VANTAGE POINT: THE WIDOW

I stood staring at this magnificent structure hardly believing that my own feet would soon be inside. The temple was the most magnificent building in Jerusalem far above any in the city. My eyes welled with tears when I thought about the prospect of just entering the Temple. Not that it wasn’t like me to notice such great engineering feats but My mind was set on something more profound than the symmetrical structure that stood proudly before me.

Only one thing filled my mind. “In His presence is fullness of joy”. I had listened to the rabbi in my village as he read the scroll about being in the presence of YHWH and it captured my imagination. I had heard him read “Better is one day in your courts than one thousand elsewhere” My heart longed for YHWH’s presence. Another reading from the rabbi came to my mind “As the dear pants for water, so my soul longs after you”. Had David felt exactly the way I was feeling now? How come that even the rabbis spoke these words like they never meant anything to them? I had gone to speak to the Rabbi about being in YHWH’s presence but I was shocked. He took me through a lecture about how the temple was built and how many cows were sacrificed. “Ahh....”, he sighed, “ That was a very long time ago” he added with a grin, “I would rather make my money here than trek 20 km to the temple in Jerusalem”. WHAT??? That’s all he was thinking about? 

I resolved to set out for Jerusalem. “No one can understand me”, I thought.
Now, here I was before the temple. My heart was faint with longing. I couldn’t remember the last time I felt like that. O wait…it reminded me of my wedding. I recalled the time I was waiting for my husband-to-be to arrive to take me. May be that was closest to what I was feeling now. I had lived a full life with my husband till he died tragically. I didn’t regret the wonderful marriage we had. It was simply beautiful. That was a long time ago. But this feeling was way beyond what I had experienced on my wedding.
I strode majestically towards the entrance of the temple like a bride to meet her husband. There were tears in my eyes. I could remember all the words from the good book. “How lovely is your dwelling place, O LORD Almighty! My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the LORD; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.”
But nothing prepared me for the priest at the door of the temple. He looked immaculately dressed and wore a smile. But there was something about the smile that made me feel uncomfortable. It was…just not right. I walked up the stairs and I thought after nodding to him I would walk past him into my heart’s longing. His question came firmly. It was firm and not rude but it required a simple 'yes' or 'no'.
“Have you brought anything to offer in the temple of YHWH?”
I wasn’t ready for that. “What?”, I asked, feeling so surprised. He smiled and raised his voice, “HAVE YOU BROUGHT ANYTHING TO OFFER IN THE TEMPLE? Are you deaf?”
“I just wanted to be in YHWH's presence. I even didn’t know I had to bring something” I said softly. “Please let me in, I beg you”
“No”, he answered dryly, “The good book says you can not enter His presence empty handed”.
I didn’t have a thing but I was determined to be in God’s presence. I felt so ashamed. I had kind of attracted the attention of the busy crowd which until then I was unaware had existed. I had been absorbed by my desire for the presence of YHWH.
I turned to walk away. I was sobbing. As I walked slowly away, the buttons on my busuuti caught my attention. They were copper buttons. Immediately I knew what I wanted to do. I went away to a hidden alley. I grabbed the buttons and ripped them off the busuuti leaving two gaping holes. I tied two knots to cover the holes and up again towards the temple I went.
With confidence I answered in the affirmative to the priest’s question at the door and in I went.
“OOH, my heart’s desire! I am finally here”. It looks everything finally made sense when I was in YHWH’s presence. “The prosperity of the wicked and the suffering of the righteous seemed oppressive to me till I entered into His sanctuary and there I understood their destiny”
I felt like dancing. I could feel that God was close.
I glanced toward the front of the temple and there was the offering stall but that wasn’t what caught my attention. It was the man seated by the side of the offering box. He was different from the priests that were serving in the temple. They looked like servants but…let me say he looked like a son in the house! His eyes were kind and the men around him listened to him with so much attention. His accent was different. May be from the region of Galilee? But could any good come from Galilee? Herod, their king, was such an evil man he had killed an innocent prophet. Nearly 30 years ago when I was still a young bride, his father had ordered the killing of children because a child was born who, it was said, would be the messiah. Can you imagine?
This Galilean looked to be around 30 years of age. Now wait a minute did I just think he was 30 years?? Could he be the.....? No.., I better stop dreaming. I know I have longed to see the messiah but that would be too merciful of God to let me have a glimpse of Him. I am undeserving of such honor. I only wanted to be in YHWH’s presence. That’s enough for me. As I walked toward the stall, I noticed that he was looking at me. Or was he looking at the man in front of me? The man in front of me was a tall man and looked wealthy. He had a bag that I now know was full of gold coins. Every step he took sent a vibration up his leg through his body to the coins in the bag which joyfully and proudly announced their presence. Every eye was now on Him! WOW!
O God, people are going to laugh at me! I have only 2 copper coins…sorry buttons! May be I should be so near the rich guy in front of me that people will not notice. I pressed on closer to him and it looked my strategy was working. The man suddenly stopped and all eyes with him. He looked behind his shoulder and down at me for a few seconds and I got the message: “Keep your distance” There are many other messages I got from that 5-second episode but I will keep with the most decent one: “Keep your distance” I was embarrassed! I will not go into how I felt except that I wished that the ground would swallow me alive. I glanced at the Galilean and this time I was certain He was looking at me. I could feel His empathy, his pity and kindness. Finally I had seen someone who I felt I could identify with in the temple of YHWH. All the rest looked strange and unfriendly. The priests, Levites and my village Rabbi had one thing in common. They were all different from the Galilean.
The turn finally came for the rich man in front of me. He opened the bag and poured the coins into the box for what looked like an eternity. The sound of coins falling upon coins excited everyone. Suddenly the priest got very busy. One was calling for the other to call 5 others to empty this box and bring another. There was gleeful excitement in the temple. I glanced again to the Galilean and He was still looking at me. You mean that display of giving to the LORD did not distract Him from looking at me? It had caught the attention of everyone including the people surrounding the Galilean, but not him. WHO WAS THIS MAN? He wasn’t moved a single bit.
The wealthy man then moved to the side and he looked he wanted to have a word with the Galilean. Who was this Galilean, even the rich man wanted to talk to him!
It was my turn now. I pulled myself together and remembered why I was here in the first place. I bowed my head and silently worshiped. ”All that I have, I give to you”, I prayed. I felt joy in my heart and tears welled in my eyes. I didn’t mind what other people had brought. I was in His presence. And that is what mattered the most.
As I turned to walk away, the Galilean called to me and there he was with the rich man on his left. I came to him and deep inside I knew that I was safe with him. He wasn’t thinking of humiliating me….or was he? He touched my shoulder so gently and that is when he shouted loudly.
“Everyone, listen to me!” he yelled.
Everyone had his attention. Even the 5 priests who were carrying away the offering stopped for a while and listened. What he said will remain recorded in the books forever because it shook the foundations of what everyone believed

