piece of heaven"? Or yet the other one who grumbles about everything you (a saved lady/guy) do, the way you do it or the reason for which you do it? How do you deal with such a person? What do you normally think of them? An adamant reprobate? Yes?

*Flips page*

What of this other one who says that everything is right so long as it is done with thanksgiving and for the glory of God? (1 Timothy 4:4 [NKJV]: "For every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be refused if it is received with thanksgiving" and 1 Corinthians 10:31 [NKJV] "Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.") Or his friend who thinks that he/she should not judge another's servant? (Romans 14:4 [NKJV] "Who are you to judge another's servant? To his own master he stands or falls. Indeed, he will be made to stand, for God is able to make him stand" and "Romans 14:10 [NKJV] "But why do you judge your brother? Or why do you show contempt for your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.") What do you think of this second one? A conventional freelance Christian? No?

There's a big difference between these two people, no matter what titles we may give them. Just consider the following;

• A Christian who understands that salvation is by grace and not works (Ephesians 3:8-9 [NKJV] "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast") does not judge or condemn the other one who seems to be overtaken (or overwhelmed) by their weaknesses. (And I'm not saying that we should not condemn sin, but that LOVE and WISDOM are key when addressing another person's shortcomings (Galatians 6:1 [NKJV] "Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted.").) We should all understand that we too were (or have been) in the same place these people are in, and we therefore should stop name-tagging them, but offer them acceptance just as we often need it from God.
• A discussion about holiness should never be centred upon what I am doing that you ain't doing, but what we should do (or should be doing) to achieve the kind of lifestyle that God wants us to live. The former leads to strife and self-righteousness, while the latter makes us work together as a body that seeks to please its Master.

There is a difference between judging a person on the basis of what you do that they don't, and what you both know is right but they don't do.
There is a difference between making the sinner find Christ in we church-going-saved-people, and making them think that the Church is made up of a bunch of confused perfectionists who always take a 'no' for an answer to the sinner seeking deliverance.

We should stop being petty. We should grow up. We should become like Jesus Himself. Christ accepted the sinner as he/she was (good examples are Zaccheus and the Samaritan woman.) We should listen to what the hymn writer says too:
1. Just as I am, without one plea,
But that thy blood was shed for me,
and that thou bidst me come to thee,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.
2. Just as I am, and waiting not
to rid my soul of one dark blot,
to thee whose blood can cleanse each spot,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come...

The question now is: what are we doing in order to make the difference? How are we dealing with those people in our church congregations that are struggling with sin? How are we correcting the sinner, and edifying the saint? How are we bringing the lost to Christ? Are we completely losing them to sin, or bringing them to the light of Jesus Christ?

Think about it.

The way we do this makes a big difference. So, yes, there is a difference!!


 Bonface Morris.

How to Keep YOUR Man

Quote: The modern woman is excellent at doing many things, some of them being the ability to never know how to take care of a man and/or keep him.

"Excuse me miss!? Are you saved? Do you love the Lord Jesus? Do you have a man in your life? Err, a man that is worth keeping? Do you have (are have you ever had) a problem with keeping your relationship rolling? Do you desire to just have that one man that you'll confidently say that he is yours? Forever? A gift from God that you don't wanna let go? Do you desire to make him yours forever? Unshared? Yes? Well, I have some cake for you..."

"Every lady needs a man." That is a fact to every lady out there - at least those without the gift of celibacy. The Bible supports it too. Every woman needs a man. But the question on any lady's mind is always, "Will he be mine and mine alone? Can I keep him away from the seduction and eyes of other prying ladies... both secular and Christian? Will I sustain our relationship...?"
This is because, out of every 100 broken relationships, the woman claims to have led to the occurrence of about 70. She thinks that she may be responsible. And that may eat her up for an endless time. But we need to put things right. No one needs to blame themselves when things go wrong if they had been doing all things right.

In order to join the parts of this equation together, and find a working solution, let's begin with the basics.
Here are the basics:
1. Finding a man - the best case is when you find a God fearing and saved man, or rather, when God brings you to one... If this basic works for you, the other two steps will fit in without a problem. One philosophy that applies with finding a man is that ALL men are relatively good - all of them - until you work on the second and third step.
2. Having the man, then
3. Knowing and keeping the man.
If you like this man, and I mean reaaaally liiiiiiiking him, drama, karma, seduction or manipulation won't work to make him yours. God will. But as you pray to God, you'll need to put your game together;

1. Support him
Support every damn thing he does that is good. If it is good, tell him about it. Tell him again. Stroke his ego. Keep him lifted. Make him drink from your palm by praising his abilities. O how men thrive on praises! It is not like you're pampering him, no. It is like you are KEEPING HIM. So, if he wants someone to help him breathe, take his nostrils and breathe for him (not literally). If he has an idea, prod him about it - assist him to work on it. Don't forget about his passion(s). Support them. No man will EVER run away from a woman who's gat his back! Never! → Unless he's just soooooo dumb!

