JB Lifestyle

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee oh israel! Christmas is here again. Tis the season to be jolly indeed. Yes, get excited and hopeful and have a merry christmas and a happy new year! Christmas is not about santa claus and buying fancy gifts and eating yourself silly! ("although i have to admit, i look forward to christmas lunch"). Christmas has been commercialized just like weddings. There is too much stress to make your Christmas perfect. To send out the perfect cards and buy the perfect gifts for your friends and family, so much pressure that we end up frustrated and even depressed during the so called festive season. Wake up people! Christmas is about first and foremost, Emmanuel being born in our hearts. We have been waiting for him. Santa is usually the main symbol for Christmas these days. However this is very wrong indeed. Christmas reminds us of the birth of our savior, Jesus Christ. Yes rejoice, for the wait is over and our savior has come dow...

I believe in God and God is Love. But how many of us actually live the message of love? Look around you and tell me what you see. Violence and more violence eery single day. Children murdered even by their own parents, greed for money causing exploitation of the poor, lust showing in our relationships devoid of commitment, thousands and thousands of young people unemployed, people taking their lives and i could go on and on about how sad our lives have become. (sight) If we really had love (God) in our hearts, the world truly would be a better place. Our lives will never be perfect, we must accept that. However we must make an effort to make them better, to hope, to share with people in more difficult circumstances. Christmas is here and its not about fancy clothes and gifts. Christmas is about the coming of Love and joy into our lives and this is personified in Jesus Christ our savior. May he reign in every heart and may he bring you lasting peace and joy!

Last sunday, the priest in my local church gave an interesting homily He said people usually tell him that they have problems and his response is that he also has problems of his own. We tend to view our problems (selfishly i must add) as the most difficult problems in the world. And yet have you ever considered that there are people out there with bigger problems, people who are truly in great suffering? Everyday, i pass by someone struggling even more than me. Yesterday someone showed me a video of two people who jumped from two buildings in Kampala to their death. There are people who live on the streets, they are homeless, some people are terminally ill, some people no longer have anyone to care for them in their old age and yet some people do not complain even when they are in such situations. So when i hear about someone taking their own life, it breaks my heart. Some of the things we think are problems are actually not. I burnt one of my favorite coats ironing and i felt...

I was horrified to read an article last week which i shared on Google+ about four children who were beheaded in Iraq because they refused to renounce their christian faith. I applaud such courage and faith especially in little children because how many of us "grown ups" can die for their faith? However all people of good will whether Christians or Muslims should condemn such senseless acts of brutality especially when it is against the little innocents. I cannot imagine us living in a world where children can be brutally murdered in the name of religious fanaticism. Is this really what God wants you to do? To kill innocent children just because they do not share the same faith us you. I do not judge Muslims but these horrendous actions keep giving Islam a bad name. Many times we are born into a certain faith and sometimes, we change to another or we embrace our faith as we grow older. We should not have to live in fear of each other. The cruelty to Christians in Iraq by...

About a month ago, a lady jumped from one of the tallest buildings in Kampala to her death. (sigh) Pope Francis said in a recent homily that many young people today are living without hope.  This is very sad but true. We are living in a world today where it is every man for himself. We don't really allow ourselves to be concerned about the troubles of others nor do we want to. I read a story about a man who struggled with a pregnant woman who was suicidal. For months he had to live with her to prevent her from killing herself and today she is a well adjusted woman who cant even remember why she wanted to commit suicide. How many of these tragedies could we ourselves have prevented if we had just taken the time to ask someone who looks sad, "what's the matter?" How was your day? Many people feel lonely in this world, even when they have family. sometimes people feel like no one cares about them and their lives don't matter. You matter, you are a dignif...

Today 1st  December is world aids day. Today we remember in a special way the millions of people living with HIV in the world especially Africa.  I have lost a few relatives to HIV and i think most people in Africa have lost someone close to them. People living with HIV often have to live with stigma from others and even shame and yet not everyone got the virus through promiscuity. Some people get HIV through no fault of their own. In our modern times, there are drugs (anti-retrovirals) people with HIV can take to manage the virus and pro-long their lives. The youth in my country Uganda, do not seem to be "afraid" of getting infected with HIV.  NGO's are promoting safe sex instead of abstinence and faitfulness to one partner. The result has been an increase in new infections especially among married couples. (sigh) We need to take HIV seriously especially young people. We need to accept those living with the virus and help them to cope with it. They may need c...

