Therefore, serve God in all that you do and you will not be disappointed… look beyond the horizon for a treasure that will not fade… Your thoughts?

Beyond the horizon ... in the Garden

Come … walk with me in the Garden

Copyright © 2011, Ophelia Swai. All Rights Reserved.

Awesome sunrise... in the Garden

Yet, the awe I feel when I see that sun glow through the curtains remains… for it lights up my heart and brings a smile to my face as I quickly dash for my camera to record the memory.  I thank God for this beautiful feeling inside me for what others may deem ‘simple things’, and I pray that I remain in awe of God’s creation always.  Simple though they seem, they give life and new beginnings.  I pray that I remain in awe and through this awe, continue to strive to give love and care to God’s creation through the life I live and a heart to give to others as God has granted me.

‘Be still and know that I am God’, the famous hymn says, and it is at moments like these that I remember to be still, listen and let God guide me on how to lead my day, in His light and love, through faith and hope, and in peace always.

Are you still?  Do you hear God’s will for you today?

Do join me in the mornings, enjoy God’s creation, be still, pray and listen, and receive God’s guidance and gifts as He wills each day.

Beautiful ... even on a cloudy day... in the Garden

Come … walk with me in the Garden

Copyright © 2011, Ophelia Swai. All Rights Reserved.

As I step into the house, smiling, I begin to think about human relationships, and the effort it takes to build them to a place where we are able to breathe, relax and say, “I know you.  You do not want to cause me pain… with you, I am safe.  With you, I feel, I will always be safe.” It is a wonderful feeling to have people around you whom you can say this about… whom you know you are safe with… because they have proved it to you time and time again… never letting you down, even ‘by mistake’, because they know what would hurt you and so strive not to hurt you. All that remains is for you to do the same, and a bond builds that does not fade, no matter what lies ahead.

At the bottom of it all lies trust…that has been built time and time again by the choices we make, to make the other person happy, and give to them what we have to give through every means available for the type of relationship that we have with them… much like the Dikdik that has learned to trust that I will not harm him, and so continues about his business of eating his meal under the false marula tree, on this cool and fresh evening.

With that trust, comes the incredible gift of love that God has granted us.  A gift that allows us to care for one another, and care for that which is around us, from the Dikdik, to the giraffe, the elephant to the wildebeest, and every living thing there is, so that our Garden can grow more beautiful each day we live.

That surely sounds like a wonderful place to be – a place of trust and love.  By giving love in the Garden, through sharing what I have to give… that love of God which is inside me … I am able to live a life of true love and peace, no matter what lies ahead, or happens around me.  Will you join me?

Sunset... in the Garden

Come … walk with me in the Garden

Copyright © 2011, Ophelia Swai. All Rights Reserved.

I saw a sign that pointed to the exit. It was squished in between a number of others, themselves pointing in different directions. “This airport’s signs are not very clear”, I thought, as I took the moving walkway that seemed to lead to where I was going. I was in a hurry to get to the hotel and settle in.

Far away from home ... in the Garden

I looked up again to confirm the direction I was taking, and found that the sign I had seen was nowhere to be seen any more… and there was no sign ahead that I could see, to indicate that I was still going the right way. I began to look around to confirm… and found myself flying through the air like a bird in the Serengeti… one of those little ones that simply fly swift and low, from one tree to another.

But I was no bird … and there was no tree. I landed with a distinct and grating thud and proceeded to skid on the rails at the exit of the moving walkway.

Someone was bending over me and asking, “Are you ok ma’am?” I looked up and smiled feebly, nodding my head. I was still in shock and not sure whether to get up, smile, feel embarrassed, or be angry with the system for setting up signs incoherently. I got up gingerly and hobbled to a seat … luckily remembering to pull my hand luggage behind me.

After catching my breath, I looked up for the signs again. The signs to the next place were clear from this position. I headed for the train that led to the exit still wondering how I could have decided to attempt such acrobatics all the way in the land of opportunity. What did I expect to happen if I was moving one way, while facing quite another?

Yes… even now I ask myself the same question, and ponder about how many times I may have found myself experiencing pain in my life because I was not trusting the signs I had seen… only to look back, and all around me, and find myself crashing to the ground in pain… that relationship that failed because I did not trust the signs in front of me whether positive or negative … that job I did not get because I did not trust myself to get it during the interview, or when writing the application… and so many other things. Can you relate to this?

How did I expect to get right if I did not have faith that the path I was taking would lead me to the right place? How did I expect to reach safely and well if I did not face the path I was taking squarely enough to see the stop sign and the opportunity to get off at the right time and place? How did I expect to succeed in getting where I was going if I did not have confidence that I would be able to turn back and start again should I find I have made a mistake? If I was so unsure, how did I expect to get where I was going if I was not humble enough to ask for direction when I needed it – at the beginning?

Yet, even with all this new-found understanding, it is not enough to simply learn and know how to do the right things mechanically. Life is also about faith in God, confidence in His love and mercy, and humbling yourself before Him, enough to ask that He may guide you along your way safely and successfully always.

I flew across a moving walkway and felt the pain in a part of the Garden far away from my home in Garden. I felt the pain for no reason because I did not trust the sign I had seen, had no confidence in myself to find my way, and was not humble enough to ask for help.

It was a lesson in life then, yet it is more profoundly a lesson in faith now. Through God’s mercy, I have over the years since then, learned to trust in God’s amazing and awe inspiring way. Through God’s grace, I have learned to have faith and confidence in His way, and to humble myself before Him and seek His guidance and mercy always. I have come a long way on this amazing journey in the Garden… a truly amazing journey of faith that allows me to fly like a bird… with a soft and graceul landing. Do join me…

A journey in God's Garden

Come… walk with me in the Garden

...for a gentle beginning ... in the Garden

Copyright © 2011, Ophelia Swai. All Rights Reserved.

Unconcerned

I moved on, realizing the show was over.  The wildebeest were everywhere, and in the haze of dust that filled the hot afternoon, I could see that there was no patch of grass that did not have a wildebeest on it for as far as the eye could see.  Most were runting furiously as they decimated the tall elephant grass and reduced it to short stubs just 1 inch above ground.  Others simply rounded up the troops and kept them in line, while still others lazed in the tall grass.

Another pair were locking horns further ahead and I thought I would catch up with them and take a shot… but the fight ended as rapidly as it had begun.  I did not get to them in time.  I could not even tell which pair I had seen locking horns any more… they were now running about the Garden as if they were simply exercising.  I drove on slowly, happily filming as much as I could, but I did not see any more fights between wildebeest.

Living in peace

I suddenly realized that I was in the presence of hundreds of thousands of wildebeest males in the middle of the rutting season, competing for the females, and all I had seen in the form of fights were 2 fleeting head-butting bouts that lasted no more than a few seconds.  Better yet, the antagonists seemed to run along as friends immediately after that… were they really fighting? Or did they just forget the conflict?

It dawned on me how much harder it is for us human beings to get out of a conflict once we get into it.  Our ability to feel and remember painful events, seems to keep us locked in a tight embrace of conflict for a long time… unless we work hard against it.  In fact we sometimes go so far as to harbor this conflict inside us so bitterly that we let it fester into an explosive mixture of emotions that we may eventually not be able to control or fathom.

Yet, God teaches to love our neighbors as ourselves.  How can we do this if we don’t forget the conflict… or the pain? From watching the wildebeest, I realized that in creating animals, God has given us an opportunity to see what peace there could be – if we forgive and forget.

Yes, here I was witnessing God’s message of peace… the vision of millions of wildebeest who travel the small circle of Serengeti-Mara year in, year out, living in peace, by having the ability to forgive, because they simply forget. Here I was having a chance to learn what it would be like to live in peace with all around me, and thinking…it could work for us too if we tried it…couldn’t it?   After all, this is Christ’s teaching, is it not?

