Eden Myrrh Toohey, Author at 1Africa

In search of justice and redemption

Culture
Film

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July 8, 2016

In the 2016 film Race, actor Stephan James portrays Jesse Owens, a black athlete who won four gold medals at the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games just before World War II started. Owens, who was born in 1913 and lived through the Great Migration – where 1.5 million African-Americans left the segregated South in a search for a better life in the North – died from cancer in 1980 without recognition of his achievements from his president, Franklin D. Roosevelt. Roosevelt slighted him because of his colour, just like the German dictator Adolf Hitler did. Hitler wanted to use the games to establish the acceptability of his views of the superior Arian race and was affronted as 6 of the 11 medals won by the Americans were triumphed by black people that year.

Apart from certain script and dialogue drawbacks, the story is a strong one. The characters do well to show the ethically conflicting nature of politics at the time.

A lot of anger rose up in me whilst watching the film, and when reading about Owen’s life afterwards. Although every person involved in Owen’s life during that time were pioneers in their own right, taking enormous strides against racism through “defining moments that helped to encourage a change in the cultural landscape” (in the words of the New York Times), I wake up today to see that not much has changed.

It’s hard to know what to say in times like these.

War, killings, and violence in unspeakable forms shine a maddening light on the true state of our souls. Yes, that’s right, all of us… all of us need one thing:

Redemption (n.)

… An improvement, exchange ~ some sort of salvation for our souls…

Baghdad, Syria, America, Africa, and all of Europe – we desperately need a Saviour.

And in the meantime, let’s work together to fix the broken bones that our body has (in the form of the Black Lives Matter and Women Matter movements, for example!).

I’ve long dreamt and prayed prayers (even as a black person) to make things like this go away quickly without ruffling too many feathers, and have just recently dealt (Praise God!) with a life full of self-hate because of my colour – a recovering racist, dealing with racism against my own kind. I’ve long thought that the cries of my people were a slight irritation, and like flies, I’ve wanted to swat away my responsibility, not wanting to be associated with that kind of cyclical pain.

Healing took place when I admitted my bitterness and anger to God, making moves to be involved in the upliftment of all that I saw (see) was broken.

I love that the Bible chooses to make mention that Jesus knows each of our names (Matthew 10:30); he knows every one of our cries. So, while we’re saying the names of those who’ve died unreasonable deaths, lets remember that our father loves justice, and loves to see that each one of the ones that he loves is loved! We are exonerated because the Father says so… I only pray that each person would see that.

The oppressors have pushed others down for way too long without a valid reason except their own pride, and the oppressed fight back (as is expected) in ways that, sometimes, invalidate their cause.

What work needs to be done so that each and every person is able to see and feel that they are truly loved by God and given a fair chance? A lot of work. In my view, it starts with first accepting Jesus, and changing our worldview – unfastening what we’ve been fed and taught by society at large.

If you feel that you want to know more about what I’m talking about, won’t you please click the banner below?

3 commitments every single should make

Eden Myrrh Toohey

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July 4, 2016

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“Until we’re ready to fully commit to a relationship, we’ll never receive the full benefits of a relationship. Commitment precedes blessing.” – BJ Thompson (@bj116)

As a single you get hit by a barrage of situations every day and you need to know how to deal. Examples include but are not limited to: The baby announcements (they’re on number two and you’re on number don’t-even-have-a-boyfriend-yet); engagement announcements; the occasional, “ah, she’s a big girl now – she’s married,” from the mums or aunties, implying that you – no matter what age – are not grown because you aren’t married; loss of potential friendships because of the lack of boundaries in their relationship; the “stop-pretending-you’re-a-boy” when you have to drive out and about late because of work and don’t really want anyone to accompany you because you’re a ninja…and more.

Moping about my plight and the plight of my fellow compatriots would be fun if I didn’t have a life, and internet dating was my only option. But I do have a life – so do my lovely friends, and internet dating is an excluded option (there are stories there, but not for today).

The opening quote is a tweet from one of my most favourite godly-advice giving people to follow at the moment, BJ Thompson. I know for a fact, because of the thread (of tweets preceding), that Thompson didn’t direct the tweet to singles, but I’m taking it for singles because I feel that it applies: Commitment precedes blessing.

