Kuna Dawa

The first time I heard "Kuna Dawa" I was in love with Esther Wahome's voice -- powerful and raw. I was in love with the beat. I was in love with the way the words sounded. And then I learned what they met.

"Jesus is medicine?" I asked Keith to be sure I heard him right. 

I was pretty disappointed at first. It seems so silly. Go to Jesus when you're sick, he's medicine? I just didn't really feel it anymore.

But it was still Kathy's favorite song, so we sang it all of the time. Each time we sang I thought about the words, my thoughts turning into annoyance. Jesus isn't some sort of quick fix! He's not just some pill you can pop to get rid of your headaches! He isn't sitting in your cabinet waiting until you need him!

A few weeks ago I was driving down the dreaded I-5 on my way to work. It wasn't a particularly cloudy day, but I was a little down. I popped in my Swahili Gospel playlist and the first song that came up was "Kuna Dawa" and I sang. I mean, I really busted out, throwing my hand up in the air with Bwana Asifiwe's when I didn't know the words to sing.

And then I had a smile stuck on my face and a smile stuck in my heart. Yesu ni dawa!