Life is fickle; as cliche as that statement sounds; it still is the most horrible of truths that we find difficult to accept. So for that reason some try to come up with phrases like YOLO, that tend to keep morbid thoughts at bay, and also to challenge us to “Just do it” while we still can, and make us treasure life with each passing day because Hey who would wish for death anyway? Even though we see people who prepare their graveyard; dig to make it sure its six feet deep, get the best and the most comfiest of caskets, to make sure when they fall in their deep sleep, not even the strongest of earthquakes or the typhoons ever jolts them out of their slumber. Unless it’s the heavenly trumpet signaling Armageddon or maybe, just maybe Mutiso never paid his debt. So we live clueless not knowing the time or the hour the angel of death will show up with his scythe ready to part with our souls or our loved ones. But when time comes that he does beckon, we cringe, our voices knock on heaven’s door for solace; we camp there throughout praying to the almighty.
We implore him to spare us the grief for now, it’s not yet time. Because Tom hasn’t served his time well here on earth he just got married last week. The honeymoon accident shouldn’t have happened; the driver just drove too fast. Mary has just started living, she graduated last week, and it will be a waste for the nation and the family as well if she goes right after her graduation without having a taste of her dream job as a chef. Literally. So we implore him “Not now sir!” “Not now!”
And just as the good book says in “If my children ask of anything in my name, so shall I give it.” He answers and gives us a second chance, or sometimes he keeps us on the waiting list as he also reviews other applications of people wanting a second chance, or sometimes as difficult as it is he takes them away, home. Then the antipathy that follows towards him is unfathomable bottoms fall we are thrown into quagmire, we question him why he let this happen. As difficult as it is we try as much as possible to accept his decision even though difficult, we try as much to cope. But years pass and anniversaries are marked and old memories or wounds are rekindled. Because there’s a void that is left that cannot be filled, a vacuum.
But the thought of God having being the one to take them gives us solace and with time we cope and live with the good memories. Through all of this he is the one who calls the shot decides who stays and who lives he is the ultimate judge, but what happens when man decides to take God’s role, as was the case last year at the Westgate Shopping Mall. When 3 men and shockingly also a woman decided to take his role. The aftermath was unfathomable. I wasn’t there so it’s really impossible to actually tell the tale as I usually do here. Suffice to say everyone has seen the documentaries being aired on TV and it will be, quite tiresome subjecting you into another breakdown of all that happened. I’m an Intern not a journalist.
The senseless killing of fellow Kenyans and other nationalities was difficult to comprehend. The Intern salutes the gallant men who fought to rescue civilians trapped, the doctors who saved lives and everyone who contributed towards the rescue operations.
A lot of people died towards the end of that week some in shock while heading to hospital. Some from the shots fired whilst trying to shelter their loved ones from them. Some trying to rescue others still stuck inside the mall and with no clue which way to go; greater love. The gravitas of the pain inflicted on us cannot be measured even by words. And even as majority of our hearts still heavy from memories rekindled as we remember the last time when we saw our loved ones alive, mine is to pray that the Lord gives us peace that could only come from him. And that the void left by our loved ones will be filled in spite of the hurt, by the immensity of the love that will defy dying and death. – Kofi Awoonor.
The Intern 