Advent: The Message Of John The Baptist (continued)

3 WAITING: Waiting is to do nothing expecting something to happen: to stay in one place or do nothing for a period of time until something happens or in the expectation or hope that something will happen (Microsoft® Encarta® 2008. © 1993-2007 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved). The use of the word waiting brings to mind the intent of God, who desires so much that we His children listen to Him. More than ever we are stopped from listening to God, from listening to our hearts as God speaks due to the many distractions we get from life. We live in an age where noise dominates, where silent reflection and recollection is seen as alien. And yet we are pleased with such existence and live as if there is nothing amiss. In ages past, we saw how God interacted with His people, how He delivered His messages to his people, who were ever ready to listen to Him. We ask ourselves today “why is God no more talking to us?” Now we should ask ourselves, “who changed?” Is it God or did we change? Faith tells us that God is unchangeable, and philosophy tells us that the most constant thing in human life or in this world is change. We cannot say that God does not speak to us, for He is the same yesterday, today and forever. Indeed it is man that has changed. He in his quest for all the good things of life has left that which gives birth to this goodness, in his search for a better life; he has fallen into the hands of deception who tells him that this life can be gotten without the help of God. We are called to look at ourselves as we wait for God to reveal himself in the person of Christ. As the definition above points out, God wants us to do nothing because He is going to do all things for us. In doing all things for us He needs our cooperation, and that is why He tells us to wait. In waiting, we are not to sit idly and wait, we are to wait In action. Waiting in action leads us back to our first point- preparation At this point let me state that the three aspects discussed so far, that of preparation, hope and waiting, are all intertwined. Waiting brings out very salient aspects of our spiritual life, and they include:

·        WAITING CREATES TIME DURING WHICH WE CAN TRUST GOD: David knew from experience what it meant to wait for the Lord. He had been anointed king at age sixteen, but didn’t become king until he was thirty. During the interim, he was chased through the wilderness by jealous King Saul. David had to wait on God for the fulfillment of his promise to reign. Later, after becoming king, he was chased by his rebellious son, Absalom.

·Waiting for God is not easy. Often it seems that he isn’t answering our prayers or doesn’t understand the urgency of our situation. That kind of thinking implies that God is not in control or is not fair. But God is worth waiting for. (Illumina Gold) Waiting is God’s means of teaching, renewing and refreshing His children. In advent we are being taught to wait in patience, for the coming of Christ. Patience is a virtue that is not truly applied every day. We hear of it, it is a reality in our world today, but it is not a lived experience for all. Advent renews the spirit of God in us, who urges us into preparation for the coming of Christ, advising us to make ample use of the opportunity we have to right our wrongs with God. Advent refreshes and gives us a new lease of life. It makes us receive heartily the second person of the trinity. Advent as such gives us that attitude of trust in God which we so need today. This is because man is trying daily to take the place of God in his life, thus making us refuse o give To God that trust that is due to be given Him. We are being stung to consciousness; advent is that scorpion that stings us to that consciousness.

·        WAITING ON GOD PREPARES US TO HAVE OUR REAL NEEDS MET: In waiting we can be rest assured that what we have waited for would eventually come to us. There is a general maxim that says that justice can only be delayed but not denied. This is very much applicable to our discourse, for in waiting the only thing we suffer is that there is an inherent delay but we would not be denied what truly belongs to us. Let me emphasize here that in advent, God prepares as much as we prepare, when I say God, I mean the three persons in One God. Thus while we prepare to receive what we are waiting for, God prepares Himself and also prepares us to receive what he has told us to wait for. God prepares us by ensuring that we get the necessary graces we need to truly receive Him. Baptism opens us to such graces. That is why I am of the opinion that this thought of waiting is not similar to that of being idle in expectation. Instead, it means being active in expectation. We are to be assured of the fact that God cannot stand a dirty environment, thus we are to clean up ourselves, not like the hypocrites and not in a pharisaic way, “You Pharisees are so careful to clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside you are still filthy” (Lk 11:39) We are meant to clean up ourselves from the inside. And yet we should not neglect the outside, for the same God who made the outside made the inside (Lk 11:40). When we advocate the cleaning of the inside we mean that your spiritual life must be in good health. God made both the spiritual and the physical life, and the both of them in unison makes a person completely spiritual, for the physical and the spiritual totally complement each other. Thus as much as we may clean up our surroundings and get new materials goods for ourselves to show off on Christmas day, we should pay more attention to our soul and expect that our needs would be met with the birth of Christ. Let this stand point not be misconstrued, we should not give God conditions with respect to our relationship with Him. That is to say, let us not say because we wants out needs met then we repent and get baptized. God would meet our inmost needs but we need to trust in Him knowing fully well that he knows what is best for all of us.