Commitment to God

Jesus first: I find it hard to believe that one would be able to walk into the right relationship without a commitment to God first – even before a commitment to yourself. Chasing after God is a lifetime pursuit, and there’s no way to move forward if that relationship is not in place first.

Living for God, loving people: Moving beyond your feelings, selfishness, and insecurities will take you to a place where God can not only grow you, but also teach you about yourself. This happens quickly when you’re serving other people. Let me tell you, being actively involved in the life of my church has been the cure for many stupid ideologies that I began to form on my own.

Commitment to yourself

Combat boredom; it makes you do stupid things: As a kid, I learnt very quickly never to say that I was bored around my parents. Saying you were bored was one of the surest, quickest ways to get a hiding, and so I learnt to be okay with entertaining myself. On some holidays I picked up a bow and arrow that my dad had made me; on others, a book. I can’t remember ever feeling bored all through my teenage or adult life. Bored people (singles) make stupid mistakes, and can mistake the aching need to know themselves as the aching need to constantly have someone around.

Educate yourself: Do it. Get that qualification; get them all – because you won’t be able to do any of that when you have to focus on a whole lot of other people! I learnt from my parents who have a “don’t-go-five-years-without-improving-yourself” policy. You’re never going to get this time back!

Connect with others: Find yourself a mentor. And find yourself some honest friends who are also going to say the stuff you don’t want to hear.

Commitment to family

The sanity of family: I’m the biggest family advocate. I remember a few years ago meeting a friend who became someone I loved for a little while, who couldn’t understand why I did so much with my family, or why I even still live with my family. Family isn’t always sane but the sanity that family produces is worthwhile. If your biological family is super messed up, then that family could take on a different form (maybe family of friends). Read Psalm 68:6 for more.

These three commitments are super important because until we are able to fully commit to where God has us now, we’ll never be able to receive all the benefits of this season of being single (in a – hopefully – healthy relationship with yourself). Don’t worry about the Facebook and Instagram updates; put your head down and put your hands to the plough, because really, it’s not how long you’re waiting, it’s what you do while you’re waiting.

If you want to know a little bit more about the God that I keep on talking about, why don’t you go ahead and click on the banner below.

What gold can’t buy

Eden Myrrh Toohey

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July 1, 2016

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I recently had the displeasure of watching Gods of Egypt, with Gerard Butler in the role of Set, the merciless god of darkness who takes Egypt’s throne from his brother and causes chaos where there was once prosperity and peace.

In the hopes of not only saving the world, but also rescuing his true love, an insubordinate and passionate mortal named Bek (Breton Thwaites) forms a very unlikely alliance with the powerful god Horus (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau). And blah blah blah. The reviews were terrible, but I’m not one to listen to reviews, and while there have been times where I’ve scored, this time, I suffered.

* SPOILER ALERT (well, not so much)…

Throughout the movie it was highlighted that without gold or riches, men and women didn’t have a chance at any kind of happiness in the afterlife – it didn’t matter if they were good people at all. That made me incessantly sad, because although the film might have been the worst of bad fantasy, there are really people who believe this.

Now I know that gaping holes and unquenched thirst are all of the things that I’ve felt inside me at different times in my life in my search for some kind of wholeness. Why? Because all of us humans have a fundamental need, something that’s very basic that’s missing from who we are – the God Factor. We were all made to live successfully, at peace with God and with ourselves, but we know the story… Adam and Eve chose to do their own thing after being enticed by Satan’s offer to them to become wiser and as powerful as God himself – because I guess that’s quite an alluring proposal.

Soon after the whole thing they quickly realised that they had sinned and that they weren’t going to be able to enjoy the relationship with God that they had before. They were excluded from intimacy with God. But, through Jesus, God the Father made provision for us to enter into that sort of relationship again. Paying the price that each person on earth should have paid, Jesus Christ endures loneliness and separation from God so that we can live in close relationship with him.

It is actually extraordinary if you really think about it (and unheard of in any Egyptian belief) that any god would ever talk to humans, let alone come down to earth, live amongst them, and then die so that no price would ever have to be paid again because he wanted an eternally great relationship with them… if they chose to do so.

It blows my mind.