“Now I will tell you who has given the most to the LORD!”…

THE ENCOUNTER PART III: SSEGGWANGA AND MMUNYE – The Kamunye Revelation

“Something tells me that you are not just doing a kokonyo” Sseggwanga told Mmunye, “Why are you telling me this yet you know that I am a chicken? Can I fly? Can I become an eagle since it looks that the only way to fly is be an eagle?”

“I have good news for you Sseggwanga. You can fly!” Mmunye declared, “I even have better news for you, YOU ARE AN EAGLE”

Sseggwanga could not believe what he had just heard. “Did you just say…”

“Yes, Sseggwanga, you are an eagle.”

I don’t believe you”, this time Sseggwanga was strutting around in disbelief, “No way! I was born a chicken, I crow like a chicken, I like worms, I don’t eat flesh like an eagle. In fact that thought is revolting! All my feelings are chicken feelings! ”

“Sseggwanga, look at me. I mean critically look at me. We are brothers. My father, your father, sent me to you to set you free from this farm. You were captured when you were young by the farm owner, Levid. He decided to groom you like a chicken. He cut off your claws and he continues to do so in the name of ‘grooming’. Have you ever thought about why he locked you up between Kiggula wall and Kiggala? He set out to frustrate all your efforts at flight until you were convinced that you were a chicken. That you could only eat what he told you to eat.”

