If someone tells you they love you, take it to heart!

For many years brotherly love faded in the heart of many and the need for community was also slowly moving away

They say experience is the best teacher, a genre that many including me agreed to for so many years. But this was just then, here is the best teacher so far that I have ever come across “The COVID-19” or you can just call it Mr.Corona.

For months now I have heard people saying “I just can’t wait to see things going back to normal.” I remember myself saying the same sentiments too many times, but as I’ve thought about our current situation I have just realised how much I don’t want things to go back to the way they used to be anymore. Here are the reasons as to why I don’t want things to be the way they were…..

 I just want to recall the first big gathering that was supposed to be held few months after Corona pandemic was pronounce a disaster. The Madaraka Day, a day that for 56 years back have been celebrated in a big gathering of thousands of people from different parts of the nation and world at large.

 This time round when we were to celebrate the 57^th Madaraka Day in the same style, the tune changed and now only a few number of people found themselves gathering at the State house to celebrate this big event.

 The entertainments we used to enjoy on this day were done differently, the military parade was done differently and even the president style of coming to such events changed. What a serious disease this is?

 The dignitaries from all over the globe were nowhere to be seen. People like President Yoweri Museveni, John Pombe Magufuli, Paul Kagame just but to name a few who my instinct keeps telling that would have not missed the event were too missing in action.

 I really pray that the next time a friend offer me their hands for handshake or grabs me and pulls me in for a hug, I actually take the time to appreciate the gift of their embrace. Many a time’s people have just taken this as normal and never feel how the heart that is offering the hug feels. Now that there is no hugging anymore, when I meet a friend, I just feel I should be able to do the screening and testing for a second and just grab the person, hold tightly and feel the gift of their embrace.

 I pray that when school resumes and I’m seeing children off to school, I take the time to thank the teachers and staff for the amazing gift they are to our family. In just some few weeks, I have heard most parents complaining of that they are tired of having these children at home and just pray that school should resume. This simply tells how precious and blessings our teachers are to our children, the burden of having them for the whole year. This is a lesson that without Mr. Corona no one would have been able to teach. Covid-19 has just opened the eyes of most parents who took the teachers for granted to know the worth of teachers and the roles they play in their children.

 For many years brotherly love faded in the heart of many and the need for community was also slowly moving away, but now I pray that the next time I’m sitting in a crowded restaurant I take the time to look around at the smiling faces, loud voices and thank God for the gift of community.

 I sincerely pray that the next time I’m standing in church listening to  the voices of praise and taking communion that I take a  moment to thank God for the gift of congregation. Many a time, people have taken this gift as granted and didn’t even bother to take time to congregate and say thank you to the Most High.

I pray that the next time I see a person or situation that needs prayer; I hope I pray as passionately and fervently as I have these past few months. Before the Corona Pandemic, I really took prayer for granted but what I have learned within these few months when there was no gathering to pray, I saw the real need for prayer since it is the only way we can communicate to our God to hear us during times of trouble. I remember our president calling for a nationwide prayer just to supplicate our problems to Him and at least have mercy on our land and take this disease away from the face of our land and world at large.

 There are some people who provide us with some necessities but most time we have not taken time to appreciate their efforts to avail these essential commodities near us, we just think that it’s our right to have them near us whenever we want to use them. I pray that next time when I am at the grocery store that I take a moment to thank God that He provides us with the necessities of life and the amazing people who work so hard to keep us supplied.

 I pray that I never again take for granted the ability to hop in the car and travel to where I want, visit a friend, go to the mall, etc. it has been a lesson when learnt that we need to thank God whenever we travel to places for He always make it easy for us to sit in that car or bus congested and we still reach our destination safely without anyone complaining of maybe contracting a diseases from the fellow passenger.

 So, the truth is, I don’t want things to return to the way they once were. I pray that we take the lessons and challenges of the past few months and create a new normal. My goal is to pray more, love harder, and truly appreciate the daily abundance of blessings that were so easily overlooked just a mere few months ago. If someone tells you they love you, take it to heart!

 -Ochaly Edwine-