Not only do we get relationship with God, but there are precious promises that are handed out to us at leisure, that we can choose to believe and take a hold of, and see fulfilled in our lives. All we need to do is choose God, change our direction (changing from serving self-will to serving God and His will), put our confidence in God, and make the commitment to Him, acknowledging his hand in our lives and believing his words.

It’s not too hard. If you would like to know more about what I’ve just said, why don’t you go ahead and click on the banner below?

You won’t make it alone

Eden Myrrh Toohey

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June 27, 2016

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I’ve been keeping a close eye on South African band Beatenberg since, well… forever – since the day my cousin sat me down in the room and played Chelsea Blakemore and said: “These guys are going to be big”.

They’ve since toured around the world, recently appearing on US hit shows like The Tonight Show, where they performed Wona, a single that is a collaborative effort with their “unofficial” mentors, the world folk phenomenon Mumford & Sons. Without Mumford, they would have taken a lonnnnnng time to find themselves on those platforms.

Which brings me back to the first time I met my cousin in person: I rushed to get to the Domestic Arrivals gate at the airport and waited eagerly. I desperately hoped that she looked like her Facebook pictures and that she wasn’t hard to talk to, because a bad conversationalist is a drag.

She’d come down to Cape Town for a holiday internship at a big law firm in the city in the hopes that she would be accepted to do her articles there after her fourth year at university. We clicked immediately, bonded over the weekend, and I found myself driving her to her first day, explaining why it was still so dark at 6:30 am in Cape Town. She loved the Mother City, but this would take some getting used to, she said.

After dropping her off I received a voice note from another friend currently experiencing an unusual type of internship – “She made me feel like she wanted me to be there,” she said, updating me on a performance she had recently had alongside her (literally, world-famous) mentor from whom she’s been gleaning as much as she can.

Now, I’m “waker” (awake) enough to know when God is trying to say something to me – and it’s been this: everyone needs a father, and that father (male or female) is going to open doors for us that we could never open for ourselves. Whoever we are, wherever we are, every one of us needs to go through an “internship” period that could very honestly last our whole lives.

I feel that a lot of the problems in our society are not only rooted in fatherlessness, but also the lack of mentors (natural and spiritual), and the subsequent lack of desire to be directed by a mentor – because of the time that you feel that you are wasting focusing on your mentor’s vision rather than your own.

Director Nancy Meyers’ 2015 film The Intern is a beautiful picture (and quite frankly one of my favourite 2015-2016 films) highlighting the fact that experience never gets old. The world may have changed; things may have gotten faster; technology may be ruling us; we may not even have to use phonebooks anymore or learn our best friend’s home phone number anymore; but all of that can never replace the wisdom and safety that is found in someone who has gone before us.

In 99U’s recent article This Is Why Don’t Have A Mentor, writer Ryan Holiday hands out some important points to have in your arsenal so you don’t have to go it alone:

Finding a mentor (or father) is an ongoing process where there is no place for egos;
Students in a hurry end up taking even longer to learn what is right in front of them;
Mentorship is something you do, not something that you get – it’s a relationship, a process, and not an accomplishment;
Give as much as you’re going to get;
Excuses about your personal life are irrelevant, and they aren’t going to fly. If you get asked to do something, do it the way that it was asked. Work hard to be well adjusted and dependable so that you don’t mess up the opportunity.

In the Bible, there are plenty of examples of people who sought the mentorship of others. The prophet Elisha went through a demanding internship period with his mentor Elijah, who, when God took him away, left Elisha with double the capability that he had. Samuel had the priest Eli whom he lived with in the temple because his mom left him there as a gift to God from the time he was a small boy. Jesus was trained by his parents for 30 years (yes, if you’re wise you’ll use your life at home before marriage as a great, big internship!). Jesus also took all of his disciples on a three year internship program before having to leave them too!

Your insistence to be totally independent without help from anyone else could be hampering your growth. You don’t need to worry because there are different sorts of fathers/mentors for people of different sorts – so your one is out there (if you haven’t already found one). A father gives rise to the seed of greatness inside of you! It was Father’s Day recently and a hard experience for some people who’ve lost theirs, but I want to tell you today, before you go looking for a mentor or father in the natural, that Jesus wants to father you! If you want to know a little bit more about what I just said, I encourage you to click on the banner below!