Come… walk with me in the Garden.

Copyright © 2011, Ophelia Swai. All Rights Reserved.

Sometimes we  think we are dictating what next… until it stops us in our tracks and quite literally throws us off the mill… the bitter disagreement with someone close that does not make sense, the loss of something or someone valuable to us… a job, a home, a family… always a loss… that deep and painful feeling that is really caused by the loss of love itself… and the feeling of free falling through an abyss whose bottom does not seem to exist.  Yet, even as you fall, you are not sure whether to be glad that there is no hard ground to hit, or to be sad that you are in the abyss in the first place.

Too late, you realize the error you made… the assumption that as long as you held onto the treadmill and kept up the pace, all would be ok… the assumption that there is no supreme being that is in control of everything that exists.  Too late… or so you think… you come to the sudden realization that the loss of that valuable thing or person causing so much pain is a symbol of a love that you have lost or of a fear of a loss of love. 

Yes, that loss of the job could result in loss of love from family and friends… could it not?  What about loss of love for yourself … and the fear that if you cannot provide for yourself then maybe you are worthless?

But what could you have done?  Would a prayer a day have helped?  Would going to service more often have helped?  Many times, the answer does not seem to be forthcoming, and many times very little could have been done to prevent that sudden leap off the treadmill of life because the events that cause it are outside our control… and God’s way is not our way.

Yet the power of God remains… when in that dark abyss, reaching out to Him who created all of creation helps.  He gives, and He takes, but even when He takes, He comforts along the way, counseling, teaching, guiding and opening another way… if you just accept His will and receive His saving help, which comes always … in His time.

These words may sound hollow… as hollow as the abyss within which you find yourself.  They may not comfort, but there is still room to be still and listen.  He will show you your way, and will guide you and hold you as you go along … and soon… before you know it, you will be on solid ground again.  No … not having crashed painfully, but having landed softly as God gently holds you and puts you back on a path that He knows is safe.  Yes, God will still let you go through challenges as you need them, to grow in faith and love, but God does send His Holy Spirit and His angels to do His will and guide you safely back to solid ground with Him.

Now, it is up to you to decide… to hold onto that treadmill again as if your life and very existence depended upon it… or to let God guide you and manage that treadmill according to His will.  I found God in the Garden, in a way that I could never have, had I insisted on holding tightly to that fast moving treadmill.  I know He lives, loves and truly saves, each and every day that I live.  He walks beside me and carries me along the way … and is doing the same for you too… if you just stop … and listen… and pray, you will find Him in this great and beautiful Garden that is His creation.

Come… walk with me in the Garden

Copyright © 2011, Ophelia Swai. All Rights Reserved.

Dedicated to my loved ones in pain… in the Garden

There was a half eaten onion on the floor between the onion rack and the bin…. My packet of home baking floor was by the sink, slashed open and half gone.  One third was still in the pack, but the rest was scattered all over the kitchen table tops, floor… and yes… the telly stand!  The contents of my waste bin were scattered around the half eaten onion…and all I could think was: “whatever it is, is it still here?!”  I scanned the room… realized it was (or they were) not in the kitchen or the living room area… finally remembered to close the front door behind me lest I let even more intruders in, and tiptoed carefully towards the bathroom.  Thankfully the bedroom doors were still looking closed.

The bathroom was empty of intruders, but the bathtub had strange contents – a can of honey.  There were also tiny flour covered footprints all over the toilet seat, bathtub, towel rail… but the monkeys that were by now clearly the culprits were nowhere to be seen.  Thankfully goldilocks in this story had left before mummy bear got back home :-) .. and no… mummy bear did not forget the door open… just that tiny bathroom window that she never thought needed to be closed.

Now... what can I eat in there...

That’s all changed now… mummy bear will no longer be leaving any windows open… none whatsoever!   

Hmmm... now... where is that way in?

 I finally got to rest my tired head on my pillow thinking about those poor monkeys … that raw flour they ate would be giving them some trouble I imagine… L… maybe they thought it was milk powder…. That would teach them not to enter people’s houses through small windows…. Oh… life always has its lessons :-) If it isn’t yours, don’t take it!

Wanna share my life?

Come … walk with me in the Garden…

Previous: Someone’s been eating my onions! In the Garden

Copyright © 2011, Ophelia Swai. All Rights Reserved.

That was the story then… Fast forward to May 1, 2011.

The day was quite unplanned, but was a really great day all the same… 2 invitations the evening before… one to begin the day at 6:15 am heading for Mass at a couple of villages away, and another to participate in May day celebrations with my colleagues and staff at 3:00pm.  The 7:00am Mass I did not make, but I was real ready for the next one .  The day was spent praying, and sharing with people I had never met before, who welcomed me into their home and gave me food fit for a king. I remember thinking: “this chicken could taste better than the one I am supposed to help cook later, so I better enjoy it”… and I certainly did.

In fact, I enjoyed myself so much and found the welcome so warm, that I was 2 hours late for the staff barbeque, which had began to get washed out by the time I arrived.  Not to be daunted, the grills were on the verandah and the cooking continued with great gusto as men and women alike silently wept from the smoke of the fire swirling under the roof of the verandah for lack of freedom to escape. In fact my timing was so bad, that by the time we were through, I smelled of smoke to the very root of every last follicle of hair on my head… sigh…

Every good thing comes to an end eventually, and by 9:00pm it was time to find my way home.  The rain had made the roads a little slippery so I drove gingerly (if it is at all possible to do that), all the while thinking: “this is the first Sunday I have spent the entire day outside the house while still being on the property.  I wonder how the house will feel like now that I am getting back so late.”

I got home ready for a good night’s sleep after a day well spent.  I had forgotten to leave the security lights at the house on, so it would be pitch dark if I switched off the vehicle lights. There was no way to get round to the front of the house without a torch, so I left the vehicle lights on and walked round planning to switch on the security lights then go back out to turn the vehicle lights off. The vehicle lights were not strong enough nor were they pointing in the right direction so it was still quite eerily dark. 

I walked quickly hoping to settle into safety in the house sooner.  I fumbled for the keyhole and unlocked the door when the smell of onions hit me like a nylon bag thrown over my face preventing me from breathing.  Something was not right… the smell was too strong and I had not cooked the day before… there was no reason for onions to smell that strong….  I moved quickly to turn on the light switch by the door, looked around and … froze…

…and ate my flour too! In the Garden

Copyright © 2011, Ophelia Swai. All Rights Reserved.

The CD is playing softly, but the musician is rather emphatic. He is shouting about Bread and Butter… though I can’t quite make out what about it. As I drive along the road to church, I notice that the baboons are not running along the road beside the vehicle today. In fact they are nowhere to be seen.

The grass is tall again, and it surely needs to be burned … again. The rains are showing signs of arriving, and new shoots of grass will be tasty and nutritious for all who eat it … if we burn the tall grass in good time. Yes … it is time for the burns again. This is the role that we play… to give our fellow creation tastier and more nutritious ‘bread and butter’ … that newly growing grass that is their ‘daily bread’, and to give them a chance to live their own version of a perfect dream.

The song on the CD has now changed, but I am still thinking about that bread… and butter. How much of our time it takes… from the moment we finish school (for those of us who are lucky enough to attend school), leave home, and start the long road of life ahead. From that moment, everything we do is geared towards … ‘making our daily bread’ … earning that living we always wanted, and creating that life we always dreamed we would live.

