The Unexpected

Congo (Photo credit: robynejay)

I left work quiet late and rushed to pick my kids from school, when we got home, I quickly rustled some food together and we had a hearty lunch. I decided to take a nap before going back to my home office and get some work done but I couldn’t sleep so I came back to the living room.

6.30 pm:

Reclining on my favourite sofa while surfing through different television channels and suddenly the unexpected happened, we were plunged into darkness. My children looked confused because it’s never happened before and I was too.

I was not ready for that so for the first ten minutes or so I just sat in that darkness completely nonplussed and indecisive. My kids were firing fusillade of questions at me but I had no answer for what had happened.

By the time I sprang into action, my kids were getting used to it and after a series of phone calls, I was able to find out a few facts. We weren’t alone in that situation, our whole street was in darkness so it was a major problem and it would take a while before the problem could be rectified. Though we slept in the cold without heating, at least we were safe. By the next morning everything was back to normal but the experience stayed with me and brought a lot of scenario to the fore.

Life is very unpredictable and that is a predictable fact. Sometimes, what we don’t plan for could derail our lives in unimaginable ways. My electricity going off was a minor issue you might say but sleeping in the cold and not been able to cook for my kids wasn’t a pleasant experience but what about people in war-torn countries? How would they survive living in fears for their lives knowing the next moment could be their very last? How do they survive living in such inhumane and brutal condition?

In the Democratic Republic Of Congo, rebels are instigating another round of fighting and people are fleeing their homes, it was totally unexpected, lives are ruined because people have been forcefully ejected from their homes, livelihood would be none existence, it was like survival of the fittest and none of them signed up for it, just a few bigoted fools who believed they can plunge their country to war at will are responsible for such atrocities. I can go on and on but we should just be thankful for little mercies we have, many people aren’t so lucky and many of these innocent people did not ask for war but it came to them unexpectedly.

How do they cope? I have no idea but it breaks my heart knowing right now as I write this post a little girl might be living in fear for her life!

When life throws something totally unexpected at you, how would you react?

Thank you all for reading this post!

Battle Of The Birds

Nov2

I was awoken from a very deep sleep with the droning voice of my ten-year old son complaining about his sister’s incessant noise. Well, I had to stand up and calm a rapidly disintegrating situation. I was up till like four in the morning writing my NaNoWrimo novel, so I was not in a very good mood.

Duck mob (Photo credit: jf1234)

And then there was a miracle, my husband had taken the day off work and skillfully rescued my life from the lion cubs (that’s what I call my children when they are in that kind of mood) by suggesting that we all go to the park.

I didn’t think it was a great idea but off we went and we had a blast! The only snag was, I left my camera at home, I would have taken pictures of how Squirrels, Ducks and Geese were battling to have a taste of the nuts my children were carrying. They did give out the nuts but it got to a stage where I was scared we would be mobbed by the ravenous birds.

My son then remarked, ”Mom, it’s the battle of the birds” And that was where I coined the title for this post.

The ducks got the upper hand partly because they were bigger and though the squirrels did put up a good fight, they were outnumbered by the ducks and geese. An hour later, we were on our way home because it was getting cold and I couldn’t help but relate that experience to life generally.

Life is incredibly hard and sometimes just surviving from one day till the next is a mammoth task but we should be very grateful to God for every little blessings!

Now, I’ll get back to my writing…

Immolation? I Hate Fire!

Nov1

Thich Quang Duc (Photo credit: HopeTom)

I saw this caption, ‘I hate fire’ embedded in a picture on a blog I visited recently and I thought, why not quickly pen this down before returning to my Nanowrimo novel.

Yes, I hate fire and it was actually strange and saddening that some people could light themselves up in protest against oppression! Don’t get me wrong guys, I am not against people demonstrating, albeit, peacefully, but burning yourself? That is a bit in the extreme.

A few months ago, I saw the picture of a Tibetan monk literally lighting himself up! He was protesting against oppression and when I did a little research, I found out the story of Thich Quang Duc, a very popular Buddhist monk revered to this day.

Early in the morning on June 11,1963 at a popular intersection in Saigon, Thich Quang Duc had made his intention known to his superiors that he was going to burn himself to draw attention to the plight of the monks who were being severely oppressed by the US-backed Catholic regime of Ngo Dinh Diem in South Vietnam.

Now I won’t bore you with the graphic details but this Duc guy died for a cause he believed in, and I can’t begin to imagine the excruciating pain he must have felt when he was being burned alive! And so… he died!

The war finally came to an end and many people attested to the fact that his sacrifice was instrumental in drawing the attention of the world to the plight of the monks, and also in a way ending the war.

I don’t encourage anyone emulating that in any way, but that is just my opinion!

Life is a mystery and we can’t understand it all…

Circle Of Life

Oct25

Talkin’ About Life and Death (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

A very good friend of mine lost her younger brother yesterday to the cold hands of death at the age of 35, which brought the poignant topic of death shrilly to my subconscious mind this evening.

Yes, we don’t like talking about IT but it’s all around us. I mean, we are born, we grow old with all our aspirations and we wither and die. Simple as!

But there is a catch. Death is not an end in itself, it’s a beginning, I believe firmly in life after death because I am a Christian but what about people who don’t? What is their hope?

My motto in life is ‘live life to the full and spread the love, don’t pile up hatred, you’ll be the one to stink and believe in yourself. Once there’s a will, there will be a WAY!’

My mind is still reeling from the news and my heart bleeds for my friend but the die is cast and the deed is done. The grim ripper’s done his worst, he can’t do more than that!

Borrowing the words of Mofasa in Lion King, ‘It’s just the circle of life’

Adieu Ambrose!