Faith and Life Blog

I am sure you have often heard the phrase 'comfort zone', but what does it mean? According to the Cambridge Dictionary, a comfort zone is  a  situation  in which you  feel   comfortable  and in   which  your   ability  and  determination  are not being  tested . A Google search returned the following definitions:         1.  A  settled working method that requires little effort and yields only barely                     acceptable results.          2.  A situation where one feels safe or at ease.   Having established a comfort zone, I am sure we can all identify with this state. In fact, it is a place where most of us like to be. It is a place of ease, where little effort is required. It's life on Easy Street. I borrow a few lines from the theme song from the old TV comedy of the same name: I love to li...

  Recently, I went to the Inland Revenue Department (Tax Office) to conduct business. I arrived at about 8:15 a.m. and joined the line, anticipating the 8:30 a.m. opening. The sun was already brutally hot, and I wondered if the powers that be had ever thought of covering the entire waiting area, so that clients could be a little more comfortable while waiting. I had totally forgotten that it was a common practice for some public sector workers to be given a ‘bligh’ at the Tax Office, once they showed their work identification. I went anticipating a long wait, so I brought a book to read in order to make pass the time profitably. As I stood in the line, I saw someone with a familiar face and a huge smile approaching me. I smiled back, but for the life of me could not remember who she was or where we had met. I had seen her twice before at the Tax Office and realized that she was an employee but did not get a chance to speak to her. Now here she was standing in front of me – The thir...

  I was not the best student of Economics in high school, but there is one principle from the subject that has remained stuck in my head over all these years – the law of diminishing returns. In layman’s terms, this law states that after a certain point, further investment or effort does not increase your output or expected return. It can, in fact, reduce it. In comparison to us as humans, when you spent time engaged in a task, you are expending effort. After a while, you get tired. The natural thing is to take a break, however, maybe because of a pressing deadline or some other factor, you continue to push, tired as you are. The more tired you become, the less you concentrate. You lose focus and so the quality of the output is less than desired. The law of diminishing returns set in and so the extra time spent after reaching your peak were wasted as you failed to achieve your intended target. Simply put, the more tired you are, the less you produce. The solution? Take a br...

  Many of us struggle to slow down and take time out for ourselves in today's fast-paced world. With the never-ending demands of family, career, church and community involvement we end up exhausted, as walking zombies. The busyness starts as soon as we wake up and before we know it the day is over. It seems that  there needs to be more hours in the day to do all the tasks we have to do. The day ends we go to bed and repeat the cycle the next day. Is that the ideal way to live? Certainly not. In all the busyness of life, we must remember to stop and take time for ourselves.  I am reminded of the words of a chorus which says that our body is the temple of God and needs the greatest care.  As such, we care for it to the best of our ability. We must take proper care of ourselves so that we can be in the best place to take care of others. You can't pour from an empty cup therefore it is your duty to be at your best so that you can be a blessing to others.  When ...

Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. Matthew 5:16. After the passage of Hurricane Beryl in Jamaica, there was a video in circulation which highlighted a woman singing the first verse and chorus from the song, Send the Light which reads thus: There's a call comes ringing o'er the restless waves Send the light, send the light There are souls to rescue There are souls to save Send the light, send the light Chorus Send the light, the blessed gospel light Let it shine from shore to shore Send the light and let its radiant beams light the world forevermore This video provided much comic relief in terms of the unusual delivery, with the singer doubling up as a musical instrument.  The video went viral as an appeal to the Jamaica Public Service (JPS) to expedite the process of restoring electricity to thousands of customers who were left in the darkness without electricity for weeks. Humour aside, the message of the or...

  Yet you, Lord are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter. We are all the work of your hand. Isaiah 64:8 If we are spiritually discerning, our eyes, hearts and minds will be enlightened to see the important lessons unearthed from last week's devotional. I will share three such lessons with you, hoping you will spend some time meditating on them and apply the nuggets gained from them to your life. 1. Be rightly positioned In order to receive the blessings that God has for us, we must be rightly positioned. We must be in the right place at the right time. We must be rightly aligned to receive from him. Had I been elsewhere, I would not have heard that artisan as he passed by, shouting out the services that He offered. I would not have been in a place to take advantage of the offer. 2. Seize the moment It is said that opportunity knocks only once in any season. You never know if or when you will get another opportunity to do the things that you want to do, so when an opportu...

  Yet you, Lord are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter. We are all the work of your hand. Isaiah 64:8 God continues to impart valuable spiritual lessons through seemingly mundane and pedestrian events of  life. Saturday, July 13, 2024, was one such event when he showed up and showed off, reminding me that He loves me and is aware of even the simple things that others might just shrug off, thinking that is too trivial to even mention to Him.  A few weeks prior, I decided to clean my fan. I removed the outer covering but struggled to replace it as it differed significantly from other fans. Instead of latches or hooks placed at points around the rim, there was one central point held together by a single screw. I did not have a screwdriver, so it was a difficult task as I had to proverbially 'tun mi han'. I had no such luck when I tried to replace it as I would have needed an extra pair of hands to hold it in place while I adjusted the screw. The next best option...