15 December 2013

“The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad; the desert shall rejoice and blossom like the crocus, it shall blossom abundantly and rejoice with joy and singing.”  (Isaiah 35)

This reading of the 3^rd Sunday of Advent couldn’t be more appropriate for us today in Dodoma.  Early this morning the third nice shower of the week poured down, and already grass and green things are sprouting, the desert is blossoming, and I’m sure the dry land is very glad.  The frogs are singing all night long after having been silent for months, and the insects are appearing out of nowhere to fly around and some drowning in pools of water, so glad are they to have moisture again.  Farmers are excited, and are busily finishing their fields’ preparation.  My flower seeds have already sprouted and it won’t be long before the Chinese cabbage that I planted in a bag seed bed will be up as well.  After Christmas these vegetable seedlings will go into a small plot and soon we’ll be eating fresh greens.  Chinese cabbage is available every day from the lady near us who sells fruit and vegetables but how satisfying it is to eat something just a little bit closer to one’s own labour. 

Mandela’s burial was a large part of my day today, as was the memorial service  on Tuesday.  He is resting in peace after a full and self-giving life.  Also Tanzania’s Independence Day was celebrated on Monday, 52 years since Independence.  A lot has been accomplished; a lot needs to be done yet.  But listening to President J. Kikwete talk today at Mandela’s funeral, I remembered all the sacrifices that Tanzania made so that other countries in Africa, younger than Tanzania, could be independent.  And as Pres. Kikwete said, it was often to the detriment or delaying of Tanzania’s development that this was done.  How nice that Pres. Nyerere’s widow, Maria, was present.  I wonder how many young people in Africa today remember all the sacrifices of their elders to achieve the opportunities available to them now.  I liked it when Roda ( 9 years old) came to visit today and I asked her if she knew who Nelson Mandela was, and she said “Yes”.  When I asked her who he was her reply was simple, “He was Nyerere’s friend.”  How true.