Someone close to me is unhappy with me because i didn't tell them something about another person close to me.  Secrets have a way of coming between people. (sigh) However that particular thing i didn't say was not my place to talk about it. It was supposed to be the person directly involved telling her about it. Anyway she found out and here we are. She is mad at me. Its not good to keep secrets but somethings are best kept to yourself.  People always say" i kept something a secret to protect you." I know it sounds very cliche but sometimes i think its true. Knowing the truth about certain things is painful and sometimes destructive to the person. You need to judge the situation before you speak. Some truth's may even damage someone's reputation or be used as fodder for gossip and ridicule. Lets all be prudent with the secrets we are keeping and learn when not to say anything about certain truths. I hope she forgives me some day. (sigh)

There has been alot of criticism of pope Francis I in particular especially after the recent synod of catholic bishops in October. There has also been alot of criticism of roman catholic priests in recent years following the sex abuse scandal. Yes, they are called to live exemplary lives and are held to the highest moral satndards. However they are human beings like you and me and are this fallible. No one is perfect and have we ever considered that, we are to a certain extent responsible for each others failings as human beings. Priests make mistakes just like we all do. I am not saying that mistakes are right, they are not, they are just human and we need to see beyond the mistake in order to take corrective action and ensure that it does not happen again. The media seems to twist francis' words sometimes or to exaggerate what he says. The result is alot of controversy and criticism for whatever the pope does or says. People always have opinions about  you and what y...

We are indeed a society so obsessed with sensuality especially in modern times. From our clothing, to our music, to our media, to our lifestyle. Freedom of expression is a good thing and everyone should be able to live according to their rights but sometimes i think we take it too far. A certain female artiste had some nude photos of herself taken for her ex-boyfriend. I know alot of young men and women take nude photos especially in their youth. However because of the society we live in, it is more damaging to women. Anyway, the photos of said artiste were leaked by him after an angry spat with her. Of course her fans may say they still love and support her but her reputation is ruined now. Almost everyone with a smart phone in Uganda has seen her naked. I was also reading story in one of the local papers about how somebody's marriage was almost destroyed by her husband's addiction to pornography. He no longer desired his own wife. When are we going to get it. There is...

I am sometimes selfish, it is one of my weaknesses as a person. I pray that God gives me a selfless heart so that i can give, and not just give but give with a joyful heart. When we are being charitable, it is important not to grumble inwardly but to give freely with joy. I know it is hard because it goes against our selfish nature but truth be told, it feels good to help out someone in need. We hold on to so many things that we do not need anymore. Our basements and storage spaces are filled with things we may not need anymore but we just keep holding on to them. However one important thing to note when being charitable especially when giving away things is, you need to respect the dignity of the person receiving. Do not give them torn clothing, or things that are basically best thrown out in the trash! Lets also understand that people receiving are human beings and we all want to receive good things. A priest once told me that when we are giving, we should give something ...

Take a moment today and be grateful for the "little things" in life.  We usually want "big things in our lives". We want that top job, mansion, luxurious new sports car. We want to be recognized and considered successful in life. We are taught in life that in order to succeed, we need to achieve something greater than others. We need to be 'better" than just average. I think that the idea that you need to be better is a good one. However, do not measure success based on the lives of other people. We love to compare our lives to others and sometimes think "why cant i be like so and so? why cant i have his or her life?" This is a very wrong way of thinking indeed. No one's life is perfect no matter how much money they have, or  power or good looks or fame. The irony of life is the people we are envious of are actually envious of your life too. We cannot all have the same lives no matter how much we want to nor should we be envious o...

In our world today, there are so many cases of detachment from the people we live or work with, even in our own families. I work in the travel industry and visa regulations change frequently. Last week i was reading the visa regulations for certain countries. If you had recently traveled to Liberia or sierra Leone, you would be refused  entry into some of these countries. Some people even suggested closing the borders of those countries entirely. We tend to see the problems of others as not directly affecting us. What a world we live in today! We should be ashamed of ourselves because this Ebola crisis in west Africa and other crises have brought out the worst in us. Over 4500 people have died in west Africa as the world looks on. It is just heartbreaking to think that we have ignored our brothers and sisters to die in unimaginable pain and squalor.  Many children are now orphaned and the entire health structure is too strained to handle other health problems like malari...

Oh to be young and innocent again! Children are so innocent and sweet, so pure especially when they are still very young. They are a treasure and a joy whose innocence should be protected at all costs. Some one once told me that when he got home, his child came running to hug him and ask how his day was. Very touching indeed! Some people especially in our modern era, decide not to have children, including married couples. Some people abort(murder) their own children because they "are not ready." Some people abandon their children and disown them as if they didn't exist. Some people even give the reason of the cruel and harsh world we live in as an excuse not to have them. All these reasons cannot justify the destruction of innocents(children). Even by our own selfish actions as adults for example through abortion, through broken families, through rejection of responsibility, we cause sometimes irreparable damage to children. We sometimes force them to grow up so ...

