First calf

This woman was the youngest of her elderly husband’s 6 wives. After he had gone blind, she stayed with him and cared for him until his death. She now lives with her 6 children together with other widows in a boma ( a family homestead) of women and children. This was her first calf which was returned to the project and her cow is now in calf again.

An early morning lesson in dung

As I chatted to the women milking at dawn one day, I noticed a young woman begin to collect together the fresh dung left as the cows moved out of their night time kraal. I was intrigued to see her work on for more than an hour as the sun came up, collecting the dung in a bucket and dropping it into a large heap in the middle of the cattle enclosure, where she mixed it by hand at regular intervals. When she was satisfied with its consistency, she loaded it back into her bucket and hoisting it on her head, carried it, in several loads, over to the hut she shared with her mother, where she began to re-plaster the walls. What fascinated me was her composure as she carried out the work. From the outset, she was plagued by flies, on her hands, her head and face - she was pretty ‘plastered’ herself with the dung. It didn’t seem to bother her, she had a job to do, she asked for no help and made no complaint.
As a European, I thought of the hundreds of reasons why I would NOT enjoy such a job. In fact would I even think of doing it let alone enjoy it? I might get stuck in with a pair of Wellington boots, a long handled shovel and a wheel barrow and then use a VERY long handled trowel to do the plastering, but I can’t imagine just using my hands, hoisting the bucket onto my head and then plastering with hands that could now no longer be used to brush away the flies.
I was struck by how very pointless it is to worry about small irritations when you can do NOTHING about them. It seemed to me that this young woman had mastered the art of just getting on with a job that needed to be done, without bothering about the discomforts - and the reward? The very thing we all crave -absolute composure!

Is this Sanctification?

Whilst studying some aspects of psychology used in counselling I was struck by this idea - a person is a Christian to the degree that he or she has come to terms with themselves. It sounds faintly odd and the idea needs fleshing out I know.
First of all I use the term Christian to mean someone in whom the characteristics of the person of Jesus Christ are being manifested - not as a replicated clone but rather as a distinctive family member.
Secondly by the expression ‘come to terms with one’s self’ I mean the process of accepting oneself for who we are in the reality of today, warts and all. This often has to be an objective acceptance from which the subjective journey can be made into the reasons why we are the way we are.
One of my favourite verses is the one that states that ‘the truth sets you free’. For most of us that might conjure up some idea of a court room drama where the truth is expressed, the prosecution’s case collapses and the accused walks away free. Many people have experienced an immense sense of personal freedom when the understanding that their sins have been forgiven bursts upon their minds. This is the freedom from the guilt of all past wrongdoings. It is also freedom from future accusation - the amazing idea that no one can ultimately raise an accusing finger against me in the final analysis of my life.
However I think that there is a more profound experience of freedom than the revelation that our sins have been forgiven. This is the lightness of soul that comes gently and steadily upon a person as they settle mentally and emotionally into the fact that they are personally accepted by God in the here and now, and that He is working everything towards their ultimate good. This eliminates any effort at self improvement - what is the point if one is already accepted? It also means that whatever has been stacked against us in life can be used by God - there is no such label as ‘disadvantaged.’ In fact the more ‘disadvantaged’ you are the more potential you have to be ‘advantaged’ - with God your absolute best will always surpass your absolute worst.
How can all this be? In the end it is because the truth, or Truth, is a person. It is not some abstract concept existing in human consciousness. This person, who is Truth, is Jesus Christ and His personality and character can only be expressed through another human personality and character - you and me. This isn’t about upholding the truth as if we were championing a cause. Nor is it knowing about the truth as in Bible knowledge or theology. There may be many Christians who do great things for the truth and others who are deeply in the knowledge of the truth who have very little expression of the Truth in their own characters and lives.
This Truth is in fact the life....... of Jesus Christ. We come into the Truth as we make room for Him by coming to terms with the present state of our being - something He has already done. Then, as we work with Him, in being healed from wounds, forgiving other’s trespasses upon our lives, and our own upon theirs we thereby give Him the raw material that He needs in order to change us into His likeness and make us whole.
Come to think of it, being in the image and likeness of God was what He actually intended right from the beginning!

Early morning chai

This little lad is one of the children who benefits from the Cow Project. His mother gave birth to him during the period when she was still feeding his elder sibling. Custom dictates that a man does not have sex with his wife while she is still breast feeding. He was subsequently rejected by his mother's husband and now lives happily with his grandmother. When he took the cup away from his mouth, his little face was nearly all white!