·        WAITING ENCOURAGES US TO ALWAYS BE PREPARED FOR CHRIST’S RETURN: Knowing that Christ’s return will be sudden and unexpected should motivate us always to be prepared. We are not to live irresponsibly-sitting and waiting, doing nothing; seeking self-serving pleasure; using his tarrying as an excuse not to do God’s work of building his kingdom; developing a false security based on precise calculations of events; or letting our curiosity about the end times divert us from doing God’s work. (illumina Gold) We have maintained that advent developed out of the thought of Christ’s second coming, His return. We are to wait In activity, and not in idleness, Jesus asks us to spend the time of waiting taking care of his people and doing his work here on earth, both within the church and outside it. This is the best way to prepare for Christ’s return (illumina Gold); this is the best way to wait. How can we wait and still work? The next point answers this.

·        WAITING GIVES US OPPORTUNITY TO WORK OUT OUR FAITH: Some people in the Thessalonian church were falsely teaching that because Christ would return any day, people should set aside their responsibilities, quit work, do no future planning, and just wait for the Lord. But their lack of activity only led them into sin. They became a burden to the church, which was supporting them; they wasted time that could have been used for helping others; and they became busybodies. These church members may have thought that they were being more spiritual by not working, but Paul tells them to be responsible and get back to work. Being ready for Christ means obeying him in every area of life. Because we know that Christ is coming, we must live in such a way that our faith and our daily practice will please him when he arrives. (illumina Gold) The advice of St Paul to the church in Thessalonica, gives credence to the thought of waiting in action, and not in idleness.

In summary, this threefold message of advent answers three questions namely:

WHO ARE WE WAITING FOR- CHRIST

HOW ARE WE WAITING FOR CHRIST- IN PREPARATION

HOW ARE WE PREPARING- IN HOPE

Our hope, our desire to wait and our preparation all goes to the person of Christ, who is the reason for the season. The message of John the Baptist was one of a total turning back to God in expectation of the coming of His Son. This is the message of Advent.

IWUH DOZIE.

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ADVENT: The Message Of John The Baptist

This post was published to Pieces off me at 10:29:55 PM 12/11/2010

Advent: The Message of John the Baptist

Account             Pieces off me

The term advent is derived from the Latin root adventus which means coming and advenio meaning to come. In proper terms the word means to expect. The time of advent has come again and we are all expecting to receive something. But do we all know what it is. Let us not be quick to expect and expect wrongly. We should all ask ourselves, what are we expecting? Indeed the term advent can be used in varying ways to depict this expectancy and that is why it is maintained that we ask ourselves what we are expecting or what we hope to gain by expecting. People usually expect the best, but there are also people who also expect the worse. Strange as it may seem that someone should expect the worse and yet we cannot limit expectancy to only good things. Advent as a word is also applied to the expectation of Christ, his birth; In the Christian church calendar, the period of preparation for the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ at Christmas and also of preparation for the Second Coming of Christ. It begins on the Sunday nearest to November 30 (St. Andrew's Day) and is the beginning of the new church year. The date when the season was first observed is uncertain. ("Advent." Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopaedia Britannica Student and Home Edition.  Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica, 2010.) Advent has probably been observed since the fourth century. Originally, it was a time when converts to Christianity readied themselves for baptism. During the Middle Ages, Advent became associated with preparation for the Second Coming. In early days Advent lasted from November 11, the feast of St. Martin, until Christmas Day. Advent was considered a pre-Christmas season of Lent when Christians devoted themselves to prayer and fasting. (http://www.infoplease.com/spot/advent1.html)

