Three hours away from death

Imagine it’s 8:55pm on 31^st December, 2015 and you are on a hospital bed. The doctor tells you that you have just 3 hrs to live.

Now think about the different thoughts that could be going through your mind at that time. Thoughts of different things you’ve been doing, both good and bad (especially the bad) will flash through your mind. You’ll probably start praying, asking for forgiveness of sins.  You’ll probably start to beg God and make promises that you’ll stop this or do that if only he would just spare your life to see a new day and a new year.

You are still alive now. Yeah, we made it into 2016. You may wonder...but I was not on a sick bed on 31^st December (or maybe you were), so how does this concern me? The point is we’ve all escaped death one way or the other; either cases we are aware of or those we don’t even know anything about. And here we are in 2016. Yeah, we made it. And many of us are still on the same road we were on last year. Have you forgotten all the promises and resolutions so fast? Have you started working towards all the goals you carried over from 2015? Have you started thinking of new things you can do this year? Are you still holding a grudge against that person? Why not pick up the phone and call him or her or at least send a message now? You’ll be surprised they probably don’t have anything against you and even if they still do, you never can tell the impact your call or message could make.

I’ll like you to read this piece carefully. It’s something many of us have seen a lot of times, I know.

3  There is a time for everything,

    and a season for every activity under the heavens:

2     a time to be born and a time to die,

    a time to plant and a time to uproot,

3     a time to kill and a time to heal,

    a time to tear down and a time to build,

4     a time to weep and a time to laugh,

    a time to mourn and a time to dance,

5     a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,

    a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,

6     a time to search and a time to give up,

    a time to keep and a time to throw away,

7     a time to tear and a time to mend,

    a time to be silent and a time to speak,

8     a time to love and a time to hate,

    a time for war and a time for peace.

-Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

NOW is the time to heal, build, mend, love, seek peace... NOW is the time to reflect on our lives. NOW is the time to make the change. NOW is the time to drop the bad habits. NOW is the time to move closer to God.

There’s a time for everything...The time is NOW

Where my heart used to be

Where are those days?

The happy days where there was so much to look forward to

Where are those moments?

The amazing moments that took my breath away

Where are those actions?

The cute actions that blew my mind

Where are those words?

The sweet words that made my heart melt

Where are those times?

The times you were there when you should be

Where are those promises?

The reassuring promises that kept the spark alive

Where are those hugs?

The warm hugs that made me feel at home

Where are those ears?

The ears that listened to me

Where are those eyes?

The lovely eyes that made my eyes light up

Where is that heart?

The beautiful heart so good and true

Where is that future?

The bright future we were building

Where is that time?

The undivided time you had for me

Were they all lies?

Please tell me they were not

My eyes can see

But they don’t see you anymore

My ears hear clearly

But your words have gone faint

My heart still feels strong things

But it’s back to default

Where you met it

Where it’s used to

Where it loves to be

It's back to  me

I’ve crawled back to my shell

 

Life was good, until this happened…

The waters were still

Until that stone was dropped

The cloth was white

Until that blood stained it

The dress was beautiful

Until that rat made a hole in it

The house was magnificent

Until that flood came and destroyed it

The legs were beautiful

Until that car crushed them

The skin was glowing

Until that hot water killed its shine

Adam and Eve were living happily without guilt

Until that serpent came

The ride was smooth

Until that bump obstructed the flow

Life was good and your heart was peaceful

Until you made that decision

Until you took that step

Until you said those words

Until you did that thing



This is what sin does to us. This is what happens when we go in the wrong direction. This is what happens when we let our conscience die. This is what happens when we say those hurtful words that can never be taken back. This is what happens when greed takes over. This is what happens when the wicked ones are left to enjoy and the innocent and harmless ones are made to go through pain. This is what happens when there is bloodshed everywhere. This is what happens when we give in to the pleasure of now without thinking of the torture that may come tomorrow. This is what happens when we take decisions without thinking twice. This is what happens when we side-line God in our life.

It spoils beautiful things. Suddenly or gradually, it kills us. It takes away our peace. It leaves us broken. It makes us hurt people that deserve our love. It draws us away from God. It steals our joy.

Nobody is a saint and nobody is perfect but we can try to work towards it. It’s not easy but it’s not impossible either. Let’s make things right as much as we can. Those that have gone bad may not be able to come back again but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t work on the little left. It’s not too late to make a good change. It’s not too late to stand firm.

