The race is on again, working, making a living, striving for a better year than the last. It is good to be back at work, amongst peers, under a cement roof with good weather outside. It's time to put on a potful of coffee, bury our heads in words and do some work. Why do I have a vision of Moses leading God's people out of Egypt, freeing them from Pharaoh, staff in hand pointing towards the heavens roaring "Let us go out of this miserable place to the promised land!"
If I was a slave at that time and a life of bondage and servitude was familiar ground, I would not be pondering what I would do with my freedom once the order was given. I'd gather all my meager belongings and run for it! There were no bags or treasured ornaments to bring, if there were, Egypt can take them, run first and think later! Just grab what you have in case Pharaoh changed his mind and start running for the promised land. This is somewhat where we are right now. The year is just beginning, there are no solid plans, run and think at the same time.
If you follow Samoa Observer and other news forum(s), the world did not stop and enjoy the holidays like the rest of us. No, the world went on being the world, the new year did not bring a sizable bubble big enough to conceal and fix its problems. 2014 did not bring the cream cheese for an instant sugar fix or a magic wand to magically make our street problems disappear. Politics and shameful tactics still exist, our cost of living is still high (unreachable) on a minimum wage, we still have beggars hassling us on the streets and people killing each other. The world remains the world, we just have to endure and persevere in it.
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| From www.newscientist.com |
Don't live in a bubble, live in an ocean. As people of the sea, we know the fish swims, lives, plays, make friends, works, survives, endures in the ocean all its life and yet still needs to be salted after/before it's cooked. A perfect example that we may live in the world among evil and beauty but we do not have to be saturated in it. We do not have to conform to the ways of this world.
"And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God" Romans 12:2
If the world was all good then we will not experience a sense of longing for something better. There will be no challenge to live rightly because it is it easier to do evil than to do good. It is safer to turn a blind eye when someone needs help, in some cases deaf ears! We've read about abuse for far too long with no silver lining and children roaming the streets without education, closing our eyes and hoping that maybe 'this year' will be different. That some Hercules/Samson/David will rise up to say 'STOP' and end the misery. Tough luck, if we, the living do the same thing day in, day out, nothing will change. This is insanity as defined by Albert Einstein "doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results" (some are not so sure Einstein said this while his bombs were exploding in the garage)
Samoa does not suffer from warrior deficiency syndromes including the vocals and the opinionated. We lack the do-ers, people of action, those who keep quiet and toil away. Those who genuinely mean to do good, period. Perhaps this year we will have more of those, we will face and drown in great things and not wallow in the muddy waters of yesterday. First let us begin with ourselves, begin with the i with a dot on top and then the 'you' and 'we'. Let us encourage, edify and motivate each other while the race is just beginning. We have a whole year ahead of us, so fight the good fight and do not despair, keep swimming in salted waters!
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| From nationalgeographic |
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