Brexit: Why you don’t have to panic

Eden Myrrh Toohey

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June 24, 2016

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“Let June 23 go down in history as our Independence Day.” So says Nigel Farage, leader of the Eurosceptic UK Independence party, who is a happy man after Britain voted to be removed from the European Union in the country’s much-discussed Brexit referendum.

At the time of publication, the results stood at 51.8% against 41.2% of the British population in favour of leaving. A predictably messy divorce from the European Union, the biggest blow to European unity since the end of World War Two, obviously brought with it some turmoil. The pound plunged more than 10% against the US dollar, its biggest one-day fall in history, reaching levels last seen in 1985. At the same time, the euro dropped more than 3% to the dollar because of concerns about economic and political damage to the world’s biggest trade bloc, stripped of its second largest economy.

In the meantime, despite his lost campaign to keep Britain a part of the EU, British prime minister David Cameron says that he will stay in power, and not step down.

“We’re in uncharted territory. Everyone’s just really tired. They haven’t slept,” an aide working in Cameron’s office told reporters.

Peace in the turmoil

So many things are going on in the world right now that we can’t understand; decisions that are way out of our hands.

But here’s the good news: Jesus promises to give peace and hope in these circumstances.

“My peace is the legacy I leave to you. I don’t give gifts like those of this world. Do not let your heart be troubled or fearful.” (John 14:27)

“I have told you these things so that you will be whole and at peace. In this world, you will be plagued with times of trouble, but you need not fear; I have triumphed over this corrupt world order.” (John 16:33)

Peace is a gift for those who believe in Jesus Christ, and know that even though their believe in Christ doesn’t take then away from their circumstances it can change the way they see and respond to them.

If you feel like you’re struggling to make sense of all the change around you, and you don’t have peace, why don’t you click on the banner below? We’d love to help and encourage you!

Before the web knew you…

Eden Myrrh Toohey

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June 20, 2016

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$8,71 Million. That’s the figure that US mobile transactions topped last year – with a foreseeable 210% increase in 2016 on the cards!

This means brands are starting to rethink the whole shopping experience – and backing these decisions financially. Apps are now seen as a new type of “mobile storefront” for brands because of their increased speed and convenience – so much so that brands will do anything to get their users through the figurative door of their new mobile storefronts.

Instant gratification and social interaction are the driving force for these apps, that are reminiscent of the personal shoppers that high-end department stores provide, informed by the data that is collected about shoppers from each click and browse.

Knowledge management – the currency of today

In today’s world, brands are seeking not only to build lasting relationships with their customers, but to create tailored experiences to suit their needs – and through all our loyalty cards they get to understand a little more about us.

I love loyalty cards! I have one for all the stores I do my shopping at, especially my favourite coffee shops. The data that is collected by these stores is very often used to tailor our shopping experiences – for example, if you’re always buying pork chops at Pick ‘n Pay, Pick ‘n Pay will start sending you text messages about the specials they have on pork chops. Today, the more you know about your customer, the more you have the upper hand. But here’s the thing: in order for the company to know anything about you, you have to shop with them, thus the drive to make the app (online) experience as seamless and as enjoyable as possible.

“Jesus: Drink this water, and your thirst is quenched only for a moment. You must return to this well again and again. I offer water that will become a well spring within you that gives life throughout eternity. You will never be thirsty again.

Woman: Please sir, give me some of this water, so I’ll never be thirsty and have to make this trip to this well.

Jesus: Then bring your husband to me…

Woman: I do not have a husband.

Jesus: Technically you are telling the truth. But you have had five husbands and are currently living with a man you are not married to… Believe this: a new day is coming – in fact, it’s already here- when the importance will not be placed on the time and place of worship but on the true hearts of worshippers… The Father is spirit, and He is seeking followers whose worship is sourced in truth and deeply spiritual as well. Regardless of whether you are in Jerusalem or on this mountain, if you do not seek the Father, then you do not worship…

… The woman went back to the town, leaving her water pot behind. She stopped men and women on the streets and told them about what happened.

Woman: I met a stranger who knew everything about me. Come and see for yourselves; can He be the Anointed?” – John 4:10-30

Before apps; before the internet; before marketing gurus decided that the customer was going to be king, there was someone who was driven to get to know you and me – Jesus. We can open His book, the Bible, or even just our hearts to experience him anywhere at any time. As much as we think we need to spend time with Jesus for him to really know us, it’s actually us who have to spend time with him to really get to know him. He already has more data than any app could store on each of us, because he loves each of us like crazy, and yet we still choose to find satisfaction in other people and other things.

