Last Thursday, I went for a routine blood test, which has always been challenging due to my very small veins. I was directed from one department to another until finally reaching the blood collection area where many patients were waiting. Despite my upcoming elective procedure on Monday requiring these results, I still needed to wait my turn.
Jesus Shed His Blood For Us
When my time came, the phlebotomist struggled as expected. In a final attempt, she asked me to stretch out both hands, successfully drawing blood from each—though it was quite painful. This experience sparked a profound thought: the discomfort in my hands reminded me of Christ’s crucifixion, though my momentary pain was insignificant compared to His suffering.
What makes this reflection especially meaningful is the Easter season we’re celebrating today! Jesus didn’t remain on that cross or in the tomb—He conquered death and rose again! As the Scripture beautifully declares, “He is not here; he has risen, just as he said,” (Matthew 28:6).
This resurrection isn’t just a historical event but offers hope to everyone. The promise that “because I live, you also will live” (John 14:19) transcends religious boundaries, inviting all to consider what new beginnings might be possible in their lives.
Whether you share my faith in Christ Jesus or not, Easter’s themes of renewal, hope, and perseverance through suffering speak to the universal human experience. Even from small moments of discomfort can come beautiful reflections on life’s deeper meaning.
May we all find moments of peace, renewal and joy during this season!
There’s a profound difference between the stories we write and the stories we live. As a writer, I’ve shelved countless manuscripts—unfinished works waiting for my return, my revisions, my second chances. The pages sit patiently, knowing I might someday breathe new life into their dormant potential.
Life offers no such luxury. We write our story in permanent ink, each moment committed irrevocably to the record. There are no drafts to revisit and no passages to rewrite. The narrative unfolds in real time, with no chance to polish our regrets into something more beautiful in retrospect.
Eleven years ago, my dear friend Ken reviewed my book “Cydonia: Rise of the Fallen.” I read through his review just a few minutes ago and felt that familiar writer’s urge to revise and improve. How fortunate that my written work allows for second editions! Yet this moment illuminated a stark contrast—while my book may see multiple iterations, my life will see just one.
Why, then, do we waste our precious days scrolling aimlessly, ensnared in digital echoes that contribute nothing to the significance of our story? Why spend hours on transient distractions when we could be creating memorable experiences?
For those who believe, as I do, in life after death, there comes a reckoning—not an editing session. Our completed manuscript will be read, not revised. This is not meant to inspire fear but urgency—an invitation to live deliberately, to make each word and day count.
Let us write lives worth reading—stories of impact, kindness, and purpose. Let us make our corners of the world better places, knowing we won’t get the chance to rewrite what we’ve lived, only to live what we’ll be proud to have written.
As always, I’m inundated with work, but I will endeavour to update my website as much as I can. Thank you for reading, my friends, wherever you are.
The price of peace cannot be measured in tangible terms. I was speaking to a family friend about the Hamas/Israeli ceasefire and wondered why we find it so challenging to coexist peacefully with our neighbours. My friend replied dryly, “We all have free will to kill and destroy, or…” a glint appeared in his brown eyes, “to love and live in peace.” His words kept echoing in my mind as I watched the news of the prisoner exchange between the Israelis and Hamas.
The ceasefire announcement between Hamas and Israel fills me with cautious optimism. I have watched this conflict unfold, and while I recognise one ceasefire does not resolve everything, I believe each step towards peace is immensely significant. It reminds me that there is always hope for dialogue and understanding, even in the darkest times.
I was praying with my family last night and was grateful that bombs were not dropping near our bedroom windows, nor were sirens blasting through the streets. Yet, as I type this, my heart aches as Russia continues to pummel Ukraine with rockets and drones. The resilience of the Ukrainian people amazes me, but I can’t help wondering how many more lives will be disrupted before this conflict ends.
When I turn my attention to Africa, especially Sudan, I feel overwhelmed by the scale of human suffering. The ongoing civil unrest there and conflicts in other parts of the world are concerning. We can’t ignore these crises because they might seem far from home.
