"A True Shepherd"

                   Depending on people’s interest, passion and value, different people express their feelings, thoughts and beliefs in different ways. While some people like poems, some people like a true story; while some people like listening to a song or watching a movie, other people like reading. Whatever the case, the most important thing in this world is to communicate with one another and explore the world. However, the way people communicate with each other is different. While some people choose random routine language, other people choose an artistic way to communicate. One of the most interesting, mysterious and metaphoric ways of communication or expression is poetry. According to Wikipedia, “Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning.” Since poetry is a formal literary art, there are different types of poetry. Out of those types of poetry, one type of poetry is called metaphoric or symbolic poetry. In a poem called "The Twenty-third Psalm" Or Psalm 23, the author, King David in the Bible, expresses the idea of God as a shepherd in everyday life.
                  When we come to the first stanza, the writer says, “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.” In the first place, the word ‘shepherd’ means a person (usually a man) who tends or guards many sheep. Either a shepherd owns the sheep or not; he is a good person who looks for them if they disappear or are in trouble. In the middle of nowhere, the shepherd’s best friend is the sheep and the sheep’s best friend is the shepherd. They each have their own common language and use it so that they don’t disappear from each other’s sight and wander in the enemy’s territory. The shepherd is the one who is responsible for his sheep in the case of enemy attack. Usually, when we study the character of the sheep, he/she eats grass continuously without looking up and doesn’t recognize whether he/she is in the enemy’s territory or not. In that case, the sheepherder is the one who calls the sheep by their name and leads them in back to the group. The relationship between God and human beings is just like the shepherd and his sheep. Humans communicate with their creator in one way called the language of prayer. Prayer is the language that people use to communicate with God. God calls human being by their name just like the sheepherder does and gives advice in His house (church) or in the group so that they don’t get attacked and chased by Satan. So, the shepherd is the one who chases the enemy (wolf) away from his sheep. Similarly, humans have the same behavior as sheep. So, God is the one who is the true shepherd of humans, no matter what. God is the one who looks for humans so that enemies don’t attack them and take them away. David sees that connection between himself and God and concludes that there is no fear, no matter, what as long as he is with His shepherd; (GOD).
                   “He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.” The author expresses his life as the grass that is planted beside the still waters that never dry out in the entire season. Grass that grows beside water grows every day. As long as the water exists, the grass grows well, full of color and beauty. It does not dry or die away, no matter what. So, as David expresses his life with God, no matter what, as long as he is with God, his life is full of hope and happiness that will never get dry (starved) either physically or spiritually. And the water is a metaphor of God’s word in the Bible. Spiritually, David’s spiritual life will never get dry or fade away, because his life is always full of words of wisdom that never stop. David says, “He maketh me to lie down in green pastures...” When a person does have stress or some kind of pressure that is associated with his or her life, then there is no way that he/she gets rest from his/her stress unless that specific pressure or stress is resolved. So, David expresses his existence with God as a peaceful and restful life. He will never be in stress as long as he stays with or communicates with God. God gives him rest so that he doesn’t get stressed or think about anything in his life.
                       As David states his relationship with God, the path of His righteousness is the proper, well disciplined, very professional and unmistakable way of living a life. David says “… he leadeth me in the path of righteousness for His name’s sake.” All creatures are created by God. David assures us in the capability of God to keep all humans safe. David gets assurance from God as he stated that, no matter how bad his troubles he will be recovered and learn from it and will come back to his original life. As long as he is with God, he will succeed and be in a place that he dreamed about. “Yea, though I walked through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for thou art with me.” David knows that human peace was taken from his first ancestor, Adam. As soon as Adam ate from the tree of life, he lost his identity and his relationship with God. Since David knew what God promised and did to save humans from death, he was so sure of God’s shelter and guard God as his savior. Even if he walked through the valley of the shadow of death, there is nothing to be scared of and nothing will affect him, even if he walked through the strangest and hardest obstacles of his life.
