Annual Molting

Annual Molting

The season has come again when we celebrate and calibrate life.  We often do well with the first part of celebrating and not so well with the latter. We calibrate life when we reflect on the outgoing year and preview the next. Interestingly, penguins are birds that use their wings (flippers) for swimming not flying. Their black and white suits give them a classy look that is always new. The feathers should wear out over time but penguins go through a molting process where their old feathers fall off and are replaced by new ones. This process happens every year and takes about twenty-one days. During this period, the penguin does not go into the ocean to find food. It stays on land and does not eat. The very same feathers that keep this bird warm and dry begin to fall off and the penguin loses weight making it vulnerable as well as unattractive. However, when the process is over, brand new feathers adorn its body. This season of molting makes time away from the normal routine of life and becomes a vital time of refreshing.

As the outgoing year closes, Christmas is a reminder that you can renew yourself. It is a time for recreation or renewal. Similar to molting you can re-envision your heart, realign with your goals, restore your anticipation, reinvigorate your strength, and reignite your passion by recommitting your life to Christ. All things can become new[1]. Refresh your love and understanding of Christ. It is a time to revise strategies where things have not worked well.  Ask God what you need to shed off before the New Year[2]. Is it emotional hurts you have picked up? Is it doubts that have kept you wavering? Is it laziness that has left a lot undone? Is it bad habits that have pulled you back? Or bad company that has distracted you? What is it? This season is time to calibrate your life against His standard of love[3].

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[1] 2 Corinthians 5:17

[2] Psalm 139:23-24

[3] John 3:16

Reason for the Season

Reason for the Season

We all have memories about how we have celebrated Christmas. My fondest come from my parents when I was a small child. At Christmas we looked forward to sets of new clothes, purchased or home made.  We were sure to enjoy special meals with more pieces and portions of everything than usual. Of course going to church in our new clothes and cleanly shaven heads was not negotiable. The highlight however, a Christmas tree my mother made sure was in the house. She would tie gifts and love messages for each child on the tree more than a week before the great day. As they say curiosity killed the cat, that said - we only survived by God’s grace. Anticipation would build up so much that the night before you hardly slept wanting to find out what the tree held for you. We were at times not less than ten in the home at a given time. On the day, we would all come together and each selected a song that would be played on a  'record turntable' while each danced to their choice song. One year my song was ‘Amanzi Amakulu’. Only after dancing to your song, would you untie your gift, pull it from the tree and open it in your own style.

Everyone has reason to celebrate Christmas. We celebrate the good memories and successes as well as the prospects for the future. We remember family and friends; celebrate relationships through family reunions and vacations. It is an excuse to communicate and reconnect with friends and acquaintances. It is a time to give and receive gifts. In some respects, it could be a time to forget what has not gone well. We still celebrate to mark its closure in anticipation for a new episode of renewed hope.  No matter what you have been through you can celebrate that things have not been worse. Be encouraged that you may be down but thank God, you are not under. Perhaps the next season is the one for your come back and turn around.

Would you remember two things that mark the essence of Christmas? Foremost, it is a time to celebrate Jesus’ birth by recounting, and reliving not only the events but also the significance of His birth. He is the greatest love and gift.  Resultantly, Christmas is also time to share His love. A time to remember those less privileged and even the undeserving. God so loved that he gave the undeserving[1].

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[1] Romans 5:8. John 3:16

Today And That Day

Today and that Day

Take a moment now. Pause, and check how well you are doing. That is evaluation. Evaluation and control are essential tools to measure as well as direct the progress of a project. The final evaluation at the end of a project gives final account of its performance. The quality of this final evaluation reflects on evaluations and controls during the life of the project. Control is extracting lessons from past endeavors to effect changes or reinforcements that will steer a project towards its objectives. By nature, a willingness to change is paramount in effective control.

Every life is on course towards a day of its final account. Martin Luther (1483-1546) being aware of this declared, “There are two days on my calendar—‘Today’ and ‘That Day.” The Bible often reminds its readers to live with the end in mind. At the end of time, among other things, Christ will return. For we must all appear before His judgment seat; that every one may receive according to what he did, whether it be good or bad[1]. Every man’s work shall be tried to show what sort it is[2]. With each day that comes, ‘that day’ is nearer than before. There will be privileges, rewards and joy for those who acquit themselves well on ‘that day’[3]. That day will expose secrets of the heart as well as things done in private and in public. On that day, every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that Jesus is Lord[4]. Perhaps today is the day to do some life evaluation and control?

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[1] 2 Corinthians  5:7-10

[2] 1 Corinthians 3:11-13)

[3] Matthew 25

[4] Philippians 2:11