Laptop and all....

Masatoma Kuriya - Lilies

Frank W. Benson (1862-1951)

The Walker Children

He watches as planes cross the sky, and rushes to the tracks to watch trains as they pass. He chases the moon, and by him standing there, finally after 50 years I saw the face of the man there.

Tsukimaro Kitagawa, 18th/19th cent, artist

St. Charles Lwanga was a servant of the king of Uganda in Africa in the late 19th Century. This king, Mwanga, was a violent pedophile and had already murdered his chief page, the Christian, Joseph Mukasa. Joseph had hidden the younger pages from the king and criticized him for the murder of a Protestant missionary. Inspired by the example of Joseph’s martyrdom, many Ugandans received baptism, including Charles, who was Joseph’s successor as chief page. Mwanga murdered a Christian catechist with a spear thrust and then demanded that all the Christians in his court identify themselves. In anticipation of the king’s order, Charles had baptized those who were still receiving instruction. He was the first to identify himself as a Christian and was joined by many others, including the son of the king’s executioner, one of the king’s bodyguards, and the steward of his banana plantations. Some of the Christians were killed with spears or machetes, while most were taken to different parts of the country to be burned to death. St. Charles was one of the last to receive the crown of martyrdom in this fashion. Where once stood the palace of the murderous king Mwanga, there is now a cathedral of Our Lady, and 11 million of Uganda’s 17.5 million people are Christians.