I woke up one day and I realised that there were many things about my life I was not satisfied with or better still, there were challenges that were threatening my soul. And I said to myself, “Why should anyone envy me and want to be in my shoes.” No one knows how far I’ve come, they don’t know what lies ahead of me, and neither do they know how dissatisfied I get with myself from time to time.

People don’t know the troubles that you’ve had or the price you had to pay to get to where you are. All they want to know is that they wish they were like you.

Why should you wish you were in anybody’s shoes when you hardly know how they fit? When you’ve worn your shoes for a while, they take the shape of your feet and align to the way you walk. If you were to wear my shoes, you will not be comfortable in them.

So I’ve stopped wishing that I am in someone else shoes because they might not fit; rather I thank God for my shoes, because they fit! I have learnt to be the best in what I do, and I know no-one can replace me anywhere & in any sphere. I am an original, my God is not in the cloning business He makes originals. Make the best of what you do; besides you have this beautiful life to live ONLY ONCE so Live it to the fullest.

Just imagine for a second that there’s peace in every land. We, each as human beings reach out and hold each other’s hand. Just imagine for a moment if each country felt like kin. The feeling, oh so, powerful standing proud with every color skin. Just imagine for a heartbeat how quickly we could rid all hate. If compassion for each other is what we could relate. Just imagine for a minute that love rested in every soul. That each citizen on the earth prayed for peace and made the world whole. Just imagine in our lifetime we could spread hope throughout the land. Hope for peace throughout the world starting with our outstretched hand. Just imagine how much positive value you will add to any relationship when you focus on gratitude before each interaction. Consider how much more effective your work will be when you find something to sincerely appreciate in everything you do. Before you speak, before you act, before you make a decision, take time to appreciate. Look lovingly at where you are, at who you’re with, at what you’re doing, and find a reason to be thankful.

Even in the most difficult situation, there are plenty of reasons for sincere gratitude. Instead of cursing your problems, take a moment to count your blessings, and give your energy to the blessings rather than the problems. The more profoundly you appreciate something in your life, the more value you give to it. In every direction you look, there is something for which you can be sincerely thankful.

Gratitude truly opens your eyes to the incredible abundance that is all around you. Make gratitude your constant companion and that abundance becomes yours to live.

Ralph Marston

Poverty is a wretched thing. Yes, in the monastic tradition we praise simplicity of life. We say people should make do with what they have, not seeking to be swallowed up by materialistic desire. But we have NO RIGHT to glamorize poverty. Very often, many of us, from forums in the international community stand out and glorify, almost make poverty sound as if it is an extraordinary wonderful thing. No, if it is that wonderful thing “then go, sell all that thou hast and give it to the poor” – if it is that wonderful share and do with very little. Do with less that what you have.

Where do we find our poor? There are many among us. They are lonely in the townships. They are the unwanted, and with modernization and the coming of modern trends, the unwanted aged. There are those who have no opportunities for education. There are many who are unfulfilled in our world. There are those among us who do not know what life is and have to make do with an existence. They are the poor ones. They are the deprived ones. They are the disinherited ones. Those who are pushed around, whether they be white or black. Anybody who “as much does this to these my little ones, has done it unto me”.

Of course we must do all what we can to alleviate and eradicate poverty. We have to do all that we can to enhance life to enable those who are deprived in fact to rediscover their dignity which they have lost through deprivation. I am not saying that we should be captives or prisoners of the rat race. I am not saying that we should not be wanting the latest gadget that comes to the market. I am saying, find yourself and find the things that make you content you for in the end contentment will not be achieved by cluttering your life with possessions. It is when in the solitude of your lives, in the quietness of your heart, in your searching and in your questing, that you encounter God. It is then that we will begin to see things in perspective.

The community/we should then be enabling people to come alive! Not to be frightened by poverty, nor the challenges of our community/ Nation, but to say we will go in there in the steps of the Master who lived simply and had nowhere to lay His Head. We go to those who are at this time so brutalized either by crime or through violence, those who have to live in the face of the lack of trust and hatred.

There we will have to meet the poor and bring to them their sight. We must get them to proclaim their own liberation, they must be free. The Community, if it is God-centred and Spirit filled will be able to do these things without hesitation.

So it is only in that kind of spirit, in an appreciation of the reality and the context and the conditions under which the poor live; It is out of an appreciation of knowing exactly what the agonies of the poor are, it is by close identification and giving ourselves in compassion, not through condescending pity – that we can in the power of Jesus Christ, proclaim the GOOD NEWS TO THE POOR!

