Columnist: Oliver Mbamara The Will of Man Versus The Will of God Recently, I had a need to buy an item. After searching for a good deal for sometime, I came upon one, which I thought was a very good deal. This deal was so good that I was very glad and excited about obtaining this needed item at such a good price. However, before I stepped out to go pull off this wonderful deal, I got the urge to make a simple but heartfelt request to God. "O God," I said, "If this is mine, may this deal come true. If it is not thy will, please don’t let the deal pull through." With that surrendered to God’s will, I went about my business. As I went ahead to get my money ready, I thought of all the fun and benefits I would enjoy when I purchase my item. Then, I got a call from the seller and he was canceling our deal because he got what he thought was a better deal than the one I had with him. My first reaction was one of disappointment. I tried to talk the seller into going ahead with the deal, but he cared very little about how I felt. As far as he was concerned, he got a better deal and he went for it. In my disappointment I almost queried why the deal failed, but then it dawned on me - the will of God had taken place. I remembered that I had asked God not to let the deal go through if it is not His Will that it should go through. So, why was I disappointed? Why did I feel cheated? My will to have the item did not go through. The will of God prevailed. Realizing that there could be several reasons why the will of God prevailed, I began to accept the outcome. Gradually, the feeling of disappointment left me and I no longer felt cheated. I could now clearly see the lessons latent in the "failure" of that deal. First, I saw other deals that convinced me that the deal I thought was an exclusively excellent one was not so exclusive or excellent after all. Furthermore, I realized that I needed the money for another immediate expenditure. Additionally, there were other reasons that came up for consideration such as the fact that my taste needed to change. A few days later, I was in a discussion where the topic had to do with the "The Will of God." During the week, I had been reminded that the will of man is actually the will of God and vice versa, if only man will understand the law of surrender. I had learnt that if I do my part, then let go and let God, things will eventually turn out according to the Will of God in the end. I had been reminded that to force an outcome, could be likened to a farmer expecting to reap corn from a cocoa tree, or a farmer worrying that the corn-seeds he had sown will turn up bean-seeds at harvest time. I had been reminded that there is more to gain in the acceptance of life than in worrying and insisting in man’s will (which is non-existent in the proper course of things). I had been reminded that if man is to worry about life, it should be about how to align his will with that of God.  This is my understanding, but what do you think? Man’s Will In The Will of God So, the man of life expects in life The manifestation of his expectation. And worries most about his anxiety Hoping that life would so unfold, In the manner of his human fancy. But no sooner than the event occurs Does man wake up to the realization That in vain has he worried his heart, And for nothing has he hoped to gain In the manifestation of his expectation. And only when he has learned the law To surrender and to let things be To see the meaning behind his life In small coincidences of greater meanings Then he knows his will to be same of God. © 2004 Oliver Mbamara AND SHE CAME Came she did a girl from South Happened upon the big New York, For a brief time spend but then we met And so she stayed, but there was more. She came to me like a teacher sent To teach me love, and how to care, To teach me patience and how to share, I had to learn from the chance in her. She had a heart, a golden one, So dear and rare in a few possessed, A heart of love that loved to love, I had to learn and came she did.   INFECTED WITH LOVE With a charming smile so flawless And such vigor so well renewed, I raced up the subway stairs, and Made my appearance on the street. A loving girl had waved at me, While she waited for her train. But it was more than just a wave, For in her eyes and her smile, I saw true love quickly transpire, And in my heart, I had felt it too. So merrily she had made my day, Infecting me with the purest love. It was just a moment's wave, Coupled with an innocent smile, But it graced my remaining day Taking me through the day's duties, Making me see bright side of things, And spread this love freely received.   A TRUE FRIEND -Oliver Mbamara- You stood by me like redemption rock, In the throes of pain, while hell was loose, You were a comfort, while darkness lasted, Your presence glowed, like a ray of hope, Providing succor, and a hand of help, As you gave your time and all your effort. In troubled times you stood by me, Like a friend indeed, in a time of need, Though time will surely tell us more, I hope and pray it will come to be, That you will stay and stand with me, Still like a friend till the end of time. Truth and The Clog of Beliefs, Dogma, and Conclusions -Oliver Mbamara- Recently, I purchased new furniture for my living room. Setting it up would take some time and involve some dedication on my part. The furniture was huge with so many parts to be put together piece-by-piece. In fact it was like putting together the pieces of a puzzle. Regardless of my time constraint, I took it as a challenge and an exercise to go through the setting up process. Besides, my hands and my mind could use the break away from writing and do something creative in another area: carpentry. Anticipating the task involved, I had taken a day off from work. Midway into the