                  David says “Thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.” Obviously, the shepherd’s two most important tools are the “rod” and the “staff”. On the Bible, the “rod” is a stick which is about a yard or a meter long with a knob on one side or one end. On the other hand, the “staff” or “shepherd’s crook” is somewhat like a modern cane and is longer in size. The shepherd always walks with the rod in his hand, so that when a sheep shows signs of straying or getting lost, he uses it by stretching it out and pulling it back so that the sheep doesn’t go farther in the wrong direction. Also, the shepherd carries the staff at his belt and with that he fights the battles of the flock and chases the robbers who are trying to steal the sheep. In the case of walking or running away from God’s sight, David is protected by God’s rod and chases away the enemy by His words of wisdom. God taught David his way and his word so that David can follow it and be in his the house (Heaven). The rod and the staff comfort him as he lives his life with God.
                David also explained how God is a perfect trainer. “Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies:” Normally, in our day to day life, people get trained to get familiar with their job so that they don’t get confused or lost. Likely, God explained and taught David how he should lead his life as he lives in a world full of struggle and hard times. Training helps one not to make any mistakes or faults. So, the author wrote about what his life should be with God and, as he lives his life in this world and faces different strange and hard times, he uses God’s word as his success and guide so that he doesn’t make any mistakes and loosen the bond between him and God. On the other hand, if there is no enemy, there is no way that we determine that our relationship with God is a strong or perfect condition. So, the enemy is working continuously to break the bond between David and God so he can claim David as his slave. However, David stated his relationship with God is ultimately strong by saying that “…thou preparest a table,” to indicate he is well trained his Lord’s word and was sure that nothing will break his bond or relationship with God.
                Farther, David explains the connection between olive oil and His grace. “Thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.” In the past or Old Testament, in the Hebrew and also, now in Ethiopian and other Orthodox churches, olive-oil is used to anoint kings, priests and deacons. Sometimes olive-oil and a prayer are used to anoint the heads of the people to restore their health by eliminating their sins. So, David made it clear in his prophecy that Jesus, one day, would take away the burdens and sufferings of human beings in the garden of heaven. However, not everyone will be in heaven, only those who choose Him to be their savior. David assures that, as long as he is with God, he is full of grace and will get everlasting life in heaven. Also, his life on this earth will be full of grace. On the other hand, David said “my cup runneth over” which implies that a cup can hold all kind of things. However, the most important purpose of a cup is to hold or carry liquids. As David said, “my cup runneth…” it means that, his cup is full of olive-oil, which indicates his life of grace.
               Finally, the writer concludes by saying how precious it is to live with God. “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” Even though David made mistakes and disappoints, he states that The Lord’s mercy and goodness will follow him all the days of his life. Because of the mercy of his Lord, David will dwell or stay in God’s house. He is sure his life is everlasting with his Lord.
               Finally, the author’s metaphor pictured the connection between Shepherd as God and David’s life with different materials present on the earth. Also, the poem teaches how humans while they live on the earth should be and suggests that they should make a connection with God so that nothing else will influence them. No matter what, the Bible teaches each and every one of us to be in His shelter (church) so that nothing scares us as we live our everyday lives. Since Adam, human beings have a choice to be in a good place or a bad place. So, people have the choice to live their lives as they choose to. If a person chooses his life as David did, then his/ her life will be full of hope, happiness, and wisdom and be like the grass that grew beside the still water that will never dry and as the olive-oil that will be in the cup. If we want God as a part of our life, nothing will scare us. Rather, our life will shine as great as snow.

