From Senzo's Desk

Crazed man says body is on strike.

It seems that the economic downturn has not just hit most industries and sent them on a downward spiral, resulting in toyi toyi after toyi toyi.  The latest in the strikes is a man in the small town of Bethlehem in the Free State who claims that his body parts are in total turmoil and are fighting against each other for various reasons.  Mr Almighty, fondly known as JC by the locals says it all began when one morning he woke up and his right eye was totally blind.  "Oh no I can't be going blind I thought to myself!"  Reminisces JC.  "At that moment my eye spoke, I tell no lies my eye spoke and told me that it was on strike as there was no way it wanted to work alongside the left eye because the left eye was the dominant eye and it always wanted to look at unholy stuff!  I couldn't believe what I heard." 

J.C tells many more of these conversations with his body parts.  To name but a few, in JC's own words:  (few is an exaggeration)

• My left hand refused to come in contact with my right (hand) claiming that the right hand was HIV positive from shaking hands with a man all knew was infected. It even offered to chop off the right hand, ‘and do the whole body a big favour. ‘
• Once my pupils spent a whole week begging me to separate them from the white part of the eye. They said they didn't want to associate with the ‘whites' as they called them. The whites said the same thing about the blacks. I couldn't believe it. I just sobbed and somehow that seemed to sort them out.
• A few years ago I had a filling on my one tooth. It seems that that meant status for it. It wanted all the other ‘poverty stricken teeth' to be removed from the body or find residence elsewhere.
• My stomach closed up for a couple of days. It said it was tired of being the reception foyer for all the illegal immigrants the mouth deposits down the throat. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I told it to grow up and do its job. That was it. Two days I couldn't swallow.

These are but a few of the stories told by this man.  One wouldn't be blamed for immediately assuming lunacy had overtaken him but numerous tests have shown no signs of mental illness.  The sadness written across his face tells a story of a man deeply desiring for his body to work.  He says that its not the missing out on doing everyday stuff that saddens him but rather the fact that the body  itself misses out on living life to the fullest as he intends for it. 

His Father, Mr L. G Almighty says he just wants his son to be happy and with love and sadness clearly bubbling up inside him, he speaks, ‘This body has no idea who He is and how dedicated my son is to it.'

JC is now fully dedicated to exercising his body to learn to work together, without bickering and fighting but his neighbours and friends that have turned their back on him say he is crazy.  One community member though, Ms H. S Comforter, has the ability to talk sense to all the striking members at any given time.  She also spends time training with JC and his dad.  It seems that she is having a positive impact on JC's body.

The odd thing is how much JC loves his body, no matter how ridiculously and unfairly it treats him.  Even when he tells the bizarre stories, he speaks fondly of each body part. 

‘I love my body and it will come right one day.'  He says.  ‘I know also that with my dad and my trainer around, it will come sooner rather than later.  We spend a lot of time talking and sharing ideas and even how the body is gonna be perfect soon.  I always pray that my body might be one, be unified.  I know that when it's functioning at like half the capacity I know it can, I am the best at everything from sports to academic stuff to anything really, so imagine what it's gonna be like when this body is truly one.'

Whether you believe this JC guy or not, what I came to realise is how dedicated he is to his body.  He works tirelessly to get it ‘just right' as he says.  Always speaking in third person, He smiles and says, ‘I love this body of mine and when it gets a glimpse of that love and of what a force it can be, it will be a glorious day.