The revelation that he was an eagle was nearly killing him with excitement! What?? All this time and he never knew?

“Stretch out your wings”, Mmunye asked him. Sseggwanga stretched them. “No, they are not stretched! Your wings are 6 feet across!” Sseggwanga then started to stretch. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing. It is like his wing span was getting even wider! “How come I could never stretch this much?? What is happening to me? It looks like I am changing to an eagle!”

“You don’t understand yet?” Mmunye asked, “You are an eagle, you have always been an eagle!”

“Your name was never Sseggwanga. That name was given to you by Levid the farm owner. Your real name is Kamunye. You are my younger brother!”

“Goodness! I even have an eagle name?? I am actually an eagle?” He was so excited! Stretching his wings he flapped them once. He was not ready for what happened! With that one flap, he was already above the level of Kiggala!

Landing back where Mmunye was grinning across his eagle beak, they hugged and both were crying uncontrollably. What he had been trying to do all this time, he did in only one flap. The close fellowship he had had with Kiggala had left him bruised but it didn’t matter. Who needed a broken leg when he could fly? Kamunye was so happy. He loved his new name. ‘I don’t have to crow again!’

It now started to make sense. Everything that Mmunye was saying…

“What is impossible with chicken is possible with eagles!”

“Chicken give birth to chickens and eagles give birth to eagles”

“The eagle is like the wind” Now it made sense. Before he knew he was an eagle, he was limited only to Kiggula and Kiggala. He never looked up to see the boundless sky that has no limits. Now he could spread his wings and claim the skies. Now that is freedom!

But how come he couldn’t fly even when he had always been an eagle? That puzzled him. So he asked Mmunye “But why couldn’t I fly?”

“You never knew that you were an eagle. You knew you were a chicken. You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free!”

He no longer had to live off Levid’s farm any longer. His diet was opened up. So now he could eat of what could build his body. He no longer had to listen to the lies of Levid that he was Sseggwanga. What was his pride, he now surrendered it because it was a symbol of his failure. He would rather be a ka-munye than Sseggwanga because the latter was a slave while the former was free.