If you want to know about Jesus, this man who desires a relationship with you and knows everything about you, why don’t you click on the banner below?

How to overcome temptation

Eden Myrrh Toohey

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June 17, 2016

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Over the last year or so, I’ve seen a large amount of “strange stuff” being preached online and all around me by my contemporaries – and even by others that I may have looked up to. Whilst I, of all people, believe that God redeems everything, and that people are allowed free speech, I also have the freedom to cut off that voice in my life.

Sometimes in a desperate aim to love and be tolerant we can allow ourselves to slip from being actual channels of peace and lighthouses of redemption because we attempt to do it all in our own strength and understanding, wanting never to speak the truth but always to appease people’s feelings, rather than fully relying on God when it comes to this matter and always speaking his truth!

Here’s some good words on the matter from an amazing teaching – they have been slightly adapted:

It’s not a secret that since the beginning of time, Satan has had one chief goal: separate men and women from the love and care of God the Father. To achieve this goal, Satan uses temptation to entice people to disobey God and fall into the bondage of sin and unbelief. This is what he did with Eve in the Garden of Eden (Gen. 3:1).

Satan is our enemy, and we must learn how to overcome his temptations. Although the Bible calls Satan the god of this world, God has given us authority over him (you can read about it in Luke 10:19), and we can defeat him and be victorious over him because of the authority won by Jesus’ death on the cross.

Temptation is like a fishing lure. To the fish, the lure looks like food, apparently good and desirable (a little like a McDonald’s mini cheese burger!) Satan uses the same technique on us. He uses three areas of temptation to try to lure us away from God: the “lust of the flesh,” the “lust of the eyes,” and the “pride of life.”

When the Bible talks about the “flesh,” it talks about all those desires and attitudes that oppose what God wants for us. Scripture places these in one of the following three categories:

First are uncontrolled sexual appetites.
Next are rebellion and false religion.
Then follow hatred and envy.

We need to focus on developing Godly character (the Bible talks about this as developing the “fruit of the Spirit”) and we need to “put the flesh to death” by giving Jesus control of our lives. Satan also tempted Jesus in this way, but Jesus overcame him by standing firm on the Word of God – the Bible.

The lust of the eyes operates in a more subtle way and includes pleasures that gratify the sight and the mind. In the days of the apostle John, the Greeks and Romans lived for entertainment and activities that excited the eyes. Times have not changed very much! Regarding the dominance of television and social media in our society, perhaps every Christian’s prayer ought to be “Turn away my eyes from looking at vanity” (Psalm 119:37).

In one of the best known stories of the Bible, David committed adultery with Bathsheba because he gave in to the “lust of the eyes”. He saw her, and wanted her. From that point on, he slid ever deeper into the quagmire of sin and finally ended up committing murder. Remember: Sin will always take you further than you intended to go, keep you longer than you intended to stay, and cost you more than you intended to pay

Finally, pride: People have always tried to outdo others in the way they live. The boastful pride of life motivates much of what such people do. The Bible is very clear when it warns against pride: It says pride will bring you to shame, and unchecked pride will eventually destroy you. Pride is the total opposite of how Jesus was.

But here’s the good news: Jesus told us that we could pray not to be led into temptation. Every time Jesus was confronted with temptation, he quoted the Bible. You don’t have to deal with temptation alone: You can do it in the strength that God gives you, and through his Word (the Bible). In fact, in the last book of the Bible, Revelation, it says the following:

And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony” – Rev. 12:11

Temptation is a part of life that you cannot escape from. The fact that you are tempted to sin does not mean that you haven’t properly given your life to Jesus! It only means that you, like all people, still reside in a fallen world of sin and temptation. If this is something that you feel that you need help with, why don’t you click on the banner below!

