Mweenzu usiya cisisi

In my growing up, there were no better times than when we had visitors in our family home. They were times of excitement. The guest acted as a positive distraction from our mundane family life. A new ingredient was added to the daily soup. Mweenzu usiya cisisi is a chiTonga proverb that reflects appreciation of visitors in our lives. It translates as: A visitor leaves a coal of fire as they go. It could mean the many blessings that a visitor leaves behind when they have gone. 

Read more: Welcoming all comers

To choose the difficult path

A tale is told about a queue of office workers waiting in line to be served coffee. The first in line turns to the person behind her and offers to buy him a cup of coffee. The person abruptly refuses the offer. When asked later about their feelings, the person making the offer said she was disappointed that her genuine offer was dismissed without comment. The person refusing the offer felt initially surprised and thought there must be a catch. Do these responses say something about our inherent mistrust of others even though they share, at least, a similar taste in coffee? They are still not-to-be-trusted strangers!

Read more: The call to risk living into real freedom

What’s the problem?

There’s something wrong with being a Christian Brother today. (I don’t know if I should say ‘religious’, so I’ll keep it as is.) I can’t put my finger on it, but as even my ‘few sad last grey hairs’ abandon the ranch, I am more and more disturbed by being what I am.

Add a comment

Read more: Something is not quite right

This insight about God is not itself new

So goes the popular song penned by Peter Allen and Carole Bayer-Sager, probably back in the ‘good old days’ of the 1970s or 1980s. However, according to some of the cries we have been hearing in recent years, that song’s sentiments are definitely old hat! “Out with the Old, in with the New” is the sort of refrain that has become more familiar.

Read more: "The old" & "the new"