Mmunye and Ka-munye flapped their wings thrice and off they flew…to freedom

THE ENCOUNTER – PART II: SSEGGWANGA AND MMUNYE – The Chicken and the Wind

It had been a week since that encounter with Mmunye. Sseggwanga was depressed. Every chicken knew Mmunye to be the kindest eagle that had ever been but this was cruel.
His response to the diligent self effort of transcending Kiggala was ruthless.
“What is impossible for chickens is possible with eagles”
 How indulgent, heartless could one be? It was like he was saying ‘I am the only one that can fly as for you, you can go hang!’
That last encounter troubled him. He refused to fly to the top of Kiggula. The Kokoolirooko chorus was no longer appealing to him. Mubiika-maji, his good friend, asked him what was wrong but he would only shake his head.
One day, as if by a revelation, it occurred to him that Mmunye was not a chicken! How could he understand chicken and what they went through? He felt quite liberated by that. Mmunye never said that He should give up trying! ‘Why on earth did I think that I had to give up?’, he asked himself
He remembered Mmunye’s first words about how to overcome Kiggala. “You know what to do..”
YEES! I actually knew what to do! He said “Go and eat the deep worm”
“O my goodness! Why was I troubling myself? I already knew the answer!” He thought.
Early the next morning before dawn, Sseggwanga woke up in the morning and flapped straight to the top of Kiggula. He went straight into the Kookolirooko groove. It is like he had never stopped. He felt the same satisfaction he had always felt. But again from the top of Kiggula, he saw the strugglers. Going about everyday doing nothing but chickening! ‘These lousy chickens!’, he thought. He was longing for the night, because he would have a go at Kiggala.
This time it would be a success. He dug up all the deep worms he could get and stuffed them one after another in his mouth not even caring that he would get a stomach upset. He had to be an example to the chickens. He had to transcend Kiggala
At night, he could see Kiggala in the distance as he waited for the rest of the chickens to sleep. That didn’t take very long. Soon he was on his way strutting towards Kiggala. In his mind he could envision the glory and splendor when he has overcome. He could imagine himself with the most exquisite Kookolirooko rendition. He would possibly try the exotic interpretation Cock-A-Doodle-Doo. He would then be a light to the other chicken and show them how it is done. Surely that was not selfish at all.
Seeing Kiggala at a distance, he felt like a Boeing 747 on a runway cleared for takeoff. He narrowed his eyes and headed for the wall running and flapping. Flap harder, he told himself.
It didn’t take long but to say it was unexpected would be a lie. There was deep fellowship between wall and chicken as Sseggwanga rammed into Kiggala. He hadn’t felt like that in a long time and he had rammed into it countless times but this was really painful.
Sseggwanga lay panting at the foot of the wall in pain and feeling defeated. Then the voice he had dreaded came
“I was wondering when you would come back”…O no. It was Mmunye!
“You have come to taunt me again, Mmunye?”
“No, I actually came to have fellowship with you..No pun intended, considering the fellowship you just had with Kiggala”
“So now you are making fun of me”
“No, we are having fellowship. Do you always have to come in the night?”
“Well, yes. As you know, everyone thinks that I can fly over Kiggala as well. I wouldn’t want to embarrass myself”
Then Ssegwanga said, “Mmunye, you are the kindest eagle and everyone knows. I know that you have the secret to flying over the wall”
“Do you remember what I told you last time?” Mmunye asked.
“Yes I do, ‘What is impossible with chickens is possible with eagles’”
“Exactly, that is the secret.”, he replied, “For you to fly over the wall you must be an eagle”
“You mean I must become an eagle?” Sseggwanga asked.
“No, you must BE AN EAGLE. You must be born again as an eagle”, he continued, “You must be born of an eagle, know that you are an eagle, eat like an eagle, and be parented by an eagle”
“That is impossible! You mean I have to go back to being in an egg and somehow miraculously be put into mama eagle so that I can be born an eagle? Ridiculous!”
“Sseggwanga listen to me! Chickens give birth to chickens and eagles give birth to eagles.” He told him looking at him straight in the eye. “Remember that! Do not be surprised when I tell you that you must be born again as an eagle.”
“Sseggwanga, do you hear the wind?” Mmunye asked.
“Yes I do”, Sseggwanga replied
“To be born an eagle is like the wind”
“The wind blows wherever it wants because it has not limits or boundaries. Your eyes are set on Kiggala as the epitome of achievement. There are even higher heights than Kiggala. An eagle does not have upper limits. It flaps its wings and never sets its eyes on an upper limit. It soars until it is a moving dot in the sky”
Mmunye continued “You cannot tell where the wind is going or from where it comes. You, Sseggwanga, are concerned with what you should be eating to fly over the wall but an eagle will not give a thought about its flap. It doesn’t need to know from where and how the strength to fly comes. Without a thought an eagle flaps its wings and it expects to fly because it is an eagle. That is all it needs to know.”

“The wind has no law. No restriction and no containment. It is free. It is not controlled. It is un-fettered. So is the eagle. There is no law within the eagle telling it that it can’t fly. Flying is not what makes it an eagle. It flies because it is an eagle. Understand this. It is first and foremost an eagle”

Sseggwanga was dazzled. This was an overdose. But that was not the end. Mmunye was not finished yet.