Through the cycle

From the bright and beautiful vision...

Through the great zeal
The burning passion
The unique enthusiasm
The fierce fight
The tough struggles
The strong hope and faith
The encouragement...

To the fatal disappointments
The lost battles
The over-shadowing fears and worries
The bitter tears
The killed morale
The direct and indirect insults...

Now to the keen anticipation
The great expectation
The unavoidable eagerness to breath the air of freedom
To heave a sigh of relief
To have a sleep of peace
And to have a shout of victory...
...that of a conqueror

Through the cycle...with the good, the bad and the ugly, she's still standing...keeping her fingers crossed

once upon a time

Little things used to matter
But now, no one seems to bother

A good name was better than silver and gold
It seems to be the other way round now, truth be told


People used to think twice before doing things
Now, we've thrown caution to the winds

True love used to exist
Now, a shadow of it is what we see

There was something called due process and fair judgement with nothing much to flaunt
But now, you're permitted to use what you have to get what you want

Songs had meaningful lyrics
Now, we hear senseless songs with great beats

Virginity used to be a sign of dignity
But now, they say it's lack of opportunity

A trium-owner was a semi-god and object of envy
Now, a primary school pupil boasts of owning a blackberry

Vanity upon vanity, all is vanity they said
But now, the craze for money is the order of the day

Once upon a time, things were different
But all that now seem to be ancient

Change is indeed constant!

MAN IN THE MIRROR

Recently, I heard the news of an eighteen year old girl who got pregnant. This girl finished last year from secondary school. Due to her poor performance in WASSCE and UME, her parents took her to a nearby hospital to train as a nurse instead of staying idle. But after about two months, she got pregnant. This kind of news is all we hear around these days and it's sad.

When I see/hear of teenage pregnancies, child labour and crimes among youths, sometimes I wonder who is to blame...if there is anybody to blame in the first place.

We are in a society where the government gets all the blame for bad things happening around. We are in a world where people never take responsibility for their actions but are very good at putting blames on any other person that falls prey.
Looking at the problems facing children/teenagers/youths, we can say no one should be left out in the game of blame. One way or the other, when we look at cases of young ones having their own share of the bad side of life, we could share the blame among the government, parents, religious bodies and peers...but hold on, I'm going somewhere...

Each of these sets of people have a role to play in influencing how a child turns out. There is no doubt that or expectations are not really met by those in government and we keep hoping against hope that one day 'a messiah' will show up to save our country, Nigeria.

In this blame game, we can say parents/family members are the principal people to be blamed. Charity, they say, begins at home. The lessons a child learns at home goes a long way in influencing him/her. I guess we all know one way children learn is by imitation. You may not know but your children or young ones around you watch you and sometimes act the way you do because they think it is right.That's why parents have to start teaching their children the necessary things right from a very tender age. They should not only teach, but practice what they peach and lead by example...and all these should be done in love.

Religious bodies and schools also have their own share of the responsibility to bring up a total child. They should not only teach the required subjects or sermons but try to instill good values into them.
Sometimes, people also put some blame on peer pressure . You know, being pushed to do things because people around are doing them...I'm still heading somewhere....

The thing is, I think even with all these, it will be wrong and unfair to put blame on all these people, leaving out the person in question...and that's where I'm going.
Really, nobody is going to live your life for you . At the end of everything, you realize you're on your own...take it or leave it.
You can say the government, your background, your divorced parents and/or friends is/are to blame for whatever bad situation you've found yourself in but most times, you end up feeling the pain and bearing the consequences alone. That is why you have to take charge of your life. The fact that the economy is not great or your parents are poor doesn't mean you'll automatically be poor. And the fact that your parents aren't showing you enough love or spending quality time with you doesn't give you a ticket to 'show of misconduct'.You are who you think you are. Sometimes opportunities to do great things are just right in front of us but we fail to see them and sometimes, we see them and misuse them. We should always make the best out of whatever we have at a moment and always try to improve ourselves in any little way we can.

You can continue to enjoy self pity or take the bull by it's horns and do what needs to be done before it's too late. I think it's time to give others a break and see how we can help ourselves. This reminds me of Michael Jackson's song, 'Man  in the mirror' especially, the part where he said "if you wanna make the world a better place, take a look at yourself and make that change."
I'm starting with the man in the mirror...ME, I don't know about you.