So much to do every day, running this way and that…hoping … wishing … praying … planning … organising … maneuvering … cajoling … wining and dining… trusting that what we do to seek our daily bread, will be fruitful. Often we get it… that bread… but even more often, the life we live and the life we dream of are not quite the same, which in turn makes us always unhappy. We wish, we hope, and some of us pray… we beg, we borrow, and some of us steal… always seeking the same thing: that which we dream of having … fulfillment, happiness, wealth, power… oh so many things.

Some of us work hard… some of us not so hard at all… many of us somewhere in between. Some of us give up, so few achieve our dream, yet many of us keep striving to realize that perfect dream even when we do not know how we are going to realize it.

And so, day after day, we keep going… working, planning, reaching out, searching within, and saying to ourselves: “if only we just…. if only we could…. if we didn’t do… if we hadn’t… surely we can make it? … surely we will be happy?” Until one day… if we did not give up along the way… we realize the dream… and find that what we feel is not what we dreamed we would feel, or that the feeling lasts too short a time… or… something… . We are not happy, and have to start on the road again. How could that be? Could we have been chasing the wrong dream? What happened?

Yet the answer is in the Word of God that we are taught so often. From what I have read and learned, chasing after the right dream can only come from seeking to do God’s will. And here’s a little secret I have found out along the way: God already knows what would make us truly happy right here on earth as well as in heaven… even if we ourselves do not know what that is. That is awesome understanding for me. It is such good news… and such a relief.

I have also learned that doing God’s will is not something magical as in a dream… but is in simply following His commandments to love Him with all our hearts, souls, mind and strength; and loving our neighbors as ourselves. In so doing, as we continue believing in His promise to take care of us as He does the rest of His creation, our hearts will be guided to seek the right dreams, to do the right things in the right way and so receive the right fruits … the right ‘bread and butter’ that has the capacity to make us trully happy.  Thus making our God-led and deeply understood and fulfilling dreams come alive as they ought to, as we walk in this Garden towards His heavenly kingdom.

So as you walk, run, play, achieve, strive, hope, and dream in your little corner of the Garden, remember to live your life according to God’s will, and to pray, that God will guide you along your way and show you what He truly means when He says ‘Come… I will show you’ as He has said so often to me in my heart when I pray. Remember to pray that Jesus guide you and show you what He truly means when He says: ‘…I am the Way …’.

Come … walk with me in the Garden.

Waking up to a new day in prayer... in the Garden

Copyright © 2011, Ophelia Swai. All Rights Reserved.

Today, I am pulling no punches.  Do I really do anything for anybody?  Is there any real possibility that I can do anything, that in the end is not about me?  I look, and I see that others have done something that is good…Mother Theresa, Mahatma Ghandi, Nelson Mandela, St Francis of Assisi, Joan of Arc… something that was for the good of everybody.  It just so turned out that doing their good works gave them recognition… like the lioness who does what she needs to keep safe, feed well, and keep her family safe and well… but who then has contributed greatly to giving her species that famous title: ‘King of Beasts’

 It does not take long when watching her in action to recognize how well she does this… or how determined she is, sometimes in the face of prey larger or faster than she is.  It does not take long to recognize how well she uses the resources she has been given to realize what she needs to… working in hand with her environment, with other females and sometimes a few males… working with her cubs to hunt their prey and then sharing it… not caring what you or I may think of her tactics, but simply going along on her way.  She is doing the good for herself and her family that she was created to do, in the way that she was created to do it. 

Taking my cue from the lioness... and setting myself free

Yes, it is time to be free, and that itself is a wonderful dream.  If you are not there yet, do join me …

Come… walk with me in the Garden

Copyright © 2011, Ophelia Swai. All Rights Reserved.

Trudging along the same path

Sometimes the weather changes, and they are forced to take a different way, but as soon as the right time comes for them to be at a certain place, they hurry along to that place … to rest, to breed, to eat, to play.  Sometimes the path they take puts them in danger as they face crocodiles, and possible drowning in a river that they choose to cross.  Yet, more often the danger lies within the plains, as the camouflaged king of beasts crawls… and then pounces on unsuspecting babes, mothers, fathers, children in the still of the night.

Darkness falls around the wildebeest - will he be safe?

And still, as the days and nights wear on, they continue on their way, one big herd, or several smaller herds, moving in one great big circle, always returning to their calving place to start again, from one generation to the next.

Whether we like to admit it or not, we humans do the exact same thing… repeating a cycle, generation after generation.  Yet, many times we find that we are walking along a path we did not choose to take… somewhere along the line it seems we took a wrong turn… that we are taking a road that seems forsaken… somehow we got left behind.  Sometimes the path is so tough, that we think we have made a mistake … even though it is not.  And sometimes in actual fact, we do make a mistake… and then there is that price to pay … as we fall into the lion’s mouth … the crocodile’s jaw … or simply drown.

Yet it is true that whatever path we take, someone has already taken it.  No matter how advanced we may get socially or technologically, we still make the same mistakes and achieve the same successes, generation after generation… because we tread the same path generation after generation … the good and the bad ways alike.. always seeking the same things.. survival, comfort, health…. We change, but don’t really change… all we do us use new tools to repeat the same thing … over and over again.

Are we learning anything?  Do our lives really serve any purpose other than to go round and round in one great big circle hoping to find our way back to the same place and start again?  Do we find a new path when we see that our neighbors have perished in the mouth of the lion … or in the river … drowning or in the jaws of a crocodile?  Do we seek to find a better way?

Do we seek to find a better way?

Only you know the answers for your own life.  What I do know is that God put us here to serve Him and fulfill His will.  Should we not have this purpose, we just might in fact be truly lost.  Because, with His purpose, at least life counts for something … for in doing His will, we are empowered to put back more than we found in this Garden, leaving behind a mark of our being here more positively … for the Glory of God and the good of our souls.  Are you willing to walk in God’s light in the Garden?

Waking to God's light in the Garden

Come … walk with me in the Garden.

Copyright © 2010-2011, Ophelia Swai. All Rights Reserved.

Something new to look forward to... on the dawn of a new day

Many years ago, I thought and felt that my main aim in life was to grow in the corporate world, be at the forefront of the technology wave; be a great applications developer and solution deliverer; create complex, yet functional and cost effective information systems and networks; and be the best I can be in everything technology.

I have in fact come a long way in doing that, and looking back gives me a sense of pride:  that I have carved out a niche for myself in this big old Garden, and realized so much of my dream while giving the best that I had to give.

Then, as I discovered and began my walk in the Garden, I began to feel that now that I had achieved much of my big dream in locations and ways I had never dreamed or thought of, I had to find a new a new goal … a new dream … something new and exciting.  The prayers and the thinking seemed to be never ending and I often despaired of ever finding that fresh beginning.  Life was becoming a pain because I had no goal to look forward to…nothing exciting to work towards… yes, I could strive to continue to grow in the ICT field, but something was missing and until I understood what that was, I was not going to be happy.

That was until God answered me in His usual way and in His usual time (His time).  He answered me so profoundly more than two years ago, that as I looked at my options for a new beginning, I found myself almost confused… which one would I begin with?  Where should I start?  What was the best way forward?  Would this negate my first dream?  I was not ready to let that go … and still am not ready.

More answers came to me even as I learned more and more about what I truly feel about life and all that is happening around me.  I rediscovered old dreams that I had shoved aside in pursuit of my first dream, but more importantly, I found a lot about what had driven me in my first dream, and what was now driving me in all my newly discovered and rediscovered dreams: a deep seated desire to help those in need, and in fact, save people in need.

Even more startling for me was the realization that every decision I had made through life was to help no matter what the source of pain … even if it turned out in fact to be the person in need themselves.  What I had not realized, was the right place and way to do this more fully.  Information technology management is such a small part of that spectrum.