The month of November is traditionally dedicated to the souls of the departed. In the homily the priest gave in my local church last Sunday, he said that especially in Africa, we usually forget our dead relatives and friends after the burial. This is kind of ironic because in traditional African culture, the dead were revered and honored.  Of course in some ways this practice was misguided as in the worship of ancestral spirits which is occultist, we need to honor and remember our dearly departed ones. We always love to comfort those who have lost heir loved ones by telling them "they are in a better place, they are at peace". But are they really? Some people have dreams and shall i say "visions" about their departed loved ones or other people. I believe when this happens, that soul is restless and searching for peace on the other side.  Try to find out what the soul wants from you and pray about it. Also pray for that soul to rest. However please note that ...

I do not know so much about yoga but it is not just a form of exercise. It is a form of meditation and spirituality too! I tread cautiously when it comes to the practice as it seems to me to be part of the new age disguised as good but maybe associated with evil or the occult. I have just been reading about a lady who used to practice yoga but stopped after a disturbing experience. She says that during "shavasana" (often employed at the end of a yoga session), she had the sensation of coming up to an abyss, a sense of nothingness and being invited to jump into it. She also said that gradually she begun to feel like her mind was being hypnotized and manipulated to believe in the ideas she was being fed by her yoga teacher. She wondered if she would be able to distinguish truth from lies if she continued. This is very disturbing indeed and they are many other accounts of disturbing experiences with yoga. Like i said earlier in my post about witchcraft, people these ...

All hallows eve or Halloween has become a popular festival in out times. I personally do not celebrate Halloween as i see it as an excuse for women to dress indecently and generally for debauchery and lewd behavior.  But the most important reason why i do not celebrate it is because of its connection to witchcraft or the occult. Traditionally all hallows eve, the day before all souls day (01 Nov) is supposed to be a day for us to remember all the dead and pray for them to rest in eternal peace which is actually a beautiful thing. However, people have turned it into a celebration of darkness and supposedly mocking evil spirits and darkness. Our obsession with darkness these days has people dressing up and all manner of evil beings such as vampires, demons, warlocks including the children! I previously discussed about foolish curiosity in the occult and one of the ways to invite evil into your life is through this kind of foolish naivety. Why should you celebrate a festiv...

I believe that we were all created from an incomprehensible love, a beautiful, wonderful love, that is God.  Conception is achieved through an act of love or at least it should be!  We were created from love and to love. So why is it so hard for us to love one another? Even our own family? Yesterday i was reading about a brave young lady in west africa who nursed her family back to health in the face of the ebola epidemic. I should like to add brave and full of love! She did not even have protective gear but made use of polythene materials and two sets of gloves. She helped nurse, her mother, sister and father back to health. It is unfortunate that she was unable to nurse her little teenage cousin back to health as he is the one who died. She did not contract the disease and i believe love saved her! How many of us would risk our lives even for our families? In Iraq, this so called ISIS has murdered innocents in the name of religion. Children are so innocent and i canno...

Some people especially young ("and i have to add foolish") dabble in the occult. Some people think its fun or just a joke but before you make such a grave mistake, you need to think twice about who or what you are inviting into your life. Participating in seances to contact spirits is a very foolish thing indeed. First of all, who told you that the living should be in communication with the dead? As fascinating as it seems to talk to our dear ones or people who have died, we need to tread carefully when dealing with things we do not understand. There is also this fascination with "Wicca" (still sorcery and witchcraft) as a means to commune with nature. Whichever way u choose to think of it, Wicca is witchcraft just under a new term. There are no such things as good witches so do not be so naive. Sorcery and witchcraft is inherently evil. Once you open the door to it, the Devil or evil spirits will latch on to you and your life and they will put up one hell of ...

I love Jennifer Lopez's song "what is love?" I do not know if it was written based on her experience of love in her life. I will assume that every normal human being searches for love in their lives. I think its a part of who we are and makes us human. But today it is such a cliche when someone says i love you! Does the person saying those words actually know what it means to love someone? In the context of romantic relationships, people love to be in love. They love having someone say i love you. But do we really understand what it means to love someone else? I have heard it said somewhere that before you love someone, you have to love yourself! Hmmmmmmn. I am not talking about vain self love but you need to love who you are and the way you treat yourself will give you a good idea of what it means to love someone else. I do no thunk there is anyone who wants bad things for themselves or treats their bodies badly! But i also think that to love someone needs some sac...

I know a lot of people are growing up in broken families or homes today but it is not right.  Call me traditional if you like but i believe that the best way to raise children into normal healthy adults is to bring them up in a stable home with both mother and father together! In some situations like death of a partner, it is understandable or in cases where parents are separated by work or long distance but its not ideal for the children. Relationships are never easy and you have to be prepared to do the work. Some people decide to stay in their relationships especially for the sake of their children when things do not turn out the way they hoped. While i think that is admirable, it is not entirely right. I read somewhere that people usually go into a relationship with so many expectations. ("what can i get from the other person?) People expect the other person to make them happy and care for them unconditionally and they just want to take and take without giving. Your rela...

