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behavioural excesses and things that make others esteem them.
When I say behavioural excesses I am referring to overindulgence in anything or casting off of all restraint in pursuit of pleasure or happiness.

An example that comes to mind, because it is something that really concerns me, is a person who drinks so much alcohol that they lose control of her/his faculties. I always feel sorry for such people because I sense a void in them that they try to fill the wrong way and with the wrong stuff.
Apart from these behavioural excesses others try to fill the space with acquiring either more material possessions or big things. I believe that the bigger the void the bigger the things.

People want things that draw attention of the world because they are measures of success.
I have been told stories of people who always seek to outdo the next person. They live in constant competition with someone at any given time. They make sure that when you buy a car, a house, a lounge suite you name it, they want to buy a bigger and better one.

Can we really blame them considering that we live in a world where bigger is considered a sign of success. The big cars, the 48inch or even more inches plasma screens and very big houses are trendy in today’s world.

There is satisfaction in owning the big house, the big stand, the big farm, big herd of cattle, the big car and many other things that you dear reader can add to the list.
One can sense the pride or the satisfaction as a person describes his/her accomplishments or others do it on their behalf.
Our people say “Ane zimba rake zihombe” (He/she owns a very big house). “Purazi rake kuno neuko” (His/she owns a very big farm from here to there).

The question that comes to mind is do these things really satisfy the deep void that is in us.
There is a general notion in my culture that says being big or fat is a measure of good living. If a woman is married and she adds on weight people believe that her husband is taking good care of her.

I am sure some sisters out there can identify with statements such “Mazuva ano wakadzikira, pane chiri kunetsa here?” (These days you have lost weight, is there a problem). If she gains weight people say “Agere” which means that she is sitting pretty.

Is there any relationship between size and good living or it is just a myth?
At one time we were building a house for the family. When my mother saw it she threw a word of caution. To her the house was too big and it was not really necessary to have such a massive property.

I understood where she was coming from considering that all her children have grown up leaving her seven roomed house almost empty for the greater part of the time.
I have always wondered what really influences the drive to seek for the bigger things. Could it be a product of our culture or material culture? Could it be an inherent desire to find something bigger than ourselves?

Evaluating the world standard of success against the biblical standard in 1Kings 19 on Elijah the Prophet, leaves me wondering whether what we are searching for is found in all these big things.
God told Elijah to go and stand on the mountain in his presence as he was going to pass by. The story says successively there came a powerful wind, an earthquake and a fire but God was not in any one of them.

If it was the world standard God would have come in these grand occurrences but that was not to be. God was only in a gentle whisper but with such a different power that Elijah had to pull his cloak over his face.
I find this Scripture very challenging as I ask myself whether we are not looking for something bigger than ourselves in all the wrong things.

The world that we live in wants things that speak for themselves; those things that announce to the world who we are.
The minute I drive my huge and powerful car, it makes a statement and people want to know the person behind the wheel. They see my big house and they are convinced that “ndiri muhombe” (I am a big person).

I suppose there is nothing wrong in acquiring all these big assets as long as we do not make them an end in themselves.
We should really not make it our sole purpose of living because that will never satisfy the desire within us. Usually the more we have the more and more we want. We find ourselves wishing for something even

bigger. In the end if one is not careful the desire may end up creating an obsession that leads to greediness.
I believe the hunger for something bigger than ourselves cannot be satisfied by all these many things that we pursue.

I think it is important that when you see yourself going to excesses of any kind there is need to stop and ask yourself what is causing it.
Normally we search for answers in the world around us. That is the material world that we are familiar with. Yet the void could be a cry for reconnection with the God the Creator.

We all know that when we are hungry we search for food and when we are thirsty we get a drink. One thing that I have learnt is there is a thirst that can only be satisfied with water. So on that note, I would like to say the void in you could be a spiritual void that can only be filled by things of the spirit. [email protected]