2. Use your intuition
My mom practically taught me that a woman is always smarter, sharper, wiser and more knowledgeable. I grew up knowing that she's a superwoman. I could never outdo her. Why? She had her game held together. She never just argued about everything. Nope. She could just keep quiet and wait for you to finish up your justification and "I am right" thesis report, then after you're done, she'd be like, "Oh well, only point number six was true. You cooked up the rest..." She knew her game and commanded it. You could never lie to mom. You could never predict her steps. You could never outdo what she thinks of something. She was always right. She could smell trouble frlm miles away. She could smell lies and truth, and bumps and road signs... It's like she always had placards raised somewhere in her head... What about you, me lady? Do you know what intuition is all about? Can you smell that he's moody today, or that he wants to be left alone, or that you can talk about that "urgent" issue on some other day, or that it is time to let that ranting go? Yes, that's what intuition is all about!

3. Be yourself
Is being yourself that hard? Really? Maybe, you would keep him interested if you just became yourself and became proud of it. It would do you a lot of good if you never are struggling to impress him; either by being SUPER-GOOD or by trying to outdo someone you see/saw. Deal with your insecurities in private. Deal with your low self image while with "the girls'. Just don't allow your man to know that you are serially insecure and a pathetic wannabe. No man wants a woman who is not sure of herself.

4. Preserve your integrity
Be faithful. Speak the truth. Seek peace at all times. Be honest with yourself, God, friends and family. Show responsibility. Learn to be a good manager of time, resources and money. Show interest in growing up. Let him imagine you as the mother of his children, and not as a side-flick-chiq. Be submissive to authority. Practice discipline and self control. Be self driven. Be passionate about something. Have a sense of direction. Be committed to something - it doesn't matter how "small" it is. All men worth keeping hate busy bodies. Stop gossiping about people, especially fellow ladies. Love sincerely. Trim your character and personality. Dress well. Dress like a lady, not a slut! Be attractive but not seductive, as to lead people to lust after you. Have standards - standards that you live by. Learn to mind your own business... This is all integrity is all about... And by the way, who can run away from such a woman, huh?

5. Respect him and allow him to lead you
In the course of the past week, I overheard another woman I respect say this to fellow ladies: "Don't lead on a man you can't submit to..." Yes, if you can't respect him, there's no need for him to stay. Men are designed to be leaders. They thrive when they lead someone/something. And you, being part of the many people he closely relates with, need to make him feel honored and respected. Please get me right on this one. I'm talking about respect and submission to a man worth keeping, not slavery and manipulation to a man worth losing. Got it?
So, do you want him in your life? Permanently? Well, learn to like the way he leads. Get used to it. Thrive in it. It will make him stay.

There you have it!!


Bonface Morris.

Salt In the Sand

Odysseys.
Old, new. Plain, dewd.
Great, small. True, skewed.
Life is journeys. Life is a brew.
Life is salt in the sand.

They say pain has a cure.
But I say that pain can more than endure. It matches an unpredictable path. One which we know nothing about.
Pain makes stars shine in the day and moons, and suns to share a noon.
Pain makes salt become sand.

They say we are strong.
We think we are not.
We think we are weak.
No, we know we are weak.
They are wrong. No, they are not.
We think what we think because we listen to our pain and the miseries in it
We think so because we are taught - but not every learnt thing is rightfully believable.
So we have learned to mix salt and sand, to mourn and wand - all at the same time.
It is hard to get used to sand swallowing salt.
It is harder to swallow both.
But our comfort is that our God knows just how...

So when pain is busy calling out our names,
And it finds us drawing names in the sand - names we don't want to resound with our lips,
And we want to say 'no', but we can't,
We must learn that salt may be in the sand
We may not like it or love it, but we have to.
We have to learn to live with the salt in the sand.
Because sometimes, yes, sometimes, salt is in the sand...

Life twists us around
Winds us up
Throws us away
But we still stand
Why?
We are more than sand - our salt is greater than the sand beneath our feet.
We stand. Because we can.
With God we stand.

Note: Dedicated to every victim and those bereaved by the #WestgateMallAttack #Nairobi
#WeAreOne

Bonface Morris.

