,

 

Words are my servant. Poetry, my mastered avenue of expression but writing letters my truest delight. It’s probably because I have been fascinated with letters of words from the days Mom would call out spellings for me to attempt to write words correctly.

Coming to Earth was me being sent on a mission, to comfort my Mom from losing my other sister that I never got to see. Subsequently, Mom named my middle name Munyaradzi, which means Comforter. I can only hope that I lived up to my assignment for all the days she was present in the body. She was my first love.

My eldest sister, Beverley, became my second love.

I recall vividly the day that she told me that she was getting married, I cried. In my mind it must have been interpreted that she was now being taken away from me. It’s something that I have failed to comprehend over time in explaining why that was my initial reaction. I have had to find resolve in that it’s maybe because she was the one who took care of me a short while after I was born. Mom had to be in hospital because she needed some medical attention and she had to be the one to step in to take care of me as the eldest sister. I reckon that’s when an indelible bond was formed between us. She obviously did “leave” me for her husband that would later privilege me with a niece to be the first to make me an Uncle. She never left my heart though and she never will.

Yet her body left me on the 1^st of May. May Day will never be the same. In a way it’s a welcome never-be-the-same to remind me always that resting is indeed peace from all the work that life offers us. I hadn’t seen her for 4 months prior to her passing on. I had left her with vibrant life in her body and a smile on her ever bright face only to return to see her lifeless frame and closed lips. Tears are our bodies’ attempt to summate our grief but they still fail dismally despite the many rivers we can cry. Silence is a better attempt though, for in it our recollections and fond memories soothe our inner bruises.

I already miss her.

A blog post cannot possibly honour her neither can it match up what I feel, what I am to feel and what I hope to feel about her. It’s a natural and sensible proclivity to fill up our voids with much-ness of stuff that may hanker to saturate our emptiness but at times pausing is just sufficient enough. The writer in me is wrestling with the brother in me for dominance in outputting what my heart wants to say but sobriety halts me. I’m halted because I have grasped that whatever I may write, she is no longer present to read it. I remain fluid still because I’m yet to internally reconcile that I will never see her again as a terrestrial being.

So I greatly understand the empathy of those who care about me asking how I am doing but frankly I do not know. I think I am fine but then at times I feel that I may just break down some time to come. I wish I could only get everyone to console me deeply but then again her life touched many hearts so many are at a loss too. How do I carry out my assignment of comfort to my nephew and niece who lost a mother, brothers who also lost a sister, a sister who lost an only sister, a father who lost a daughter, relatives who lost a close loving relative, friends who lost a confidante, a kindergarten which lost a principal and a community that lost a leader? I just cannot. The Holy Spirit can though; I and the many around me have to trust Him.

I have much to say to her, many unanswered questions and plenty gaps to fill but mostly an undelivered promise to deliver to her. I had promised to some-day take her to Hawaii but that day will never come.  That promise however inspires me, now, to let all the seeds of her unconditional love that she showered on me be enjoyed as fruit by her children, my niece and nephew.

Life is a continuous sentence with inserts of different punctuation along its writing but the passing on of someone you love that loved you dearly punctuates a comma. That’s exactly where I am right now.

See you in Heaven Beverley Odilo, my dear Sister.

You will be missed by me for this lifetime.

You are irreplaceable.

Brexit Simplified, very.

I was born on the 29^th of March. It’s the same date in this 2019 that the United Kingdom [UK] (England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland) is set to leave the European Union [EU] (a 28 member European states political and economic association), if the vote passes in the House of Commons tomorrow the 12 of March and survives 13 and 14 march deliberations also. So slice the cake however you want but for me as a result of the sameness of dates, Brexit has felt personal ever since I started following the saga closely in 2017.

Last year I wrote an article on Brexit and within it sharing personal views, so I do not intend to repeat things I formerly expressed. You can reread the article by just searching Br-Exit in my column on this blog site. Consequently, I will intentionally by-pass defining and describing the technicalities, terms and cumbersome twists and turns that have arisen along the way since then. I refer you to visit http://www.bbc.com for a comprehensive detail of the whole saga from its inception to current state.