‘Come … walk with me in the Garden’ was a call I had heard in my heart almost 7 years ago, and it became a call through which I got to know more about God.  Then, with God’s revelation more recently, it began to guide me to a new beginning… a place where the lives of others are improved in different ways every day, not only through my day job which remains my first dream, but also through giving in other ways – this blog being one of them.  I do not have the skills to provide help in ways other than through information technology or my own personal experience of God and life, but I do have the skills and understanding to dare to venture into facilitating connections between those who can help with those who need help… after all, I am in the Information and Communications Technology Industry, aren’t I?

And so became YuAndIConsult.com with the call to walk with me in the Garden… An opportunity for more people to participate and create a very real experience of the Garden of Eden in each of our lives.  ”How?”, you might ask.  Through each one of us taking the time to use the strengths and experience we have to guide one another through troubling times.  A tool for people to help … maybe save …  or heal one person at a time, and themselves be helped… saved… or healed one person at a time.  For now it is about careers and business… who knows what will come next…. Or how?

A cauldron of excitement and anxiety now bubbles inside me as I wonder when the first person will be helped, and what difference this dream of mine will make.  Wouldn’t it be great if hundreds, thousands and even millions were to be healed through this? Yet even one soul helped would be a blessing – enough to make me grin from ear to ear for at least one day.

A dream to help others through using my technological skills and understanding has come alive in 2011 …   a dream that provides me with an opportunity to give unreservedly and almost indiscriminately to people in need and also give this opportunity to people with similar desires and dreams as me to help people in need. Yet, even as I make my attempts to give, a stark realization washes through me… that no matter what I give, everything I have to give has been received beforehand by me, from God the Father Almighty … and it is through Him, with Him and in Him that a soul can be helped, saved, or healed.  It is with Him that I walk in the Garden every day and it is with Him that I invite you to join me today and…

Come … walk with me in the Garden

Copyright © 2010-2011, Ophelia Swai. All Rights Reserved.

I eventually got round the building to the reception with the help of one wonderfully helpful soul that jumped out the back of the building from the reception to escort me round (I will be forever grateful to him for that hand of consolation).  I called the right people for help this time and they rushed to my rescue (to them too will I be forever grateful). 

When I told them what the snake looked like they assured me that it was a harmless type.  I did not believe them until I saw them hold the snakes by the tail with their hands and move them from the office to a tree by the vehicle parking.  As they moved, the snakes kept trying to maneuver themselves up to cling to their hands, but they kept yanking them down like yoyos.

Then one snake was too fast and bit one of them. I felt guilty for having asked them to help and thought I had put them in danger by doing this….

Yet the young man put the snake on the tree and drove to the bar for a beer.  I could hardly believe it!  When I spoke to them at the bar, they responded, “We told you, these snakes are harmless.  But why do you think they came into your office?”

It took some time, but I finally figured it out.  They were there to look for the lizard that had taken refuge in the office a few days before.

It was a harrowing experience, but at the end of the day I learned something new.  God takes care of us and is the one that keeps us safe – no question about this.  But then I knew that, hence my prayers to Him for safety.  What I had not put my mind to by then was another important lesson.  Through this experience, I learned that those snakes wanted nothing to do with me.  All they wanted was their daily bread, and I was in the way of them getting it. 

Had I chosen to fight with them they might have hurt me, fearing for their lives and livelihood.  Though they turned out to be harmless, an encounter with them without knowing their true intent or capacity made me very distressed and afraid.  Even if I had been the stronger and hurt them, it would have been for no good reason other than… I was afraid. No good reason at all since we just happened to be at the same place where they could find their daily bread.

And so my question to you today:  how many times do we react in self defense against someone of whom we are afraid without understanding them?   Could we perhaps be making assumptions about their true intentions?  Could a question or two to them or to those that know them, give us a better insight to their needs and thus allow us the opportunity to react more amicably?  Could we perhaps prevent emotional, spiritual, social, psychological, career, relationship, physical or other bloodshed, if we took the time to learn and understand the true need of another person?  Could that understanding, coupled with taking the time to show or guide them on how to get what they want or need in a better way create a better environment for both them and us?

The next time someone’s actions or words threaten and cause fear in you, will you seek to know more before reacting?

It is the time of year when we are reminded to foster peace … a little understanding can bring such joy and peace in the Garden.  So do join me and make a decision today … to make an effort to get more understanding of those around you of whom you are afraid … before reacting to being afraid.

Dawn of a new beginning in the Garden

Come… walk with me in the Garden.

Overcoming fear in the Garden: http://wp.me/pykoD-7g

Copyright © 2010, Ophelia Swai. All Rights Reserved.

I was deep in concentration when I heard the paper rustling.  Sometimes when a slight breeze picked up, the papers on my desk would be blown away, so I looked up from the computer to see what paper had been blown away.  The only area where there could be a breeze was the area of the desk in front of the office door. I got ready to stand up and get it, when the rustling sound came again.  I could not see the paper that had blown away, so I looked further ahead … to the doorway… and that is when I saw it.

A slim green spotted snake had slid into the office and had its head cocked up at me… that rustling sound had in fact been the snake hissing.  I froze in place.  I had not encountered quite such a large snake as this – at least a meter in length. I did not know what sort of snake it was, but in any case, a snake is a snake to me, and I was absolutely afraid.

With my heart thumping and a thin film of perspiration gathering on my face, I turned to God and started to pray.  My mumbling got the snake intrigued and it slithered closer to me.  I decided to get some help and reached for the phone. I called the lady at the reception and asked her to get in touch with someone on the radio that could help remove the snake.  I hoped that she would be able to get someone brave and with the right tools.  What I got instead was a group of fellow colleagues surrounding my office door.

While the drama was unfolding, I had seen another snake of similar kind and size rush past my door and I had prayed that it not come back again.  One was quite enough. 

However, as the group of people crowded round my office, someone shouted, “ Oh! They are 3 of them!” and then yelled as they moved a little away from the door. 

But by then it was too late… 2 more of the green spotted snakes had slithered into my office each moving in their own direction around the office door.

This was altogether too much for me to handle.  I thought my only way out was through the window since the doorway was closed by the snakes.  No one outside seemed either brave enough or thoughtful enough to get someone that was knowledgeable, brave and had the right tools to come to my rescue.

My office was on the ground floor and the window was not too far from the ground.  Yet, once on the outside, I found that even with my hands holding onto the window sill and my body fully stretched down I still had almost a meter to jump to get to the ground.  I was debating whether I would be able to make it, when I saw another of the snakes slither past me about 3 meters away on the outside of the building … heading into the bush!

Overcoming fear in the Garden … 2: http://wp.me/pykoD-79

Copyright © 2010, Ophelia Swai. All Rights Reserved.

I had to hop through a few places first, from the airstrip at my little corner of the garden to the Geneva of Africa and on towards the rest of my destinations.  An officer from the control room called to let me know that the pilot of the plane was going to land at the airstrip in 30 minutes.  I shut down my computer, having handed over everything I needed to and quickly drove to the house to collect my luggage, almost breaking out into song from excitement.

It was not until I was turning into my driveway, that I saw them…there was an elephant right next to the house… I slowed down, and when I looked around I found that there were quite a number of them especially close to where I normally parked the car.  There were also some now behind me across the road that I had come along… how could I have missed them? 

Gently walking through the Garden

It was just a few days before that I had had that mock charge experience on my way up the hill, but I was feeling a little brave this time.  The elephant in the driveway had moved off a little, and I was able to drive in. I stopped the vehicle, pondered a little about my next step.  The elephant was now maybe about 5-6m away from the hood of the vehicle and did not seem at all bothered about me.  I decided to make a dash for it.