The message of advent is one of preparation, one of making straights the paths, one of repentance, messages that are all enveloped in the message of John the Baptist. Quoting the prophet Isaiah, John the Baptist remarks: listen to the voice crying out in the desert: prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. The valleys would be filled and the mountains and hills made low. Everything crooked will be made straight and the rough paths smooth; and every mortal will see the salvation of God. (Lk 3:4-6) What prompted such statement from John the Baptist, what gave the prophet Isaiah the insight? All was done by God, because He was to come. And yet we should remember that the message of John was set upon the eschatological and apocalyptic thought that ran in the minds of the children of Israel. (Filip Noel- LUKE, in the International Bible commentary) After years of oppression and suffering, the children of Israel, hoped that the same God who had allowed this suffering to befall them would also allow some respite to come their way. And thus the sayings and prophecies of the prophets saw that this longing was heightened by the day. With the inherent delay, the people needed assurance as they had begun seeing the true prophets as false due to their oracles that failed to come to pass.  John’s message was a message of truth, a message of reassurance that the prophecies of old had come to pass and that people should get ready and stand up in expectation. Indeed the people of Israel had longed for a saviour who would come to set them free from captivity, a warrior-like savior who would put their enemies to shame, who would punish severely their enemies. Their thought was not out of place, because if we were told in Nigeria that we should expect the chosen one, where would our minds first go? Would it not go to one who would come and save us from this corruption that is keeping this nation at a still point? Would our minds go to a religious person? Maybe, maybe not, but most probably, our minds would go straight to a political giant who would come to crush and make new our lives. Our minds would go to a politically minded person especially now that Nigeria is on the eve of another election.  Advent is a period of Joyful preparation. Indeed there are two periods when the church earnestly prepares in expectation for something- it is during the seasons of Easter and Christmas. But while the period of lent which prepares us for Easter has more rigour attached to it, the period of advent is a period of joyful waiting. Let us not forget what is very important in this season of waiting- Christ. Indeed the message of John the Baptist would have fallen short of a true message if it had not had Christ in it. We know for sure that John the Baptist’s message did not have traces of joy; it was rather a message of doom to all that refused to align themselves towards this expectancy. At the point of his warning, the message of advent was not as joyful as we know it to be today, but it had in it an element that made it worthy, that made it a worthy message, a message that should provoke repentance.  At this point, we should ask ourselves again, what are we or who are we truly expecting?

John’s preparation saw him baptize persons, repentant persons. His reason was that people could not hope to receive the God in a state that is ungodly, and as such baptism, which is prefigured by a complete repentance, was called for. In the message of John the Baptist, in the message of advent, we see three very important aspect of this expectancy, and they are:

1 PREPARATION: According to late Fr Mason OSA, there can be no celebration without any preparation. To push this further a little bit, I would say that nothing works well if it is bereft of preparation. Preparation enables us to seriously weigh the options and to set our minds upon having a wonderful or successful event. This truly pictures what advent is all about. It is a preparation for the coming of our Lord. How do you prepare for the coming of an important guest? Do you allow yourself to wait till the dying minute or do you start your work on time? How do you prepare for exams? Do you wait till it is few days to the start of the exams or do you start it on time? We should consider the caliber of person that we are expecting. John knew of His worth and that is why he advocated repentance with baptism. The concept of repentance is not old to man, for with the dawn of sin came the need to repent. Repentance is always initiated by God, who instills in His children the need to seek out a better life than the one they are at present living. To prove this point, God showed depth of initiative when He came as man to show man the way to repentance. Such preparation via baptism points to one truth and this truth is contained entirely in the meaning of repentance. That is a truth that speaks of cleanliness. Baptism washes ones sins away, making one more acceptable to God; while repentance is the potential movement towards this acceptable cleanliness needed by man in his appearance before God, baptism is the actuality of that movement. One would ask, why do I need repentance for this season? This season is about God and His love for humanity, it is a season of Christ obedience made manifest in his becoming man, it is a season of the Holy Spirit’s collaboration with a virgin to make salvific process a reality.  Repentance is literally a change of mind, not about individual plans, intentions, or beliefs, but rather a change in one’s attitude about God. Such repentance accompanies saving faith in Christ (Acts 20:21). It is inconsistent and unintelligible to suppose that anyone could believe in Christ yet not repent. Repentance is such an important aspect of conversion that it is often stressed, as when Christ said that there is joy in heaven among the angels over one sinner who repents (Luke 15:7). (illumina Gold software) One would be working against God’s plan for salvation if he turns his back on a very important aspect of this salvation process- the beginning, which is the birth of His Son. It is to stress here that the beginning of any process is very important and that is why people go through pains to see that they start of well and particularly end well. We show our solidarity to this process of salvation of the human race when we prepare to receive he who is going to do the job for us. Humanity has called on a technician to repair what was damaged in the relationship, and that technician has agreed to come. What are we supposed to do? He does not know the terrain as we do, but we are very sure that he is an expert and that is why we have called him. Should we just leave him just like that? Are we not going to welcome him? That is what preparation does, and that is why John the Baptist’s advocacy for baptism and repentance is very much in place. This is the best way to welcome Christ, our technician. And yet we should not conceive of this literally. For us that have already been baptized, we are called upon to make ourselves clean by an act of confession and generally by doing acts of piety this season. Advent is a time for preparation for the coming of God. We should welcome him in faith and our faith is made manifest in the works that we do. What are the works that truly manifest this faith in God? These are works that are acceptable in the sight of God; these are works that are done by one who has aligned himself in obedience to God. Psalm 15 says:

