Sometime in October 2016 as I was taking a walk late in the evening, I was invigorated on gazing at the perfectly spherical slivery moon which seemed in my eyes to be freely suspended in the sky without any pillars to support it. I was left with an impression I sometimes have when I view a full moon: that the Creator must have used a mathematical set to design it. And I eventually found myself reciting this quote by Alfred Tennyson:

The sun, the moon, the stars, the seas, the hills and the plains - are not these, O soul, the vision of Him who reigns?

I was truly stirred to worship God, felt His peace and moved to disagree with atheists who claim the idea of God's existence is a delusion. Okay, let me reason it out.

Suppose I disassemble my sleek Lenovo Ideapad™ laptop, put the disassembled parts in a container and shake it. No matter how slowly or vigorously I shake the container, never in a million years will the parts assemble themselves again into the sleek laptop I enjoy using. Its making requires intelligent and organized labour which in this case is a learned team of humans.

Similarly, there is no way the universe as we know it would have come into existence without a careful design by a very intelligent super-natural being. For how else can you explain these amazing facts:

• The Earth is just at the right distance from the Sun to make it possible to sustain life
• The ozone layer exists in the Earth's atmosphere to shield us from harmful solar ultra-violet rays
• The Earth's atmospheric pressure balances with blood pressure without which blood would ooze out
• The body of a healthy handsome young man (like me) has no unnecessary parts just like a well-engineered machine or a well-written story

I could go on and on to list other amazing facts of the universe but I beg to stop there in the interest of time. And while am not sure whether I have succeeded in convincing you further that God does exist, I have been led on my part to dedicate the remaining years of my life to Him who reigns. Adieu!

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That evening as I sat in a matatu on my way home from the United States Embassy library where I had borrowed Margot Morell's Reagan's Journey: Lessons From a Remarkable Career, I found myself admiring the book's cover-page photo of Ronald Reagan walking on a cloister that looked like one of those no-visitors-beyond-this-point corridors. I was acting like some high school teenagers who drool over photos of Hollywood movie stars.

And that delightful book sparked in me an interest to read more on the life and times of Ronald Reagan. I googled his quotes and learnt more about him in a 2004 Time magazine that discussed about his life after he passed on at a good old age of 93.

Of the quotes by Reagan that I googled, the one I remember most was his opinion on socialism: the system of government used in the Soviet Union that was the main rival of the United States during the Cold War that dominated much of the latter half of the 20th century. Ronald Reagan quipped that socialism can only succeed in two places: in heaven where they don't need it and in hell where they already have it.

And Ronald Reagan did have a remarkable career for shizzle. He helped the United States win the Cold War that could have potentially led to a nuclear holocaust. He was also a devoted family man as his wife Nancy reported in the 2004 Time magazine I've told you I read.

Having now learnt much about Reagan, I have been able to glean the following qualities that made him a great president and a good family-man: optimism, faith in God, sense of humour, love for mankind, kindness and a romantic nature. Let me briefly discuss each of those qualities.

On his optimism and faith in God, Reagan believed deeply in the Bible as the inerrant Word of God. So deep was his faith that he never took off in a plane without uttering a prayer. And he believed that God has a purpose for everyone; that we might know that purpose now but eventually we will know. That kind of deep faith in God accounted for his optimism; he never saw things darkly and he believed everything happens for a reason.

Like when he was almost killed in 1981 by a would-have-been assassin, Reagan prayed in the hospital where he was admitted. A friend visited him in that hospital and told him, "Reagan, God was certainly on your side that day you were shot." To which Reagan replied, "Yes I know, and I have made up my mind that all the days I have left belong to Him."

On his sense of humour and love for mankind, Reagan had an uncanny ability to tell stories of sparkling wit without repeating himself. Rhetoricians have labelled him as "The Great Communicator" since he spoke with clarity, confidence and conviction. And he loved meeting and interacting with people. No wonder he was voted in this decade as the most efficient American president since World War 2.

On his kindness, Reagan always advised his children, "If you go into a store and feel that the clerk is being rude, stop and think that she may have had a tough day, and put yourself in her shoes." And he once counselled his son, "A gentleman always does the kind thing."

His optimism, faith in God, sense of humour, love for mankind, kindness and a romantic nature - let me now discuss on that last character trait. Reagan adored his wife Nancy with whom he regularly danced with in the glare of media cameras. He always sent his mother-in-law a gift on Nancy's birthdays.

At one time when he was taking a leisurely walk, Reagan passed by a garden of rose flowers. He bent over to pick one, only for the Secret Service agent accompanying him to remind him it wasn't his house. Looking stricken, Reagan shot back, "But I want to give it to my lady!" He picked it and took it to his wife Nancy.

There you have them: that is, the lessons I learnt from the life of Ronald Reagan. I am striving each day to cultivate in myself those character traits of Ronald Reagan that made him a great president and a good family-man. And hopefully, I too will have a successful career as a writer, a farmer, a musician and a public-speaker in addition to having a wonderful family. So help me God.

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RECOMMENDATION: If you've enjoyed this story of mine on lessons from Ronald Reagan, you might also enjoy another one I wrote some times back on "Lessons from Ben Carson". Just click on that link in blue to dive straight into the story.

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