A Good Father

Eden Myrrh Toohey

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June 13, 2016

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Former Voice USA contestant Christina Grimmie shot and killed at one of her concerts by a man who travelled from out of town just to commit the act in Florida, USA because of an insane hatred of her and her faith in Christ…

Stanford swimmer Brock Turner seemingly gets off clean after he was caught in the act of raping a fellow student…

The agency that sent South African firefighters to Edmonton, Canada to help fight fires, steals from them and pays them way below what the Canadian government is paying to have them there – thus pocketing the money for themselves…

50 killed and 53 injured after a shooter walked into a gay club in Orlando, Florida, making it the worst mass shooting in American history…

These are just a few of the headlines that we’ve been seeing over the last week or two – headlines that have been making people pretty angry and have led to more outspokenness about culture, race, and the inequality of the sexes.

As if there weren’t enough anger and hatred already, fuel was added to the fire by a lot of people hating on Christians – who, according to the assumption of some, think that the shooting at the gay club was an act of punishment by God because of the victims’ sin. While this may be the view of a few “Christians”, I cannot think that it is the view of the majority, who understand who the Father is! Consider these words by Christian artists Steffany Dawn and Amanda Cook about God’s character as a Father in one of their songs:

“Your love’s not fractured, It’s not a troubled mind, it isn’t anxious… it’s not the restless kind

Your love’s not passive, it’s never disengaged, it’s always present, and it hangs on every word we say

Love keeps its promises, it keeps its word, it honors what’s sacred ‘cause its vows are good

Your love’s not broken, it’s not insecure

Your love’s not selfish, your love is pure…”

I specifically love this song, because it doesn’t only talk about Father God, but it also shows the deep revelation that these women have of who Jesus is! This is who he has shown himself to be, to them! He is a good father – that’s just who he is regardless of what might happen in our lives, and, regardless of what we do or who we decide to be – we are loved by him (1 John 3:1).

We have a father in heaven…

a daddy who loves us (John 14:1-2)
a God who is strong enough to protect us (Matthew 6:26, Romans 8:15-16)
a God who is engaged enough to teach us (Matthew 18:12-14)
a God who is tender enough to hug us (Luke 6:35-36)
and a God who is alive enough to play with us!

This week I pray that Christians around the world would “tap into” who their Heavenly Father really is and ask to be a display of who He is, on earth. “Tapping into” could mean that you take a little more time than you would usually do, to ask God to reveal his nature to you and ask that he would help you display that to the people around you. A correct representation of the Father in our workplaces, schools, and online, will help ease some of the pain that the world is feeling at the moment.

The power of one

Eden Myrrh Toohey

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June 10, 2016

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“We must become the change that we want to see” – Mahatma Gandhi

I remember leaving the private Christian school that I had been in since Grade R to go to a Model C all-girls school in Grade 10.

I decided that if there was ever a time to be serious about Jesus, that it would be then, because there was no time for me to be lukewarm. It was the first time that I was going to be in the prolonged company of people who weren’t Christians, and I felt that I needed to step up my game and really represent Jesus – especially if I said that I was a follower of his.

The first thing I did was join the school’s Christian society, Girls For God. I went to all the prayer meetings and all the community meetings, but complained to my father about the way that they did things, finding it all a bit frustrating. I wanted there to be more action and I had many more plans on how to make the group more dynamic.

The first thing my father said to me was, “Well, if you want to change anything you’re going to have to get involved…”

And, that’s what I did. I ended up being the group leader. It was an amazing last two years of school – probably two of the best years of my schooling career: exciting, challenging, and stretching.

It was a key life lesson for me, and I didn’t know how much I would need it until I became a young adult and was put into situations that I couldn’t run from or bail out of.

Over the last few years I have been challenged in many ways to become the change I want to see. A lot of the time I want to see change but I’m too selfish to give up my comfort to become the change… I’d rather run away and not stay and invest any of my time in something that I don’t see changing anytime soon – keep clear of the healthy conflict and hassle, or just stay unattached. It’s bad.

But it’s also hard to become change in a world that is full of racism, sexism (where rapists get out scot-free – like in America right now, and men are taught how to beat their wives through television advertisements, like in Saudi Arabia), and a whole lot of other stuff.

Sometimes the problem looks so big that we would rather just walk away, because what can one person do about a whole world full of problems? One person.

At the same time, I remember singing Israel Houghton’s song The power of one so passionately when it first came out:

“What if it all depended on me to change the world, to change the world?

What if my only responsibility was to change the world, to change the world?