I told my colleague who was going to keep the vehicle when I left, to stay put.  I got out of the vehicle, moved quickly round the house to the verandah, got up the stairs and luckily found there were no elephants on this side of the house.  I got into the house and began to put out my luggage. I was lucky. With the help of my colleague, we got the luggage safely into the vehicle and by the time we were through, the elephants had moved away from the vicinity of the house… or so we thought.

It was not until I got to the end of my driveway that I realized that the elephants had not moved very far away at all… in fact, they were now squarely in the middle of the road that I needed to use to get to the airstrip… and there was no other way round.  I had been effectively stopped! They could stay there for hours and I would miss my plane and all other flights from here on.

Communication on the walkie talkie radio was indicating that by now the pilot had landed and would be leaving soon.  Yet, here I was still 15 minutes away from the airstrip!  We communicated the problem, then began to seek help.  I had been brave enough to get out of the vehicle, but trying to force my way through the elephants was beyond me.  My colleague from the wildlife department finally came driving through and gently but firmly pushed forward while the elephants stepped back reluctantly… towards me!  As I pondered on whether to reverse or not (still remembering the dangers of reversing before an elephant) they eventually stepped off the road across the road from me and I breathed a sigh of relief.  He drove on through to where I was and began to turn around, preparing to drive ahead of me.

Horror of horrors!  The largest of the elephants having realized that he had been pushed off the road, got quickly back into the middle of the road, and turned to face us squarely! It was as if he knew we were going to want to pass there again and he was getting ready for a fight!  And to make matters worse, others followed him back onto the road.  I held my breathe… for the second time that week.  The pilot and control room were still on the radio asking about our status and whether I was going to make it… the pilot was on a schedule and could not wait too much longer…

I closed my eyes and prayed to God again for safety.  The vehicle in front had began to push ahead, gently once again, but firmly, inch, by inch…and I followed, not sure how far away I should keep, but instinctively making sure there was not enough space between us for an elephant to wedge in between us as we drove through.  Fortunately they were in a good mood that day and they stepped back again, maybe realizing we were not being aggressive because our intent was good.

Peacefully walking away

And so I made it to my long awaited holiday, thanking God once again, for making me realize, that He is the one that gives life, and everything in creation is within His power and authority.

What a way to begin a holiday!

Farewell Serengeti sunrise... for a little while

Come… walk with me in the Garden

Copyright © 2010, Ophelia Swai. All Rights Reserved.

Gently swaying in the Breeze

This has been a long month… long and with lots of peddling to reach not far at all. I was getting tired and frustrated, until I received a fax request from a friend.  He was asking that I send him a fax of a Zebra. Huh! I thought.  Why of all the animals, a Zebra?  Nothing wrong with them, but up until then, I suddenly realized I had only used them as a backdrop for a story about something else.

Anyhow, I shared a small video of a lion I had … as a fax instead.  I was not prepared for the response I got… I could almost have taken the lion away as they firmly stated their opinion.  ‘A lion cannot replace a Zebra!’ they said… ‘We like Zebra… they are pretty’… and so made it clear to me that much as I was ignoring the Zebra, Zebra is what they wanted.

Young Zebra in the Garden

I began to reflect about why I had ignored the Zebra to this day.  Not for lack of photographs for sure, and not for reasons of not liking them either.  Was I perhaps taking the Zebra for granted?  I had begun to hear them running and scuttling about in the garden since the days I lived in a tent, and formed an opinion of them… ‘These are not very smart creatures’ I decided. ‘How can they just run all over the place and go around banging themselves against the trees and poles outside the tents, cough, cough, coughing away all night?’

I truly had taken them for granted. ‘They will always come this way another day…  Nothing fascinating about them, apart from the stripes’, I told myself.  ‘They follow the wildebeest and as long as they keep coming, the Zebra will follow them… and stay on long after they have left.’  They were not that important to me because they do not do anything fascinating that I know of anyway. What little I knos is that they follow the wildebeest because the wildebeest make it easier for them to get the type of grass they like, by eating up the type of grass they do not like.  A little lazy perhaps?

Yet my friends wanted them… ‘because they are pretty’, they said.  And so I learned something from my friends this week… that everything in the Garden, no matter what role it plays, has value in the Garden… that it is all beautiful in its own way, and can give each one of us an opportunity to share positively each and every day…. again, no matter what role they play … or how well they play it.

Pretty Zebra in the Garden

So I ask you today:  ‘Are you taking something or someone for granted in your life?’  Take a minute and reflect, for maybe one day, when it is too late, you will yearn for, but no longer have the opportunity to show your appreciation for something granted by God Himself… and no longer have the opportunity to share a beautiful experience with God, with that someone, and with those around you… in the Garden.

Come… walk with me in the Garden.

Appreciating a beautiful sunrise in the Garden

Copyright © 2010, Ophelia Swai. All Rights Reserved.

As I rushed about packing and unpacking, and moving from one place to another, a thought became clear in my mind… a thought that I have talked about before, but which never ceases to impress me with its power every time it presents itself to me:  ‘The Garden is where we make it.’

I love my corner of the Garden, where the wild animals play, and where man and beast live as one.  Yet, the love of being with family and friends cannot be surpassed by this.  The joy of being among people who love you cannot be measured however much one may love God’s wonderful animal kingdom.

The past weeks were a time of change… from one year onto another… a time for possible new perspectives and new beginnings.  What will the rest of life hold for me?  How will I deal with the joys and challenges the rest of life brings?  Yet, even as I pondered this, my thoughts returned to that one phrase: ‘The Garden is where we make it.’… and it is up to me to make it what it is and will be.

As I look at the events of the last few weeks, I recognize once again the power of our actions, thoughts and words upon each other each and every day.  For, even though the world renowned beaches were beautiful…

Beautiful beaches on a beautiful Island

… after all, they ARE created by God …

A land is as beautiful as the people in it make it... in mind, body, spirit, and soul

Yet the reception to me was hostile, the people indifferent and unwelcoming, and within a short while I could hardly wait to see the last of those beaches.

 … the Garden is where we make it… God has granted it to us and it is up to us to make it the Garden that it should be… one that is both beautiful to behold, and to experience in every way…

Back I went to the ‘City in the Sun’, world renowned for its industrious middle class, one time tribal clashes, and robbery.  Yet this is where I found love and understanding.  It was among friends, from near and far, from forever to forever, that I felt at peace… sitting and chatting from the mid afternoon and on late into the night … as though we were hoping that somehow the day would never end, even as our concentration faded and our eyes began to shut in the cool African night.  It was in friendly surroundings that I found a sense of belonging, a sense of welcoming, right from the immigration desk into the country, and back out again.

A sense of warmth fills my heart as I make my way in stages back to my corner of the Garden…sharing memories and moments with family, and stopping briefly at the foot of the tallest mountain in Africa…

Kilimanjaro - the tallest mountain in Africa

  … and on to the ‘Geneva of Africa’ at the foot of a tall and steep mountain.

Mt Meru - overlooking 'the Geneva of Africa'

A cloudy-peaked Mt Meru at sunset

I thank God for having created me and placed me squarely where He wanted me… a place where warmth and loving one another as oneself is the order of the day… no matter that often we lose our way in other ways.

