The repository of time and of love..

All literary works have to meet the author's objectives. The author in his or her work usually has a specific message they want to convey to their readers for a desired outcome. Literature on Leonardo Da Vinci as an artist for example, cannot therefore be used to authenticate the civil engineering inventions or work of his time even though he obviously lived in a time when civil engineering was a part of his society and environment. The piece of literature might contain elements of civil engineering through Da Vinci’s associations with his environment but its key objective would be to portray Leonardo as an Artist.

The bible's objective is not to explain the laws of general relativity, angular momentum or thermodynamics. It wasn't written to explain the scientific working of the physical world yet in its simplicity it narrates how everything came into being. It simply lays the background for a more exigent narrative that would soon take centre stage. Morden day scientific theory and philosophy is not causative, in other words the universe doesn't exist because of the theories predictions and calculations but rather those theories are postulated in an attempt to explain the beginning and functioning of the universe. Most of those supposed functions being mathematical projections which in some instances have turned out to be wrong such as the 20^th century theory of the expanding earth. That’s the reason why there are a number of theories that have been postulated such as the Big bang theory, steady state theory, the Kalam theory, White hole relativistic cosmology theory, old earth creationist theory, young earth creationist theory e.t.c. The bible does not present us with mathematical equations and formulae for the physics and chemistry of the cosmic world neither does it try to explain the nature of and substance of the stars and galaxies we observe because they had nothing to do with the Author’s main objective and that is salvation!

The earth is the focal point of the bible’s narration and more precisely mankind. Instead of revealing Himself with algorithms and complex equations the Creator of the nebulae and all matter chose to reveal Himself as Love to creation that had lost hope and in dire need of redemption. Sin was the problem and He worked out an equation (the most beautiful of all) that substituted us so that the end result could be simply awe inspiring! Like a father whose son had fallen into a dark pit, He chose not to explain to him about the substance or dimensions of the pit but simply throw down the rope to pull him out. It would be of no consequence for the son to know as much as he can about his “pit” without knowing about the father’s love for him and how much he wanted to rescue him.

None of our inventions and devices can ever save us from the grip of sin and death. “What would it help you to gain the whole world but lose your own soul?” that’s a succinct example of the critical questions the bible asks, its language simple for every man to digest. Its message is beautifully written like a love letter and indeed it is. The message the Author of that piece of literature is communicating is that of grace, love, forgiveness, restoration, hope. Peace and victory among other wonderful things. It seeks to genuinely engage with the heart and mind of the reader who don’t have to postulate any theories regarding the Creator’s love for them but simply to accept its truths concerning what He has already done for the earth he created. The bible is not a mechanical book. It is for ordinary men and women and therefore cannot be used to explain, defend or refute string theory for example although some theories would be refuted in key cosmological principles that are revealed in it.

God is beyond intelligent as we understand intelligence and he has not stopped us, the creatures created in His image, from exercising our own intelligence however limited. In fact the bible says “in the end day’s knowledge shall increase and men shall run to and fro”. In that increase of knowledge, the bible has never been more attacked on all fronts all in the vain of denying that God is the Author of the universe. Beautifully imagined postulates have been proposed even though they have revealed more problems than solutions; still many cling to them even when they are clueless. In His immeasurable intellect and wisdom God designed every galaxy, every cosmic body and set them in orbit and “none departs from the path He has set for them”. He knows the stars by name and he designed the human body with its symmetry and superb function, even the beautiful and orderly pattern on a butterfly’s wings which my mother always admired. Nothing was left to chance and in any case simply put disorder could never form order without an outside agent acting on the disorder isn’t that what the law of entropy would predict and is it not one of the most important laws of thermo dynamics?

The bible's objective is to tell that story of love and sacrifice. When we fail to see that and use it only as a tool to disprove and prove theories, we miss the rope! I believe it to be imperative for every follower of Christ to study and understand how things work through physics, chemistry, philosophy or any other discipline so that they get an appreciation of the marvelous works of God. That is science yet any compromise to the Eternal truth of the Word of God should be refuted at all costs because when you really want to take a closer look, the bible makes more sense than a theory that postulates multiverses as an explanation for the coincidences you encounter in life which sometimes are really miracles!!