Let me be the one, to start a revolution…

Let me sing my song to the people of the world…

It all begins with one, the power of one

Joining the hundreds of millions of people believing in, one… the power of one…

Don’t hang around, stand up or sit down – and believe, we can change the world together…”

Thinking back now, I am challenged. As much as people without God can make a difference by using their voice, how much more can people with God raise their voice and make a difference!

When we as Christians employ all that we have in Christ as a child of God, we are not only employing one God, but the three-in-one, the Trinity!

I encourage you today, to be the change that you want to see, by employing the power of Jesus, God the Father, and The Holy Spirit in your life. By spending time with Jesus every day it’s crazy how we become smaller and how he becomes bigger.

So basically, the gift that Jesus gives is a gift that enables us to conquer the world that we live in. If we would only ask him for it!

SAMA22: The future is here

Eden Myrrh Toohey

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June 6, 2016

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On Saturday, a plethora of musicians, young and old, from different sides of the genre spectrum, got together to celebrate and be celebrated for their contribution to South African music at the 22^nd South African Music Awards (Samas).

The theme of the event was everything futuristic and the stars took great pains to exhibit their personal flair and the theme as tastefully as they possibly could.

I have been an avid Samas supporter for a few years, and it was only this year that I really enjoyed the two minute long “mash up” performances that we’ve become accustomed to. There were particularly interesting and standout collaborations from Petite Noir, The Muffinz, and Desmond & The Tutus; as well as Nathi and Karlien Van Jaarsveld (who did an excellent job singing in Xhosa! She displayed such passion!); and lastly, Benjamin Jeptha, Nduduzo, and Ricky Rick. The vision of bringing together all genres, cultures, and races is coming together – slowly!

Although onscreen lighting and, in some instances, sound was a dampener to the broadcast, nothing could dampen the moods of the show’s presenters, even the political hijacking that happened. Somizi and Thando Thabethe were the best we’ve had to date with a naturally exciting chemistry, and an extensively beautiful wardrobe. The two both have a fantastic sense of humour and bantered enjoyably (I laughed throughout the evening #WoooooShem), although I could have done without Kiernan Forbes and Bongang Matheba’s new relationship being written into the script (we’ve seen enough humiliating ranting from Kiernan over the past three weeks to last us a lifetime – we don’t need to feed that silliness).

Big winners on the night included:

Emtee (who got over 400 000 votes for Record of the Year! Such an achievement for a new artist);
Nathi (who told his amazing story of being an ex-con and making something of his life and dream. It’s no wonder he’s so loved – he has a voice like syrup and refuse to answer any of his interviewers in English! Xhosa speakers must have been proud!);
Black Coffee (honestly, one of my biggest South African music inspirations);
and Big Nuz (who also introduced a new female artist on the night – with some grooming and a good mentor, she has the potential to be great).

Artists like Tresor, Petite Noir, and the Dbn Nyts were interesting and exciting wins!

If we were awarding artists for their acceptance speeches, the top three would undeniably go to Desmond & The Tutus (if I could insert a crying/laughing emoticon here, I would), and Black Coffee’s manager, who accepted the last prize of the night for Black Coffee by saying, “Thanks, this is cool!” – a great break from what we’re used to as an acceptance speech, as well as a nice reality check for some of the younger, less seasoned artists. The last of the best acceptance speeches came from Tresor, who told of his journey that started eight years ago when he arrived in Durban, working as a car guard. What was particularly touching was his sober acknowledgement of God and thankfulness for the journey, and how far he has come since then.

Through it all, one passage from the Bible came to mind:

“Do you see any truly competent workers? They will serve kings rather than work for ordinary people” – Proverbs 22:29

There were many people on that stage who came from nothing, and many people who didn’t get to the stage (but were nominated) that came from the same place as well but have put their heart and soul into being truly competent workers!

It’s the beginning of a new week and so I want to especially encourage everyone who is working towards a dream (in the form of a qualification, work experience, idea, or skill): You can do it, and there’s no one better to do it with than Jesus Christ. He gives us strength to do all things in order to conquer in all circumstances and a valid reason to do whatever we are doing.

“Surely, no matter what you are doing, (speaking, writing, or working), do it all in the name of Jesus our Master, sending thanks through Him to God our Father!” – Colossians 3:17

If you would like to know more about this Jesus guy, won’t you please click on the banner below!

Eden Myrrh Toohey

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