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...