M c N O R R I S

The Write Monkey: Never Let Me Go Lord

The Write Monkey: Never Let Me Go Lord: An empty space surrounds me, there’s blank on my walls, blank on my floors. My hands before me black and marred, black as a starless night, ...

Africa - Future Vendors or Entrepreneurs?

It is Tuesday afternoon, the eighth of October 2013 and I am looking at these vendors at the side of the road with their treys and baskets, the one with the largest filled with an assortment of vegetables and fruits would not give its bearer five American dollars if all its contents were successfully sold. Their lips are dry and cracked with beads of sweat on their brows, their skin dark from the merciless African sun beating upon them, their eyes have sunk and even when they try to smile in an attempt to be friendly to potential customers their eyes cannot smile but they are constantly darting to and fro, searching and their ears attentive hoping for that one person who can mumble a word of hope to break the futile monotony of what has become an everyday experience, that one customer willing to part with four Rand (considered the equivalent of fifty American cents) and moisten those dry sunken eyes with relief.


I hear a knock on the side window close to where I am sitting and turn my attention to it to discover a

 small figure of what I deem to be a child, a little boy of about nine and he is shouting something holding up his little bucket filled with purified water in five hundred Milli liter plastic containers. I open the window and his shouts come invading the whole vehicle accompanied by other eager voices of little kids and adults that have now swamped the car. "five rand mvura kurikupisa boss, five rand chete mvura yenyu" (five rand water, it is hot boss, five rand only for your water) Suddenly there are baskets and plates and little buckets all held up to my face, "five rand nzungu" (peanuts) goes a tired teenage female voice "dollar, dollar maApple" another female voice "five rand mabiscuits, dollar macan" (dollar for soft drink cans) breaks in the adult male voice. I shake my head and wave, motioning that i am not interested in their merchandise and close the window whilst I wait for the traffic light set up by the road construction company to turn green and whilst I do that they quickly rush to a Zupco bus that has just arrived to tempt its occupants with their goods.

I continue to stare at the kids and I check the time on my phone and realize it is twelve noon, "aren't all these kids supposed to be in school right now?" I ask myself. My heart sinks with sadness as I continue to stare at their malnutritioned forms, their tattered and visibly dirty clothes, their bare feet and their unkempt hair. I open my window again and call the one closest to me who is just standing by the side of the road looking on at the traffic that is passing by. I hand him a dollar and he holds up a little plastic bucket of apples packed in fours "sarudzai boss" (choose boss). I tell the young boy that I don't want any apples and the dollar is for him, he thanks me profusely almost teary eyed "haa maitababsa boss, iii haa thanks haa maitabho blaz, God bless u blaz" he goes on and on thanking me for that one dollar until I close my window and he is still gesturing with his hands, his lips still moving clapping his hands together. I take a deep breath and exhale as tears start to blur my vision a little and i open the window just enough to let some fresh air in so that i can hold the tears back.

Harare

It then dawned upon me, a sudden realization of how we have become a nation of vendors. From the streets and main roads to the high rise buildings at the heart of Harare. Everyone is selling something or someone to get a buck at the end of the day from the youngest to the grannies that can barely walk on two. The truth is these are only symptoms of a worse disease that has taken root in our country. Many at times I have heard people say "oh Zimbabwe is a beautiful country, we have good weather, animals, the Victoria falls and so on" but of what value is it to its people? We can not as a nation brag about having tourist destinations, flora and fauna when it doesn't pay school fees for the kid that is vending freezits right now at Coppa Cabana. We can not brag about having good soils and weather when we importing maize form neighboring countries, when our agricultural sector or any other economic sector is not performing at all. Of the little business or production we have going on, of what long term benefit is it to the people of Zimbabwe?

So many times I Walk through the streets of Harare and i see more of those pensive looks, more of that desperation that is weighing many a heart down. I witness anxiety dig its trenches deeper on the faces of the masses struggling to make ends meet everyday. Almost everyone is self employed even those who assume to own businesses without any system that they run. Almost everyone is trading something, either cars from Japan, clothes from unknown destinations packed in bales, small groceries, shoes, belts e.t.c. But none of those things are manufactured here in Zimbabwe yet all those goods have the cotton, the leather, the steel e.t.c. from Zimbabwe and its African sisters. We have become a net exporter of raw materials and a net importer of finished processed goods and our economy keeps sinking deeper into the vortex of uncertainty that was created perhaps by historical injustices but certainly exacerbated by our very own hands.

