Hospitality to Strangers

" Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares."
- The Bible, Hebrews 13:2 [KJV]

Not for Show 

Last year, I sat down one afternoon for a very informal chat with Kellie. Interestingly, that is the day I got myself an enduring reminder that good isn't good enough.
At one point, we discussed how in thanking God for His undeserved grace to us and fulfilling promises made to the Most High, we should render some selfless service to the less fortunate among us.

We both agreed that the best way to help the disadvantaged in society would be to identify a genuine case, liaise with those under whose care the boy or girl you'd like to sponsor is, and make your contribution quietly without fanfare, publicity and undue media attention.

Benevolent Strangers 

Thinking about Kellie's noble approach to assisting/sponsoring the less fortunate, I am invariably reminded of just how many people have lent a hand in the last three decades I've been alive. I acknowledge and duly appreciate those unseen faces whose money went into reducing, sometimes clearing my High school fees balances. This essentially obviated the need for me to be sent home every now and then.

Even for our tertiary education, Kenyan taxpayers collectively contributed to enable us secure HELB loans. 

Beyond school,  I am fully cognizant of those who have shared their knowledge in books, and online published material so that others can learn. Think about those who collectively build free and open source software. Think about those who anonymously contribute to research institutions and foundations that 

And let us not forget the freedom fighters and genuine activists who sacrifice their time, resources... even lives so that others after them can be free. 

Nameless Friends

Early this week, Njunii and I sought a better understanding of a confusing term: biweekly. It can mean both a semi-weekly or a fortnightly occurrence. I have seen many discussions on Twitter and elsewhere online, involving people who haven't and may never meet in the real world, communally helping one another and coming up with solutions that are of immense benefit to many others. 

Altruism

Exactly one year ago,  a day after my birthday, I wrote about gratitude, generosity and altruism. These were and still are central to my life whenever I consider the past, present and future.

As I say goodbye to age 30 and embrace 31, my intention is to donate my time as much as possible. The immediate place is a hospital of my choice, where I can dedicate an entire day to go out there and help strangers who are in pain, in anguish, alone... those whose day I can add value to. I shall help in cleaning, in assisting medical staff, or any other duties assigned by those in charge.

Revealing the hospital where I intend to volunteer my time is beyond the scope of this blog post, I need to do this without any publicity whatsoever. 

Where's the Love?

In her song In God's Hands, Nelly Furtado asks the following:

We forgot about love
We forgot about faith
We forgot about trust
We forgot about us

Now our love's floating out the window
Our love's floating out the back door
Our love's floating up in the sky in heaven
Where it began back in God's hands

I leave you  with the following deep words:

The essence of life is planting trees under whose shade you do not expect to sit. 

Learning, Sharing, Music and Happiness

Jagshemash!

Today's post on The Walkabout has been kindly hosted on Kawiria's awesome blog.

It simply touches on things that I hold dear. That is learning, sharing, music and something that Kawi's name exemplifies - happiness. 

Now go right ahead and read the entire post on Kawi's blog.

Dziękuję!

The Content of Character

The day before last, I was watching the following TED Talk by Alice Dreger.



She explores situations where one's anatomy often determines his/her destiny, and explains how anatomical differences such as sex are not that definite. There's indeed a very fuzzy line between male and female.

Gender Inequalities
Thinking about Alice's talk, and in light of the words of Martin Luther King Jr, I also asked myself why we often let our anatomical differences, particularly gender, determine our fate.
In University, I studied Mechanical Engineering, in a class of 30 students. Only 1 was female. The entire engineering class of over 150 students had less than 10 female students in my year.
Now who is to blame for this disparity?

It should be noted that this post will not blame women for seeking to be empowered when they do not actively seek opportunities. Neither shall I blame men for dominating some fields. In addition, I won't address the societal stereotypes that occasion these unfortunate inequalities. This post is not about the merits, or otherwise, of affirmative action.
It is about how we can shape our character, by providing whatever determines it.

Character
Back to Dr Martin Luther King Jr's words:

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character. 

King's words remind me of something I read in Dr Ben Carson's Gifted Hands. He wrote that whereas people may be prejudiced because of your race or background, they'll be obliged to accept your services should they be the best.
That was from his experiences as a top-notch black neurosurgeon, in a largely white neighborhood, hospital and country.

Recently in Kenya, the appointees to the Supreme Court in line with the new constitution were rejected because the number of women appointees is not enough. I quickly wondered: Suppose the number of qualified women who actually applied and therefore got appointed exceeded those of men, would we be having these problems?

Making Ourselves Worthwhile 
My point in the above illustrations is simply to highlight the need for us to start actively seeking opportunities, and therefore make it easier, actually inevitable, for others to judge us based on our abilities, knowledge, qualification, merits and character.

To achieve this, we need to believe in ourselves and in our God-given ability to achieve whatever we set our minds on. We need to get rid of stereotypes which cast people from a particular race, gender or region as being better than others in certain aspects. We need to realize that skills are learnt, not innate. Character is also cultivated and nurtured, not inherited.

To be judged by the content of our character, we have to come up with that which constitutes the content of whatever character we desire.