Dear friend,
Hallo there, are
you well? I would gladly start by giving you a name. Yeah I stumbled
across a name I think would suite you. You shall be called:*drumroll*
Makmende. That's an awesome name, I know because of what my infant
mind alluded to every time I said it. When I was awfully younger than
I am now we used to call heroes in movies one of three things: either
Kauzi, Stero or Makmende. In my books you are a genuine hero, a hero
of faith if you like. Equally Paul calls us overcomers, victorious
people. So are you!
Makmende, I was
today going through the last Chapter of the book of Esther and short
as it is God was gracious enough to teach me a handful. It so small
it has only three verses! What did I learn? you might ask, well if you
back to the title you sort of have an idea. This letter is for the
men; the real men.
Over the last
decade a question has lingered in my mind on what it is to be a man!
Well that's not entirely accurate, this question has lingered in many
forms most of them significantly misguided, ill thought or maybe
absent all together. Well this has been impressed all the more in the
last couple of weeks and even so yesterday(forgive time change it is
just past midnight now as I write) as I went through the portion of
scripture in Esther.
As I read through
the bible verse in the morning I was perturbed at how significantly
small it was. It was the account of one man Mordecai in summation to
lend a view of what happened in the end after such a dramatic turn of
events in the lives of the Jews in exile at the time. It was a bit
frustrating to see just a small portion to read after days of
laboring over ginormous* portions of scripture. This was as well
accompanied by the presupposition that larger portions are more
profound and weighty in their messages. Was I wrong!
So the
interpretation came in the form of events and activities that
followed this reading, let me briefly describe them: first was a
lengthy talk with a girl from school. She was sharing the
frustrations of using matatus ( Kenyan slang for the buses and minibuses
used in the public service transport system ). It is a frequent
occurrence of either a harassed or ignorant passenger who suffers the
whims of an often drunk or naturally arrogant conductor. As a lady
she yearned for one of the men in the vehicle to stand up for her or
practically any person who is a victim of such. I was taken aback as
well trying to remember how often I stood up for anyone whom I didn't
know in a matatu or other public places.
The other was
during a reading of a post on www.desiringgod.org.
I was stunned to get a view that I had not really tried to wrap my
head around: men are there physically but very absent psychologically
and emotionally, “...making fake love and fake war...” The
context was slightly different however, it is fascinating to note the
correlation of this metaphor with the sentiments expressed above by
my friend. Men are rarely expressive of the true love and commitment
of Christ Jesus especially in those public places. Jesus commanded us
to Love God and love neighbor. Are we doing that? Are we loving neighbor and making war on injustices suffered(Jesus' way)?
The other was
during another reading of a chapter in God's not dead. The author in
trying to point us to true and undefiled religion shows us the
example of Jesus a man who was always quick to oppose injustice and
fought for the dignity of the everyone of us. Imagine if Jesus
decided to be like one of the men we carry ourselves out to be, we'd
never have the gift of eternal life!!!!
That is when it
dawned on me, what the chapter portion for yesterday actually was.
Let us read: Esther 10:3
Mordecai the Jew was second in rank to King Xerxes, pre-eminent
among the Jews and held in high esteem by his many fellow Jews...
This was a man earlier on in
the scriptures least acknowledged either by the people nor the King.
He was practically a commoner. If you look at the report that is
quoted above it is amazing to consider the praise that has eventually
befallen him. I hope you asked the question why, did you?
Check
this out:
...because he worked for the good of his people and spoke up for
the welfare of all the Jews.
It is clearly pasted here, he was feted as such because of his
mindful state of other Jews above his own, because of his selfless
love for people's wellbeing. He was a noble man by fact of the impact
in community and the desire to always see Justice and mercy
expressed. This draws me to think of Jeremiah 9:23-24, this coupled
with 1 John 2:6. God is inviting us to emulate the life of Mordecai
and especially so that of Jesus!!
Men have been called to loving God and more specifically to be bold
soldiers of the cross who can lay their lives down for the love for
neighbor. Equally this does not preclude ladies, it is a challenge to
the Men to step up and show their leadership capability! Finally this
is an appeal to reclaim our manhood, it has been said that real
manhood is dying( let us prove them wrong). so finally I am finding answers to my decade long question, real manhood is giving and investing ourselves to God and to community at least that's one answer.
Ladies pray for us to be real men, them that LOVE GOD.
Yours Faithfully
MIGUUBEAUTIFUL.