When you follow a matter diligently, you begin to view things from an oversight perspective. I’m a sucker for oversight and summaries because they distill, usually accurately, the heart of a matter. It’s easy to be overwhelmed with many a minor things in life at the expense of a focus on the major. That applies to everything in life, the reason why keeping the bigger picture in perspective is always liberating. It frees you to expend energies aright whilst dodging the energy usurpers that are ever so abundant.  So in following the Brexit trail, I have sought to understand what really is the issue with Brexit? Humbly, I submit my distillation of the fundamental thing concerned in the progression of this write.

It’s all important to keep at the backdrop of the matter that the Constitution of the UK is an unwritten one! This is not to say that there is no clear guideline in the sense of government that is administrated for it does exist. Fundamentally the constitution has never been compiled together in one single document that is the supreme law of the unified kingdom. In its unwritten nature there is actually an existence of much documentation inclusive of The Magna Carta, Provisions of Oxford, Bill of Rights etc. In that sense you can draw a sense of an application of law in the sense that it exists to not be rigid but still firm to provide governance. Resultantly, in a general manner, this means that as much as there are clear parameters followed in keeping up with the laws that govern the upkeep of the citizens of the member states, the finality of the rights of the member states rests sovereignly apart from each other. The latter was also made provision for in the Scottish, Welsh and Northern Ireland devolution Acts of 1998 creating an executive and legislature for each of those three nations in the UK. Each member is only pliable to the degree that there is no violation/disadvantage to its individual states’ written constitution. In other words, the United Kingdom is in actuality a Union itself before being in union with the other states of the European Union. If you look closely then it becomes apparent that Brexit is really an issue of ‘’a one union of states deciding to leave a union of union with other states’’. It should then be no wonder that the whole situation is problematic!

So when the UK voted to leave the EU, obviously problems would ensue. A ‘’deal’’ or ‘’no deal’’ situation had to be agreed and executed, the ‘’divorce bill’’ had to calculated, a decision had to be made on whether the Northern Ireland and Ireland boarder becomes “hard’’ or remains ‘’soft’’ concerning fluidity of goods and people and the transition time period of this transaction had to be ascertained. This jargon seems complex but if you see it in the perspective of humanity, it is overly reasonable. If you view a Union as a contract you would relate that you just don’t abandon it when you feel like it because there are unavoidable consequences to that.

Think with me, imagine sovereign states to be real people, with personalities, precise different agendas and justifiably so since diversity is the spice of living given to us by design. Thenceforth viewing sovereign states to be people gives you a simpler appreciation of how anything plays out in life. It is because we exude who we are at everything from the fundamental base of humanity, we cannot and do not know how to run away from ourselves and our natural nature. So when it boils down to issues of negotiating and ensuring the best interest of ourselves we default instinctively to be selfish.

Lest we forget, the EU was formulated so that economic advantage could be gained by each member state. States are made up of people so it becomes a human machination. When the Union was officiated in 1972, each state obviously had first to assess if it would benefit being part of it. The framework of a customs and single market was seen beneficial to the members. Natural proximity due to geography, common sense of the advantage of cooperation and the hope of a better version of each state in the future was the undoubted soft core motivation for the Union to exist. It’s interesting to compare that the latter are the unwritten drivers that move us to engage in any partnerships, the finer details vary but the reason is rooted in that desire to express fully one’s individuality!

                                     

The real issue then behind Brexit is the common phenomenon to man of safeguarding his own individuality!

Man is fundamentally a creature that functions on the instinct of dominance. He cringes when he is uncertain and in a threat of disadvantage. Europe and the world has suffered fluctuating moods simply because no one can quantify with accuracy how trade, which is the cornerstone of an economy, would be organized aftermath Brexit. An economy of a state is its lifeblood, it is the very thing that sustains and defines its capacity to maintain its individuality expressed as its sovereignty. It’s important to note here that Britain is a global economic powerhouse, so any uncertainty in its capacity to trade with the world orders a negative move in the markets.