So, make your part of the Garden a beautiful place… by your actions, your warmth, your welcoming smile, your acceptance and love of others as yourself.  And yes, should you feel the need for a change … a different place… a different pace … a brief exchange…

… Come… walk with me in the Garden…

The Garden is where you make it - it is up to you to make it beautiful

The beauty of the Garden ... it is all up to you

 Copyright (c) 2010. Ophelia Swai. All Rights Reserved

Then I got a bright idea.  He did not seem to be moving all that fast…  If I managed to take a photo, then at least even if they made me flat as a pancake there just might be some evidence of who did it…. I groped around for my phone, keeping one eye on the running elephant, who was now joined by 2 then 3 others, all flapping their ears wildly and seeming to look straight at me, and definitely running straight towards me.

I got it out, just as the biggest one got to about 3 m from the hood of my vehicle, pointed and clicked…

It was getting dark, so the flash lit up the dusk… oh no… I thought.. this was going to make them even more angry.  I quickly put the phone away, since they were now right at the vehicle and going round to my side window.. still aggressively spreading their ears out wide and huffing loudly.  Others had joined them.  They were running down the hill… even the little kids were charging me! Or were they playing with me?

Anyway, the idea of a photo was now gone from my mind, and my prayers were now being said at a 100 words a minute.  An elephant among those still coming down trumpeted and I wondered if this meant they were now going to get serious.  The ones that had got to the vehicle were just watching me, and then started going to the left of the vehicle.  One young lady just stayed in front of my vehicle, first looking at me with 1 eye, then turning around and looking at me with the left.

I started relaxing.  I had stood my ground and they must have been playing with me… Is this what they call a mock charge?  I continued to watch them as another colleague’s vehicle came up behind me and having missed all the drama, came right up close to 2m behind me… engine running.  The elephants could not be bothered about him at all, and had even started chewing on a bush right next to my vehicle.

Elephants strolling through the Garden

The other colleague who had stopped some 50-70m away started driving down the hill. The elephants were still right next to me, and I was not sure that he was being smart at all.  But when he passed and the elephants did nothing, I got courage and also started up my engine.

My colleague and I drove up the road calmly even while another youngster started mock running towards our vehicles.  I got home excited… what an evening!  I wanted to see the photo I took, but oh! It was just a blur! I surely must have been afraid.

I got to sleep that night in the safety of my house and said: “Thank you God for keeping me safe.”

A glorious morning in the Garden

The following day was Sunday morning.  I was driving down the hill to get to church.  Some golden oldie was playing on the radio about leaving a little girl in Kingstone Town, and some baboons were running along the vehicle about 15m away.

I shortly passed them knowing that with them I was safe.  I was at peace, knowing that God is always with me, and I thanked Him for his mercy. The day before I had been reminded once again…

It is God that keeps us safe, and we better be clear about that.

I was also reminded that the Garden is only as safe as we make it… by the actions we undertake, the decisions we make, the way we relate to one another and the way we react to one another’s mistakes.

Have you been taking the right actions lately?  Or making the right decisions?  Or relating positively with those around you.. no matter what mistakes they make?  No matter who they are or who you perceive them to be?

Come… Walk with me in the Garden

Copyright (c) 2010. Ophelia Swai. All Rights Reserved

As  I drove down I wondered if the rest would still be there cleaning.  All the same I had to try my best and try to do something to contribute. It was going to take me at least 20-30 minutes to get there and I did…. Just to find the work getting completed. Oh well… I would join them another day.  As we finished our discussion about the contribution to Mass, I realized it was going to be dark soon and I did not want to drive back up the hill too late, so as soon as we finished I left. There was not going to be any shopping in the village this day.  It would have to wait.

Driving up the hill is always a little straining, mostly because the engine of the vehicle struggles a bit… Hey! it is close to a 45 degree angle uphill for over 2km, so I guess my previous turbo engine was a blessing.  I passed another colleague coming down the hill who stopped to let me know that there were elephants further up the road… but they were ok.  No trouble at all.  I thanked him for the warning since it was dusk, very close to getting dark, and they do tend to blend with the darkness.

I remained calm, but nevertheless began to pray for safety.  They are wonderful animals, but one never knows what they had encountered that day and how they might react to you or something that you do.  After praying, I felt calm and went full speed ahead… well… as fast as the poor struggling engine would let me. 

I went round a bend, and there they were… just 15 m ahead of me and 2 of them were right on the road.  I edged a little closer, hoping that they would get off the road… after all, my colleague had said they were ok, and he had just passed them.  As I edged closer, I realized that another vehicle was about 50m further up the hill, behind the elephants who were more than 10 and of many different ages. 

So gentle, yet strong - elephants in the Garden

The 2 elephants were not getting off the road, and were now paying attention to me.  Even if I were to forge ahead, my vehicle had now slowed down too much.  I was not going to be able to outpace them.  Apparently when running they can start at 40km per hour.  My vehicle could never do more than 20km per hour on this hill especially when I had already slowed down to almost a complete halt, and if they charged, that other vehicle was squarely in the way…. I had to stop, or risk causing a complete disaster.

I stepped on the brakes, pulled up the handbrake, released the footbrake, switched off the engine … and the head lights… and the car rolled…

Want to know what happened next?   http://wp.me/pykoD-4n

Come… Walk with me in the Garden

Copyright (c) 2010. Ophelia Swai. All Rights Reserved

Nonetheless, because the creation of God is always around me I am ever watchful and careful not to exceed the speed limit of 40km per hour lest I hit an animal mistakenly.  It was therefore a real wake up call for me, one afternoon as I drove through the Garden.  The rains had stopped and it was a little dusty.  I was rushing through to get to the next place yet had to restrain myself to stay within the speed limit.

Suddenly a stone in the middle of the road moved!  I hit the brakes, realizing that what I had thought was a stone was actually a little tortoise somewhat covered in dust.  It was the tiniest tortoise… or turtle (I cannot yet tell which) I had ever come across and could not have been larger than my two hands cupped together in the shape of a semi-sphere.

I was too late… by the time I hit the brakes the car had moved ahead of where the tortoise (or was it a turtle?) had been.  No… I had not been looking for a tortoise nor a turtle… I was more keen on the wildebeest, buffalo, lions and elephants. I had stopped the vehicle, but was eenly aware that the unthinkable could have happened.  I had not felt any bump through to when I came to a stop, so perhaps it was still safe?

Making my way slowly through the Garden

I looked in the rear view mirror, just in case… and the tiny little tortoise (..and yes… or turtle) was just about to finish crossing the road, slow, steady and peaceful, as if nothing had happened.  I breathed a sigh of relief and wondered how many others had survived in a similar way.

Yes, this is the Garden and just as the big things in it are beautiful, so are the little things.  It made me wonder how many times we look past the little things we have and fail to enjoy them simply because we are chasing so hard for the big things.  I wondered, how many little blessings we overlook and nearly destroy because we fail to recognize them in time to stop and enjoy them… and then we say, there is nothing good in my garden, it is just dry and dusty.

Are you noticing the little things that are blessings in your life?  Take a moment and look for them … see how wonderful it makes your day… and your stay … in the Garden.

Another sunrise in the Garden

A beautiful moment in the Garden

Come… Walk with me in the Garden

Copyright (c) 2010. Ophelia Swai. All Rights Reserved

Scratch… shush…scritch… scratch… I had to finish my plan for the day, but my curiosity was getting the better of me.  I could not ignore it another day.  6:15am each morning, they came from the side of the driveway and walked past my side window to the back, without a sound to back their march. At least if they made a sound I would be able to tell what it is.

6:15am in the Garden

 I put my laptop aside. The day’s plan would have to take a short break.  I opened the curtain gently and ever so slowly, trying to make sure whatever it was does not get scared and run away.  The sun was slowly rising in the east and I knew it was going to be another hot day.  These days it just is.

The sun slowly rising in the Garden

 Scritch, shish, tap, tap, scratch… shuish.