Those who lead blameless lives and do what is right, speaking the truth from sincere hearts. Those who refuse to slander others or harm their neighbors or speak evil of their friends. Those who despise persistent sinners, and honor the faithful followers of the Lord and keep their promises even when it hurts. Those who do not charge interest on the money they lend, and who refuse to accept bribes to testify against the innocent. Such people would stand firm forever. (Ps 15:2-5)

Our works must be that of uprightness and truth (Pro 21:3 says:  The Lord is more pleased when we do what is just and right than when we give him sacrifices.) Any work that lacks in this respect does not reflect truly the faith we profess in Christ. We have been always reminded that God take more delight in our works that have been inspired by a total faith in Him, than in the sacrificial goods offered Him. In this season, we are called to run away from showy sacrifices, sacrifices that range from the celebration of the season without the reason for this season. Let us order our lives in such a way that as Christ was born in the manger 2000years ago, he would also be born in our hearts come 25^th December. We should make our hearts ready, in the spirit of John the Baptist; we should make right our hearts and prepare it fully for the reception of Christ. There is need to clean our hearts because it is in it that we harbor all that goes against the dictates of God. There should be a total conversion towards to this season and yet in the light of the thought of Fr. Celsus (a priest of Shendam Diocese), conversion is only possible with God, for He is its author; but man can repent from his sins. Thus repentance this season is much needed, for we hope that with the repentance of our hearts and minds God’s coming would effect a conversion.

A story is told of friends who set out to prepare a birthday party for one of their friends. On the appointed day and on the appointed time, the chief host was nowhere to be found. He did not drop any message and so his friends and the people they had invited waited and waited, but this man did not show up. After waiting for a long time, they decided to start the party. When the party and the music that came forth, had reached crescendo, the chief host arrived. What do you think was his reaction? He indeed did not like the fact that they had started the party without him. And so he asked them “what of if something bad had happened to me? Is that how you people would have gone on with the party?” it was evident that his friends had more interest in the partying than in the person who the party was for. This occurrence is always found at the time of Christmas. We like these friends of the host, would do everything right and fail to do the most important thing well. Christ is the chief celebrant but more than ever he has been sidelined and made almost unimportant in this Christmas. Have you ever seen a Christmas without a Christ? A Christmas without Christ is very pathetic, consider it. Christmas has Christ as her central and only focus.

God the Father wishes to celebrate the birthday of His Son and He has prepared the birthday banquet, wishing that all His friends attend. He has sent out word to all His friends and has told them of the venue; it is left for us his friends to attend. Let us remember that if we fail to attend, the banquet hall must be filled and so He will go looking for people to fill up this banquet hall. In the midst of this all, we are all advised to come dressed in our birthday garments lest we face what happened to that man that did not have a festal garment (Mt 22:11-13) The whole of Chapter 22 especially from verses 1 to 13 of the gospel of Matthew, brings to light the fact of preparing in the right way. Know this, that in the event of Christmas, while we are preparing to receive Christ, God is also preparing to Christ for this reception. There is a mutual-ongoing preparation between the Creator and the created. And since it is the occasion of the Son of God, there is every reason to align our preparation to that of the organizer-God. God wishes that we dress up in a festal garb, thus we should go shopping for that garb and nothing more that is if we want to be accepted into the banquet hall. The best preparation we can offer is a change of heart, in fact a total renewing of our hearts to accept the First Born Son of God- REPENTANCE, is very much the ideal here. Instead of going ahead with all the cooking preparations and the present buying or the clothes shopping, let us look for that which will make us acceptable- our festal garment. We have trivialized and turned Christmas into another material charade. This is a wrong presentation of the truth; it is a total falsification of the whole ideal. While I still maintain that the above mentioned are very important for this season, I still hold that the most important should be given it own pride of place and should not be knocked off that position. The important is nothing but the fact that Christ is the essence and truth behind the celebration of Christmas.