This however is not a situation unique to Zimbabwe alone but can be found in most African countries.

Dar Es Salam

 Earlier this year i traveled to Tanzania and I could see the symptoms of that heinous disease that has long troubled my country. I remember being guided through the city road network in Dar Es Salaam by a young boy in his early teens who told me his name was Mutundo. I asked him why he wasn't at school and his reply was "I do dis and i also go sell things to help my moda (mother), brodas (brothers) and sistors (sisters), i stopped school because it useless because after finishing school you not getting job so it better to sell small small stuff so you get money". Maybe the little boy was uneducated in the traditional sense of education as most people understand it but his thinking was analytical, well at least for his age and circumstances. A booming entrepreneur in his own right-maybe- or a lost generation i am still yet unsure. What he said was true though, not only about Tanzania and Dar Es Salaam but also for Zimbabwe and the majority of Africa. Along the roads at every turn in DES, you would find vendors (mostly youth) selling their wares all the way to Nakonde/Tunduma boarder post. Crossing over into Zambia the struggle continued and as real as everywhere else i had been to.


Unemployment in most African countries is high which leads to a number of questions one of them being weather the growing population is receiving education at all and if they are are they receiving the right education? We train economists in economics that do not exist in our economies, we train accountants to be competent in accounting for businesses that do not exist, lawyers to stand in court against a corrupt justice system that defeats the very nature of their profession, each year 

we recruit police men and women to loiter aimlessly in the streets looking for an opportunity to stop a motorist or a taxi and ask for a bribe for some documents they do or don't posses. Yes we train all these professionals by the dozen and release then into a totally different reality than the theory they frequently fantasized on when they were yet still in college. Booming entrepreneurs-clearly not- but a lost generation who by default become vendors because at the end of the day when the sun goes down necessity demands that they put food on the table or at least a morsel that will make them survive until the next day.

I do not speak of the wealth of the rich nor the deeds of the corrupt for they are merely a product of a system or the lack of an alternative system. I speak of education and i speak of the fear of God. As Africa we need education that is relevant to our current situation. We need more entrepreneurs before we can employ more accountants. It is not so much as being taught the facts, we all know how things are and how they have affected us all but it is now imperative to employ and exercise a new way of thinking that has the future in mind. As one certain Pastor Barry C Black prayed at President Obama's inauguration he said praying for the US cabinet "Empower them with the WISDOM, courage and strength needed for our TIMES" and that is what we need.

WE need more than books with ideals and how it OUGHT to be. More importantly we need to start writing new books on how we can emerge a stronger , more prosperous African nation. We need to structure our governments and our justice systems in a way that supports economic growth and innovation, not after the ideals of the West or the East but the NEEDS of Africa's people. Our raw materials and minerals are fast depleting yet there is little or no development that they are trading in. Our roads are terrible in the few areas where they exist, there is an acute shortage of education and health facilities and families are still going to bed hungry night after night to say the least. If then this is our situation when we still have those natural resources my question is "What will be Africa's fate when we run out of those mineral resources and raw materials??"

In the end i salute those vendors, everyone of them man or woman cashing in those coins. I salute them all from Cape to Cairo who wage a battle everyday to send their little ones to school to be taught how to be good accountants and managers for businesses that don't yet exist. I salute them all as they strive to feed their families. I salute every man and woman who challenges the status quo and strives to correct a system that has gone off its rails. I salute them in their struggles for one more thing i saw in those sunken eyes was the radiance of HOPE and the human spirit for survival and to make things better, I saw their prayers upon their dry lips as they watched their little ones play and I saw the beauty of God upon those worried faces and so I pray for them too.

I pray for that nation of vendors!

By Simbarashe M c N o r r i s Hakata

Inspiration from my girl friend and NickelBack

Quoting my girl friend who quoted Nickelback's song on one of her face book posts,

"My best friend gave me the best advice. 

He sed each day is a gift and not a given right.

 Leave no stone unturned. Leave your fears behind.

 And try to take the road less travelled.

. . . the song goes on to say. . 