]]> http://www.buchternews.com/2009/05/good-news-to-the-poor/feed/ 0 http://www.buchternews.com/2009/03/youth-participation-in-democratic-governance/ http://www.buchternews.com/2009/03/youth-participation-in-democratic-governance/#comments Thu, 12 Mar 2009 12:36:37 +0000 admin http://www.buchternews.com/?p=208 By Reverend Jan Scholtz

From my point of view the role of youth in a democracy is to be evaluators of all systems, be it political, economic or otherwise. In order to do this, the youth must be morally upright, possessing correct reasoning and acceptable behaviour. Youths who are integral part of a democratic society need to be a driving force in social, economic and political change. They should be of an independent mind, free from manipulation from anybody; it is not any use to have youths who can not stand on their own but are constantly being used to foster ideals which are not their own.

The behaviour portrayed by some youths so far can be compared to the image of a person who jumps upwards and then starts looking for somewhere to land on, but by logical reason you have to see where you are going to land before jumping.  It is because of this that youths have engaged themselves in activities that have backfired on them.

Young people have a moral obligation to introspect themselves, they need to ask themselves questions like what can we offer to our country? Are we ready to take responsibility for our actions? Why is there always a tendency to blame the status quo for our shortcomings? For instance are we too lazy even to register as voters and to physically vote? The youth, as young and energetic people, really have the duty to strengthen democracy, particularly as democracy is something which grows from one level to the next.

Let us be a sector that cannot be ignored by constructively participating in any decision-making process. Let us create a situation whereby our leaders would have trust in us – by us showing our ability to do the right things at the right time. It is time that we become engineers of our destiny, it becomes difficult to speak of our role when we fail to take charge of our destiny.  Let us work hard, and ensure that our leaders have confidence in us and then finally our town/region/country will become what it ought to be through us.

]]> http://www.buchternews.com/2009/03/youth-participation-in-democratic-governance/feed/ 0 http://www.buchternews.com/2009/02/serving-god-with-aids/ http://www.buchternews.com/2009/02/serving-god-with-aids/#comments Thu, 12 Feb 2009 15:45:54 +0000 admin http://www.buchternews.com/?p=256 By Reverend Scholtz

If we refuse to live and serve alongside those living with AIDS, then we have no claim to be serving Jesus Christ, so we must see our lord Jesus Christ in AIDS infected people.

This is a practical application of Jesus’ words: “I was sick and you took care of me … Just as you did it for one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it for me.”

Jesus’ parable is a call to people to have compassion for those that suffer hunger and thirst, those who are poor, those who are naked and sick and those who are imprisoned. Reaching out to these and caring for them should be out reasonable worship. John 4.20 puts it succinctly: “Those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, can not love God whom they have not seen.”

To worship God and serving people are not to be seen as two different things, but as one. God has arranged things so that God comes to us and we go to God through people. It is a logical reinterpretation of Jesus’ parable in the context of the HIV/ AIDS pandemic. That the compassionate service rendered and empathy shown to the infected and affected is to be seen as service rendered to Jesus Christ.

This is a challenge to all of us, as a community (including the church), to put its confession into actions of dedicated service to those who are suffering as a result of AIDS. Communities, and churches should become agents of God’s compassion, to take their worship out of their buildings and into this world of human need.

That’s why it is a great privilege to be serving God through serving our neighbours, because Jesus has added an exciting new dimension to it. When Jesus became a human person he joined himself to humanity. He took the stuff that we are made of – our common humanity – and he has forever since been joined to us. When we help those that suffer, we are serving our Lord.

It means also that we will not regard people in need as a nuisance, but as a means of loving Christ. We can not adopt a paternalistic attitude towards those who we help, since it is Christ we are helping.

We are challenged to see in our suffering fellows our way to God. We must see our lord Jesus Christ in AIDS-infected people, because as long as some members of the Christian body are infected and affected by HIV/ AIDS, all Christian believers are infected and affected by AIDS.

The community and the church must take up the challenge to identify with those who suffer, because we are all one in Christ. A theological truth that follows from this is that Jesus reminds us that our whole life as a community and church we should make a difference!

If we as a community and church have nothing to offer to the sick, the naked, the thirsty, the strangers around us, few would grieve if we disappeared.

There are many ways we can make a difference. Let’s make a start!