Brexit then is not a European thing, it is a human thing! Thus to shun it in ignorance is a detriment to your personal life. You might say I’m exaggerating but just consider that everything that happens to the economic superpowers affects you directly or indirectly, whether you agree or not. In a special sense, specifically to UK, it would do you good to keep an eye on it because the British are Ephraim, Joseph’s son and tied to them is a blessing that they turned into a curse through disobedience that affects the world in these last days. Please research to read and study the book titled The United States and Britain in Prophecy by Herbert W. Armstrong, to get clarity on this. I should note that the assertions that Armstrong made should be interpreted personally, I suggest you study it with an open mindedness and brutality in comparison with Scripture, do not just take it with no challenge.

As much as the Brexit saga has become an ever unfolding story dominating international news with a day by day feeling of would-it-not-just-all just-end so that we move on with our lives, it has taught me about the complicated process that unravels whenever you decide to leave any union in life. It has forced me to introspect about personal relationships and how I have handled leaving or cutting any ties. If you look honestly into your own life, you would identify many personal “Brexits” that you have incurred and the consequences of leaving certain associations, commitments, familiar spaces, territories. You would also relate to those that have made ‘’Brexits” on you.

I did not spend the much time to highlight the many contradictions, factions and disagreements that have arisen in both the Conservative Party and Labour in their execution of their decision on Brexit. This should highlight to you that decision is not execution. You may be resolute on a decision but you have to be mindful to grasp that execution of your very decision can come in a hard case. You should be able to reconcile that difference and still stick to a decision.

It’s true that change is the only constant and the only way change occurs is by the constant “leavings and enterings’’ that we make in relationships and physical spaces. So in this life be cautious before you make any engagement in being part of something because leaving is not without its consequences. It may cost you dearly, in some cases it may cost you your very life. Unfortunately, we all at some point have to be part of something to only leave it in time as an ongoing expression of our individuality so it is inevitable, it is just life. The key is to really take due diligence to calculate if you are able to pay the cost when a ‘’divorce’’ becomes reality.

If you can avoid personal ‘’Brexits’’ do so wholeheartedly but if not, ensure that you will be able to leave amicably without losing your individuality!

 

 

 

 

Seasons.

[Excerpt from the book, RELATE]

Earlier this year, I let public my debut unpublished book titled Relate. Copy the link, if you would like to download yourself a copy:

 https://www.scribd.com/document/370586568/Relate-Brad-Odilo-2018

It took me 10 years to put it together, a collective of succinct thoughts and experiences since 2008. Within 3 years I was done with the full manuscript, the consequent years were just the perfectionist in me at play, editing and contemplative rhetoric; however it delayed the book’s release.

The seventh chapter in the book, Seasons, bears some upbeat wisdom that found me rereading my own book. The chapter resonated with the space I currently find myself in, at the crossroads of a new frontier. Someone once said to me that I’m always in a certain “space”. Ordinarily that statement should have been offensive but it was not because it was true-say. Among my other personal labels, I consider myself a dimensional-ist. I’m a sucker of grasping what mode, climate and thus season that I currently occupy and subconsciously will cringe when unaware. The practicality of this translates to an open mindedness to world affairs, politics, economics, and technology and above it all a pursuit of the Creator’s mind at every step.

Over the years, I have observed a distinct pattern in my experience that always delivers true: when a new season dawns, a person is introduced into my life and when it ends the person is moved out of the picture! At times, it may not necessarily be a new person but just someone who has been a distant colleague but then are brought into my inner circle by circumstance.

 “While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease” – Genesis 8:22 KJV

Seasons affect all of us inevitably. This means that the consideration is not whether or not we will enter a season as much as it should be which season am I in? That takes discernment. Discernment in simple terms is the antonym of suspicion. The stupidest thing you can do in your life is going through life not knowing what season you are in!