2 HOPE: To hope is to expect the fulfillment of a desire or wish. (Illumina Gold) A desire of some good, accompanied with an expectation of obtaining it, or a belief that it is obtainable; an expectation of something which is thought to be desirable; confidence; pleasing expectancy. (http://ardictionary.com/Hope/4354)  Hope is a vital condition for human life. Without hope, a person cannot exist. People experience their existence as a longing and striving, as a dynamism proceeding from a hidden impulse and aspiring for a better, more perfect life. (Karl Peschke- Christian Ethics) Hope, in its widest acceptation, is described as the desire of something together with the expectation of obtaining it. The Scholastics say that it is a movement of the appetite towards a future good, which though hard to attain is possible of attainment; it is defined to be a Divine virtue by which we confidently expect, with God's help, to reach eternal felicity as well as to have at our disposal the means of securing it. It is said to be Divine not merely because its immediate object is God, but also because of the special manner of its origin. Hope, such as we are here contemplating, is an infused virtue; i.e., it is not, like good habits in general, the outcome of repeated acts or the product of our own industry. Like supernatural faith and charity it is directly implanted in the soul by Almighty God. Both in itself and in the scope of its operation it outstrips the limits of the created order, and is to be had if at all only through the direct largess of the Creator. The capacity which it confers is not only the strengthening of an existing power, but rather the elevation, the transforming of a faculty for the performance of functions essentially outside its natural sphere of activity. All of this is intelligible only on the basis, which we take for granted, that there is such a thing as the supernatural order, and that the only realizable ultimate destiny of man in the present providence of God lies in that order. (http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07465b.htm)
Hope is termed a theological virtue because its immediate object is God, as is true of the other two essentially infused virtues, faith and charity. St. Thomas acutely says that the theological virtues are so called "because they have God for their object, both in so far as by them we are properly directed to Him, and because they are infused into our souls by God alone, as also, finally, because we come to know of them only by Divine revelation in the Sacred Scriptures". Theologians enlarge upon this idea by saying that Almighty God is both the material and the formal object of hope. He is the material object because He is that which is chiefly, though not solely, aimed at when we elicit acts of this virtue- i.e., whatever else is looked for is only desired in so far as it bears a relation to Him. Hence according to the generally followed teaching, not only supernatural helps, particularly such as are necessary for our salvation, but also things in the temporal order, inasmuch as they can be means to reach the supreme end of human life, may be the material objects of supernatural hope. It is worthwhile noting here that in a strict construction of the term we cannot properly hope for eternal life for someone other than ourselves. The reason is that it is of the nature of hope to desire and expect something apprehended precisely as the good or happiness of the one who hopes (bonum proprium). In a qualified sense, however, that is so far as love may have united us with others, we may hope for others as well as for ourselves. (http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07465b.htm) What are we hoping for at this period of Advent?
Christ has always been our hope and will always be our hope. Every Christian has the belief that they would end up sharing in the beatific vision of God and the only way to attaining to this is by living in the hope which God has presented to us. We should live in the Hope of an eternity that God presents us through the coming of His Son. The hope of heaven is a summit of all hopes that can be found in life. There is no way for us to get that sunum bonum of life in God if God does not come in person to show us the way to Him. Christ’s coming was not to only reconcile us to God, he came to clear a path and show us the best possible path to the father. In many ways, we would expect and hope for many things except that which is the essence. Advent is a period of expectancy; it is similarly a period of hope. What does hope do to us as Christians?

·        It gives us endurance in adversity and suffering: hope gives people the strength to pursue tasks and goals assigned to them also in difficulties and adversities, to make moral choices involving great effort and sacrifice, and to persevere in them. While hope gives us Christians the fortitude to endure in suffering, their patient bearing in distress also becomes a witness to the strength of hope that they possess.

·        It opens us to the future: Christian life is always prospective, it always looks forward, and it seeks to depart to the unknown. In an encounter with the God of hope people always find themselves in what is new, surprising, unique and full of mystery.

·        It summons us to transform the world: hope does not render effort superfluous but demands it. People hope for God’s justice and peace by striving for their progressive realization. The hope of our calling is a summons to be mediators in that process by which all things should be brought home to the kingdom of Christ and submitted to his salvific lordship.

·        It is committed to the liberation of man: hope transforms the world in a special way. It poses a challenge to reform the society and to create better conditions of life for humans. Among the principal objectives of hope is the salvation of man. (Karl Peschke- Christian Ethics).