The Proof of True Love: 11 Factors to Consider

Guys, let's try to answer this million-dollar question today... Yeah, it's all about love, so let's get it rolling yoh!

Any normal person in a relationship has ever asked themselves this question: "Do they REALLY love me?". It may have been out of curiosity, or doubt or out of a search for assurance. It is normal. I think so. It is normal to question someone's feeling(s) towards you especially because love has [somehow] become very volatile today. We have made it cheap, and therefore we are bearing the blunt of our choices.
I know - and you as well know - that love (oh, please add relationships), to any young person, is like the main course in a five course meal ("Foodies" et al). Kawaida guys like me would prefer to say that love is like milk, yeah, Kenyan milk - expensive but widely needed. That's just how much love and relationships seem to mean to us young people.
Well, we overrate love. We do. We can blame ourselves for that. Or maybe not. Maybe the problem is that we don't even get it.
But whatever the case, we now know where we are. We are at a place where we have overdone so much concerning love that we've ended up not knowing what it is all about. Mmmmmh, and whenever we find ourselves in a relationship, we literally quote this: "Mun, I'm still treading slooooowly on the path of love. I just don't know if they love me," or rather "I don't know if we are meant for each other." And it goes on and on and on...
What I will try to do in this blog post is to avoid becoming a relationship expert. Please take off that hat from my head, because I'm pathetic at relationships. Many can confess that. I am pathetic. Okay, to do you justice, let me leave that to your judgement.
I am listing below a few things to consider while in a relationship that may be of help to you to understand your partner and what you REALLY mean to them - because that's what love is all about, right?

Side note: This is for guys in relationships that are genuine and with potential to move into the next level (read, marriage).

Well, to find out whether it is true love or not, here are some key questions you may need to ask yourself;

1. Is he/she patient with you? Do they try to understand you and your viewpoint on things or matters concerning you or both of you? Do they give you time to explain yourself? Do they allow you to "win" in arguments? If not, I raise a red flag.
2. Are they kind to you? Are they concerned about you? Genuine concern? Are they too cruel and never gentle towards you? Are they manipulative? Do they force you to do things against your will? Have they ever hit you? For any reason? If they have, I raise a red flag there too.
3. Is he/she envious or boastful or proud? When you mix the three above, you get a component that you won't want to find in a life partner. If they are only with you in order to boast about you (or the things you possess) to others, then my friend, you are more of a toy to them than you are a person. So, no, no.
4. Is he/she selfish? Have they ever sacrificed a single (and I mean, just ONE thing) for you? Have they ever done you a favor that was really pressing on their side? Well, if 'no', raise a red flag.
5. Is he/she easily angered? Oh, just to mean it, they're gonna hit you one day. They're gonna hit you hard and it's going to end up reaaaaallly bad. If you wish that for yourself, raise that white flag and move on mun! But just to put things right, if they are working on it, pray with them. Love always seeks to even the odds. Yes, it does.
6. Do they keep a record of your wrongs towards them? Remember that true love forgives. That's why we say "love is tough." Practising forgiveness is tough! So if they've not learnt to forgive as God teaches us to, they are yet to learn love.
7. Do they delight in evil? Do they gladly sin on their own? What about sinning with you? Did they feel okay after you fornicated? Oh well, what about after you told them that you had sinned? Did they rebuke you? If they didn't/haven't, I raise a red flag. I raise it because love does not delight in sin. It seeks repentance. It seeks the justification of God. Period.
8. Does he/she delight in the truth of the Gospel? The Gospel of Jesus Christ? Do they speak the truth or are they serial liars? No man/woman has known love unless it is founded in God. Please know that and let it sink deeper within you. Allow it to sink. If God ain't the author of their love for you, it ain't love. It is a fading infatuation. Realize that and deal with it.
9. Do they protect you, and trust you and hope/pray for the best for you? Do they see and support your potential(s)? Do they believe in you? If not, you're in for trouble girl/mun.
10. Do they persevere with you through all the seasons of your life? Mmmmmh, are they the seasonal on/off kind of friends? Are they your best friend all the time? If not, you can guess my conclusion.
11. Lastly, do they believe in your relationship? Do they believe that you two can overcome anything together? Do they show it with actions? No? Actions embroider love. Yes, they do. If they can't see you somewhere in their future, then it's puppy love.

That's all I have to say. And believe it or not, the points above are just a pimped version of 1 Corinthians 13 [NKJV]. So stop pulling/doing those "Ooooooh, so awesome" or "Aaaaaaa, you be on it buoy!" on me. It is the Bible mun, the Bible.
Do you now believe that God has something to say about our kawaida relationships? Yes?
One last thing though: follow the relationship 80/20 rule. No one is perfectly perfect. No one. Not even me. So, if they score an 80% on the above attributes, you don't have to throw that good relationship away. You'll be dumb to do so. Allow for flexibility and improvement, but never cross the line.
Yes, now you have it!