If you do not know what’s required of you in a certain space, how then will you place yourself accordingly for advantage? That question correspondingly is followed by another blunt question: who then determines the seasons that come to us? The answer to that should be stupidly simple: the Creator of this universe!

Right now, at this very moment, you are in a certain season; you are also either about to enter a new season or are just leaving another one. A season simply means a particular time-frame clad with certain tangible and intangible mechanisms that can be manipulated for a particular outcome. Subsequently, there are constant changes and transitions happening around you that you have a limited time to seize and adjust to. Adjustments are our constant friend, if you slack on your adaptability you risk being ineffective in the ordering of your life forward.

Do you know what season you are in right now and which one you are about to enter into? Trust me; it’s hugely important that you ascertain correctly this seemingly irrelevant question.

Identify your seasons so as to apply yourself maximally to your advantage!

D.y.c.

 [Communication Expressionism Sculpture by Vivek Prasad]

Modernity is the enemy of the ancients; the curse disguised as a blessing to those who despise antiquity bolstering it as progressive. According to categorization, I’m a millennial, so I have that default authority to stand on the other side, in this article, and point out the flippancy that my generation has normalized.

“SIMULATION is to seem to be what we are not. DISSIMULATION is to seem not to be what we are” 

-Mark Rutland-

I have grown up under the indirect tutelage of indirect communication. My parents, unknown to them, made me a person who would rather say “It is hot isn’t it?” than tell you directly “You smell of bad body odor and you need to take a bath”. Courtesy! So we have been conditioned to think.

Over the years, I have subconsciously mastered how to let you read in between the lines of my speech and intention. To speak to you directly has become rather an option than it should be the only thing. Mixing truths with opinions and a touch of mind gaming has made me a dominant. To state however that my intention has to be deceptive is misleading; I simply soaked onto what was on offer. I have recently become aware of the undoing I need to.

“I’m coming back”

“There is some cake in the fridge”

“It would be nice to hang out with you sometime”

All of the above statements are just a few examples of indirect communication. If there is indirect communication then there must be direct communication. Direct communication is far from crudeness, notwithstanding however that some may describe it to be so. To address the above statements, the effective manner to communicate would be:

“I’m coming back”  “I’m going out to see Drusilla at her house”

“There is some cake in the fridge” “If you want some dessert, you can help yourself with some cake that’s in the fridge”

“It would be nice to hang out with you sometime” “I would want to hang out with you sometime, how is your schedule this coming Saturday after 1pm?”

You may probably be saying “come on, there is no difference, you are just splitting hairs over nothing!” Allow me to say that I understand your assessment but I humbly submit that there is a stark disparity between indirect and direct communication. The difference is sneaky, so much that it can take you totally off the right path of your life just like an airplane can deviate from its final destination just by a slightness of a few degrees. The grave danger in indirect communication is that it is only visibly catastrophic after much “progress” has been made.

I have had my fair share of consequences suffered from my indirect communication. I have lost the smooth texture of some friendships, put myself in compromising spaces against my values and paid heavily in time and resources for what I should have avoided. I have seen marriages crumble, I have followed stories of governments who have annexed other states, I have watched prosecutors and lawyers twists positions and I have comforted colleagues who have been let down by loved ones all in the form of indirect communication.

Until we admit bluntly that we can be innate to indirectly communicate our intentions because we are naturally lazy to be upright in speech and accountability, we will still short change ourselves. The leitmotif about indirect communication is that it overtime translates into a generational stratum that distorts the honesty and ethos of a culture. It then becomes normal to hide behind words and leave out the possibility of a transparent person, people and humanity. Indirect communication trickles into every fiber of society and spreads its toxic tentacles into all our relationships.

“But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil”     

[Matthew 5:37 KJV]

It should be no wonder that the Holy Scriptures exhort us to stick to the black and white frame of communication and advises that everything else outside that framework is evil. Indirect communication dabbles into diabolism and associates with manipulation which lies as the sin of witchcraft!

