Enlightened Eyes of Understanding
Darkness crept Nicodemusly like a thief by the night and caught us unaware. As the sun sank beyond the horizon, the chirping birds retired to their nests, and silence engulfed the forests. At first, we could see the bushes from the stumps, the dusty path from the fields or the gulley from the dry tree logs that had fallen across the road. With each tick on the clock, the forest became darker and darker, an undeniable smoke alarm to anyone who has been to the African jungles announcing every human being should be by a fire roasting groundnuts or corn in the comfort of their homes. We did not have that luxury, unfortunately.
In ninth grade, during the school holidays, I once visited my uncle at his farm. One of my uncle's neighbors was the Charara National Park. I vividly remember the first time I heard a lion roar, I almost wetted my pants and the dogs that usually bark at any wild animals went mute. The king of the jungle had spoken and there was silence. Lions in the African Safari are not as cute as Simba Disney imputed in the gullible minds of many. Lions are ferocious beasts that sprawl during the night. One day we were coming from visiting my uncle's young brother, about half a mile from home, I heard some crushing branches. I saw nothing, but I knew a few feet from us was a herd of elephants. My uncle tried to calm my nerves by giving me a rifle he had. How thoughtful of him. I did not know how to use a gun at fourteen and neither do I more than fourteen years later. Let me give you a piece of advice, walking at night in southern Africa is dangerous.
I wish someone had told me that advice before. In my final year in high school, I was the youth leader at my local church. With other leaders from surrounding towns, we organized a youth conference in the rural areas. The conference was great, we enjoyed ourselves and I still remember some of the sermons preached that wonderful weekend. One of my friend's mother lived, so he invited me to spend the week at their rural place. I did not know my pastor's daughter, Precious, had arranged with another person, Rosemary, who lived in that same area. Precious and Rosemary visited us, we talked a lot and did not realize that the sun had set. When they bade farewell, my friend and I did the courteous thing of escorting them home.
We talked and talked as we walke