"Every Year on September...Two faced"

Here i am outside of my birth country, far away from family, friends, neighbors, and from the loved ones waiting the Ethiopian New Year for the 6th times. I always feel two things in one body in every September. Of-course the first is missing the childhood life and the traditional celebration of Ethiopian New year with family and friends. That is, drowning a flower on a piece of paper and giving to each and every family or individual in the neighborhood, wishing them a HAPPY NEW YEAR. This feeling is always Ineffable to express it. The happiness that comes from getting a new cloth for the new year, the happiness that comes from receiving a precious gift from family and from the loved ones make there is nothing that will take this kind of life away from me. The reason is that, it is always the New Year that gives happines for individuals who have difficult situations in their life and makes it easier, because they feel hopeful; even if they don't have anything. It is the New Year for those people who are in full of hate and evil mind to be changed to good thinking and forgiveness. So, Yes! Ethiopian New Year is a new year for each and every Ethiopian Citizen to exchange Love and Hope.


So, what exactly feels like "celebrating" the New Year in different country, in a country that is completely different in maney ways? Of-course, it feels different...it feels incomplete; because of the fact that our Ethiopian New year is not their new year. The reason is that, we have differences in maney ways, language, culture, believe, life experience etc. However, Even if we have that differences, i personally handled and delivered it a good manner so that it can fit and create perfection. That good manner is LOVE for all human being regardless of their Race,Gender, Age and National Origin.

However, there is always one thing that doesn't complete the Ethiopian New Year. That is, Ethiopian New Year is on SEPTEMBER 11, which makes you to have double face. On one side, you have this bright white vision of your future life, and on the other side you have that sadness, fear, tearfull face, that makes you remember the 3000 people who lost their life.

SEPTEMBER 11 always reminds me of my mother crying out laud by the crisis that was happened across atlantic in USA. We were celebrating the National Ethiopian New Year Holiday in Ethiopia. All of a sudden the Ethiopian Media (TV and Radio) changed the New Year live broadcast and delivered the the very sad live BREAKING NEWS for Each and every Ethiopians so that they can pray and remember for the people who desperately in need of help and hope who were on those twin towers. 9-11 reminds me of my father mentioning the crisis and murder may create a long term war that possibly last for 15 to 20 years between the Arab world and and other Nations. It reminds me of my brothers and sisters who were having a good time and all of a sudden sitting on the ground and watching my mom crying and praying for everyone.

So, as an Ethiopian Born and American Citizen individual, how can i celebrate the Ethiopian New Year in America? This will be a question for all Ethiopians who live in this country and experience the same situation. I know one thing, remembering the 3000 people who lost their life while remembering my childhood hope will deliver my love to those inividuals. However, when i remember my child hood hope, i allways pray for those who lost their life being in God's hand. I pray and deliver my childhood HOPE to those family who lost their friends, family, and loved ones so that they can feel better.

At last, i say May the Lord forgive our sines and give us Love and Compassion for each one of us. Amen!!

A STRANGE SOUND

"A man is driving down the road and breaks down near a monastery. He goes to the monastery, knocks on the door, and says, “My car broke down. Do you think I could stay the night?”
The monks graciously accept him, feed him dinner, even fix his car. As the man tries to fall asleep, he hears a strange sound.
The next morning, he asks the monks what the sound was, but they say, “We can’t tell you. You’re not a monk.”
The man is disappointed but thanks them anyway and goes about his merry way.
Some years later, the same man breaks down in front of the same monastery.
The monks accept him, feed him, even fix his car. That night, he hears the same strange noise that he had heard years earlier.
The next morning, he asks what it is, but the monks reply, “We can’t tell you. You’re not a monk.”
The man says, “All right, all right. I’m *dying* to know. If the only way I can find out what that sound was is to become a monk, how do I become a monk?”
The monks reply, “You must travel the earth and tell us how many blades of grass there are and the exact number of sand pebbles. When you find these numbers, you will become a monk.”
The man sets about his task. Forty-five years later, he returns and knocks on the door of the monastery. He says, “I have traveled the earth and have found what you have asked for. There are 145,236,284,232 blades of grass and 231,281,219,999,129,382 sand pebbles on the earth.”
The monks reply, “Congratulations. You are now a monk. We shall now show you the way to the sound.”
The monks lead the man to a wooden door, where the head monk says, “The sound is right behind that door.”
The man reaches for the knob, but the door is locked. He says, “Real funny. May I have the key?”
The monks give him the key, and he opens the door.
Behind the wooden door is another door made of stone.
The man demands the key to the stone door.
The monks give him the key, and he opens it, only to find a door made of ruby.
He demands another key from the monks, who provide it.
Behind that door is another door, this one made of sapphire.
So it went until the man had gone through doors of emerald, silver, topaz, and amethyst.
Finally, the monks say, “This is the last key to the last door.”
The man is relieved to no end.
He unlocks the door, turns the knob, and behind that door he is amazed to find the source of that strange sound.