Many are a reason why we may communicate indirectly; some of the reasons might have nothing to do with evil at all, in some cases it may be a case in point of wisdom to do so (Nathan confronting David about his sin). However the reasons we may be compelled to communicate indirectly, let it be known that direct communication is the clearest and cleanest way to get across to another.

Maybe if you would communicate a bit more directly, your world would be better organised. Just maybe you will not have to muddle and be unclear about some of the situations you find your self in. In all your communication, try to communicate directly. In that way, there is a gauranteed quick response to your need. Be excellent in your communication.

Direct your communication!

 

 

 

 

COLOR [your] RUN!

[Photo Credit: potchefstroomherald.co.za]

Travis Snyder, the founder of The Color Run also known as “the happiest 5000 meters on the planet”, is probably not as colorful as his own creation. An event that now runs in multiple countries and has taken place in most of the continents. It’s more than just a run with corn starch colored powder splattered at the racers at stations along the run; it’s an aggregation of different meaningful elements in life. It should be no wonder why it has been a success and continues to be.

I haven’t participated in any color run event for the simple reason that it’s not my type of race! I’m not a fanatic of physical races let alone to mix a race with paint powder that I have to clean after does not tickle any of my fancies. Painting has been for the most part my Dad’s intrigue; he adores a regular rotation of color on his house a blessing. Over the years I have observed him paint the house many times and because of that i have subconsciously resented painting. The smell of paint however has been the only part I like. The splatters, the brushes, the paraffin, the tints plus the annoyance of moving stuff about just made my dislike grow.

So when my sister asked me to paint the swings and play-area of her nursery school, it felt like she was offering me a cupful of the waters of Mara, thirsty but the water is bitter. Thirsty because ever since I resigned (will be a year ago in November) from my former employer so that I run my own race, any offer for some cash is taken with all “ten-fingers-and-two-hands”. It felt bitter because I just don’t like painting. I took it up however and boom there came along Brad the Painter!

I picked up a few lessons mixed with frustration whilst on the job because I had only allotted two hours to the job but ended up taking up five hours. I learnt that:

• We paint so that we bring out a certain flare and ambiance from what we are painting.
• We perceive the beauty of colors differently.
• A bright color brings out a new “life” out of a thing previously dull.
• A bright life is just one paint brush plus the bright color away, so paint.
• Coloring takes time; you have to be willing to invest in the process.

Just as I had my own specific task to paint, you have your own race to run! It’s dull to compare the brightness of yours with others. In spite of the many differences that seem as apparent advantages to others’ disadvantages, we all in right time get a chance to paint the color that we want out of our races. It’s your choice!

“I returned, and saw under the sun, that the RACE is NOT to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favor to men of skill; but TIME AND CHANCE HAPPENS TO THEM ALL”           -Ecclesiastes 9:11 KJV-

The Color Run is definitely not my race and not one that I will incline to but despite my personal disqualifications from it there are sober reasons why I should employ it in my life as a typecast to follow. In this race of life, there is need to integrate fun with charity, wellness, fitness and interaction with fellow humans. The Color Run has managed to do just that and it is a clear illustration of how we can color our own races in life synchronizing all things needful to optimize our existence.

Color your run; have intentional moments of madness and fun, help others, make friends, be more grateful, get dirty, have goals and learn to sweat so that you can get to shower. Life is too short indeed; enjoy the journey whilst on your way to the destination. Get the paint brush and get to the painting, the process is worth the color that comes out!

The truth is your world is only as bright as you paint it to be, it’s up to you!

 

 

 

 

 

Christ. Coffee. Cricket.

Christ.

I made the conscious decision to follow Jesus on 09 April 2006. I had visited my big brother’s church and an altar call was extended after the service to any who wanted to make that decision. If I recall well, I was the only one who did so on that day. I felt vulnerable to be the only one to stand up and make way to the front and be prayed for. There was nothing spectacular about that day, it was a mundane one. After prayer and counselling, i felt the same way inside as outside but in the deepest of my being i knew something had shifted.

