Sunsets

I was standing in my doorway with my beloved dog, One Love, watching the sun set after another steaming Liberian day and something strange happened. I started to think that while bLogs are somewhat interactive, no one has really tried to capture the essence of humanity through bLogging. I want to take this opportunity to try something new. If you have a guitar get it out. If not just sing along with the rest of us. I am inviting you to sing with me a deep and meaningful song in my life about unity and God's amazing creation. As you are singing maybe someone else will be singing along at out bLog campfire. I pray you feel the same joy and connection to creation that I feel when I sing. So lets try it. Oh by the way if you want to post a video response to this in the comments section I strongly encourage it. I think it will add to the effect. So 1, 2, 1, 2, 3, 4...

C Em F G
It only takes a spark to get a fire going.
C F G
And soon all those around, can warm up in glowing.
F
That's how it is with God's love,
Dm G Dm7 G Dm7 C
Once you've experienced it, you spread His love to everyone;
F
You want to pass it on.

What a wondrous time is spring, when all the trees are budding;
The birds begin to sing, the flowers start their blooming.
That's how it is with God's love;
Once you've experienced it, you want to sing
"It's fresh like spring"; you want to pass it on.

I wish for you my friend, this happiness that I've found.
You can depend on Him, it matters not where you're bound.
I'll shout it from the mountain top - PRAISE GOD
I want the world to know; the Lord of love has come to me,
I want to pass it on.

Foya

A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to go to Foya with my friend Kevin. It's way up in Lofa county, almost as far away from Monrovia as you can go. At 6 am or so we piled into a Land Cruiser and headed out of town. The roads are paved until you get to Gbanga and then its dirt roads for the next six hours or so.

We passed through some beautiful country, especially the the bridge into Lofa County. The river has moving fast from all the rain.

Kevin and I took some Yamaha AG 100's out for a spin and it was a blast. I have never really ridden dirt bikes or anything that small before so it was a little hard to get used to. The terrain was not easy either. Lots of mud, ruts, rocks, and a couple log bridges. Needles to say i took a few spills. The worst one my back tire dropped into a rut that was a couple feet deep and i jammed my wrist and banged up my knees. I got back on though and am I glad I did. we rode all the way to the border of Guinea and the landscape almost changes right at the border. From the jungles of Liberia opened up grasslands with huge domes of rock jutting out.

Kevin also showed me a pine forest that the Liberians had planted to get telephone and electric poles. The war started and the plantation was neglected. So in this tropical jungle is a pine forest with all the smells of one at home. It was bizarre.

I am also including a picture of a lady weaving country cloth and some coffee beans that should be pretty good in the spring. I am excited.

Liberia: An Exodus

I equate the current state of Liberia to be not unlike Isreal waking out from Egypt and moving towards the promised land. The tradition of the exodus has many applications in both our political and spiritual lives just like it did for Isreal all those years ago. Since its inception Liberia has been throwing off the yolk of its oppressors, leaving slavery in America to come and create a "free land". Unfortunately the "Love of Liberty" found some people here and it didn't take long for the Americo-Liberians to put natives under a similar yolk to the one they had just left. For over 100 years this stood and a society of inequality was built, the pitting of tribes against each other and a culture of corruption and power seeking was cultivated. A gap was growing, the rich got richer on the backs of the poor. It is, therefore, no surprise to me that in 1980 Samuel Doe, one of these oppressed would overthrow the power structure. Now, when Doe took over he had a choice. He could have leveled the playing field and made all Liberians truly equal. But he had been watching the rich for all to long and he took on their ways. Then Taylor came and took power, and he could have leveled the playing field and made all Liberians truly equal. But he too had learned the lessons of the past and the power went to his head. If fourteen years of war has done one thing, it has gotten us to where we are today. Out of Egypt. Out from under oppressive regimes. Across the red sea into freedom. Now we haven't reached the promised land yet. There is still a long way to go. Moses and the isrealites spent forty years in the wildernes. A whole generation passed before they would reach the promised land. So this generation needs to lay the foundation for a fair society. This generation needs to look long and hard at God's commandments to the Isrealites. When Isreal was in the wilderness Egyptian society was all they had known but God gave them instructions on how to create a different kind of society. If Liberians truly took the ten commandments to heart, they could be a shining example to not just west Africa but mankind as a whole. Stay away from the false gods of greed, corruption, and violence. Stay focused on the prize. God is calling you Liberia, will you reach the promised land?

ode to the tata

well at lunch today i wrote a beautiful poem to the little truck that could. but then my blacberry lost it when i synched with my computer. to sum it up i wrote of my eternal dracula like love to the very mortal truck. sorry i lost it.

So I started this blog and now I realize there are some things you should know about me.
My name is Matthew L Cramer.
I live in Liberia.
I am single by chance and choice depending on what day it is.
I am subject to outbursts of laughter and meloncholy.
I don't know why you will care about any of this but I hope I can give you some insight into the splendiforousness of me and give myself an outlet.

New bLog

Well i have broken down and gotten a blog again. I hope to update constantly on all things Cramer. hope you enjoy.