.Against the grain should be a way of life
What's worth the prize is always worth the fight
Every second counts 'cause there's no second try
So live like you'll never live it twice
Don't take the free ride in your own life" -If today was your last day/Nickelback

That quote left an imprint on my mind and i wondered if we really live life to the fullest? Do we become all that we were created or meant to be? The world that we live in today is filled with people who are simply trying to fit in and in the process loosing their individuality. The brilliant are toned down in this sea of mediocre, in any case we are all brilliant in some thing, in some way, yet we are made to believe that if you lack brilliance in something someone else is brilliant in that means you are totally dull- right? well No! as unique as your finger prints and DNA are so are your talents. We all have tremendous "potential" and sometimes that is all there is until we get old and die some day, with a lot of potential, untapped, never utilized, just dormant potential.

We live out our lives with this vast store house of potential that never amounted to anything at all and because we know we could have been something or made something of ourselves in days past we then want to lead our kids in the path that leads to our own failed dreams, the path that we ourselves didn't walk in but had the potential to walk in. We come up with very good explanations (mostly excuses) on why we never achieved all we could have in life! The truth is when we started out coming from high school and college, we had our lives all planned out and nothing could stand in our way when it came to achieving our dreams but alas we ended up falling into the same trap we were so careful to avoid- Why?

The truth is conformity starts at a very early stage in life, even from childhood and someone ended up coining the term "peer pressure" and truth be told that animal doesn't go away even in adulthood. Society paints a picture of what's cool and what is not and the media plays a crucial role in this regard. Teenagers are told to believe that it's cool to party all day, do drugs, get high and drunk, have sex, sag their pants and talk in a certain way which is "totally cool". The kids that would go against the grain face a terrible time among their peers, from being ridiculed and shunned  because they are not as "cool" as the kids that are portrayed as cool. Because we are social creatures we feel a great need to fit in and even be popular if we can but there is always a price we pay and in most cases we sacrifice who we truly are!

The pressure doesn't stop there it digs its roots deeper into adulthood. In Africa particularly Zimbabwe there seems to be a general consensus of when girls in particular should get married. The pressure to get married mounts as a woman approaches her mid-twenties (maybe there was a national convention held for that that i am not aware of). From the age of twenty three she is frequently invited to weddings of her friends, peers, former school mates etc and she just feels so left out and again feels this need to fit in that the next "monster to be" of a guy becomes her knight in shinning amour. Every dream is thrown outside the wagon just to accommodate a fantasy of marriage even though she might not yet be ready for such a big step in life but then again the great almighty "society" dictates that she does all to be regretted later on in life. The men as they grow older will also make their attempts to fit in, pretending to like certain life styles they really don't like and cheating on their wives and having a "small house" because "every" man does that!

These social pressures never improved anyone's life neither can we find any value to them when weighed in the balance of life. We desire greatness when we behold it, all polished up and shinny like a finished sculpture but we never take the time to think of the process. The hands bruised with the hammer and chisel, the focus written on the artist's face until his/her masterpiece is done. That is what is lacking in the world, people who are willing to take a shot at it no matter how difficult it might seem. Non-conformists who will go against the current and emerge the truly great people of our generation. People who are not constrained by what others expect of them but rather stand firm on what they believe is right and loose the weight of societal baggage that most people needlessly carry on their shoulders for all their lives without realizing any satisfaction from it and if asked why they became who they are they can not come up with a convincing explanation but that "that's just how things are!" Strive Masiyiwa the founder of Econet Wireless once said in one of his testimonies talking about how Econet was founded and established and the many challenges he faced, he said "i was willing to pay the price."

You can never stand out when you are always trying to fit in. It is not an easy task to "walk the path less traveled" but it is that uncommon path that will lead to an uncommon destiny.That path that will lead to greatness that the world has never known. Imagine what the world would be like for African Americans if Dr Martin Luther King jnr or Malcolm X had decided to fit in with the crowd of their time? Or what if Steve Jobs the founder of Apple had decided to go along with his peers and just do what everyone else in IT was doing at the time? Imagine if Thomas Edison had quit on the light bulb? Imagine today what the telecoms industry in Zimbabwe would look like if Strive Masiyiwa or Miko Rwayitare the founder of Telecel had given up on dreams of owning a Telecommunications company when the current and all odds were against them?