I understand we cannot measure the price of peace in simplistic terms. While experts can calculate military costs and infrastructure damage, I see the true price in the faces of displaced families, in the stories of lost homes, and in the eyes of traumatised children.
As I write this, I cling to hope. We just need to flip through the pages of history to know that peace is achievable. Every ceasefire, every negotiation, and every small step towards understanding brings us closer to a more stable world. We each have a role to play in this journey towards peace, no matter how insignificant our individual contributions may seem. That I’m writing this article means something; we need to desire peace wherever we are in the world.
Have a great, fruitful week wherever you are in the world.
In the dimly lit living room of our home, I watched my adult son experience the brutal reality of war through Edward Berger’s adaptation of “All Quiet on the Western Front.” As tears streamed down his face, I realised that nearly a century after Erich Maria Remarque penned his haunting novel, its message still pierces young hearts with devastating clarity.
The film, released in 2022, doesn’t merely depict war – it thrusts viewers into the mud-filled trenches of World War I, where hope dies as quickly as the young soldiers who enlisted with dreams of glory. Through the eyes of Paul Bäumer, a German teenager who enthusiastically volunteers for service, we witness the systematic destruction of youthful innocence.
What makes this adaptation particularly powerful is its unflinching portrayal of warfare’s futility. The scene that broke my son wasn’t one of spectacular explosions or dramatic deaths – it was the quiet moment when Paul, having just killed a French soldier in hand-to-hand combat, watches the life slowly leave his enemy’s eyes. In that instant, my son understood what textbooks could never convey: the profound human cost of war.
As we observe Remembrance Sunday this November 10, the film serves as more than entertainment or historical drama. It becomes a bridge connecting generations – helping today’s youth understand why we wear poppies, why we observe minutes of silence, and why we must never forget. My son’s tears weren’t just for Paul or the countless young men who died in World War I; they were tears of recognition, understanding that each name etched on war memorials represents a story as accurate and tragic as those depicted on screen.
“All Quiet on the Western Front” accomplishes what every war memorial aspires to do: it makes us remember the statistics of war and its human face. As my son wiped his eyes after the film, he whispered something that would stay with me forever: “Mum, they were younger than me. They were just kids.” My son rarely shows his emotions. This was one of the few times he allowed the torrents to flow. My husband and I hugged him as I reflected on the war plaguing our world, from Ukraine to Congo, From Sudan to Palestine, it’s never-ending, and we must do better.
Wars must stop!
This Remembrance Sunday, as we honour the fallen, let us remember that the best tribute we can pay to those who sacrificed everything is to ensure their stories continue to move new generations. Through films like this, their experiences live on, teaching invaluable lessons about the cost of war and the precious value of peace.
In remembering, we must do more than recite “Lest we forget” – we must help our children understand why we must never forget. Sometimes, it takes a son’s tears to remind us that the past isn’t as distant as we think.
As I scrutinise the global landscape, my heart grows heavy. The conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East are just the tip of a blood-soaked iceberg. Russian forces continue their relentless assault on Ukrainian soil, while the cycle of violence between Israel, Iran and its proxies, Hamas and Hezbollah, seems never-ending. Amidst the chaos and destruction, one group thrives in the shadows – the arms dealers.
Across Africa, long-standing wars continue to ravage nations. The Sudanese Army and Rapid Support Forces are logged in never-ending warfare in Sudan. Despite efforts for peace, sporadic violence persists, and according to DW News, the 15-month war has left over 150,000 people dead. The Democratic Republic of Congo remains trapped in a cycle of conflict involving numerous armed groups, and according to Global Conflict Tracker, the war has led to six million deaths! In the Sahel region, countries like Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger grapple with insurgencies and coups.
Turning to the Americas, the situation is equally grim. In Mexico, brutal drug cartels wage war against each other and the state, leaving a trail of devastation. Colombia, despite a peace deal with FARC rebels, still contends with dissident groups and other cartels. Venezuela’s ongoing crisis has regional implications, with violence spilling across borders.
