Page 129 - moondani kyema
P. 129
ndani kyema, My Story - Ray Moore 129
“Embrace” and the word “Kyema” means “Dawn” or together they would read
“Embrace the dawn”. Very quickly I transliterated this as “Welcome the new day”.
Perfect.
So I stood at the entrance of our home. I walked 30 or 40 metres back along the
gravel road and looked back. Moondani Kyema. Welcome the new day!
It is amazing how much damage a relationship breakdown can have on the two
people concerned and on their family also. I stumbled into an affair through my own
blindness. Even before I joined Lifeline in 1971 I had started to become more aware
of my inability to relate easily with people.
As a pastor of four churches, I had to push myself to attend social functions because
I knew what was expected of the pastor. He was supposed to know what was
happening in everyone's lives and always come up with a conversation that showed
both his interest and concern for each parishioner. Bev tells me that in fact I did very
well and, on the whole, I was loved and appreciated by most of them.
I did seem to have an ability to break through to some of the more difficult people in
my churches. Perhaps I identified with them more. One lady in Ballarat was quite
harsh to talk with and not easy to get close to. I visited her in hospital one day and in
the process did something that I had not been able to do with anyone until then. I
reached out while she was talking and placed my hand on hers. Her reaction startled
me. She immediately grabbed my hand and held on. It reflected a strong need in
her for a closeness that I had not realized that she had. After that, when I was
visiting members of my churches, I often placed my hand on theirs or on their
shoulder to indicate my concern for them.
Then came Lifeline and I was thrown into a situation where I discovered that I knew
very little about myself or about real communication. I allowed myself to identify a
universal love that I possessed for people, and in some cases to say something to
them along those lines. Obviously this was heading into unknown waters and I was
misunderstood and sometimes confused about my desire to reflect the love of Jesus
to those around me.
This finally culminated with me stepping over the line and having a relationship with
one of the Lifeline workers which I should never have tolerated. Someone soon told
Bev about it and so we separated for the best part of a year. The pain and
“Embrace” and the word “Kyema” means “Dawn” or together they would read
“Embrace the dawn”. Very quickly I transliterated this as “Welcome the new day”.
Perfect.
So I stood at the entrance of our home. I walked 30 or 40 metres back along the
gravel road and looked back. Moondani Kyema. Welcome the new day!
It is amazing how much damage a relationship breakdown can have on the two
people concerned and on their family also. I stumbled into an affair through my own
blindness. Even before I joined Lifeline in 1971 I had started to become more aware
of my inability to relate easily with people.
As a pastor of four churches, I had to push myself to attend social functions because
I knew what was expected of the pastor. He was supposed to know what was
happening in everyone's lives and always come up with a conversation that showed
both his interest and concern for each parishioner. Bev tells me that in fact I did very
well and, on the whole, I was loved and appreciated by most of them.
I did seem to have an ability to break through to some of the more difficult people in
my churches. Perhaps I identified with them more. One lady in Ballarat was quite
harsh to talk with and not easy to get close to. I visited her in hospital one day and in
the process did something that I had not been able to do with anyone until then. I
reached out while she was talking and placed my hand on hers. Her reaction startled
me. She immediately grabbed my hand and held on. It reflected a strong need in
her for a closeness that I had not realized that she had. After that, when I was
visiting members of my churches, I often placed my hand on theirs or on their
shoulder to indicate my concern for them.
Then came Lifeline and I was thrown into a situation where I discovered that I knew
very little about myself or about real communication. I allowed myself to identify a
universal love that I possessed for people, and in some cases to say something to
them along those lines. Obviously this was heading into unknown waters and I was
misunderstood and sometimes confused about my desire to reflect the love of Jesus
to those around me.
This finally culminated with me stepping over the line and having a relationship with
one of the Lifeline workers which I should never have tolerated. Someone soon told
Bev about it and so we separated for the best part of a year. The pain and