I eventually saw them, right by the window… taking short steps and then pecking at the ground, clearly looking for their staple diet.  It now became clear why I no longer saw the dikdik at this place.  The guinea fowl had taken over the Marula tree and would come to claim their territory every morning at 6:15am.  I wondered where they slept.

Spreading light through the Garden

 I went back to my day planning all the while thinking…

Last year at the same time of year, the Zebra were all over the place, eating every last blade of grass.  Shortly after them the elephants came through and manicured the garden trees, by pruning the branches off the trees and eating most of the lower leaves.  The giraffe then came by and ate as many of the leaves in the tallest branches as they could reach.  The dikdik couple came next and was busy munching under the Marula tree.  The birds built their nests in the trees and are there to this day.  Now the guinea fowl had taken the place of the dikdik.  This was the same place, but each animal found its own space within the space, and its own time to come to this place.  It seems peace is maintained because each is taking only what they need and leaving the rest.  Simple, yet very effective. 

So I asked myself, “Is our state of constant war as humans in the garden because we have less of what we need, or is it because we have greed?”  I know this may sound simplistic, but I truly like to hear your views on it:  “If we put down everything this planet has on a silver plate, and we all put aside our greed (humor me and assume it is possible), would we not have enough to go round each and every day for every human being?”

Hmmm… yes we also have to work for what we receive, unlike the other species, so perhaps if we also take laziness out of the equation (humor me again and assume it is possible), we might succeed?

Think about it.  I would love to hear what you have to say. 

My views?  I am still learning.  As I continue to watch and learn from our dear friends in my little corner of the garden… I am learning that perhaps there is truly enough for every human being, if we just love as God has commanded us and give to one another in any way we can each and every day.

Wanna join me try this?

Come… Walk with me in the Garden

Copyright (c) 2010. Ophelia Swai. All Rights Reserved

The fish in the sea are dancing … dancing for our Lord! (Samaki baharini wanacheza… mchezea Bwana!)

The people of Natta!  Clapping and Ululation!  We have been Redeemed! (Watu wa Natta! Makofi na Vigelegele! Tumekombolewa!)

…

People of all tribes and races! Clapping and Ululation!  We have been Redeemed! (Watu wa kila Kabila! Makofi na Vigelegele! Tumekombolewa!)

…

The choir at the church on the edge of the game reserve sang beautifully earlier today.  A song sang in Swahili proclaiming the resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  Even here, the garden is acknowledged… the garden where man and beast together proclaim the salvation of the world… a garden that only God could have created.

I have been redeemed indeed.  I live a life free of the trouble facing the world in the cities, free to experience the world as Adam and Eve did, way back when… before they sinned.

From the church choir to Salif Keita… crooning gently on the sound system at home…

”You shed, tears for others…. You shed, tears for others…”

This time it is about Nelson Mandela, who also did a noble thing… chose to spend a life in incarceration for the sake of his blood and kin… his fellow human being… and then came out forgiving.  Showing and telling us all that Jesus’ teaching truly lives.  Forgiving, giving, loving, sharing… turning the other cheek… this is the only way to truly live a life worth living.  Only then can we finally live our life … in the Garden.  Tough, but true.

Come… walk with me in the Garden

A glorious rising of the Sun... in the Garden

Copyright (c) 2010. Ophelia Swai. All Rights Reserved

A glorious afternoon in the Garden

The past week has been particularly cold. So much so that mealtime conversations have begun to resemble the traditional English conversation… peppered with comments about the cold weather. And when I say English, I do not meant the language J.

At breakfast, a colleague says, “It was really cold earlier today and I was driving someone to the airstrip. When you hold the steering in an open vehicle on such a cold day you wish you had gloves or something… but then you remember that your guest who is coming from a place with winter seasons might wonder what you are doing. So I had to just rub my hands furiously after bidding them farewell.”

Another colleague at lunch says, “Can you imagine I wore a sweater this morning! How dumb is that?! It feels really strange!”

You would think we are talking about something like 0°C, but in fact we are talking only 20°C… maybe 18°C. Yes, that is how blessed the garden is. The weather is so great throughout the year that we take it for granted that it will always be that way… like the way we expect that life will always be the way we want it to be, until something happens to remind us how precious what we have is.  

Staying clear of the tall grass in the Garden

So, before the cold comes into my life, I am asking myself: “Whom am I taking for granted in my life today? Am I taking time to stop and tell them how much I care? Have I told them how much they mean to me? Do I realize what would happen if they were no longer there for me?”

The garden is beautiful, as beautiful as I make it with all that is in it that surrounds me, and the love I share with those that are in it with me. The garden is wherever I am, and wherever I have been. I will seek to make it even more beautiful each day. .. and little by little, make this entire world that is our garden, the most beautiful garden there ever could be.

Will you join me?

Come…walk with me in the Garden.

Copyright (c) 2010. Ophelia Swai. All Rights Reserved

I put my hand to my chest and swung around in my chair quickly to see what was banging! When I turned, I almost laughed out loud.  Actually, I did chuckle at myself and thought: “I should have known.”  It was Mr. and Mrs. Hornbill back at my window again. Apparently they see their reflection in the window and peck at it.  I was not so sure about that story, as I have had them sneak into the office to peck at insects.  My inclination was that they are seeing an insect moving about in the office that they want to get at so when the window is partially or fully closed and they cannot see the glass, they fly into it!  Poor birds

Mr and Mrs Hornbill

Today they were pecking rather hard at the window… hoping from one end of the window to another pecking… pecking… and then hoping a little again and giving the window another peck… each time stopping long enough to give the glass (or is it me?) a good look, first with one eye, then turning and looking with the other eye.  They were really quite funny.

The Hornbills peeping through the window in the Garden

The Hornbills - hop, peep, peck

I turned back to continue with my report, but could not help thinking about the way that God takes care of them.  He gives them food to eat and a place to sleep. They have a means to protect themselves naturally, and have not a worry.  How wonderful it must be to just eat, sleep and wander about banging against windows made by human beings who have nothing better to do than construct things that cannot be seen and worry about their next meal, their security, their family, their friends, their jobs, their property, their education, their skills, their spirituality…

Yeah, here I was slogging away at a report because I had a deadline to beat.  I was working hard and fast to finish it, and begin my next task which also had a deadline.  Everything has to be done fast, and be done today, or else…. What? The bottom line is, “What was the reason I was so busy doing these things?  Was it because I enjoy doing them?  Or was it because I enjoy being in the garden so much that I do the work to justify my staying here, worrying that otherwise, I might have to leave?”

I will admit it is a little of both. ..more so that ‘I enjoy doing what I do’, but also because if I do not deliver, my opportunity to be in the Garden would be in question, and that is certainly something to worry about… or is it?  The birds were reminding me of something.  It is God that gives.  Make no mistake… I have to do my part, but God does the rest. 

So while I worked hard to beat the deadlines and complete my tasks, I was reminded of one important thing: “Let not worry drive you.  Let not worry be the driving force behind what you do. Let not a negative energy drive you, because when it is gone, after all the hard work, you will no longer have any force you can use to propel you to the next stage, the next level, the next phase of your life.”  In fact, I recalled that my experience has been that worry will instead drain you of all energy, and capability to do what you ought to do, and will propel you backwards into an abyss of never ending grief.

With that thought and a renewed passion I completed my report, knowing that I had done my best, enjoyed doing it and could now let God do the rest – grant me a place to rest, food to eat and everything else He knows that I need to get through another day.

 I rested easy that night, thinking that next time Mr. and Mrs. Hornbill come crashing by, I will be glad of the reminder to walk with God in the Garden, for it is He that gives always.  Will you join me?