The last point draws our attention to the fullest work of hope, that of salvation. Man cannot seek to live without hope; he makes a mistake if he does this. This is what makes our religion unique, and this has what people have criticized in Christianity, that we live out our belief in something that is non-existent. It should be maintained that God is not something but somebody and He has shown us that He truly exists and has interest in our wellbeing by sending us His Son. There is every need to hope for the best this advent. Yes, we should hope for the best because the best is coming into our lives to take his place. We should hope for a Christ who comes into our world to relieve us of our pain, a pain that he is ready to share; what could we wish for. The prophecies of old spoke of a child that was to be expected, a child that was going to make all things new, a child that was going to reinvigorate the people, a child that was going to set them free from oppression, a child that would be a selfless leader, a child that would carry the interest of all in his heart and on his shoulders. That child is the same child that we are expecting in our times. Yes, we are hoping that he would do all what the prophecies of old spoke of. Christians, you should realize that God loves you; according to Fr Celsus, God is undeniably four things, namely: He is powerful, loving, faithful and caring. Thus God expects that we hope in His ability to meet with our needs and beyond. Every human being desires a life of pleasure, one that he/she would not suffer. Looking into the depth of this desire, I have come to realize that every human desires that beatific vision with God because that is the summit of all pleasures and assuredly with Him there is nothing about suffering. And this God has presented us a pathway to thus beatific vision with Him- Christ, who is the way, the truth and the life. (Jn 14:

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My relationship with God

hmmm... my relationship with God has been for a very long time very one-sided. it has all been about- God give me this, God help me with that, God rescue me from this, God do this for me... in essence it has always been about God helping me. that is why I say that it has been very onesided. Is this onesided relational nature a bad thing? Is my relationship with God all about the help He offers me? every one should ask him/herself this question. People say that God is just a figment of fantasy to those that have not made it in life, to the poor, the downtrodden, the oppressed. they say that God is not who we take Him to be.

I say with all air of authority behind me that if this is who people take God to be, then I better be considered as one among the aforementioned. Yes, indeed, I am always in need of God's help and yes that pretty much determines my relationship with Him, because I am nothing without Him, I will be nothing with out Him and I was nothing without Him. so why am I distressed at the fact that my relationship with God has always been about asking and asking? it is because, I have no other person to turn to and it is most definately because I have in God a Father who is ready to respond to my every need.

I instead thank God that my relationship with Him has been one sided, I do not regret ever being His and I will rather remain poor and oppressed in God than rich and delivered without God. To all who might have considered this question, i say to you that God is happy that the relationship you have with Him is One-sided, take it from me, He would not be happy if it was otherwise. I always want my relationship with God to be Onesided, I know that achievements and successes do matter, but God matters more. do not think that I ahve achieved anything in life, no, but whether I will acheive or not, i rather remain God's slave than the Devil's personal assistant. I am happy with the realtionship and God is too. Thus this is what I will do, I will keep asking for God's help till I enjoy His beatific vision in heaven. what of you...?

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Childhood Deja vu

In church today, I saw a small child in the arms of his mother. The child looked so happy and he was indeed chubby, because he was well feed. I was glad for his mother. One interesting thing that i noted was the fact that immediately the child was breast fed, he began sleeping, and in his sleep he appeared so peaceful as though nothing could ever disturb him in life. Yes what could disturb him when he was in the comforting arms of his mother?

The other day I saw two small kids dancing happily to a song that was playing in the distance, I was walking with a friend and I told him that for us adults, the happy days are over. But what did I mean? you see the higher you grow, the more people expect of you, and whether consciously or unconsciously, your life is ruled by these expectations. you notice that your parents expect you to do well, that your peers expect you to act and behave like them etc., and when you refuse to meet up with such expectations, you feel terribly bad. now should you feel bad? we are always advised not to allow other people rule our lives; as true as it is, we should also realize that man is a social being and in his social nature, he has recourse to the thought system and reasoning faculty of others, even though he, of course would have a mind of his own. and yet he would try to make his life conform to the dictates of society, family, friends,peers etc. what a life! and you would also agree with me that when you do what is expected of you, you are happy, because you are parised, now when you do something bad, you are sad because you are scolded at or embarrassed.