Yesterday as i was being driven from home to work, i witnessed some drama. The driver seemed to be in a bad mood because he got in an argument with another driver and he even got angry with us the passengers for telling him to get a move on. We all have good days and bad days. Days when we just want to be left alone in peace, days when we woke up on the wrong side of the bed, when we are having problems at work or home or both. There is a saying that goes smile and you will be happy or something like that. ("sound like being a fake person"). I think you don't always have to be cheery and fake happiness. But i also think if you are in a bad mood or experiencing some things that make you unhappy or angry, calm down and take a minute. Do not put on a glum look and start fights with everyone you meet! Being glum is only acceptable when you are grieving and even then you have to find something to be happy about. Life is too short to be glum! If you look for things ...

I was listening to one of the radio shows today morning and one of the presenters was of the opinion that we should legalize abortion in Uganda because some women are putting themselves in danger by conducting unsafe abortions. He said that sometimes women are not ready to have children and so they should have a choice which would be abortion. There are some circumstances in life like rape and incest which honestly i do not have an answer for on how to continue with a pregnancy borne from such difficult situations. It is a tragedy. There are even pregnancies which put the life of the mother at risk. I also do not have an answer for that. However the argument that a woman is not ready to have a child or it does not fit into her plans at the moment, i am completely unsympathetic to. How selfish we are! Even animals do every thing to care for and protect their young, even from predators who may be stronger than them. But not us! we must first be "ready" whatever that...

Monday was the feast of the archangels Micheal, Raphael and Gabriel. Some of you may not believe in angels but each and every one of us has a companion beside us "to light and guard, to rule and guide"! In our moments of great difficulty and suffering and even in our moments of joy, remember to think of your guardian angel and call on him.(''angels are pure spirits and do not have a gender but i think of them as he") In these dark times, where a satanic mass is being planned in Oklahoma led by a self proclaimed Devil Worshiper(Adam Daniels). Rituals will include spitting and stomping on a wafer representing a consecrated host , denouncing Jesus Christ and casting the Holy Spirit out of a person.  Can you believe the audacity of these people? All i can say is that they are lucky i am not God because i would have reduced them to cinders by now if i was! I implore all Christians to call on St. Micheal the archangel, defender of the Church and leader of God...

Some people do not believe in God as the Supreme being and author of all life and creation. Honestly, i do not understand how people can see the world and all its beauty and mystery and still not believe in God. A lot of people take God's name in vain these days. Some people even joke about it and use God's name to swear! And worst of all, some of these people are actually Christians! We need to remember that one of God's commandments is "You shall not take the Lord's name in Vain". God's name is most Holy and should not be used in idle talk and swearing or jokes. We are calling down God's wrath and justice on us when we disrespect his Holy name.Another way we disrespect God is by working on Sunday. God gave us all the other days in the week to work but Sunday is a day of rest, of worship and thanksgiving to God. God is merciful but he is also just and if we do not turn to him and have recourse to his mercy, we will not escape his justice!

I just have to say that i am proud to be Roman Catholic! With the recent synod of catholic bishops approaching, there has been a lot of speculation by the media about changes within the church such as allowing re-married Catholics to receive communion. In this changing world, some people are expectant that the church will change as well. However the Roman Catholic church will not change its stance on certain issues like abortion, divorce, homosexuality, fornication and holy communion just to suit us. People may say that the church is rigid and conservative but the church is not going to dilute our faith for cheap popularity! This church founded by Christ himself has remained firm in its standards of morality and spiritual guidance on the way its members should live their lives! We will not change just so that we can make you feel good about yourself when you know you are doing something wrong. Jesus said the church he built will prevail and nothing will destroy what he has bui...

Its a sad title i know but who am i kidding? The World we live in is broken, shattered by our own selfish actions. I have been following the news about the outbreak of ebola in west africa and the stories are truly heartbreaking. The Governments who could have put a stop to this earlier are just waking up now to the terrible reality it has become. (probably because a few white people caught the virus). We should be ashamed of ourselves! How can we sleep soundly at night knowing that somewhere out there someone is dying in thier own blood and excrement, withour any help or hope of help? I was recently also reading about the torrential rains in asia which are causing flooding and death to thousands of people afflicted in the region not to mention terrible earth quakes. Sounds very apocalyptic right? Some people do not believe in God but i do! I believe we are now suffering greatly because of our false belief that Science is our God and everything can be achieved through scientific ...