Good luck with that.

Bonface Morris. 

Relationships? They are Complicated.

It is 11pm on this side of the world. Sunday night actually. It is not one of those days I'm in for talk. No, not after I've been serving all day. On a day like this, I'd prefer to relax, flip channels, get bored, watch a few episodes of a favorite movie series, make supper and go to bed.
That's how it goes on most Sundays. But wait, not this one. Not today.
A friend has just left my place. "Why did he stay so late?" you ask. Huh?
Well, boy, we were talking about stuff. Relationships stuff. Man-to-man stuff. I don't know how we arrived at this but look, some things are worthy talking about.
I will chew a few words with you on what we have been all about - and of course, I write this with his permission (remember that they're both saved guys):-
There is a certain common trend in relationships today. This trend has it that men are complaining about immaturity and lack of support in women; while women tend to say that men are acting like women - that they have become too inquisitive, too "punchy" and rather noncommittal.
From a superficial view, this is just but a common verbal attack the two genders use against each other, where the one says this, and the other says that… bla bla bla. But if you consider details, that is where the load is. The craze is in the details, mun, the details.
There's one thing this friend of mine has been highlighting all the time he has been here: that his, err - let me call her fiancèè - is such a heck of a gauche. Well, don't start feeling like you want to kidero me already.
He says that this lady is a consistent nuisance. He says that she is a liability to him. She has become terrible. And cunning. And a liar. And a prude. She cares less about his sufferings and sacrifices to make her (their relationship) better. She doesn't see the future. She only sees now and now. She is confused. She's no longer the lady he used to know a while ago - one who was focused and was having a sense of direction. He says that she's somehow grown into becoming worse. He nowadays feels (he says) that she always has hidden agendas whenever she's dealing with him - always planning to eat her cake and have it. She has persistently become a thorn in his flesh, so to say. Actually, she's almost a demon to him - but one that he can't avoid loving. He feels that she's nothing near to being a potential life partner.
Well, he may be right. Or wrong. Or both. It all depends with what is the ideal "wife material" to him. Every man sees the world around him differently and each one of us accepts it in variations.
I've listened to him talk. He seems to be the perfect gentleman to me. A desperate perfect gentleman that wants to settle down (read, marry) and get done with this marriage stuff. But the lady ain't ready for that **. I feel him. I feel what he is saying. I feel his disappointment. I feel it in my own way. And I've picked out a few things.
Is she the only one at fault here? The one to be blamed? Really? What if she was here? Would he still say the same things?
Maybe she'll tell me that he too has changed. Maybe. Maybe she'll tell us that he has no time for her - that he has become dislocated and distant. Maybe she'll tell me that he no longer compliments her and hugs her, and loves her like he used to. Maybe she'll tell me that she does whatever she does with a hope that she'll somehow resurrect the old him. Maybe she's working on some sort of rejuvenation. Maybe she'll tell me that he doesn't give her much attention - that he too has become selfish and egocentric. Maybe. Maybe.
And it all comes out to be that one side of the coin is never enough to make a whole coin. Yeah, seeing the earth ain't getting the air.
So I've been wondering: What if they forgot about all that yada yada and decided to start all over again? What if they stopped the ranting, the blame games and the complaining and chose to forgive one another of all the faults done and passionately embarked on making a better relationship? What if they chose to trust and understand each other? What if…?
I don't know what would happen, but I know that things would be different. I know that something (or maybe everything) would change. It is possible.
So what's my take?
My take is this: relationships become more complicated whenever there's an imbalance in priorities and a poor love language. If you can't (most of the time) see the world through the same eyes, there's nothing to work on and save. But if there is a possibility to save the relationship, put God in the mix and go for it. Don't abandon a good future for what is passing away.
That's my take.

Bonface Morris.

Of Education and Gothic Institutionalism

Quote: If there be a gift modernity esteems more than most, it should be literacy – Bonface Morris.

Quite often, I hear my mind quip: “There is one thing with literacy – aptness; the other one is madness.” I rarely sit down to question it (my mind). Well, I sometimes do. And when I do, I tend to come to a conclusion that the two (aptness and madness) exist in some kind of deranged ambiguity. Such a correlation – my mind always thinks – fails a certain balance of expectations. A balance that society earnestly expects it (literacy) would solve, but that it entirely never solves. No wonder one Malcolm Muggeridge (English journalist and Christian apologist) said, "We have educated ourselves into imbecility," as he bemoaned the many nefarious ideas that are shaping modern beliefs ^(cited).