THE ENCOUNTER – PART I: SSEGGWANGA AND MMUNYE – The Supa-dupa worm

Sseggwanga stood on top of Kiggula, flapped his wings as though to fly but that was only to prepare for his vocal rendition of Cock-A-Doodle-Doo. With his accent it sounded more like Kookolirooko! Kiggula was the wall in front of the garden.
He belted out the Kookolirooko chorus ensuring that an audible after-chorus inhalation could be heard. It was the sign that he had made it. It was much like a belch after a satisfying meal...No one was like him! he stood on top of Kiggula  and looked down at the other feeble chicken that had long given up on trying to fly. If only they could just learn to flap their wings harder, he thought.
The wall was the sign of accomplishment. Very few chickens could ever boast of having flown to the top of Kiggula.
There were horror stories among the chicken just about everywhere. Every chicken that ever tried to fly to the top of Kiggula just smashed into the wall. Dejected, with their necks buried into their bodies, they quietly retreated. That honor was the preserve of Sseggwanga. Only he could transcend the limitations of gravity and crest himself on Kiggula.
"But why weren't these chicken more hard-working?", he mused. It only required more hard work, Eating the right worms (The body building worms) which of course could only be found by scratching deeper into the earth. But they were content to eat only the surface worms! Lazy chicken! They deserved it, he thought.
Kiggula was the great divide. It defined who was strong and who wasn't. 
One day, He just couldn't take it. When one of the chicken rammed into the wall, he exclaimed loudly "O you lazy chicken!! Will you continue to ram into Kiggula? Can't you summon enough strength?? If at all you knew the power in searching for the deep worm!"
Though he felt indignant, some part of him squirmed. He had a secret.
There was another wall behind the garden. It was called Kiggala. It was considerably higher than Kiggula. In the dark, when no one was watching, he would try to fly to the top of Kiggala. There he found his turn of ramming into the wall. He would say to himself, 'try harder' but still found himself embarrassingly short of that challenge. Thank goodness, no one knew about it.
But Sseggwanga was confident and very sure that He would be able to conquer Kiggala. He only had to work harder, flap harder. May be there were other types of Body building worms that could be found even deeper into the earth.
One night, as he was on his usual nocturnal operation “Beat-Kiggala”, he heard a voice behind him in the dark. "O you lazy Chicken! Will you continue to ram into Kiggala? Can't you summon enough strength?? If at all you knew the power in searching for the deep worm!" Sseggwanga froze! He thought that all this time he was alone. Now someone knew his secret and not only that, he was taunting him.
Sseggwanga turned in horror and looking into the darkness asked, "Who are you?"
An eagle emerged from the shadows and said "I am Mmunye"
What? It was the great Mmunye! Every chicken knew about him. But nevertheless Sseggwanga was so scared. He could not tell whether he was scared of him as an eagle or just that now he knew his secret.
Mmunye could tell what he was thinking so he told him "I have been observing you for a long time. I have seen you strutting on Kiggula, your boastings and the way you make the other chicken feel guilty about not being able to overcome Kiggula"
Sseggwanga was embarrassed and with words choking to come out of his mouth he asked "So now are you going to reveal...."
Don't worry, your secret is safe with me", Mmunye interrupted
"Why are you struggling so hard?", Mmunye asked.
"I want to fly over Kiggala", Sseggwanga replied.
"But why?" Mmunye asked, "Do you have to prove anything? What would you want to prove?"
This time Sseggwanga was firm "I want to show that Chickens have wings and they can fly!"
So Sseggwanga fell on his knees before Mmunye and begged "Please Mmunye, what must I do to fly above Kiggala and even higher??"
Mmunye looked at him sympathetically and said "Well, you know what to do. Go and eat the deep worm"
"But I have done all that, Mmunye! I have dug for all the deep worms but I still cannot fly above Kiggala!" Sseggwanga replied
"Ooo, just one more thing," Mmunye replied, "Dig with your feet to a depth of around 20 m and there you will find the Supa-Dupa worm. With that you can fly to the top of Kiggala and even far above"
That was the most depressing thing Sseggwanga had heard his entire life. He knew beyond a shadow of doubt that no chicken could ever dig that deep. As he dejectedly turned to go back to the rest of the brood, Mmunye cleared his voice and said
"How hard it is for chicken to overcome Kiggala! It is easier for a fish to climb a tree than for a chicken to fly over Kiggala."
That was like salt in the wound. He was in a daze when he dejectedly asked "....who then can ever fly? How come that you, Mmunye, you can fly even higher?”
When Mmunye replied this time, he was looking at Sseggwanga straight in the eyes and little did he know that Sseggwanga would remember those words for the rest of his life, because in them, lay the secret to everything
"What is impossible for chickens is possible with eagles"
Flapping only three times, Mmunye was already way above Kiggala and off he flew..
…………………………….