What Lies Dormant within Us

What comes out in hot water?

I was thinking this morning...... about what lies dormant within us. I returned from work tired last Tuesday and was on phone at about 8pm when I head a bang and the voice of someone shouting. I looked through my window and saw that a car had crashed through the dwarf fence separating my neighbour and I. I ran downstairs to see that my neighbour's son of about 13 years had crashed the parents new Mercedes Benz S-Class. In panic, he was shouting 'Oh God, God. Jesus no, no, no.' He went on and on even as I tried to calm him down. He was in shock and could not stop shouting and asking God and Jesus why. The number of 'God' and 'Jesus' he shouted was enough to start a church. I helped him move the car from the crashed fence, turned it off and asked him if he had learnt his lesson. Apparently, he had sneaked out with no one noticing to hone his driving skills since both parents were out. As I left him with his older sibblings, walking back and thanking God that no one was hurt, I could not help but wonder how the situation had brought out the spirituality in the young boy. All he was saying was 'Oh God, no, God, no. Jesus why?'

Really, tough situations can unearth what lies dormant within you. I can't in any way be regarded as a violent person because in all my life I can only remember just an occasion when I hit someone. That day has been a surprise to me till date. It was my first year at the University of Benin and I had some fellow squatters in the room in the second floor in Hall 2. Because I was squatting, the only available space for me to keep my provisions securely was the top section of the wardrobe. As a result of the financial drought I was faced with, Oxford Cabin biscuit and Blueband butter were my most precious meal. A packet and tin were my portion for one month. On this particular month, I had left the room for lectures. On my return, planning to snack on my Cabin biscuit plastered with butter, I observed my locker was open and my provisions plundered. In the room at the time were three of my room mates including one called Tunde. These guys were twice my size. I asked who caused the damage, but they laughed at me. I would've sulked or cried myself to sleep, if they had ended it at that point, but Tunde will not let it be. He teased and dared me, getting close to me in the process. From within me came strength like I have never known and I gave him a slap that blinded him for some minutes. When I was done, I knew I was a dead man except someone came to my help. God answered my prayers, because before Tunde could charge at me and throw me down from the second floor, his friends held him back. Though 'saved by the bell,' the provocation had brought out the violent strength I did not know was lying dormant within me.

As I thought about both experiences, I remembered the words of the longest serving First Lady of the United States Eleanor Roosevelt who said, 'A woman is like a tea bag - you can't tell how strong she is until you put her in hot water.' I agreed with her but with a little variant. For me, 'Humans are like tea bags - you can't tell what is in them until they are in hot water.' 

The question for you is what comes out of you when in hot water? Virtue or vice? It is not how you act in cold water that counts but what comes out of you in hot waters. No wonder Mark 7:15 says 'Nothing outside a person can defile them by going into them. Rather, it is what comes out of a person that defiles them.'

Happy Sunday.

......Just the thoughts of a certain Wey Mey.