Ms. Okurut, >"my brother; you think it is still a seed? Oh no! It is now a big tree. And you do >not irrigate trees, do you? At least not in Uganda; where the climate is so >conducive, trees do not just dry up like that, even if they so badly wanted to". --------------- It seems your old tree is about to die. I see the roots are getting rotten, the leaves are turning yellow (and falling), and it does not provide the shade it used to anymore. What do we do with a tree like this one?
Bwambuga. Owor Kipenji <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >The Long View >--------------------------------- >By Mary K. Okurut > >Ugandans are like children of Israel >August 30, 2003 > > >The Bible is a fascinating book. It contains answers to every question and solutions >to every controversy under the sun. Issues on politics, intrigue, war, science, >creation, human relations, life, sickness and death can all be sorted out using this >one book. You can tell if you are wise or foolish; whether you will end up in heaven >or hell and if you are doing the right thing, by simply flipping through the pages of >the greatest and best-selling book ever. > >It is amazing that every time you read the Bible you find something new - even if you >have been reading it since you started speaking. You can have a thousand preachers >speaking on the same verse and coming up with different sermons on the very same >verse. That is why the Great Book has been in use for millennia and there has been no >one to declare it exhausted in terms of content. It is the only Constitution that >needs no review or amendment because its laws and solutions are timeless. > >It is the only code of criminal law where ignorance can be a defence and where mercy >and forgiveness take priority over retribution and punishment. > >People always ask me where I find time to write yet my job keeps me very busy. My >answer is always the same, simple one: I take off at least half an hour every night >to read and meditate on a portion of the Bible. That effectively recharges my >batteries. > >Why am I bringing in the Bible? > >Of course as usual, I get hundreds of e-mails responding to this column; some giving >me the thumbs up sign and others bashing me black and blue. > >There is one consistent fellow from Australia who, to put it mildly, has got a rabid >hatred of President Museveni. The other day he sent me an e-mail saying, 'Maria, keep >on irrigating the mustard seed, because it is about to die'. > >For our foreign readers, the mustard seed refers to President Yoweri Museveni who >used the same expression as the title of his autobiography. It is borrowed from the >Biblical mustard seed that is one of the smallest seeds on earth, but when planted, >grows into one of the biggest trees. President Museveni used the expression more >broadly, to describe the metamorphosis of Uganda from the mire of dictatorship and >economic decline to (after 1986) a progressive affair and a widely acclaimed example >of political and economic success. > >I replied the e-mail saying, > >"my brother; you think it is still a seed? Oh no! It is now a big tree. And you do >not irrigate trees, do you? At least not in Uganda; where the climate is so >conducive, trees do not just dry up like that, even if they so badly wanted to". >Why did I bring the Bible in this column today? > >It is because this week, my friend from Australia pens me another acerbic e-mail: "In >any case Maria," he chirped. "Who asked Museveni to liberate us? We were better off >the way we were before he came in to spoil the show". > >For starters, I know why this fellow is against the President. > >It is a personal vendetta he is pursuing; too long a story though to tell in these >pages. > >But like I have always said, I do not mind opposition - you cannot all believe in one >thing. The only problem with sections of the opposition is that they want to turn >personal disagreements into national crises. > >So when this fellow asks me to tell him who asked Museveni to liberate Uganda, I >recalled the story of the children of Israel. > >They spent 430 years in Egypt, the huge majority of this period as slaves. Hard >labour, tough punishment and a starvation diet on top of the bondage were all they >knew. In their distress they cried out to the Lord to save them. > >The Lord, as usual, hearkened to their cry and sent Moses to lead them out of bondage >and into the Promised Land. > >They enjoyed the flight from Egypt and witnessed the miraculous interventions as God >delivered them from Pharoah and provided for them. > >But to God's dismay, the ungrateful Israelites kept staging one strike after another >over what they called the big issues. > >One of the very big and important issues was that they had run out of cucumber and >onions. They rioted, cursing Moses for bringing them out of Egypt. "Who told you to >bring us out of Egypt?" they asked. "At least in Egypt we had all the cucumber and >onions we wanted." > >Another one was that Moses spent a whole 40 days on Mount Sinai in conference with >God. They passed an overwhelming vote of no confidence in God, took Aaron by the >throat and forced him to make them a god out of their jewellery. > >The story of the children of Israel is a classic expose about human nature: how >unfathomable it really is and how unreasonable humans can be. > >If we cannot take a lesson from such tales then ours is a lost cause. > >The writer is the Presidential Press Secretary. [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > >© 2003 The Monitor Publications > >--------------------------------- > East African | About Us | Feedback | Site Map | License | Monitor Mail > > > >--------------------------------- >Want to chat instantly with your online friends? Get the FREE Yahoo!Messenger > -- He it is Who created for you all that is on earth...He is the All-knower of everything. Swaddaq Allahu Al-Adhim. Michael Bwambuga. __________________________________________________________________ McAfee VirusScan Online from the Netscape Network. 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