Bless this our Land and Nation

As noted in the previous post, our national anthem is the one thing that Kenyans are agreed on. This could be for the very reason that it contains the aspired future of the nation. How I long for the day that the words of the anthem shall be lived and experienced and not just sang as is the case now. Indeed that day we shall exclaim 'Truly Blessed are we'.

Blessing and being blessed is as old as the human species. In our traditional cultures the gods were sought to bless the land and offerings were made to invite such blessings, to give thanks for the blessings and in the case of wrong doing to seek forgiveness of the gods. Different religions have blessings from God as a key principle of existance. In the christian faith blessings from God are central aspect of the doctrine. Prayers, offerings and other rituals are made to seek God's blessings. This blessings though at times interpreted in terms of quality of life such as state of ones health,peace of mind and good relationships, the quantity is also highly considered. In recent times, quantitative aspects of blessings have taken a centre stage. This is in terms of material wealth. This has been the catch phrase for many a prosperity preacher. While not intending to do an expose of the form and shape blessing take, the author is keen to underscore that true blessing has both qualitative and quantitative aspects. Also this true blessing can be seen and experienced by people in their day to day life.

Bless This Our Land and Nation

'Bless this our land and nation' does go our second line of our national anthem. Its a prayer requesting the God of all Creation to favour and advance good tidings to two areas of Kenyans life-our land and our nation. Does Kenya as a country(The geographical space on the earth) have this two things. Yes we have land that is diverse in productivity and landscape. And yes it needs Gods blessing for optimal production to support the people dependent on it. We need Gods blessings in the highlands, low lands, waters, forests etc. And do we have a nation that can attract God's blessings. Do we have a unity of purpose that brings. A more intimate look at kenya one realises many nations in one country. My friend Njonjo Mue advances this position in greater detail in his article One Country Many Nations (Njonjo, 2007 http://kenyananalyst.wordpress.com/2009/01/22/bless-this-our-land-and-nation) . The process of bring our diverse nations into one united nation that is established and strengthened by the strengths of each community seems to be far from success despite almost 47 years of independence. Each community seems to have focused more on building its power base. It has degenerated into a battle of supremacy between nations with each wanting to dominate over the others. We are alive to the saying 'Its our time to eat', used to imply each communities desire to have an opportunity to control and where possible eat a big piece of the national cake. It thus no wonder that instead of political elites from the various communities mobilizing for national unity,they mobilize on ethnic and selfish lines. These they do while claiming to be pursuing the best interests of 'their people'. Ethnically motivated conflicts best explain this drive for power. It has become a society of getting power using whatever means necessary. One then understands the lethargy in undertaking crucial reforms in governance system. This was what the Agenda IV of the Kenya National Dialogue & Reconciliation that sort ought the 2007 Post Election Violence violence and political crisis. In such a state where the leaders feed on the blood of their people by sharing the spoils as Kenyans die of da sword and hunger, it is difficult for God to bless our land and nation. Unity is a condition that God uses to bless humans. Psalm 133:1-3 tells us that it is pleasant when brethren live together in unity for there the Lord commands a blessing and life for evermore.

What then must we do to attract Gods blessing to our land and nation.

Three things stand out that we need to do as Kenyans;-

A. Unity - This is not uniformity (being the same and doing the same), it is pursuit of a common purpose based on common principles but upholding our diversity. It is working together by each doing what they are best in. It is maximizing on each others strength. Every leader must thus

B. Faithfulness : It is clear from the parable of the talents that faithfulness (Mathew 25:14-30) is rewarded with much more and while laziness is punished. But more interesting is that it does not matter how much you have, what matters is what you do with it. In Kenya we have many a lazy people who survive by stealing other peoples sweat as well as corrupt people who rise by oppressing others.

C. Walking the Talk: This is about being people whose word is their bond. People who say what they mean and mean what they say. We have witnessed many a person (some of who are national leaders) say one thing in public and do a totally different thing in private. They preach the water of peace in public as they excessively partake the wine of destruction in private.

This is my call to all people of Kenya and especially those entrusted with public resources be they human, natural, financial, technical. Important to note is that each of us is entrusted with part of our land and nation. Are we faithful in managing it?

May this lead you and I to more intimate search of our ways and may we purpose that from this day onwards we shall do our part in attracting the God of all creation to Bless our Land and Nation. On Monday we continue on Justice be Our Shielder and Defender.

Blessed Weekend.

In Service to God and Country.

ARMS.