No one makes it out alive anyway

Good evening friends

As I write this I'm in a bath filled to the brim with water, imaginary bubbles and I have an imaginary drink in one hand and my beloved blackberry in another... I just got in from having supper with friends

A friend of mine called Bokang arrived from Botswana on friday to see Oprah at the University of the free state and she's leaving tomorrow so we decided to and catch up for a bit... A few of my other friends who I hadn't seen in a while were going to hang out so we decided to join them...

So right now I'm sitting here in this warm bath - which is getting lukewarm with every word I type and I'm just reflecting on the great weekend that I had...

On friday Rong (another friend of mine) and I went to the waterfront to eat out at Mcdonalds and then to exclusive books to read introductions and prologues of books in order to decide which book was the best... Not judging a book by its cover but by its introduction... After all, didn't someone say: a good book should have you at "once upon a time"... If no one has ever said this before then I give you permission to quote me.
So the award for best intro went to "Resident Alien" by Rian Malan (which, by the way, is on my birthday wishlist)

Saturday was spent paying bills (or at least trying to before I realised that I woke up after the banks closed)... In the evening I attended a function held by ABASA (Association for the advancement of Black Accountants in Southern AfricA) to celebrate CA(SA) students who hAd just qualified... I rocked up at the do a bit late, but I had fun all in all - even though my hair was held up by pins so small that even sneezing would have been a fashion mistake... The theme of the evening was: what role does the accounting profession play in the year of job creation... One of the speakers answered the question very shortly and sweetly by saying: it starts by making a small difference - by helping to make sure that the Spaza shop next door to you turns into a supermarket!!!
All in all, a great night of shoulders rubbed with many Greats and Greats-to-be in the Accounting profession.

My sunday morning was typically spent at Grootvlei prison ministering in song to the inmates, and as always, I came back humbled and blessed and in awe at what God is busy doing in this beautiful country of ours.
Sunday afternoon was spent on a date at Braza having coffee and good conversation about South African politics.. And then straight to church again for the evening service.
Ps Clive was preaching... A powerful service that deserves a post of its own so look out for that.

And then Bokang and my other friends all went to Spur for a nice student special supper - guitars and all...very "soothing" environment as a friend of mine put it...
Bokang and I shared tears and laughter in the midst of that crowd and we caught up on a year and a half's worth of conversation - what a great night.

And now here I am, shivering in my now cold bath... Thinking: sometimes letting your hair down is okay... To forget about all the study work awaiting you, or the work that your boss asked you to do over the weekend. To forget all your troubles and all your fears... To just embrace the best that life has to offer... To hang out with loving friends who will remind you that: You are not alone!!! To smile, to laugh and most importantly to love without fear...
To allow yourself to not take life too seriously, because when all is said and done, like my friend Mariam said: No one makes it out of life alive anyway!!!

God bless you and have a great week.
LK

A brother in his 20's: My very first blog

A brother in his 20's: My very first blog: "Wow. My very first blog. Its a bit strange considering that a couple of years ago, I thought anything to do with 'blogging' and 'tweeting'..."

FREEDOM is NOT FREE

Today in South Africa, we celebrate the lives of "The Youth of 1976", who died marching in a fight for FREEDOM.
Even though the precious youth lost their lives that day, today we enjoy the fruits of their labour because today we live in the FREEDOM that they fought for.

I once asked a friend of mine why it was that many courageous people, who fight for a cause never lived to see that cause established... and today I finally know the answer: Those courageous enough to fight for a FREEDOM of any kind know that it may cost them their lives, and they fight on regardless because at one point in their lives they made a decision to fight so that their children would not have to fight the same battle...

Today, we, the Youth of 2011 walk in the footsteps of the fallen heroes of '76. and even though the battle for a democratic South Africa is one that we do not have to fight... We have our own battles that demand us to be selfless, to roll up our sleeves and to stand in the frontline, so that the future generations don't have to fight our battles for us.

Today, ours is to take a stand against poverty, HIV/Aids, Hate crimes, Abuse of people, the senseless rape of mother earth, And to also protect this very same democracy to which we have been entrusted!!!
The struggle has become colour blind, and today we are ALL called to take a stand against all these injustices.
African youth, unlike American youth, should no longer accept and embrace the luxury to sit and day dream about "money,cars and hoes"... Because "to whom much is given,much is required"... And we have been given much - we are the richest continent as far as natural resources is concerned, and we are called to use what we have to fight today's battle!!!

I have a dream, of different colour feet running the same race... This is the time for this dream to be realised... And, YES...even WE CAN!!!

Another friend of mine asked me, "do you really think that this FREEDOM that we so fight for will materialise in our lifetime?"
My answer: No it definitely won't, but we shall see it through the eyes of our children... Because if we want it bad enough, we might have to die for it!!!
And I know this because FREEDOM is not FREE!!!