In Myanmar, the military junta’s oppression has sparked armed resistance. The Afghan people face an uncertain future under Taliban rule, with pockets of resistance and the ever-present threat of extremist groups. In Yemen, a complex civil war has created one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.
Behind each of these conflicts, the shadowy figures of arms dealers loom large. They profit from every bullet fired, every bomb dropped, and every life shattered. Their wares find their way into the hands of state armies, rebel groups, terrorist organisations, and criminal syndicates alike. The global arms trade knows no borders, no morality—only the cold logic of supply and demand.
As a pacifist witnessing this worldwide carnage, I’m driven to ask: How can we break this cycle? How can we forge a path to lasting, global peace? The pacifist in me yearns for a world where conflicts are resolved through dialogue and diplomacy, not through the barrel of a gun or the blast of a missile.
Is it naive to imagine a future where we invest in education, healthcare, and sustainable development instead of arms races? Can we envision a world where the billions spent on weapons are redirected to fighting poverty, disease, and climate change?
The cynic might say this is an impossible dream, but we must strive for it nonetheless. Every life lost in these conflicts is a tragedy, a potential extinguished forever. We owe it to ourselves and future generations to seek alternatives to violence. As long as some profit from war, peace will remain elusive. But if we can change our collective mindset and see humanity in our perceived enemies, we can begin to build a world where arms dealers have no place.
The path to peace is long and filled with challenges. But it begins with us questioning the status quo and daring to imagine a better way. In the face of ongoing conflicts, let us not lose hope. Let us work tirelessly for a future where the only arms we need are those we use to embrace one another.
If we can all imbibe the ideology of a pacifist, we’re moving towards a peaceful world.
A few hours ago, I learnt the unfortunate news of Alexei Navalny’s death. He was a Russian anti-corruption activist and Vladimir Putin’s arch-enemy. For some unknown reasons, Alexei’s death was a kick in the gut. I’m not Russian, but I’ve been following his fight for democracy and his fearlessness as a critic of Putin. And this brings me to the topic of my article, ‘infinite abyss’. What’s the purpose of life? No matter how powerful a man is, like Putin, one day, he will die, and there’s nothing he can do about it. The President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, will not live forever. And what would have been the purpose of his life? Killing everyone who opposed him?
Blaise Pascal, a religious philosopher, mathematician, and Catholic writer discussed the emptiness mankind feels that human effort can’t satisfy in a collection of work called Pensées (“thoughts”) released posthumously. Pascal described a craving humans feel and it was a timely reminder of how futile life can be without God.
Pascal wrote: “What else does this craving, and this helplessness, proclaim but that there was once in man a true happiness, of which all that now remains is the empty print and trace? This he tries in vain to fill with everything around him … though none can help, since this infinite abyss can be filled only with an infinite and immutable object; by God himself.”
So no matter what we do, there’s always this yearning and emptiness we can’t fill. Conquering Ukraine and eliminating political opponents won’t fill the emptiness in Vladimir Putin’s life. He will never find true and lasting fulfilment in life without God.
It is crucial to contemplate the legacy we will leave and the positive influence we can have on others. Alexei Navalny fought for an incorruptible Russia and paid with his life. Generations yet unborn will laud his efforts. Whatever we do, it’s important to think about the legacy we’ll leave behind. To folks who believe in God as I do, the impact we’ll have in people’s lives is immeasurable. The fulfilment and joy we have for having God in our lives is priceless.
My daughter wrote the poem below on my birthday, and she gave me the permission to share it. If only we have love in the world, we will dance on the streets rather than raining bombs on ourselves. Our souls will have dwelled in safety, not fear.
I hope you’ll all enjoy reading the heartfelt love from a daughter to her mother.
Two Hands
Strong and Firm
Cupping and moulding a shape.
Spreading out a piece of Eternity
Your love, more priceless than
Moonbeams, and fickle dreams
And troubles that dissolve
In times steady pace
Providing a sense of security
Two Hands
That cup my face.