It has been a tremendous journey from then till now. My whole psyche was not prepared for what I had to go through, from losing friends, discovering my purpose, losing Mom to cancer to having to own my own faith and use it as the baseline of my life.

I’m still far from where I need to be but I’m definitely far from where I have been.

Coffee.

The year was 2009 and I got my first job as a Waitron. In order to be effective in managing the small staff, once or twice a week one would have to work at the Bar as a Barista, making coffees and selling liquor. In that sense the environment forced me to cherry-pick between being a consumer of either liquor or coffee, I chose the latter.

Subconsciously I detested liquor probably because my Father used to be a drinker before he quit both drinking and smoking. I liked coffee but not that much but having to work in a café-rand, the pleasant smell of roasted coffee beans is simply unmatched to resist! I quickly become an addict (average of 6 strong cups per day) but had to drop the habit quick after I realised that it was not healthy for me.

It’s easy to judge someone addicted to alcohol whilst emulating a caffeine addict, when it’s all the same thing, an addiction. As if to publicize my flavoured relationship with coffee, I wrote a poem “Coffee & Jesus”. Please copy link to watch the poem on video:

Life, for me, has no kick without coffee, it’s that simple!

Cricket.

I have never liked soccer like most ‘normal’ boys. I got introduced to Cricket in my junior school days. That introduction coincided with the “Golden Age” of the sport in my country so the passion for it could only grow the more in me. The Flower Brothers indeed were contributory to the bloom and the world knew that Zimbabwe was amongst the titans of the game.

I played all throughout my high school days and was selected to be in my school’s 1st XI in Form 2 as a junior. I changed schools after ‘O’ Levels and I got into the schools 2^nd XI for the 1^st year of ‘A’ Level but then graduated to play for the 1^st XI the next year. I was a constant opening batsman, constant 1^st Slipper and part-time leg spinner. Playing cricket helped me hone sharp reflexes; cultivate endurance and patience and master critical analysis and ingenuity. I NEVER would have developed in these disciplines any better than I did in those days as a Cricketer.

I did not find the drive to pursue club cricket into a possible national to international career. Looking back at it in hindsight I now understand that I was just not meant to take it that far. I’m a Chevron fan first, a Proteas second and an avid admirer of too many players of the game to mention in this space. Herschelle Gibbs is definitely up there though in that list!

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Life is not linear, it follows its own philosophy, and it is complex. There is just too much detail to manoeuvre and it should be no wonder that it is easy to miss it many times. Mistakes are common, recalculations are many and uncertainties are more certain that desired certainties. We meet, discover, experiment, bump into, fiddle and wrestle with many situations and many at times we are fixating with situations that we have never encountered.

In the midst of that it becomes imperative that we spend our currencies according to priorities than needs because needs will never cease. We will never be able to do everything, that’s the reason why superheroes are fiction, they can never be real. The more intentional we are to stick to our priorities the more effective we become in handling life! Inevitably priorities will continue to change in different seasons and as life progresses, in fact some priorities will utterly cease at some point. The key is to align your priorities to your values that become a direct feed into what you proclaim to best define you.

My own experience with life has helped me distill that life should first be vertical then horizontal i.e. focus first on the Creator then His Creation! Peradventure this is the finest key to unlock life’s success, if you fix your superlative then the rest falls into order! If you put God as first in your priority (NOT God amongst other priorities) then the all the other priorities will align and the house that you build becomes a one that will stand!

What is the order of your priorities?

Mine is Christ. Coffee. Cricket. in that order!

It’s an abstract order that represents in the broad sense the nature of things that I prioritise and at every hard place when I have to give attention to something, I ALWAYS use that order to decide what and what not to give attention to. It’s my template of processing.

Go get yours, if you have not done so!

Press Delete.

One of the ‘perks’, as the Britons would say, of travelling away from home is that you elope, for a while, into a space that gives you rest from the familiar. Obviously depending on the reason for your travel, it’s easier to steal away some moments to do nothing. This, might be whilst in transit, at a break, en route or mostly when you get to reach your destination. The point is, in our travels of life somehow we have engineered ways to take some time outs and just do ‘nothing’.

