Daisy Mariga
Do not fear, do not panic: words I keep hearing everywhere I turn. A part of me wants to scream the words, what if! What if I wake up tomorrow and there is nowhere to run to, or I am too sick to care for my own? The air reeks of uncertainty but I need to hear it, be calm, and be at peace.
Now more than ever there is a greater need in the world. Our humanity is being put to the test. Moments of crisis separate the strong from the weak, but no one can tell the difference if we choose to extend our hand and comfort the stumbling. We are all shaken, some more afraid than others and full of worry, but believe that we are not forsaken; God’s love will comfort, heal and help us to soar through the storm. We are afflicted but certainly not crushed.
The Coronavirus has stirred our hearts in more ways than we anticipated. When Africa saw the deaths in China, we held onto our motherland, praying it would not reach us as most countries do not have the resources to handle the virus. We dreaded the impending disaster should the pandemic reach our cities and townships. Now that it’s in our yard, it has become a defining moment for those in power.
No one is immune; we just have to care for ourselves and others more than we have ever done.
The woman in me says keep it together and care for your own. When I open my chats, strong words of comfort from my fellow women of prayer shout that I am not alone. Women are gifted with the ability to serve, even in the hardest of times we manage to do with little and cling onto the hope that tomorrow will be better.
In the midst of the Corona pandemic, it’s looking at your children that gives you the worst fear, no different from a mother trying to shield her kids from bullets, needles and abuse that’s just a few yards away.
Then there is the familiar voice from the stronger woman I look up to, my mother. She says, ‘Be calm, you are loved, give your all where you are and the rest is not up to you.”
Even though people are falling in their hundreds and thousands in different places, one life is still worth crying out for. Those who have passed away will never be forgotten.
These are the times where strength, character, power and love are tested.
“Being human is given but keeping our humanity is a choice” Unknown
In times like these, we hold onto the things that matter the most; life, family and faith. We look past ourselves to someone’s child, mother, father or friend. Above all, we hold on to hope because it never disappoints.
Sound of hope
Give me that beat
that rocks my soul.
Turn up the volume
to the vibe I yearn.
Listen to me utter a sound
that calms my spirit,
Watch me move to the drum
that defeats my sorrow.
See me sway to the motion
that entices rejoicing.
I raise my voice and shout,
to the seductive air of hope,
that has enslaved this moment.
