Ask Chuka

  One of the saddest feelings I carry about 2025 is that my friend, Michaela Moye, popularly known as Mickey, passed on before the year ended. If you are reading this, I am glad you made it. Even so, with every part of me, I wish Mickey had made it too. But I am not the author and finisher of life, and my capacity for some things is limited. Mickey was a good person. By human standards, she truly was. She was educated, honest in her dealings, vocal about the things she believed, and never ashamed to share her struggles until the very end. I am grateful that I reached out to her after she posted on Facebook about how weak she felt and how difficult it had become for her to stand due to a shortage of blood in her system. I could only reach out because she shared her struggle openly. That openness gave room for concern, connection, and help. Eventually, a nurse was by her bedside, along with someone she had called and waited hours for to come and assist her. Sadly, those interventions...

  𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐁𝐄𝐇𝐀𝐕𝐈𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐒 𝐒𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐄 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐏𝐄𝐎𝐏𝐋𝐄 𝐖𝐇𝐎 𝐋𝐎𝐎𝐊 𝐔𝐏 𝐓𝐎 𝐔𝐒: 𝐀 𝐋𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐇𝐨𝐫𝐬𝐞 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐞𝐟 A man named Ahmed admired an Arabian horse owned by a Caliph and was determined to buy it. He offered the Caliph many camels, yet the Caliph refused because he had no intention of selling the horse at any price. Angered by the refusal, Ahmed declared, “Since you have rejected my fair offer, I will get this horse from you even if it is through foul means.” One day, Ahmed disguised himself as a beggar and lay in the desert pretending to be gravely ill. He knew the Caliph often passed that route and that he was a kind and compassionate ruler. As expected, the Caliph noticed the weak beggar, dismounted from his horse, and attempted to help him. Seeing that the beggar could not walk, the Caliph placed him gently on the horse and walked beside it. In that moment, Ahmed revealed his true identity, seized the opportunity, and ...