All these great men and women like madame Curie, Florence Nightingale, Mother Theressa, Harriet Tubman and my mum (God rest her soul) had one thing in common and that is they all went against the grain as nickel back sings about in their song with such a profound message. You do not set out for greatness like one mining for gold but you truly become great when you find yourself and do something with a deep conviction that it is the road you need to take to get to where you want to be. You become great when you follow your dream, unwavered in your determination and with the artist's focus on your brow. There are always certain sacrifices to be made, maybe your peers will not think you are "fresh" or cool or that you are strange or you are taking too much of a risk in your pursuits. People might discourage you and it hurts even more when it comes from those closest to you because they might think your dreams are impossible and you are incapable to see them through even if they were possible- you know what that is how people treated the Wright brothers before they took off in the first plane ever made.

King Solomon once said "my son do not waste your time on worthless pursuits". Worthless pursuits are those things you are not passionate about, the things you do to please your friends, or anyone for that matter, those are the things you do because someone else did it. In such things you will never find fulfillment because they are not tied to your destiny and you have the power to choose your destiny. You choose your own destination and that meets with greatness when you find a need you can provide for, when you find a solution to the many ills of our world. You were created unique and no one on earth can best you at being you! Let go of the insecurities, the inferiority complexes, the need to fit in, fear, pride, hate, ignorance and all those negative emotions and thoughts for those are the things that will hold you back from becoming the person you are meant to be the person you can be, the person you are becoming starting from today.

With every day Elohim blesses you with apply yourself regardless of the circumstances. Do not let anyone tone down your unique talents and gifts or pour water on your dreams and no matter how old you think you are, it is never too late to start again. Consider the ant hill with its elaborate tunnels and sheer size for it is one grain of soil upon another cemented with determination.

thanks to the beautiful Wilhelmine Wachter for the inspiration!who also writes on her own blog "The write monkey"

by M c N o r r i s

"Marriage and the in Thing"

I sure hope every person that's getting married today will have the heart to stay married for life. After the honey moon phase and u now get to know the person and their annoying little habits (like squeezing the toothpaste tube from the middle, I mean who does that right haha) and you discover you are not always going to be excited about them and you are not always going to feel like you love them even if you do, they will frustrate you to your breaking point and even break your heart a couple of times and when you are blessed with kids - well things are just going to escalate and widen any existing cracks in your relationship.

The worst is when you can't laugh together, when you are no longer friends but just house mates, the tension, the emotions, the tears all because no one bothers to say they are sorry and "i love you" is a phrase that you have forgotten how to pronounce. The little things you used to do for each other have all faded away and you no longer bother to try anymore and regret has found a nice seat in the front row among other negative feelings. Then you both become excellent actors putting on a show so that everyone wont be able to see through the broken pieces of a shattered marriage but HEY whats the point?? 

My point is get married for the right reasons and to someone that you not only love and are attracted to but also someone with whom you are best friends with, don't do it just because she is pretty today, ten years or less from now (after the weight, the aging factor and familiarity) her physical appearance might not "wow" you anymore, Don't do it because he seems successful and can provide material things and such (yes he needs to provide but) let those be extras to a man who is focused on you and to a woman who adores you. When you get married to someone like that then they will always be beautiful in your eyes because the beauty will come from deep within their soul and not just on the outside.

Don't do it for other people either, it's your joy and peace at stake. They will be at their homes having steak or matemba and you know what also talking about your misery. Marriage is not an event but an everyday process where you both need to grow in the same direction and please don't be pathetic and say "I'm doing it for the kids" because a bad marriage will damage those kids even worse and they will hate the idea of marriage all together well at least a heterosexual one anyway.

Before you start dating/courting why not consult God after all he is the manufacturer and only He can provide a manual for that person you intend on sharing your life with and even if it started out bad it is the end of a matter that really matters most so its never too late!! 

Marriage was meant to reflect how God loves us, a life covenant between two people who are in love. God holds it in the highest esteem as an institution (I ain't preaching now but I want you to appreciate what it means). ?Yes there are going to be challenges just like growing up but whatever you encounter must not kill or destroy your marriage but strengthen it and catapult you to a whole new level of understanding each other.

