His eyes! It was his eyes. His eyes were piercing. His stare was one that had a rare kind of ocular precision. When he looked at you, there was no need to utter a word. It was his eyes! They spoke as though they had a voice. There was that swishing and up and down, sideways kind of motion he had mastered and made his eyes do. If one had learned the phythogras theory, they could easily measure the angles that he punched in with his stare.
Psychologists have it on record that one can say a thousand words without having to utter a single word. They contextualized this mode of passing on messages as non verbal communication. I can relate and agree with them on this. All he did when he entered a room was unleash his stare. The stare would accelerate into a gawk. That room would fall into a very loud silence. Yes, silence at times can be so loud that it also has its own voice. Interestingly all he would do was pace around the room and say no word. Like a well trained German Shepherd police dog, he would without a shadow of a doubt walk right to the person that was making noise and pin point them accurately like he had been in the room all along. One of my secondary school teachers at Entebbe Secondary School had this gambit. He had made himself a name and chiseled himself a signature personal brand. He was dreaded!. Fear gripped everyone when they saw him pacing along the verandahs of the class rooms. It was as if he was counting his steps as we walked and patrolled the afternoon revision classes.
I can vividly remember him. A face and personality so authentic and hard to forget. One day he met me along the corridors between the staff room and our classroom and said; ‘Good morning Richard’, My jaw dropped. How did he even know my name? I imagined. I can tell you teachers have a gift. They remember their student’s so well that I almost believe all their students are committed to memory. When he mentioned my name I knew I was finished. Like a permanent marker sticks to the pages it’s penned, I knew I could never be on the wrong side as a noise maker in class. My strategy from that day was simple. Choices, Chances and Cherishes!
My choice was to make sure that whenever the afternoon classes had no teacher in, I would not be caught by this teacher near any noise makers. Secondly, my chances of escaping being marched into the staff room for an interrogation were obliterated. My cherishes were never to be pulled into the staff room or on the list of naughty noise makers. That strategy worked for me for a short while until one day I was caught red handed making noise!. What happened there after is a story of another day.
I can tell you this for a fact that each and everyone has their own Choices, Chances and Cherishes. Many Choice loads of money over anything else. Others Chance their fortunes on well calculated investments, and others cherish their reputations, families, associations and names over anything else. All the Choices, Chances and Cherishes that don’t have Jesus Christ in the equation are all vanity.
Peter was a spectacular and skilled fisherman(Luke 5:1-11). The day he met Jesus Christ he had put all his skills and tactics to try and catch fish all night. He and his brother Andrew knew the fishing craft too well. The places to cast the nets, the hours when fish sprouted and fed and all the nuances of the fishermen of their time. That morning they had lost hope. When Jesus Christ showed up he found a broken hearted Peter. He had cast all his efforts on that catch but nothing was there to show for his hard work.
Jesus Christ asked him to give it another choice, chance and cherish. Peter obliged. Moments after he cast his net. The catch he got was one he had not expected. The nets could not contain the weight of the fish. Peter was dumb struck. All he knew had evaporated like vapor. He knew that his skillful craft could not deliver such a miraculous encounter. When Jesus asked Peter and Andrew to follow him. They obliged because they knew without a shadow of a doubt that Jesus Christ had something more valuable!
On this day. Reflect on what your Choices, Chances and Cherishes are. List them down. Measure and weigh them. Are they more valuable to you than Jesus Christ? Would you give them up if Jesus Christ asked you to?. Without even thinking too much. Be honest. Its not an easy thing to do. Jesus Christ one time asked a rich young ruler to give up all his Choices, Chances and Cherishes and follow him. He thought through and got distressed. He could not give his treasures. What are your Choices, Chances and Cherishes? Is Jesus Christ part of that Equation? Remember it was his eyes!. As you ponder about those questions. I just remembered. It was his eyes. My secondary school teacher!
Till next time.
Blogs By Richard Mwebesa
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