THE MESSAGES AT THE National Thanksgiving Prayer service at State House filled my heart.

His Excellency the President triggered me full on when he told the Bible story of the Good Samaritan.
Briefly, the parable from the Bible book of Luke tells of a traveller going from Jerusalem to Jericho who got mugged and was left dead by the roadside. A priest and a Levite (described as some form of religious leaders in ancient Israel) came by and sidestepped the poor fellow, going about their way.
The president made us giggle as he told the story because he gestured quite clearly at the various religious leaders gathered for the prayers at State House.

Anyway, the injured traveller lay by the roadside in agony for a while longer until a Samaritan came by.
For context, the Samaritans were generally looked down upon in those days, but this fellow stopped and helped the injured traveller—to the extent of treating his injury, taking him to an inn, and paying for his recuperation.

This story was told by Jesus in response to the question “Who is my neighbour?” which “an expert in the”law”—aka a lugezigezi person—had asked after Jesus proclaimed the two greatest commandments:
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind; and love your neighbour as you love yourself.”
The laughter we shared when the President gestured in the direction of the religious leaders last Friday was interesting because the sweep of his hand also included political leaders present.

The message around loving your neighbour did not stand alone; it came along with the message in Isaiah 58 and Surah Al-Baqarah 271-274 about giving and giving to the poor.

Personally, I celebrated this year by giving and asking people to give, selecting a number of organisations that themselves are giving to the poor, the needy, and the vulnerable, and asking other people to give to them.
My annual motto for the second year running has been “Think About Other People,” and I am going on with it into 2025, spurred on further by the messaging at the National Thanksgiving Prayers.

This Christmas week itself, as we have discussed before on this page, is the best time to begin the practice. Christmas gifts? Don’t give them to only your children within the home; head out into the neighbourhood and surprise some other people who you know are not going to be receiving gifts or might not have a special meal for the day.

Christmas bonuses? Even if your company doesn’t offer you any, offer some to your domestic workers—and I am not talking about just giving them transport so they can go back to their villages.
One practice you can employ along the way is tipping more with every payment you make during the month (not to Umeme or National Water, of course) and making shopkeepers smile! On your roadside avocado and sugarcane expeditions, drop an extra note or two into the hands of the vendors you meet, osilike.

If you are naturally selfish and incapable of giving to the poor and needy, then read the Quran.
The Quran teaching about giving is interesting because it encourages you to give in secret so that, in exchange, God waives some of your sins. Lazima, go for that benefit and give, give, give to the poor. Look after yourself by thinking about those other people.

And also be serious about how African you are. Our cultures are all about looking after others, so we really should not need any religious direction. I laughed when I read the line in the Isaiah Bible verse: “…and do not hide from relatives who need your help.”
Eish! The people God was dealing with back then were difficult, eh? Well, it would appear that so are some of you today.
2025 is the year for that to change.
Starting with what we do this week every time we say: Merry Christmas!

Simon Kaheru

www.skaheru.com
@skaheru