14/07/2024
Celebrating human landmarks of significance
A Sermon during Kabare Girls 1974-77 alumni visit to Mrs Jane Njeru our first headmistress, on 13th July 2024
By The Rev Professor Joyce Karuri (Kabare Ad.No. 1024)
All Nations Christian Church International University (ANCCIU)
Email: [email protected] Cellphone: 0722887822
Bible Reading: Matthew 1:1-17
Well, admittedly, genealogical narratives are some of the most boring lessons anyone can be taken through. And so, when Dr Bishop Mwaniki Karura read from Matthew Chapter 1 during my PhD graduation party some years back, I wasn’t too sure what was in it for me, until he expounded. Allow me then, to reminisce on a good sermon that impacted me.
Matthew records that from Abraham to David there were 14 generations, and from David to exile, 14 generations, and from exile to Jesus, 14 generations (that is, 28 generations between Jesus and David). The key heads of the families and clans are also listed. But note this, Mathew summarizes and refers to Jesus as Son of David who was son of Abraham. Three persons thus stand out significantly: Jesus, David, Abraham. Abraham was the father of faith - he was stupendously obedient to God (his friend) who made a glowing and binding covenant with him, that he would give him a son through whom the nation would be populated like the stars of heaven. When he later demanded the same son of promise as sacrifice, Abraham quarreled not but went on to obey, you know the story.
What of David? You all know his story - very very humanly messy. Yet his depths of remorsefulness and repentance are unmatched in human history, to the end of which he earned himself the tagline: a man after God’s own heart. These two christian ancestors lived lives of great significance.
We have come here today, fifty years since we first encountered one another at Kabare Girls High School. We were all relatively young, teeming with adolescent energy, yet naive in so many ways, but determined to engage the academic gear of secondary school. Any way, we were like the proverbial “mkwanju” which is moldable only when it is young. What we turned out to be had a lot to do with the ones who molded you when we were still young and soft headed. Train up a child in the way she should go and when she comes of age she will not depart from it. Luckily for us we fell into the hands of a great instructor and disciplinarian, Mrs Jane Njeru, whom we all loved and revered in the same measure. There is a huge difference between reverence and fear. We revered her, you know. She looked iconically magical in her ways, embodying beauty, grace, and strength of character, inspiring awe and wonder, and commanding great respect. Isitoshe, she was always very smart.
One of the things every mono fears like the fire of hell is bullying. Mrs Njeru protected us from that, and for all the years we spent at Kabare Girls there was no culture of bullying. As a disciplinarian, wueh, I shall never forget an incident that took place one time and which involved a bunch of CU girls from senior classes. These girls reportedly went out on a preaching mission I don’t know where, then slept out and further helped themselves to their host’s Sunday bests. On realizing what the girls had done the host pursued them up to the school, met with the headmistress and reported the case. The girls were lined up and identified. The headmistress convened an emergency assembly in the dining hall and the errant girls were paraded before the whole school. I tell you, the whipping they received. It happened that among the culprits was a Form 6 girl who I really loved and who was my spiritual role model because she looked and walked like an angel. I used to be so mesmerised by that girl’s spirituality that I used to say, “when I get to heaven I would like to sit next to her”. Now imagine, my angel was among the criminals who had disappeared from school and more so, they had stolen their host’s dresses. From where I was seated in the middle of the crowd I bowed and cried an ocean of hot tears of disappointment and shock. You mean my angel could sin? Paul wrote, “imitate me but only as I imitate Christ”. That was our headmistress, the super disciplinarian. Lets clap for her for molding us when it mattered most.
Alongside our remarkable Principal was a great, enigmatic headgirl. O my goodness, I still cant believe I am meeting Florence ‘Nightingale’ again after 50 years. Imagine, a great headmistress and a great headgirl. She was a towering gentle giant who had such a magical hold on the school population. Whenever she rose and stepped up to the platform to make announcements, everyone hushed up with expectancy, and she never disappointed.
Who can ever forget how she once gave an address which she punched with a plea to all the girls to exercise etiquette towards one another by using expressions like, “am sorry, “thankyou”, “please”, “excuse me”, youknow, expressions that promote peace and cohesion as well as moulding character. On that day, the whole school was so thrilled, we spent many days reverberating with the tickling effect of that address. Very amazing that she was so young yet so mature, offering us great peer leadership. Crystalizing the enduring power of words, Lao Tzu a Japanese sage wrote: “Watch your words they become your actions. Watch your actions, they become your habits. Watch your habits, they become your character. Watch your character, it becomes your destiny”. Mrs Njeru if you like what we turned out to be, there is no doubt you and Forence Kanduthu have a hand in it.