Come … walk with me in the Garden

Copyright (c) 2010. Ophelia Swai. All Rights Reserved

I seek to give joy, through the things I see, and the things I do and experience.  So I write the blog, hoping that it will warm up someone’s heart and make them happy and free, even if only for a moment while they read about the heaven upon the earth.  But now I feel there must be more. There must be something I can give that will bring even more of the joy and peace that comes from the garden.

Sunset through the trees in the Garden

So today is my first foray into the world of the unknown for me… the world of taking experiences and life and extracting lessons from it.  Of course my lesson will be about the garden itself.  This after all is what all of this was meant to be.. a story about a journey in the garden….and so my story begins…

Just last week I was walking with a colleague of mine from our offices to the mess about 2-300m away through the bush.  As we walked, gingerly stepping through the narrow path in the grass, keeping our eyes and ears open as one is wont to do when walking in not so safe territory, he suddenly exclaimed how it was so amazing that with over 600 people living in an area that is chock full of all types of snakes, no one had been seriously injured by a snake in over 5 years.  “How can that be?” he said.

I was, as usual, quick to share my knowledge of snakes, hoping that thus an explanation would be found.  Snakes, I am told tend to know when another animal, human and all, is approaching.  They are naturally shy of human beings and will move away as fast as they can when they determine you are approaching.  So, chances of meeting one are not very high, even in the bush that is full of them.  The only snake I know that breaks this rule and also lives in this garden is the black mamba… the one that with one bite can send you to the grave within 5 minutes, if something (and the right thing too) is not done about it before then.

As I explained this, he had a further thing to say: “It is interesting how much effort we take to understand other creatures and how best to live with them, yet how little effort we take to understand one another as human beings and how best to live with one another.”  That stopped me in my tracks.

Yes, we have psychologists, psychiatrists, medical doctors of all specialties, priests, pastors, kadhis and all other spiritual leaders and healers… life coaches and fitness instructors, who all take trouble to understand the human body, mind, spirit and being and help those who seek their help.  Yet on a day to day basis, how much pain and hurt do we have to live that is caused by one another?  Why is so much of the world in turmoil?  Why are the Jews fighting the Palestinians and vice versa?  Why did the Kikuyu fight the Luo and vice versa? Why is it so hard for us to understand one another’s differences and accept one another as we are? Why do men and women not understand each other?

These are all topics discussed every day all over this earth.  If we can accept that the black mamba can live among us and it is in fact better to have them not be extinct because they have a role to play in nature, why then should we think that any other person that is different has no role to play in society… or nature?  I suppose, one could argue that it is all about resources… that resources are scarce and so we fight to live. Maybe, and maybe not.  In many cases, I think, it is just simple greed.

So what does this have to do with the garden?  Plenty!  To be in the garden is a true blessing.  A blessing I believe, that is straight from God himself.  A blessing to show his mercy and love, and bring us closer to Him as we live a life that can only be compared to what we read about in the Book of Genesis, before Adam and Eve sinned.

Yet, having come from the same world that everyone lives in, what do we bring with us to the garden?  Do we bring with us all our little ills, our diminished wellness in spirit, mind and body?  Do we bring with us our prejudices, selfishness and greed?  Or do we rejoice in our blessing and seek to bring forth to one another only love, hope and charity?  Yes, even as we seek to heal of all our ills?

It is a challenging question and one that ought to be asked of ourselves each and every day.  Through the love of God, we can overcome all these ills, and through letting the balm of the garden work its magic in us, we can truly live a life of love, hope and charity.  For I can tell you with utmost certainty, every time there is any pain in this garden, that I have seen, it is due to one person’s action against, or lack of action for, another.  With the same utmost certainty, I can also tell you that every time there is joy or happiness in this garden, that I have seen, it is due to one person’s act of sharing love, hope and/or charity with another.

I have another question:  Could the garden be where you live?

As you ponder the answer to this question, let me demonstrate how love, charity, hope, and nature’s role can be demonstrated in just one event.

Last year, sometime, I had taken the option of driving to lunch instead of walking through the bush.  The grass was too tall by then I think, and I was wary of walking through it since it was probably taller than I am.  When the grass gets this tall your worry is no longer just the snakes, but the buffalo or lion or leopard that could be camouflaged within.  I parked under the shade of a tree less than 50m from the building. On my return, 2 of my Caucasian colleagues (I mention this to underline a difference that this world tends to give a lot of consideration to – race) who are a couple, were walking ahead of me towards the same cluster of trees where they had parked their own vehicle.

Their vehicle was perhaps 4 meters away from mine with the cluster of trees between them.  As they approached their vehicle and I mine, I noticed that there was now a long black stick, about a meter long,  right next to my door on the driver’s side.  I knew it had not been there before, because it was right where I would have stepped on getting off the car.

When it moved, I gasped!  This was no stick!  It was a black snake! Snakes freak me out and I stood still, holding my hand to my chest in shock.  If I had not looked, I would have walked right on top of it…or so I thought in horror.  I was still some 6 meters away, so I had seen it in time.  My colleagues asked what had frightened me and I explained that there was a snake at my vehicle.  They stopped to look, but by the time I turned from talking to them to look at the snake, I could just see its tail disappearing as it went into the vehicle from beneath!

Now, I was truly cooked.  As the thoughts rushed through my head wondering what I was going to do about it, the gentleman walked to my vehicle to see, but even after peeping in through the windows he could not see it.  He still had not seen it, and was not sure it was real.  He asked for my vehicle keys so that he could open and see better inside.  I could not dare go any closer to the vehicle, but his wife kindly walked towards me, collected the key, took it to her husband, then walked back to where I was. She was giving me the support I much needed, while at the same time allowing her husband to take the heat for me and find and remove what could be a very poisonous snake.

As he began to open up the vehicle, it became too much for me.  I could only think that if he disturbed it, there was no telling which way it would take off to, and that could end up being exactly where I was.  I opted to risk the tall grass.  At least there, I was not sure whether there was anything or not.  At my vehicle, there was certainty of there being something dangerous.  The lady opted to stay and I left and rushed to the office.

As I approached the office building, I passed another Caucasian officer running out of his office with a long stick and watched him get into his vehicle and take off at high speed.  An hour later, I received a call from the couple that had come to my rescue.  Apparently when I left, the gentleman had decided to open up the hood of the vehicle since the snake could not be seen anywhere inside the vehicle.

With both his hands holding up the hood, he peeped and peeped inside the vehicle engine compartment and still could not see anything… until he turned to look at the battery right next to him.  There was the black spitting cobra with its head lifted and pointed straight at him!  As he put it, with a strong British accent: “… I must have given the cobra a great big headache…”, because he had let go of that hood so fast, the snake had no time to strike him.  He jumped back in shock, and that is when he called the wildlife officer who arrived at top speed to try and remove it… the same officer I had seen running out of his office and wondered where he was going to at such great speed.  He did not succeed, since the snake wrapped itself in a section of the engine that he could not easily reach with his stick.

The snake eventually went away… after 2 days, during which time I experienced much heckling in jest from colleagues as to why I was ignoring my guest, and why I was not inviting him home… since he is nocturnal and would crawl out in the night anyway… yeah right!

The moral of the story?  The people who came to my rescue and did the best they could, gave of themselves, and essentially risked their lives for me, without caring about our differences.  That is how the garden should be.  I will remain ever grateful to them for sharing their love and charity with me.  Yet above all this, I will remain ever grateful to God, for showing me the snake in time, showing me where it had gone to in time, giving me colleagues who are so willing to give, and keeping me safe and well in his beautiful garden.

And so I ask you again… Do you live in the garden?

Come… walk with me in the garden.

Copyright (c) 2009-2010. Ophelia Swai. All Rights Reserved