Providing an unexplainable
Yet undeniable sense of place
Apparent in shape and constitution, and beauty
Two Hands with concrete
And resolute wisdom
Pointing beyond the Earth’s clouds
To the Author and Finisher of our Faith
Pointing and providing
Undeniable direction and words of gold from your breath
Though my human and
Simultaneous half girlish and half grown.
Nature may blindside those hands.
You wait, arms and hands outstretched.
Hold within those hands
The love that moulded me
The love and the piece that was.
With you, becomes a part of me.
Resolute and strong, beckoning
Me forth with those Two Hands
Two Hands that lead mine to
The right path, advising, adjusting.
And teaching to pursue beyond
This world
In your embrace, my visage is filled with your warmth.
A cover provided, and obstructing the view.
Of deep and embedded scars of effort
And experience within your
Two Hands
And so, with my own Two Hands, connecting.
Extending out from my arms
I trace the scars.
Interlock fingers and once again
We embrace, but from I to you.
I love you ❤
As I read the poem again, my heart flush with pride and love for my daughter but it was quickly dampened by the wars raging around us. As the world rabbles with overwhelming hatred, I pray and hope we’ll find a way to truly love each other, eschew war, and our world will prosper.
Thanks for reading dear friends and please, stay safe, wherever you are in the world.
We live in a world often marred by conflict, disease, and negativity, finding peace can seem like an elusive dream. So, how do we find peace in such a cacophony of negative events? How do we keep ourselves grounded? I’ve decided to do five things:
Limit News Consumption: While staying informed is essential, constant exposure to negative news can be overwhelming. I have decided two set boundaries on my news consumption to prevent information overload.
Positive Meditation: I am a Christian, and I realise the more I read God’s Word, the calmer and peaceful I am. This world is full of negative things but the more we read, and pray and focus on positive things, the more we’ll have power over negative thoughts and influences. One of my favourite scripture quote is below:
Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.
Philippians 4:8
If I want to make myself sad, I’ll just dwell on the things that I think are not working in my life, or think of a past traumatic event. But when I realise I don’t have control over certain things, but I have control on my reactions. So, I do what I do best: pray and trust God to do what only He can do.
Be Kind: Kindness doesn’t take anything from us, rather, it makes us better people. I treat people the way I want to be treated, with kindness and empathy, and by doing that, I realise I am peaceful and can navigate through this cruel, complex world. I love the quote below:
“Do your little bit of good where you are; it’s those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world.”
Archbishop Desmond Tutu
Help Others: Volunteering or helping those in need can be immensely fulfilling. Acts of kindness not only benefit others but also bring a sense of purpose and inner peace. When I help people, I forget about my problems and in a strange way, God always resolves them when I least expected.
Focus on Self-Care: I prioritise self-care activities such as regular exercise, a balanced diet, and adequate sleep. Taking care of my physical and mental health is crucial for maintaining peace. Taking care of ourselves is crucial, a sick person can’t take care of others. So practise self-love.
There are several ways we can find peace in this chaotic, tumultuous world of ours, but practising the above has helped me, even when faced with circumstances beyond my control.
I wrote this article on Friday, and woke up on Saturday to news of Hamas attacking Israel. I pray for peace in our world.
Take care of yourselves wherever you are in the world.
Have you ever wondered how some scents can transport you to events in the past? When I peel an orange, I’m reminded of my childhood when my dad would sip a drink under a tree while I played in the backyard. Oranges always trigger these memories for me. Perfumes are a passion of mine as well, and I often find myself attached to a particular fragrance because of the memories it invokes. Certain home fragrances take me back to happy memories, and I keep selecting them.
Our senses can remarkably transport us back in time, evoking vivid memories and emotions. While sight and sound often take centre stage, the power of scent can truly captivate us, unlocking forgotten moments. The aroma of freshly baked bread, the scent of summer rain, or the perfume worn by a loved one—these fragrances hold the key to a sensory time machine, enabling us to relive past scents.