In any modern society today, education (or learning) always takes the central place. It is placed in such a place of honor – and even somehow worshiped – because it determines modern paradigm shifts and the different steps from one generation or era to another. It may not be a society’s fault to do so, because we all have woken up from our mothers’ wombs and found society changing – mainly due to the increase in the level of literacy. But again, literacy as it is, is a practically relative term. Informal learning is literacy in certain contexts (not all), and it therefore makes legit the advice the “uneducated” passes on to the to the school-goer telling him/her (from time to time) how and why one thing or another is important. In such cases, whenever the less literate is wielding information to the more literate, a degree of relevance is stressed upon that benefits both formal and informal learning. This in itself helps to elevate the importance of education in shaping a society’s beliefs and values.
And here is where the aptness and the madness begin to struggle.
Society expects that learned people should be more responsible, more understanding and considerate. That is its expectation. It expects that they would behave like human beings and build an atmosphere of peace, love and tranquility. It expects to see a change in itself: less violence and more production. It expects a society that is moving forward... Well, the madness in literacy – the attainment of book intelligence - won’t allow that to happen. It seems it changes belief systems for the worse, scrapping off any possibilities of sanity and meekness. “Only a few literate people make sense,” say many. The aptness within literacy now seems to peep from a distance – sipping away sugarless coffee as it wonders why it is not needed anymore yet its friend, madness, is always invited…

I don’t deny the existence and power of beliefs and belief systems that are as a result of education within any society. I don’t even want to seem to deny it. Education is modernity’s altar that gives forth the worshiped adjoins of civilization. Literacy has its ego living amongst us and within us. I can’t deny that. It is true. In fact, most of what we become today is shaped by the presence of these beliefs and value systems. Most of what we become (whether good or bad) is either a folding or an unfolding of what we have learnt – what we have attained from our environment(s). Thus the essence of gaining understanding (wherever and whenever it may deem necessary) lies in the strength of learning. Even if our brains and/or minds may escape the binge of books, society cannot spare us few lessons from the curriculum it offers. Society still wheels us through its own informal education system even before we have known we are learning. Education imprisons us before we even know it, so to say.
However, weird within such contexts is when we come to a point where we want to understand how and why our learning institutions work the way they do. When we (read; students) come to such a place – a place of a deep need to balance the aptness and the madness within our learning institutions – we may be required to apply other informal tools. When we want to understand why our institutions – which should be a source of serenity - are growing madder by the day, formal education never seems to help. This is because the preachers (read, professors, lecturers and other so-forth-and-so-on learned people) are now drinking the wine they preach against, and are therefore another [good] case for study.

The informal tools students use in trying to understand how and why their preachers are now drinking wine may not be the best, but are made to be the best when moments encourage.
Students are found saying, “Yeah, we go to school to learn. Yeah, we all wanna learn. We don’t come here to fight or make appeals. But we just can’t understand why these learned people (read, professors, lecturers and other so-forth-and-so-on learned people) can be so inconsiderate and unthoughtful. We can’t understand why this institution(s) cannot learn from their past experience(s)! Don’t they have common sense? Don’t they know their carrying capacity as far as admissions are concerned? Why should they enroll students into their systems that are higher than their ability to productively manage? Don’t they know that we (students) have time allotted to our studies and don’t have ALL the time to waste? Huh? Why is there no democracy when it comes to leadership in our learning institutions? Have we reached to a point where literacy is for sale in this land, and we either sale it or sale it? Really? Have we reached to a point where University Vice-chancellors care more about how many students are being enrolled into the system, the money they are bringing in and the overall image of the institution(s), than how students are fairing on and if they are benefiting in their studies or not? Really? Is this the extent to which we have come?”
So after the ranting, as always, felony and madness take over; and the cycle of wrangles between institutions’ management and students continues.
When will this ever stop?
Well it may, or it may never stop. It depends on the following;

1. The administration in the learning institutions should be ready, together with students’ representatives, to reach a consensus regarding the issues at hand – a consensus that will benefit both sides; with an understanding that both sides deserve to be listened to, heard and considered in their opinions.
2. The institutions’ administration should only enroll into their system(s) students that their carrying capacity can accommodate. This should be done with infrastructure, school-based services and other learning services being put into consideration.
3. Ensuring that what is being offered to students is quality education with skills that they can apply in their immediate society and that will still make them competitive in the diverse world they are going to be in after their studies.
4. Creating a strong linkage between the school administration and students. Such a linkage should be open and interactive – offering to bring solutions to current and recurrent problems between the two parties or amongst the two.

