Editorial - May 2020 - Housefinder Magazine
Nou die dag kom my jongste dogter na my toe. “Mamma sal nie glo wat lees ek in Prediker 3 nie! ‘Elke ding het sy tyd soos God dit bepaal. Alles het sy bepaalde uur, en vir elke saak onder die hemel is daar ’n tyd: ’n tyd om gebore te word en ’n tyd om te sterwe, ’n tyd om te plant en ’n tyd om uit te roei wat geplant is….’ en dan: ‘’n tyd om te omhels en ’n tyd om ver te wees van omhelsing...’ ”. Hoe letterlik het hierdie woord nie nou vir almal in die wêreld geword nie! Daarmee saam kom die onsekerheid. Is die virus dan ooit rêrig so aktief in Namibië… en indien wel… wat is die WARE getalle? Maar sekerlik die grootste vraag - en dit wat die meeste onsekerheid meebring: Hoe gaan ons die ekonomiese impak hiervan hanteer en positief oorbrug? Hoe staan ‘n land op ná weke van zero produksie?
Dat iets so klein, wat die blote oog nie kan sien nie, nou letterlik die mat so onder ons voete kan uitruk! Ja, ons kan beslis hierdie tyd positief gebruik om weer nader aan mekaar te kom, kreatiewe projekte aan te pak en onvoltooide huistakies af te handel, maar ons staan ook nou voor meer toetse as ooit tevore. My gebed is dit: Dat regerings- en besigheidsleiers Wysheid sal ontvang in alle keuses nou en ná die tyd van inperking om die regte besluite te kan neem – besluite wat myns insiens wyd kring en alreeds baie lewens ten diepste beïnvloed.
The other day my youngest daughter came up to me. “Mom, you won’t believe what I have just read. Listen to this from Ecclesiastes 3! ‘God determines the season for everything. There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot’. And then it says: ‘a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing…’ ”. It’s uncanny how this word is literally playing out in our lives right now. We are stunned, and uncertainty is not far behind. Is this Coronavirus really active in Namibia after all, and if so, what are the TRUE statistics? And the most important question of all, the one surrounded by question marks: How are we going to manage the economic impact and overcome this period positively? How does a country rise again after weeks of zero productivity?
It’s weird to imagine that something so small, that one cannot even see, is able to rip the seams from our very lives. Yes, we can definitely use our time wisely to bond together, immerse ourselves in creative projects or complete household chores that are normally neglected, but we are also facing more tests now than ever before. I pray that government and business leaders will be granted Wisdom for all their current decisions and those to be taken after lockdown – resolutions that already reverberate widely and deeply, affecting all aspects of the lives of so many.
Keep in mind: ”Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you.” (Deuteronomy 31:6-8) (NIV).
To go a-sailing on the billows. We took a saw and several nails,
And Tom said, “Let us also take An apple and a slice of cake”