Scents have a unique ability to trigger memories with remarkable precision. I love the aroma of a freshly cut grass (some people may find that strange). It transports me to carefree childhood days spent playing outdoors and chasing my brothers through the countryside. The whiff of a particular dish might conjure images of cherished family gatherings, or spending time with a loved one. Scents have a profound impact on our lives, subtly influencing our moods, triggering nostalgia, and imprinting themselves onto our memories. The fragrance of a particular place, era, or occasion becomes etched in our minds. Exploring the scents of the past is akin to peeling back the layers of history and embarking on a fragrant adventure.
Scents hold a unique and captivating power over our memories. Effortlessly, they take us back to cherished memories, connecting us with our personal histories and the people who influenced them. Whether natural or deliberately crafted, scents enrich our lives and deepen our understanding of the intricacies of human memory.
Are there any scents that have a particular effect on you? I’m eager to read your comments about them below. May we all have a delightful day and a wonderful summer, and always spread love and happiness wherever we may be.
Today marks the 18th anniversary of the London transport bombings, which caused the death of 52 people and numerous injuries. Here in Europe, we’re still watching the carnage unleashed on Ukrainians when Russia invaded their country, killing thousands of innocent people and inflicting untold suffering on both sides. I’ve lost count of the mass shootings in the US this year. Here in the UK, we’re grappling with knife crimes, young lives snuffed out at regular intervals. Then today, I read about an Ohia man, Chad Doerman, who executed his three young sons, allowing the mother to witness the heinous crime. He would probably claim insanity, which brings me to the complexity inherent in the human heart.
The human heart, both anatomically and metaphorically, has long captivated our imaginations. The heart is a fascinating organ that sustains life and influences emotions and actions. While the heart is often associated with kindness, love, and compassion, it can also exhibit darker aspects of human nature. Today I want to explore the duality of the human heart, highlighting its potential for both wickedness and kindness.
The Wickedness of the Human Heart:
Human history is replete with tales of cruelty, violence, and malevolence that originate from the depths of the human heart. Suffering and pain can be caused by actions stemming from evil thoughts in the heart. The seeds of wickedness can grow within and sprout as greed, envy, hatred, or revenge. The book of Jeremiah from the Bible echoes this message.
“The human heart is the most deceitful of all things and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is? But I, the LORD, search all and examine secret motives. I give all people their due rewards, according to what their actions deserve.”
Jeremiah 17: 9-10
Selfishness and wrong beliefs have caused terrible acts throughout history. Some of the darkest moments in history have been centred around the human heart, including wars, genocides, violence, and oppression. It’s a reminder of the capacity for evil that lives within us.
The Kindness of the Human Heart:
However, amidst the wickedness, the human heart is also capable of immense kindness and compassion. It’s the source of love, empathy, and altruism that can lead to acts of selflessness and generosity. The heart encourages kindness and support towards others.
Comforting friends, helping strangers, and donating to charity are simple acts of kindness. It’s also evident in the tireless work of individuals and organisations that strive to address social injustices, fight for equality, and improve the well-being of others. The human heart, when guided by empathy and compassion, has the potential to create positive change and heal wounds.
The Balance of the Human Heart:
Human hearts contain a mix of both wickedness and kindness. Everyone has the potential for both good and evil, and their choices shape their path. Our hearts is not a static entity. It can evolve and transform over time, influenced by experiences, education, and personal growth. Acknowledging both wickedness and kindness within ourselves helps us understand our humanity and strive to cultivate a kind heart while rejecting wickedness.
The human heart is a complex entity that harbours both wickedness and kindness. It holds the capacity for great evil and the power to generate immense love and compassion. Reflecting on our actions helps us understand this paradox. By doing so, we can work towards creating a world that celebrates the inherent goodness within us and endeavours to minimise the wickedness that can sometimes arise.
The paradox of the human heart reminds us that our emotional experiences are complex, nuanced, and multifaceted. It encapsulates the simultaneous capacity for immense strength and vulnerability, guiding us to navigate the depths of our emotions with self-awareness and compassion. By embracing this paradox, we can achieve a more profound understanding of ourselves and others, resulting in a richer, more fulfilling human experience.
In our corners of the world, let’s make our world a better place!
S. S. David 