My first and true example of a great marriage was that of my grandparents who just couldn't do without each other even at the age of eighty something. My grand dad would wake up on random mornings and make my grand ma breakfast whilst she was still sleeping, not because she was ill or anything but because after all those years of marriage he still loved to see her face light up and the smile she wore on her face when he did the little things for her. Those old fox were crazy for each other and did everything together, no lies, no secrets even when it hurt and I said to myself "God I want that"!

It's not that they didn't have issues, heaven knows they had their share of "trouble in paradise" but they were best friends and lovers and most importantly they loved, feared and consulted God when they sailed through troubled waters. Again- please get married for the right reasons!!
 I'm just tired of seeing people divorce like it's the in thing now adays! 



^PeaceLove&grace^

by M c N o r r i s

timeless beauty

How many twenty something year old women can compete with Halle Berry? but the woman is 46 years old!! yes 46 and these pics were taken at that age.
most women naturally reach their pick somewhere in their twenties and for most its down hill after that they do not bother to take care of themselves. They do not eat right and after not eating right they neither have the slightest courtesy to at list jog a little or better yet hit the gym. They will blame it on the stressful job or the hyper active kids that they can't keep up with because they are not fit enough to keep up with the energy levels. They will blame it on us the men because we start to loose interest as they loose their appeal. I am writing this especially targeted at the African woman who would like to comfort herself by forming girl clubs with a motto that really doesn't help her situation. I aint saying you have to be skinny and all bones for you to look good. Be curvy and bootielicious or the hack you might want to call it but be healthy and be beautiful! Now you know when you are not putting any effort.

It is not a question of money either but the right attitude towards life. If we give most of these "how i look is ma bness" kinda women more money that would mean more cable (oh sorry) DSTV subscriptions, a more comfortable couch on which to recline on whilst watching the extra channels whilst drinking fizzy drinks and

probably munching on something regardless of how many calories it contains (after all you can afford it). So my point is money really will not miraculously transform you into a diva, it will only enhance the woman you are at the core and of cause your core values. eating right will not cost you an extra penny if anything it might save you some extra bucks and in the long run it will save you not only money but most importantly it will save your life. Medical research has shown that most diseases prevalent in both men and women as they grow older are life style related and diet plays a crucial role in all of this. So why would you look bad, feel bad and then get a disease for it when you can do the more beneficial thing and that's looking good, feeling good and staying healthy in the process.

Why look 50 when you are only 30 or something. maintaining that perfect health balance is the challenge, considering that as you get older there are a lot of things you need to juggle at the same time, school, family, business but then again women brag about their multi tasking abilities which obviously men were created without, so why not keep yourself in shape whilst you are doing other things you might actually enjoy. For example the next time you go shopping for groceries instead of jumping into a car to travel 2kms why not take a walk, or the next time you want the gardener to do the yard why not help out with the digging if need be or just something that will keep you active whilst you are doing something seemingly of value. Play ball games with the kids or with your husband better yet go for a light jog with your husband (ain it you also don't like that beer pot belly he has been developing as well). The next time you are in the bedroom spice up things so that there is more activity in there not the usual slum dunk oh you snoring already! (uhmm haven't proved the bedroom thing as yet since i am not yet married haha) Some times all it takes is just taking 30 minutes out of your time to work out just 30 minutes and the results will be phenomenal.

Whilst you are still "alive" do not be shy to dance a little which is a great way of keeping in shape, dance alone or with the kids, let them teach you how to "douggie" or dance with your man. Get crazy and pump up the volume, live a little! there is a difference between "living" and simply waiting for death. Do the fun stuff that will keep you laughing for days on end, watch a comedy show, go for that concert! Go hiking as a family or with friends and that doesn't mean you have to brai something. Love those around you and learn to forgive and let go cause everything you keep inside will turn into an ugly wrinkle! be at peace and finally spend some time in your prayer closet. We do become what we behold and what can be better than beholding the beauty and glory of God in your life. Be grateful for every little thing you have in your life and all the joy that comes with it At the end of it all you are not only beautiful on the outside but also on the inside.


by Mc N o r r i s

Rare earth elements

An alternative investment vehicle yet doesn't necessarily solve the planet's quest for greener energy. . .but you could however consider the compensating factors.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yO94WHkqHg4&feature=share