Come August 2008, I went astray at the university and abruptly stopped attending church at All Saints' Cathedral. A few months later, I tried to resume going to the cathedral but I didn't have it in me to be a consistent churchgoer as I was before I went astray.
Despite my failure to attend church at All Saints' Cathedral, I still felt part of its 9:30 a.m. English service choir. I would think about the choristers and even google them just to find out what they were doing.
In 2011, I began messaging the choristers. But something about my messages annoyed them. They summoned me on one Sunday, grilled me for about fifteen minutes and asked me to apologize for what I had said to them.
Instead of straightening out, I became worse. One night in 2011, I sent them a message, saying that I was going to commit suicide after several of the cathedral's head honchos refused to assist me financially. I later on felt guilty about sending such an inconsiderate message.
In 2012 when I was preparing to run for a political seat, I listened to Rev. Jesse Jackson's 1984 Democratic National Convention speech. And wow! I was inspired by how Rev. Jackson spoke. Then I thought of using his words to apologize to my fellow choristers at All Saints' Cathedral. I therefore listened to him speaking till I internalized the words I intended to use in my apology.
After weeks of rehearsing the speech, a day finally came when an opportunity arose for me to address the choir. It was on a Thursday night in 2012. That night, as the choristers assembled after singing practice, the choir administrator asked if anyone had anything to say. Without hesitating, I began:
Hi Choir!That speech, which I have edited for clarity, made me a hero in the choir. It made some choristers speak of me in glowing terms.
As you all know, there is a proper season for every activity under the sun: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to sow and a time to reap. And I think the author of Ecclesiastes would have agreed with me if I added that there is also a time to argue and a time to apologize.
I am Thuita J. Maina, the guy who seems to never have anything to do and thus keeps sending you messages. When I joined this choir in April 2007, I loved the camaraderie that existed among its choristers. And throughout my time in the choir, I have strived to be helpful.
If in high moments, I have done some good, offered some service, healed some wounds, rekindled some hope, stirred someone from apathy and indifference, or in any way along the way helped somebody, then my Christian faith has not been in vain.
For those of you who love and pray for me, for God who always spares me, and for Jesus whose life and teachings inspire me, I am eternally grateful.
If in my low moments, in word, deed or attitude, through some error of temper, taste or tone, I have caused anyone discomfort, created pain or revived someone's fears, that was not my truest self.
If there have been occasions when my grape turned into a raisin and my joy bell lost its resonance, please forgive me, or charge it to my head and not to my heart because my head is so limited in its finitude but my heart is boundless in its love of this choir.
That's why I keep sending you messages. One thing you have to realize is that I have invested my faith, hope and trust in you people, and you must send me a signal that you care or I will melt away.
Another thing you have to realize is that I am not a perfect servant; I am an aspiring public servant. So as I develop and grow, be patient - God is not finished with me yet.
Following the criticism I have received for the messages I send to you people, I wish to let you know that I am a person of clear mind, conscious peace and pure virtue, and that my integrity and moral authority are beyond reproach. Any insinuations to the contrary are false and unfounded.
Although many of the words in the speech weren't my own work, they aptly captured what I was and what I aspired to be. I was therefore brutally honest, hence the impact of my speech.
Encouraged by how convincing I had been, I would listen to the original speech by Rev. Jesse Jackson and relive the Thursday night I addressed the choir. Once when my mother heard me listen to Rev. Jackson, she asked me whether I had recorded myself.
The speech by Rev. Jackson changed me, for it reconnected me to a vibrant part of myself I had lost touch with after I went astray at the university. It also improved my awareness of the struggles that people go through as they relate with others.
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RECOMMENDATION: If you've enjoyed the above story on a speech that changed me, you might also enjoy another one on "An Inspiring Speech" which I wrote several months ago. Just click on that link in blue to dive straight into the story.
