Friday the 13th

it is Friday the thirteenth here in Zambia, but no Zambian has any fearful superstitions about the date. No one worries about something bad that could happen because of the date and day. Isnt it funny how we westerners, the educated ones do have that superstition. some more than others. it mostly is a joke now among us, but once it was regarded as a real thing. We have learned and grown intellectually and so it doesn't affect us. Here though, some superstions still exist. More of them are alive in the villages than with the more educated Zambians. Really? Even a Zambian who has gone to school maybe up to grade 12 and is a Christian still can revert back to fear of the spirits in their culture. There is a saying that Christianity is skin deep here but spirits and curses and witching are much deeper. They go muscle and bone deep. So what is the difference among us. Is it just education? Is it a lack of knowledge of what the word teaches? Yes to both of those .... but it is more. I think it is that Zambians feel little control of their life. So if they can blame this lack of control and direction on spirits and being witched by someone, then it explains to them that there was nothing they could do. But we , westerners ,don't feel that way. Is it because we can make choices about our future, choices that the Zambians don't have.We have so many more options than the Zambians. So my question is have our independence and reliance on our choices for our future become our "spirits"? Do we rely on ourselves, our education, our intellegence, to the extent that we do not rely on God? If this is true then is there any difference between the Zambians and us? Do we just call our reliance on self , self actualization or some other term of the moment , as a substitute for reliance on God? Maybe there is little or no difference between the Zambians and us? I don't know the answer, just asking.

Excuses for being late to Church

How about this one the next time you are late for Church? There was an elephant in my cornfield. No kidding. Last Sunday one of the elders at Kisibee Church, made an apology for being late for service. It seems he had sent his daughter out to pick some maize and she came running back yelling that there was an elephant in the field. He grabbed a metal pot and spoon and ran out to scare it off. The good thing is that the elephant left without destroying much of his crop. The elephants can destroy a whole year's income for a family. So the next time you are running late try this story.