After all these, then the balance between the aptness and madness in education will be manageable.

Bonface Morris.

The Day a Man Marries

On that very day a man marries, the woman weds. Yes, on that very day one marries, the other weds. You may see it in his eyes. Or maybe in his best man's. Or maybe on his suit. His best wedding suit. It may be written all over it. Or in the confidence and 'pettyness' with which he holds anything. Or how he holds everything. Or in the distant feeling within the stealth in his eyes. He's getting married… and you surely will see it in the way he sniffs the air around him. Differently. Nonchalantly. Busily. But easily. Yes, that's what happens to a man the day he marries. 

On the day a man marries, another one is born. The old one dies. Maybe partially. Maybe completely. Maybe forever. Maybe not ever. But, whatever the case, another is born. Different from the first. He dies. The old one dies. And a new one is born. Maybe quieter. Maybe more solemn. Maybe passive. Maybe not. Well, sky over earth, another is born. And the new one almost always kills the old one. Almost always. He has to in order for him to survive. The old one fades away as the new one takes over. Yeah, I know. I know this truth that the old man may want to sneak in from time to time with a desire to kill the new one. I know he has a way with not wanting to completely vanish - where he intrudes the new man's privacy and new life. But be that as it may, he can never take over the new one. It is true.

On the day a man marries, he tightens his belt. He also tightens his heart. And his eyes. He tightens his heart. He then weeds the garden that are his thoughts and often looks at the framed picture of his dad, err, his  father. Quite often. He looks at it with wonder. He wonders just how fast he's joining his league. Then he chooses to change. He changes his walk, his talk, his hiding; and even the way he smirks. The day he marries he grows up. He has to. He becomes a leader. He rules his world. Not with fists and terror, and bother, but with diligence and fervence and love. Yeah, he may toddle in these ways, but he steadies fast. He grows up.

Oh that day a man marries, he becomes a perfect stranger to himself. Even to his OWN mirror. Even to his own walls and corridors. The whole earth becomes an alien the day he marries. And he wonders why. And how. And what. But it happens. It is what happens when men marry.

So when he marries and picks up a new pair of shoes at the altar - shoes he has never worn - and the crowd is gazing at him; some in bewilderment, some with regret, some with desire and others with fury; when he marries and they are gazing at him in that way, let him remember that beyond that day, his surroundings will scream at him louder with expectancy with every passing moment. He should know that the very congregation that is cheering him on is going to expect much more than the veils and suits or flowers and balloons he has offered to display. It is going to want so much more than he (together with his partner) can afford to give. Let him remember (I am told) that the one wedding him in this day needs him - she'll be needing him for a lifetime. That she is now him, and him, her. That they're going to build bridges and hunt lions, and deers, and rabbits, and troubles together. That they're going to cry, and sing, and feel bored, and feel like giving up - but they'll need to hold it together.

I am told many things about 'the day a man marries', but above them all, what I hold onto most is: when a man marries, the Lord God is right there with him. He is there with them. He is watching and is waiting to lead him and bind him to the one wedding him, and the best thing he can ever do (while joining hands with the one wedding him) is to learn to daily tell Him (the LORD God who created them), "Dear Lord, here we come again…" I am told that the unison of those words makes ways through mighty rivers and can calm the most fierce of fires and storms - but first, he needs to marry…

Note: This one I dedicate to my two buddies, Antony and Ben, being bound to some very awesome ladies out there.
Guys, remember that many things DO happen when a man marries, and each one is for his own good.

Bonface Morris.

Under Relative Terms

An old man sits on a bench across the road. He is weary from age. He puts his hand into his pocket to remove his only watch for many years - a plastic Chinese make, which according to him, was the only original make there ever was of that model - and gazes at it. He wonders how it has come to be that he has been sitting in that same place for 3 hours already. Taking his handkerchief out from his rear pocket, he wipes away the sweat accumulating on his face. He has heard so many things about the city and how it has long hands. He was not going to take risks to put his money in the rear pocket. He has it all right there in the inner pocket of his favourite shirt. For someone to have it, he will have to kill him first.

As he contemplates his situation, he understands why he should keep waiting. Life has taught him to be patient. In so many ways. Right from when he was the age of his son - the one he has come to the city to visit. He will not let anger come between him and meeting his son. This is the only day (he thinks) he has an opportunity to shed some light in that lad's life. It is now or never. So he waits.