“Do something instead of killing time. Because time is killing you” – Paulo Coelho

I have had the same external 8 Gigabyte Memory Card for close to six years now. It has survived through the three different phones that I have used and discarded. It has been very efficient to state the least and interestingly enough, it has stuck with me more than the many people I thought would. Recently, being away from home and wanting to apply Paulo Coelho’s advice, I plugged the Memory Card into the laptop and began time travelling backward into the years and I was startled by what l still had stored up.

I bumped into pictures of a cute me before the receding hairline, memes that were still funny then but not now would not be, Whats App voice-notes exchanges from an ex-girlfriend and others from friends who have now fell out, a myriad of GIFs, attachments from various meetings, downloads from research, music that has kept me sane and sober and a colossus of miscellaneous items. I felt a surge of sentiment as I perused through these files. Most of it was a welcome recollection of where I have been but some were just unnecessary reminders of the past. It must have taken me a good four hours to go through the whole lot. I had to sort the over 150 folders into neat 11 folders. I had to review, rename, merge and of course delete some files.

[Photo Credit: Baltimore Sun]

Deleting anything that you once had a connection with is not as simple as it seems, I found out.

I would take more time on some files than others. I would stare, look again, listen again, skip to delete and then after a muster of some courage, come back to erase completely. At that very moment it seemed like there was a parting away with something dear. I found the whole process to be insightful. I started to think about the same reality at a bigger scale in life. How much and many things have I stored up in the Memory Card of my brain that I should probably delete? How much of those things are taking up space now and blocking up storage of new and probably better realities? It got me to really introspect. I had to confront my inner self of the yesteryear accolades, recognition, solace, relationships, memories that I have held dear and decide that it’s probably time to delete them from mind to allow a fresh reckoning to the present.

It was and it’s not easy to do so because we have to use the same mind to delete the very things that exist on the same mind. However, difficult does not mean impossible. It’s liberating to live in the space of now, fully embracing it, not demeaning what happened in the past but being open to the truth that better things can still be stored in the present. That whole process sounds like salvation, now that I have had time to ponder on it. Titus received a letter from the formerly known as Saul that stated:

“…But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he SAVED us, by the washing of REGENERATION, and RENEWING of the HOLY GHOST….” – Titus 3:4-5 KJV

Here at this point, I divulge to state, as I always try to, that Christianity is not about a religion as it is about the way humanity should live. It’s easy to just discard truth and say that this is now a Christian thing and since I’m not a Christian, I will not continue to read on. You are allowed to do so but trust me; it’s not beneficial for your livelihood. Take some time to just think about it.

Every person goes through stuff and as we do, we pick up memories as we relate with people, things and nature. At some point, we may fall out from such privilege of relationship but that does not erase the connection that we once shared. The process of deletion is not only important but it is needful for our sanity because life goes on. You determine the quality of life you experience by what you choose to retain or discard in your mind!

That being stated, the process of deletion is only effective in the power of the Holy Ghost for in Him, He weaves out the duality of salvation in regeneration and renewing. Salvation is more than being “saved”; it speaks of wholeness in spirit, soul and body. Wholeness in spirit comes first by REGENERATION, when your spirit is brought to life and that only is the work of the Holy Spirit. It is not mechanical or a determining in your will to achieve that space. RENEWING is however a continuous process that chiefly involves a replacing of your mind-set built by your upbringing and experiences with the written word of God [Bible]. It involves that deletion process of the memory files that make you dwell in the past of your experiences and functioning into the premier reality of a now-existence through the help of the Holy Spirit!

At the end of my deletion process, I had freed up close to 1 Gigabyte of space. This space is open to storage of whatever file I decide to store up again. This also occurred to me that, that is how life is like; we have to constantly delete some things in order to allow for some new things to occupy our world. I also understood that you can do that in your own will but it’s more excellent to do so in the help of the Holy Spirit. It’s your choice.

Press Delete on all those things that you should so that you can experience the new!