setting up process, I was looking for an item. I had seen it earlier but did know because I had then turned the item upside down with the item mark M on it reading like W to my perception. I was worried because a missing item meant I would not be able to complete the setting up of the furniture the same day. Anxious, I called the warehouse that stocks the items for the store that sold the furniture to me. The warehouse was willing to send me a replacement item but it would take another week or thereabout for the shipment to reach me. At that point, my worry became a serious concern. I had already dismantled my old furniture and my living room was no longer in an orderly condition. Waiting for a week meant that my living room would be in a mess for another week. It meant that I would not use the furniture for another week. It meant that I would have to take another day off from work to complete the setting up of the furniture. It was not funny but somehow I managed to relax and slot in a love-song tape in the stereo system. As it played, I returned to the scattered items on my living room floor and fiddled with the items pointlessly. At some point, I picked up the item on which I had earlier observed the mark M. Somehow I got the nudge to turn it upside down and I did. Behold, there was the solution. What had appeared to me like the item mark W all the while turned out to be the item mark M actually. The item I thought was missing was actually before me all the while. So it is with truth, reality, dogma, and conclusions in life. Many of us come face to face with reality and the truth everyday in life yet we turn it upside down and see something else. Our perception makes us believe that the upturned version of what we are seeing is indeed the truth while our dogmatic stand on issues hardly gives us room to objectively open our minds and hearts in our analysis of every day concepts. So, while the truth knocks on our doorstep waiting to be received, we are eager in our worry to go looking outside and away from where we are. We look past our friends, our relatives, our colleagues, our partners, our neighbors, etc., and expect to see God’s hand, voice, face, or love in some distant fairyland on a holy ground in a holy day.  From childhood, many of us imbibed such traits as anxiety, pride, and dogmatism (although some of us have carried them over from past lives). We have gotten so accustomed to our ways that anything to the contrary would appear wrong or odd to us. Faced with trying situations that challenge our belief or concepts of life, our pride comes to the fore and we do all we can to defend what we believe even when in our minds we have reasonable doubts about the veracity of such beliefs. Incidentally, falsehood cannot sustain falsehood for too long, while only the truth would set such an individual free from the torment of sticking to a concept suspected to be false. In most cases the individual is the only one who could advise himself about the limitations of his conclusions. This is because one could fool others sometimes but one would never fool or lie to oneself. It is not unusual for a person born and raised in a given environment to have the perception of that environment about life. This is the same reason why no man should impose his beliefs or conclusions on another. However, there comes a time in a person's life when the desire of Soul to regain Its Divine identity would demand some objective assessment of one’s beliefs and conclusions, directly or indirectly. Interestingly, the solution of overcoming dogma and emerging in reality could be rather very simple although the simplicity may make it even more complex sometimes. Most times after man has tried to overcome the incidents of life on his own based on some misconceived conclusions or beliefs he gives up his effort. If he panics or remains adamant to his previous belief or conclusion, he could act to harm or hurt others and subject himself to additional life-balancing and payments for his deeds. If he concedes the situation and acknowledges his limitation by putting aside his pride and letting go, he often finds that a force (Spirit) beyond his erstwhile recognition would take charge and fix things better than he would ever have imagined. He finds that with an open and objective mind the shell would be removed from his eyes and he would see the truth state of things. He would hear the voice of God in the singing of the birds, and even in the chatter of children. He would see the light of God in the rising sun of the morning, and even on the face of his pet  It is often amazing how much we learn when we pause for a while, put our purported wisdom aside, and calmly let things be while ready to accept the truth with an objective mind. The man who is ready for the reality of truth will find it in many ways and through many channels while the man who is stuck with his dogma or conclusion will have to work out his situation first and no amount of seeking would find the truth until the walls of dogma are broken and his conclusions are no longer prejudicial. For only then will he see that the truth has always been before him while he has been looking at it turned upside down. Truth And The Clog On our door, truth daily knocks Waiting to be received into our fold Though on the face it stares us right We turn it around and see falsehood. Narrowed by views so dogmatic, Conquered by careless conclusions, Prejudging with prejudicial points We clog reality from revelation. Looking beyond our daily lives, We seek God, his face, and love. Hoping to find in some holy place What we ignored in our neighbors. Yet comes the time in the life of man, When Soul wakes to Its true Self, Breaking off shackles of illusion,  Dropping the clog of the little self. March, 2004 Oliver O. Mbamara