as water-tight as this is, there are some people whose stock in trade is to rebel, and this they do well. why do they rebel? it is because of what i have just said, it is because there are life expectations that rule us, something close to a cabal that calls the shot on everyones life. I know that God has full control of this life, He is, yet, there is still something that determines how we order our lives as adults. the happy days are over because that thing goes and attacks that drive in us to be the best. our happy days are over because we would never know such joy, such peace, such calm as we knew as children when we had nothing to worry about, when our every need was met by others, when we would sleep calmly with no thought of any unfinished business, when we would wake up and dance and laugh and sing, and indeed eat. As children we always thought that that was how life was, but we know better now. Life and its expectations... I would advise one thing- never let yourself be weighed down by life expectations and yet again try to live up to your potentials. be happy always, never trade with your happiness and never expect that something outside would make you happy. happiness is within, it is internal, it is God, because God is within each and every human being. entrust your worries to Him but Do your part. Our Child Hood Days Are Over...it is time to face the difficult situations that life presents us with.

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An Ode to Nigeria At 50 by iwuh dozie

WITH LOVE AND STRENGTH AND FAITH...

these are all virtues that would be generated by those who have received the love of their father, who have seen the strength and resolve, of their father, in seeing that justice and peace maintained, who have seen the unshakable faith of their father, a faith that can move not mountains but planets. And yet our father possesses in great quantum the opposite. He is the chief custodian of vice, this is because all he has trained to lead us in the way of right have shown us how vice-inclined they are. If our father- Nigeria, ever had love then I tell you, that word, LOVE, does not exist. If he does have strength, why does he show us weakness, for even an ant can be able to defeat him in a game of wrestling. If he did have faith, then, it would not be able to move a grain of sand. How can we generate these virtues that would enable us serve our fatherland well? it is just impossible. But if you speak of serving him in vice, then we can all see the possibility and indeed shout HURRAY!!!


THE LABOURS OF OUR HEROES PAST... who are our heroes? And you would say- Awolowo, Azikiwe, Ahmadu Bello, Tafawa Balewa, Herbert Macaulay,etc. At the mention of these names, one would think them to be the greatest Nigerians that ever lived, considering what they achieved with respect to Nigeria's independence. To say the truth, they indeed laboured for our independence, but they had very selfish motives. I was reading a book written By Chinua Achebe, and in this book, he outlines the numerous reasons why our heroes are not really heroes. These heroes of ours had only one thing in mind, and that is their development and that of their kinsmen. And that is why Chief Obafemi Awolowo, gave free education to only his tribesmen, that is why he was able to take, Zik's rightfully thumbprinted votes, claiming the absurdity of an Ibo man winning elections in a Yoruba land. That is why Zik sought out refuge in his people and deceived them into removing the then priemer of the eastern region-, who was from the south-south. If these individuals were really who we take them to be, they would not have been so intoxicated by power that they would fail to see that we all share in the Nigerian cause and not in a tribalistic cause. In a way, we can say that they indeed did labour, but it was not for majorly for Nigeria, in fact, Nigeria was the last thing, these heroes of us had in mind. We cannot rule out that fact that that we had very bright shining examples of heroes. If not for their unfortunate over-emphasis on their tribes, our heroes would have been true heroes, who would have set up a great foundation for us to build upon. Taking for granted the British divide and rule policy, our past leaders could have made this nation great, if they were a little more selfless. No they were not, they continued with the divide and rule policy of the colonialists. I am not in any way trying to say that they did not do their best, no.What I am saying is that their best was motivated and directed towards selfish ideals. Each focusing strongly on the ethical divide that separates us in our Nigerianness. We should recall that everything that concern zoning with respect to the spot of the president started in the second republic. At that time, these big names that Nigeria holds so dear were still alive and they even contested in such a malicious beginning. this has had a ripple effect in our days as the North, that has ruled this country for almost 35 years in her 50 years of existence, are still struggling for this post of presidency. They refuse the thought of a christian becoming the number one man in the nation, indeed this has taken a religious dimension. Our leaders past have a hand in all these. Thus I ask how hard did they labour? If the labours of Nelson Mandela, in spite of his numerous human faults, were not selfless, do you think that South Africa would have attained to such heights?
At this point, we should not limit our heroes to those big names we here. indeed Nigerians have had many unsung heroes, heroes who silently gave their lives for the progress of this nation and it is them that we say their labours would not be in vain, even though that is an uphill task.
SHALL NEVER BE IN VAIN... Who are we trying to deceive? If our long forgotten heroes see today's Nigeria, what do they think they would say? All our efforts have been in vain, OK, not all but majority. Look at every sphere of the Nigerian society and judge for yourselves. When Nigerians are not ready to look beyond their selfish interests, how would the efforts of our heroes not be in vain.