But I can’t tell you what it is because you’re not a monk".

Just a little about "Buddha"

By Muluken Aseffa (Luke)


1 -The Four Nobles Truths-
The Four Noble Truths is an excerpt from the first sermon of the Buddha after his enlightenment which is commonly known as the "Benares Sermon". The Four Noble Truth is a short statement of the essentials of Buddhist teachings: The Middle Way, The Four Noble Truths, and The Eightfold Path. The first Noble Truth is concerns suffering and states that birth, death, decay, union with something unpleasant, any craving with something pleasant, and the conditions of individuality are painful. The second Noble Truth concerns the origin of suffering: it is a thirst or craving, it causes the renewal of existence and is accompanied by sensual delight seeking satisfaction here and there; it is the craving for gratification of the passions, the cravings for future life, and the cravings for success in the present life. The third Noble Truth concerns the destruction of suffering. It is the laying aside, getting rid of, being free from or harboring of these thirsts. The fourth Noble Truth concerns the way which leads to the destruction of sorrow. It is the Noble Eightfold Path. There are two extreme paths which a monk must not follow if they have given up the world. The first path concerns those things which attract passions, especially sensuality. This is viewed as a pagan way of living, unworthy, unprofitable, and fit only for the worldly-minded. The second path is considered the habitual practice of asceticism, (self denial with a principled way of life) which is painful, unworthy, and unprofitable.
There is, however a middle path, discovered by the Tathagata, one who has come or gone, and achieved enlightenment. The effect that The Middle Path is intended to have on Monks, and Buddhist in general is to teach them ways to open their eyes and give understanding. It follows up the more abstract of The Four Noble Truths. It offers practical guidelines to mental and moral development with the goal of freeing individuals from attachments and delusions. It leads to understanding the truth about all things, peace of mind, higher wisdom, to full enlightenment, and Nirvana. It is called the Noble Eightfold Path of right views, right aspirations, right speech, right conduct, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right contemplation. These eight guidelines are reduced, and taught to the monks in the three categories of morality, wisdom, and meditation.
2-Rules of Defeat for Monks and Nuns
Buddhism highlighted the admonition to avoid defeat in the teaching of rules to live Godly, to avoid things that cause sensuality, corrupt the mind, and deprive the soul of pure actions. Examples of this would be sexual intercourse, theft, killing, and lying. “No longer in communion” refers to the commitment made to Buddha to uphold his rules, and his teachings that have been broken. It appears from the scripture that there is the perception that monks and nuns are equally likely to be defeated, and the distinction that is required for each appears to be equal, with the exception of the nuns having a few more rules than the monks.
3-Conduct of the Monk
If I were to become a Monk the areas I would consider easy to follow would be to act with kindness, to be calm and well controlled, teach the meaning of the law, not envy others, not be lazy, not be careless, be content, keep noble friends, live in charity, perfect my duties, and be full of delight. The areas I'd find most difficult to follow would be restraint in the eye, ear, nose, and tongue, meditation, grieve over what I left behind, cut off passion, restraint, and reject the bait of the world.
I believe most moral rules mentioned above, whether easy or hard to follow are instilled in every person at birth. It is our culture, morals, values, and beliefs that cause us to stray. If a person is serious about his/her faith and truly happy with where they are in their lives, he/she would follow any rule regardless of the temptations and or consequences. If any of these rules of wisdom are broken, that person is not content, something is lacking in their lives, and they are not happy with themselves.
I feel the scripture that is presented in the text would provide solace to the Japanese during this challenging time of coping with a natural disaster, death, pain, change, and uncertainty would be The Noble Eightfold Path. This is because it teaches that in life there will be suffering of, birth, death, decay, disease, separation from something pleasant, unsatisfied cravings, attachment, individuality and their cause, All of these examples listed above are unpredictable and painful in life. How disasters are handled is based on the individual's belief system. The Noble Eightfold path teaches a way of practice to stop the suffering within, to be free of ill will, to be helpful and put away the greed and distress of the world. It leads to truth about all things. If a person understands himself and his purpose for being on this earth, he also understands that his time here is short-lived and everything can be taken away at any moment.
The Eightfold Path teaches meditation and how this can lead to peace and harmony, how to remain focused on mental qualities, to be thankful for your health, and the gifts that remain in your life. One will gain the knowledge through teachings that lead to wisdom and the worldly understanding that bad things will happen and people will suffer, The Noble Truth concerning the destruction of suffering will help build people up, so they can accept tragedy and continue to move forward.

