Merry Christmas 2016

Dear loving people,

It’s Christmas season everywhere and so it is at Living Lectures.  Amidst the plethora of messages that you will be receiving from your loved ones, Living Lectures through this short message adds its voice to wish you the best and thanking you for having stood by us throughout 2016.

Lucinda Franks says it was “Christmas in Bethlehem. The ancient dream: a cold, clear night made brilliant by a glorious star, the smell of incense, shepherds and wise men falling to their knees in adoration of the sweet baby, the incarnation of perfect love.”

“Christmas! The very word brings joy to our hearts. No matter how we may dread the rush, the long Christmas lists for gifts and cards to be bought and given-when Christmas Day comes there is still the same warm feeling we had as children, the same warmth that enfolds our hearts and our homes.” So says Joan Winmill Brown

W. C. Jones says “the joy of brightening other lives, bearing others' burdens, easing other's loads and supplanting empty hearts and lives with generous gifts becomes for us the magic of Christmas.”

In Agnes M. Pharo’s words, Christmas “is tenderness for the past, courage for the present, hope for the future. It is a fervent wish that every cup may overflow with blessings rich and eternal, and that every path may lead to peace.”

Are you planning to give gifts to your loved ones, Oren Arnold has the following Christmas gift suggestions: 

To your enemy, forgiveness.

To an opponent, tolerance.

To a friend, your heart.

To a customer, service.

To all, charity.

To every child, a good example.

To yourself, respect.

May the spirit of Christmas bring you peace, the gladness of Christmas give you hope, the warmth of Christmas grant you love. It's not the presents that make Christmas so special; it’s the presence of those you love. Whether they are with you in person or spirit.

Let me join Hamilton Wright Mabie in saying “blessed is the season which engages the whole world in a conspiracy of love!”

Robinson’s Problem Tree

Dear lovely people,

“The real man smiles in trouble, gathers strength from distress, and grows brave by reflection” says Thomas Paine

It’s a fact that trouble will never stop coming your way. Even if you don’t look for trouble, it will come knocking at your door and sometimes in a chain this might be what pushed somebody to say “it never rains but it pours.” The question then is what do you do when the problems come and keep coming? Do you give up or fight back?

Martin Luther King, Jr insists that “We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope…” and I strongly agree with him. No matter how big the problems that come your way are, they are finite and thus will come to pass.

Phillip Sweet calls on anybody who has problems to “Stay true to yourself, yet always be open to learn. Work hard, and never give up on your dreams, even when nobody else believes they can come true but you. These are not cliches but real tools you need no matter what you do in life to stay focused on your path.”

Robinson the popular plumber had a spectacular way of dealing with his problems. A young entrepreneurial lady hired Robinson at one time to help her restore an old farmhouse, and he had just finished a rough first day on the job: a flat tire made him lose an hour of work, his electric drill quit, and his ancient one ton truck refused to start. While she drove Robinson home that evening, he sat in stony silence. On arriving, he invited her in to meet his family. As they walked toward the front door, he paused briefly at a small tree, touching the tips of the branches with both hands.

When opening the door, he underwent an amazing transformation. His tanned face was wreathed in smiles, and he hugged his two small children and gave his wife a kiss.

Afterward, he walked back to the car. They passed the tree, and her curiosity got the better of her. She asked Robinson about what she had seen him do earlier. "Oh, that's my trouble tree," he replied. "I know I can't help having troubles on the job, but one thing's for sure; those troubles don't belong in the house with my wife and the children. So, I just hang them up on the tree every night when I come home and ask God to take care of them. Then in the morning, I pick them up again.” Funny thing is, Robinson smiled, "when I come out in the morning to pick them up, there aren't nearly as many as I remember hanging up the night before."

Confucius says “Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.” Because as Bernard Williams adds “There was never a night or a problem that could defeat sunrise or hope.”

Desmond’s Living Gift

Dear lovely people,

It’s another end of year, another Christmas season and time for stock taking, time for sharing, and a time to consolidate your doing-good qualities. Here is Desmond's story…

On his way home that evening, Desmond almost didn't see the old lady stranded on the side of the road, but even in the dim light of day, he could see she needed help. So he pulled up in front of her Mercedes and got out. His Jeep was still sputtering when he approached her. Even with the smile on his face, she was worried. No one had stopped to help for the last hour or so. Was he going to hurt her? He didn't look safe. He looked poor and hungry. He could see that she was frightened, standing out there in the cold. He knew how she felt. It was that chill only fear can put in you. He said, "I'm here to help you, ma'am. Why don't you wait in the car where it's warm? By the way, my name is Desmond Chebifuh."

Well, all she had was a flat tire, but for an old lady, that was bad enough. Desmond crawled under the car looking for a place to put the jack, skinning his knuckles a time or two. Soon he was able to change the tire. But, he had to get dirty, and his hands hurt. As he was tightening up the lug nuts, she rolled down the window and began to talk to him. She told him that she was from Douala and was only just passing through. She couldn't thank him enough for coming to her aid. Desmond just smiled as he closed her trunk. The lady asked how much she owed him. Any amount would have been all right with her. She already imagined all the awful things that could have happened had he not stopped. Desmond never thought twice about being paid. This was not a job to him. This was helping someone in need, and God knows there were plenty who had given him a hand in the past. He had lived his whole life that way, and it never occurred to him to act any other way.