Let me also confess here that, after Florence, personally I have no recollection of other headgirls who came after her. Am not kidding, I do not recall who they were.
In every organization there is what we call in development terms Organizational culture, and Mrs Njeru had firmly and resolutely effected the culture of cleanliness, discipline and hardwork. The school was so clean. Several of us have confessed that they were starkly shocked by the disorganisation they found in the schools where they went for A levels - dirty everything. Not so Kabare. Who can ever forget the Saturday thorough cleaning, the characteristically repugnant smell of scouring powders and antiseptic applications on latrines. Saturday mornings used to be the longest and the hungriest, esp if you didn't have money for Elliot premium. The aroma of food in the kitchen made it worse. You longed for the bell to go. "Let it ring o Lord we pray, let the lunch bell ring", kind of longing. The loaf and jam on Sundays, and the uniquely tasty porridge every day, OMG. Nostalgic memories right there.
This is what we call nostalgic memories. And we have no shortage of them.
What sets these two great women apart? Significance! They are legendary, and that’s why we remember and celebrate them today. We could be blamed for selective amnesia but that is okey. Selective amnesia is biblically validated - Jesus was the son of David who was the son of Abraham, blanking out over 40 generations in between.
May we aspire to live lives of significance - and these two have continued to practise life significantly to this day. In his book, Half Time: From Success to Significance Bob Buford argues that we have to be intentional in finding our life’s purpose, our true calling - not merely serving our self interests but humanity. Significant living is about getting out of individualistic and conventional religiosity to embark on a universalising mission - the realm where people like Prof Wangari Mathai, Mandela, Gandhi and Mother Theresa belong, among numerous other examples both local and international, including our own Mrs Jane Njeru and Dr Florence ‘Nightingale’ Wambugu.
See, greatness begets greatness. Mwalimu your girls studied, passed with flying colours, went to A levels and colleges and universities here and abroad and have since been trailblazing in numerous ways. Some of them are watching this even from abroad, for instance Dr Esther Gikonyo who is in Australia. In keeping with the biblical principal of gratitude, these great ladies came together and decided to trace their roots - where their great academic formation all began. Isaiah 51:1: “… look to the rock from which you were hewn, and to the quarry from which you were dug”. Yes, we have come to ay thankuou.
We certainly have been through much, and each one of us can write a book of the trajectory of their life, the challenges, the tribulations, loss of loved ones, loss of fortunes. Yet in the same vein and breath we can write great success stories, pleasant surprises, miracles and breakthroughs. We have all learnt the beauty of growing even through our pains and even enjoying the sunshine that seeps through the cracks in our lives, because There Is No Useless Experience, as writes Levi Kones. At the end of the day we’ve found ourselves belting out praises to the King of kings,much in keeping with the vibrant musical heritage that spiced our adolescent phase at Kabare: Songs like
Blessed be the name
Because he lives I can face tomorrow
Some people wonder how I smile
Pick up the broken pieces
We remember with sadness some of our colleagues who have since rested, including a sizeable number of our spouses. When we reflect on their memories, we find comfort in the song
- How Beautiful heaven must be, and,
- By and by when that morning comes.
- This World is not my home am just passing through
Conclusion
Sometimes conclusions are difficult to craft. But let me conclude by imploring all of us to remain students for life. This ambition will keep us young in spite of advancing chronologically. It’s about maintaining a lifelong commitment to learning and personal growth. It involves staying curious, open to new experiences, and willing to acquire new knowledge and skills throughout your entire life. I guess this is what Robert Frost had in mind when he wrote the poem, The Road less taken. Trailblaizers always take the road less travelled.
The other day I watched an TV programme which was featuring iconic persons of our times and the interviewee was a 103 year old lady. What was incredibly amazing was to hear her unveil her ten years plan. What! This brings me to the real conclusion: In Archbishop David Gitari’s words: Plan like you will never die, and spend each day like you will not be there the next. And that to me, is the essence of Significance. Eke out your place in history, like Abraham, like David, and like Jesus.
In the name of God the Father, God the son, and God the Holy Spirit. AMEN.