WHY IS AFRICA SO POOR?

"Africa was poor, Africa is poor and Africa will continue to be poor if we the Africans are not ready to change Africa. Africa will remain poor if Africans are not ready to make Africa rich. There is poverty in Africa and there is hunger everywhere on the continent of Africa. HIV/AIDs continues to kill Africans in record numbers. Africa is poor and there is no doubt Africa is poor. The question is not why Africa is poor but may be how we can make Africa rich. What we can do as individuals or groups to help change Africa.

There is poverty in Africa but Africa has almost all it takes to be the richest continent on earth. The major problem facing Africa today is corruption and poor leadership. There are greedy people in Africa including our leaders who don't care about their poor mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters.
Some people are too greedy and that is why Africa remains poor. People are killing their own brothers, sisters, mothers and fathers just to make money. People didn't care about yesterday and people don't even care about tomorrow. All they care about is money and money and that is why Africa remains poor.
All African leaders I know are corrupt in one way or the other. They come as saints and leave as devils.. An African president of a country is a president for a few selected people. An African president is a president for only the educated and a president for only those in the higher class. An African president sees no poverty. An African president sees no hunger. An African president sees no HIV. An African president knows no orphan.

An African president shows no mercy. An African presidents sees only money and money and nothing but money.. Not just the African president but the African prime minister, the African governor, the African Doctor, the African Judge, the African lawyer, the African King, and even the African Pastor. And that is why Africa is still poor and that is why Africa continues to wallow in poverty..."
One poor African