He told her that if she really wanted to pay him back, the next time she saw someone who needed help, she could give that person the assistance they needed. It will be great too if you share your story on Living Lectures’ Living Gifts program, and Desmond added, "And think of me." He waited until she started her car and drove off. It had been a cold and depressing day, but he felt good as he headed for home, disappearing into the Christmas twilight.

A few miles down the road the lady saw a small cafe. She went in to grab a bite to eat and take the chill off before she made the last leg of her trip home. It was a dingy looking restaurant. Outside were two old tankers. The whole scene was unfamiliar to her. The waitress came over and brought a clean towel to wipe her wet hair. She had a sweet smile, one that even being on her feet for the whole day couldn't erase. The lady noticed the waitress was nearly eight months pregnant, but she never let the strain and aches change her attitude. The old lady wondered how someone who had so little could be so giving to a stranger. Then, she remembered Desmond.

After the lady finished her meal, she dropped a pile of new bank notes in the bill box and slipped right out the door. She was gone by the time the waitress came back. The waitress wondered where the lady could be and was more than surprised to see a pile of bank notes in the bill box. Astonished, she counted them with shaky hands and it amounted to an equivalence of six hundred dollars. Then she noticed something written on the napkin. There were tears in her eyes when she read what the lady wrote: "You don't owe me anything. I have been there too. Somebody once helped me out, the way I'm helping you. If you really want to pay me back, here is what you do: Do not let this chain of love end with you. It will equally be great if you share your story on Living Lectures’ Living Gifts program”

Well, there were tables to clear, sugar bowls to fill, and people to serve, but the waitress made it through another day. That night when she got home from work and climbed into bed, she was thinking about the money and what the lady had written. How could the lady have known how much she and her husband needed it? With the baby due next month, it was going to be hard... She knew how worried her husband was, and as he lay sleeping next to her, she gave him a soft kiss and whispered soft and low, "Everything's going to be all right. I love you, Desmond Chebifuh."

Brocken Promises

Dear lovely people,

Richard Paul Evans in Promise Me states “Broken vows are like broken mirrors. They leave those who held to them bleeding and staring at fractured images of themselves.”

From 1961 to 1972, the Federal Republic of Cameroon existed under a sane moral contract, that of equality and each party kind of telling the other ‘I won’t hurt you.’ Now just like Eva Schuette says, “When I say 'I won't hurt you', it's a promise, which can and will be kept but it does not come from me without a breakdown of what it means. It does not mean we will never disagree, nor does it mean that you will always like everything which I say or do. It does not mean that you will never hurt yourself by behaving in a way which is damaging to a relationship or by behaving in a way which would ultimately result in my withdrawal from your life. What it does mean is that I can promise all that I expect in terms of loyalty, honor and respect. It means I am faithful. It also means that I will not intentionally or carelessly behave in a way which causes upset or doubt. It means, at the lowest level, 'You will break these terms before I do.' Communication is essential. Trust is paramount. Be completely honest and don't make promises that you can't keep, that's all.”

Power hungry, sickening demagogues might refute it be one thing is clear, The Anglophone Problem is Real, very Important and Urgent because it touches the very foundations of Cameroon’s unity. Here are the facts about the origin of this bone breaking problem. French Cameroon became independent on 1st January 1960 and Nigeria to which Southern and Northern Cameroon were attached also gained independence from Britain on 1st October 1960. On 11 February 1961 the UN conducted a plebiscite in Northern and Southern Cameroon to determine whether the southern Cameroonians wanted to be independent by joining the Federal Republic of Nigeria or the Republic of Cameroon. The seeds of the Anglophone problem were sown when the results of the plebiscite which should have been counted as one for the whole British territory, were split and counted separately between North and South Cameroon. The north voted to join Nigeria and the South voted to join the Republic of Cameroon.

In July 1961 the famous, Foumban Constitutional Conference met in Foumban to draw up a Constitution for the Federal Republic of Cameroon. It was agreed that reunification would be based on federalism that the State of Cameroon would promote and strengthen the bi-cultural identity of Cameroon without the French or English culture absorbing the other, and that Southern Cameroon would retain all its organs and institutions.

These terms were then incorporated into the 1961 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Cameroon with a proviso in Article 47 making it impossible to unilaterally amend certain Articles of the Constitution without the risk of breaking up the Union. On the 1st of October 1961 the Federal Republic of Cameroon was born. It consisted of two Equal States – the State of East Cameroon (formerly French Cameroon) and the state of West Cameroon (formerly British Southern Cameroon)

From 1961 to 1972 when the Federal Republic of Cameroon existed, the seeds of the Anglophone Problem remained in gestation only to germinate when it was completely forgotten that it was Anglophones who voted to join the Union, and to form the Federal Republic of Cameroon, it was not the Francophones who voted, so the referendum to abolish the Federation should have only been voted by the Anglophones, but the Francophones with their majority in the Union “voted” and dissolved the Federation, the basis of Unification.

In so doing the Ahidjo government unconstitutionally and in breach of the Foumban Accord, abolished the Federal Government and introduced the present repulsive Unitary Government. This created a new problem, a Constitutional problem that came to be called the Anglophone Problem.

The Anglophone problem thus, started with the abolition of the Federation, a calculated strategy to break all the promises and vows previously enshrined in the constitution of the federal republic.