TO SERVE WITH HEARTS AND MIND... that is what every Nigerian is called to do, to serve with hearts and mind. Indeed our past leaders have done their best, according to their own measurements and that of their well-wishers, now we are left with the reality of today's Nigeria. What should be our response? Should we keep licking the wounds of the past and blaming past administrations for their corruption? No. We should all realise that like them, our past leaders, the Nigerian situation still behooves on us. We should make well on their failings and further their achievements. Mother Nigeria, has long cried out to her children to heed to her cry of pain. This is the time. Nigeria is 50, so what, we are not too old to begin anew. All that is expected of us, is a change of mind and heart, a change of these elements together with the zeal to serve. We should stand up and correct all the faults of the past, even if it means destroying the foundations of the past and building anew. We should not be scared to act out right, to act out justly, to act in fairness and uprightness. We should put Nigeria before our selves realising that the good or bad of this country is shared by all- saints and sinners, poor and rich, moral and immoral. Do not wait for another person to start what you can start, do not hope that every person would have the kind of zeal you have towards this country. That is why you should begin something good, true, Godly and right. You would always have people with the same hearts and minds accompany you in such quest. Think of the save Nigeria group, it was an individual that started the initiative and this has attracted many like-minded individuals. This country needs our service, because we have no country, no home, and we can lay claim to no land except ours.

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An Ode to Nigeria At 50 by iwuh dozie

Stand up Nigerians and recite your National anthem. Yes, recite your national anthem, and remind yourselves of who you are and what you should be. Come to think of it is there any element of truth in that national anthem or was it a product of forced compromise among the warring tribes of this Nation?

ARISE OH COMPATRIOTS... who is this line referring to? Us? Are we really compatriots or combatants. If we are truly compatriots as the line says then we should arise, arise and face what you have turned this country into, arise and see what a nation that boasted of such hope 50years ago has turned into, arise and receive all the insults that all nations have poured and constantly will keep pouring on you, arise and see the hypocrisy and corruption in your land, arise and come to terms with the reality that the catch phrase- Giant of Africa just resides in words. Arise and lament, weep Nigeria because you are a failure, you have failed all who placed their trust in you, and you never stop failing because that is what you are good at.

NIGERIA'S CALL OBEY... obey? you say obey? obey whom if I may ask? Obey those who have constantly provided us with beautiful theoretical standards and have constantly toyed with our wish to see this Nation attain its peak? Obey those who standards of measurement for this country does not move any further than their bellies. How long will you sit helplessly and obey? How long will you be deceived off what should be rightfully yours by those who claim to have your interest? Indeed, as patriotic citizens that we are we are meant to obey cause the Nigerian cause demands it, but in thus situation, disobedience would be a step in the right direction. For 50years you have constantly beckoned and we have all responded, and you have never stopped disappointing us, you have showed yourself to be more of a tyrant than a Nation.

TO SERVE OUR FATHER LAND... I guess you all know who your father is? But if you don't know who he is, I will be glad to tell you what kind of a father you have. A father who is selfish, greedy, corrupt, unjust, troublesome...the list is endless. For how many more years are we to serve this father of ours who is not in any way appreciative of the varying things that his children have done for him? Look at a father who does not care if the name and life of his children is being dragged to the soil by foreigners, look at a father who does not think about the life of his children who have all died in a quest to see him rise to the heights, look at a father who busies himself with trivialities instead of focusing on issues of worth. What do we owe you papa? do you deserve our respect or our scorn? for how long are we to seek out your attention? What sort of father are you? Questions such as these have made many of your children flee for better pastures elsewhere, and you are not concerned? But how can you be concerned, and the more your lack of concern increases, the more you lose your most beloved children. You end up with only those who would love to see your downfall. Nigeria, when you fail to encourage your children, your children would fail to make you proud. Oh my father, I lack the wherewithal to serve you because you have not been a nice dad. You have been a dad whose pleasure resides in seeing your children fight with each other. You see these things and you have kept quiet, all these speak of your lack of concern. And so how can we serve you? I know how, probably by selling our bodies to foreigners in order to get all that you have refused to give us, probably by indulging in theft, by killing for money, by selling our children as salves. All these papa, we do for you.

to be continue

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