Things Fall Apart Analysis

By Muluken Aseffa
Feb, 2011

Everyday people look for success. There is no doubt that if we try hard for what we look or achieve for, then we can succeed. Throughout the journey of success, sometimes there are some failure occurs. We don’t always succeed at what we look for. The main reason for this is due to the major differences that human experience. Some of those different prospective that challenges human being are; culture difference, language barrier, and norm and religion differences. These premises are the major issue that success and failure depends on. In the book, Things Fall Apart, we see how things fall apart in the life of Okonkwo. He has been straggling with fear and failure throughout his life. As we read through the book we will see how the author expresses the life of Okonkwo and his aggressiveness, temper, and the lack of diversity lead him to failure and how his and his family’s life affected.
In the first place Okonkwo’s respect for his tribal/ethnic tradition is expressed in his everyday life. Even though the perception and ambition of Okonkwo is different from other people (like his father) in the community, his ethnic tradition is expressed by his power and aggressiveness. The life of Okonkwo, his beliefs, and norm is somewhat reckless. His bad temper puts him and his family in danger. In the most part, the aggressiveness and the temper of Okonkwo is very disturbing. For example, to create any kind of anger towards the community and to his family, he uses the banana tree as an excuse. However, the main reason for his anger comes from his fear. He has a very strong fear of losing his leadership. That is why he hates his father so much. That is the reason that he punishes his wife and his son. For him, losing is an embarrassment and shame.
In the second case, the value system of the Umuofia people is very traditional and they have received the culture from their ancestors. Everyone in the community loved the way they live until the foreigners came and disturbed the people and their environment. The Umuofia people are a people who had not had a leader or a king who leads the community like other tribes. They are totally independent. They are peaceful people who respect their culture, norm, religion and family. However, they are always scared of magic or anything that relates to magic. For example, during the conflict with their neighbors, they were very concerned about what the consequences could be if they attacked the neighbor people who have magical protection.
They are peaceful people who respect their culture, norms, religion and family. In ancient human civilizations, historians predicted that the “Noble people” had a low amount of military equipment. This implies that the Noble people were a peaceful people. Like the Noble people, the Umuofia people were peaceful people.
When we come to Okonkwo’s aspiration as a leader of his people, he is a strict man who believes in power. When he was young he had beaten “The Cat” and became popular in his community. He is a prominent leader to his community. Because of his personal character and perception of hating a loser, he doesn’t like or appreciate any man who has feminine characteristics. He demands the males should be powerful individuals who would lead the community. Because of his macho mind set, he used to wish his daughter was a male.
On the other hand, Okonkwo is a great wrestler or fighter in the nine villages. He is a great farmer who had three wives and also had two barns that is used for storage, full of vegetables called yams. So, his aspiration as a leader is to become a powerful man by becoming the greatest wrestler and then becoming a wealthier person so that he could get respect from his people. Even though the elderly people are well respected in his tribe, if there is a man who is a hero, the hero can sit and discuss the tribes’ different issues.
In the forth case, there are some major concerns of the effects of the British on the local way of life. At any time, if a person or group of people come to a new, different place and face a different culture, norm, religion, and race, there will be the presence of culture shock and also a language barrier. That is exactly what happened to the Umuofia people. As the British people; missionaries came into the Umuofia community, they did not understand and respect the culture and the norms of the people. The first thing that they were supposed to do was learning the Umuofia culture, language, norms, and other things. Also they should investigate or assess the good and bad things for the people, so that they can overcome the risk factors of the Umuofia people. As we know, there are bad cultures that sacrifice human beings and also there are good cultures that the world could learn and benefit from. Instead, the British missionaries considered the Umuofia as a minority people who were uneducated. The missionaries aggressively forced their own will on the community. Also, they distributed the modern education throughout the cities and the country so that the people can lost their identity and culture.
The main targeted audiences were Umuofia young people. These young adults started learning the modern lifestyle and religion of the other world instead of keeping the culture and norms of their own. So, the elderly people of the Umuofia tribe couldn’t pass their culture and traditional lifestyle to their young children, because the young adults started refusing and neglecting the traditional lifestyle. This caused devastation to the community.
Over all, from Achebe’s novel, “Things Fall Apart”, I have learned how things fall apart due to several reasons. Extreme power, lack of understanding, bad decisions and cultural differences cause the loss of one culture. So, cultural aggressiveness can devastate people’s person’s life. To reduce all the above risk factors we have to understand, the norms, culture, religion, identity and the communities’ lifestyle.

What is missing?

What is missing?
Sometimes we like to laugh, sometimes we like to play and express ourselves to the people who are around us. In the contrary, there are some days that we feel sad. Sometimes, even though how good we tried to overcome the sadness and the bad feelings, it doesn’t go away until we decided to do something. That is the time where a few people kill themselves or others. Especially in our young ages, the most problems that we face with are finding the perfect person in our life. Now, the major point is, WHAT IS MISSING?
COMING SOON.