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I am hoping that 2026 will be a productive and fulfilling year for everyone who is reading this blog.
For me, it is heralding some exciting changes: changes in my blog content and my messaging. While it’s not completely new content on which I will be focusing – my stated intention of ‘sowing good seeds in the world’ is very clearly stated on this website – I would like to be more intentional about the messages, specifically the Christian ones, that I write about in my blogs.
There is so much content that is based on biblical teachings that I want to share with my readers, especially as I feel that we’re frequently being swamped with the dark and depressing realities of the world around us. So instead, I intend to fill my blogs with uplifting messages of hope, with helpful messages of guidance, of inspiring messages of how to navigate the confusing and unfortunately very often destructive messages millions of people are being surrounded with on a daily basis.
A couple of decades ago while I was still teaching in Johannesburg, I attended a Cesa church in Wendywood where I was part of the music group. At one of our practices, the music director, a guitarist, shared with us a song he’d composed, then played a few cords and challenged us to come up with lyrics which I remember we all did with enthusiasm, one member coming up with one line, the next person with another line, a phrase or even a word and so on until the song was complete.
It was such an exhilarating exercise for me that as soon as I got home, I began experimenting with short combinations of musical phrases on the piano. A caveat: I’ve never been very competent on the piano – it takes me ages to master a simple song after practising it repetitively – I’m certainly not a natural pianist, but I have to read every single note in order to eventually master a tune.
However, to my great surprise, I did eventually manage to come up with a basic tune I was comfortable with. Then began the satisfying exercise of matching words to notes.
Once again, after much experimentation, I composed a song with the title, ‘Go out into all the world’; the song was inspired by Jesus’ command to His disciples to do exactly that; to share God’s life-giving message of hope and redemption with the world. My song was simple, both the tune and the lyrics, but I found it an incredibly satisfying activity pouring out my thoughts and feelings both into the words and into the music. Here is the first verse, plus chorus, of this very basic song:
Go out into all the world, To share the good news with the lost, That Jesus our Saviour is coming again Who suffered and died on the cross. Chorus: Wake up, look up, and open your eyes To Jesus our Saviour who offers you life. (Repeat)
The words of that song mirror my motivation for both writing my blogs in 2026 that will hopefully reach many interested readers, and my desire to indeed ‘go out into…the world’ as I visit Cape Town schools where I am offering to do readings of a selection of my books.
I am hoping that you, my blog readers, will be inspired by my positive message around the subjects of love, grace, forgiveness, prayer, hope and concern for other people, amongst others. A couple of years ago, I was writing regular blogs with similar content; I would now like to re-visit those areas of thematic Christian content in my writing.
Every time a hopeful message goes into the world it counters hopelessness; it gladdens hearts and overcomes sadness; it revives and restores faith in the future instead of ruining and quenching expectations about what tomorrow will bring.
So here’s to facing 2026 with hope in our hearts, with trust in the King of Kings and the knowledge that, as the Negro spiritual goes,
He’s got the whole world in His hands.