It is half past eight in the morning, and he is sweating! He gazes around him. The city has changed. The city has really changed. Just a few years ago, there were no buildings in the place he now sits. In fact, were it not for his son's specificity that he should alight here, he would not have known where he was... It is in the middle of the week anyway, and he still has plenty of time to look around before he heads back home to the village. He may know a few names, meet a few people or maybe know a few streets and a few vehicles specific to different streets... 

He gazes at the beauty of the modern city - admiring the good architectural designs… His son (he now thinks) should have made plans to build him a better house by now. He has been working for a while; and work translates to money, right? Well, he still does not understand how people operate nowadays...

Someone pats his back. It jolts him. It should be his son. No? No one knows him in this city except him. "Mzee, umekaa hapa sana, unangoja mtu?" (Old man, you've been here for a while, are you waiting for someone?), comes the voice. He looks up. It's only a boy. Twenty two maybe? He quickly scans his mind to remember how he was told to behave around city boys. Okay, here goes, "No I'm okay". He just has to use English so that this kid cannot think him to be a dumb old geezer, or some petty drums basking in sun waiting to be beaten. The boy looks at him, gives him a twisted crooked smile and moves away. He now remembers the joke his wife (of forty years) had made the previous day while handing him the bag with a few clothing she had packed, "Wewe utapoteza hiyo bag hata kabla ufike Nairobi" (You will lose this bag even before you are in the city). He had smiled and said nothing. That has always been his way of saying, "Yeah, you may be right, but let's leave it at that."

It's always been like that with his wife. They know how to hit at each other in a [tiny] humorous way. They understand how it all goes. They've done this together innumerable times. They enjoy it. They've learned to enjoy it. But they've not enjoyed everything all the time. Not at all. Take for instance, their decision to sell one of those precious goats of theirs so that he may get enough "transport" to travel to the city. It was hard. Really hard. Those goats are like their insurance. They are their security. Touching them (read, selling them) was not an easy decision to make. But they had to. One thing they had done is to take precaution. They had deposited some of the money (after selling the goat) into his M-PESA account. This was to ensure that if things were to go really bad on this merciless side of the world, he'll still have "transport" to get back home. Modernity has taught them a few lessons they would not dare forget. "But what if my phone battery loses charge and there's no electricity?", he had asked her. There may be no electricity at his son's place. He may not even be having a place... They had resolved to leave that as it was. You can't have answers for everything. Yes, that's another life lesson they have learned over time. There are things that should just be let to be. You can’t solve everything...

"Vipi mzee? Sorry, nimechelewa" (Hi, old man, sorry, I'm late), comes another voice. 

"Arrrghhh! This city!!", he yells within himself. 

Alas! It is his boy. "The boy has grown fat", he imagines. That's the first thing he notices of him. "And he now has eye glasses!", his mind continues. "And his voice has also changed...!" 

"Mzee, aren't you going to say anything?" He comes back to his senses.

"Oh, ni uzee! Niko salama. Nilikuwa nashangaa kwani mji umekumeza!?", (Oh, it's old age! I'm okay. I was wondering if the city had swallowed you somehow), he replies. The son now swithes the language and mood: "I passed through here to take you to my place. I have taken a day off, and I'll report back to work tomorrow, or maybe the other day..." He (the old man) smiles and says nothing.

They navigate through the streets of the city to a matatu stage. He is already feeling nostalgic. He doesn't love congestion. "When you grow old", he always says, "you grow weary of busyness..." He's also feeling hungry. The last meal he had was prepared by his wife. Sixteen hours ago. She knows what he likes to have before traveling. And she did just that. He smiles. She knows exactly what he wants and when he wants it. She has learned it over time.

Because of his absence from his immediate environment, he doesn't realize that they're already at their destination. They alight. He looks around. "Not a bad neighborhood", he says within himself. His son knocks on a door. Knocks again. Someone opens from the inside. A lady. No, a girl-ish lady. She smiles at him. "Karibu mzee" (welcome old man). He just nodes in reply.

Things start getting complicated. He has another wife. His son has another girl-ish wife. No wonder he has been silent all this time. No wonder he never asks about his wedded wife. No wonder he can't send support to his thirteen year old child who should now be joining high school. That is why he needs to teach him some sense. That is the reason he is here - to tell him that he needs to man up. He waits until the lady has gone to the other room and makes an introduction to his harangues:

"My son, I'm pleased to be here, and I'm thankful to God that you are healthy and doing well. I travelled well. Your mother is well. We are fine. I have planned to spend some two days at your place before going back to the village. You know we village people love our village...[smiles] I hope it will be okay with you. But I had a few issues I wanted to bring to your attention before settling down: One, your wife has gone back to her parents; two, your child needs to join High School next year; three, I have a problem with arthritis which is now making me inefficient in taking good care of the rest of my family, which is your family too; then four, your sister is pregnant - by I don't know who... To add to that, I need to know who she is [points finger in the direction the lady disappeared] to you."

In reply, before the tea is served, the boy tells him this:

"That is good to hear, but I don't know why you old people have a problem with how we young people choose to spend our lives these days. About my wife, I chose I don't need her anymore. She's rude and a niggard. She's intolerant. Who can live with such a person, huh? I needed a break, so I found someone who really understands me - we've been together for one year. I'm fine with that. If you are not, go bring her back (the wife) and take care of her. About my child, let him learn life the hard way. We didn't reach this far by everything being done right for us. No. Let him learn to struggle, and maybe take himself to a day school or something... A polytechnique may even do... Your health problem is understandable, but I'm not your only child. I have brothers. And sisters. Tell them too. Your brother is a doctor, he might help. And concerning my younger sister - she is a fool. How can she get pregnant with all this that is happening in life today? Throw her out. Let her pay the price of being careless..."

The old man looks intensely at the boy. The boy he has seen grow. The boy he nicknamed his friend. The boy he has known all these days. The boy he has loved so much above the others hoping that he will be the solid ground upon which the family stood in tough and slippery times like these. He says nothing. Even after tea is served, they say nothing. He wonders how children can be so arrogant today. How they can be so irresponsible and beastly. He imagines what would have happened in their days if a child tried to disown his family and evade responsibility. "Relativity, too much relativity, has eaten up our value systems!", he thinks. "Everyone now thinks they are right just because they are right. No one heeds to correction anymore. No one thinks authority is to be respected or that respect is deserved... They all move in the direction they please just because they choose to, and because that's what they want. We are breeding a society without honour and reverence towards the absolute right..."

This eats him up the entire night. He thinks over it. He tosses and turns on that chair he is given as a bed. He then decides to leave the next day. He knows he is not needed there. He doesn't have to be told to leave. He'll leave. But. But he'll never come back. Never. He'll never come back. He won't disown this lad and he won't become his slave. They will survive. They've always survived. They still will. God will make them live.  

The next day, as he boards the bus back home alone, he knows he has another lesson imprinted in his mind. A lesson he's going to deeply share with his wife: peeple today live life under relative terms, everyone thinks he (or she) is right, just because they are right... It is stupid, but it is a lesson anyway...



Bonface Morris.

Love Killed No-one

I have a friend. A friend of mine. The kind who is always as drunk with words as I am. In his inquisitions and musings on life, he one day told me this;

"Morris, love killed no one - it never has,

It stole no-one's castle nor took no-one's child,

It did nothing but love,

It only loved.

That's all we blame it for: that love loves..."

"Morris, love never raided your heart - it never has,

It never matched against your wildest dreams,

Nor took away your boldest stances,

Nor imbibed you in its wings...

Oh yeah, now you think it did, huh?

You now blame it for stealing you away, huh?

It never did.

It just stared as you paced it through the dusty paths of desire,

And pitied you when you fell down to worship it;

And when you stared with angst, didn't it warn you not to awaken it?"

"But now you blame for all it has done;

You *sic* blame it for all things done to the hearts of men and women..."

"Love killed no-one,

And if it has been thought to,

Or if it has ever been wanted to be thought that it has,

It was only following its charmer,

For love loves no challenges,

And its charade is a mighty conqueror,

It doesn't steal, it cannot be stolen, but it can be seduced..."

"Yeah, I agree, people have died in the name of love,

Some were fighting for it

Some were fighting it

Some were fighting in it

Some were drunk with it: the muddle being their end

Some were thirsting for it

Some were reaching out for it

Some were hopeful to find it...

Some were finding it

Some didn't even know what they felt -

All in the name of love"

"But love never killed them

It never did

They all died and were buried; and we clutch at their stories with embroidered hearts,

But, yeah, but love took no sword, nor dagger, nor gun to shoot at any of them

It never said, 'Kill them all!!'

You may say it did, but my friend, who witnessed it?"

"So when men and women die,

When they die for love, or in the name of love,

They only seem to die for the other person,

Or for themselves;

Because somewhere love stares and wonders, "Did I really kill them?"

And it holds its stick - its walking stick (because it has become old and frailly of late)

And moves on to see and hear what others have to say...

Only to find the same old accusations in the next lot of peeple..."

"Peeple!", head tilted on walking stick, it softly wonders, "they never understand!".

Bonface Morris.