LIFE & DEATH: MUTATIS MUTANDIS

 

I was thinking this morning..... Last Tuesday, we all gathered at the Unity Hall of Port-Harcourt Club (1928) for the Night of Tributes in honour of our departed colleague and friend, Lady Delight Ngowari Noel-Elenwo. For me, it was all blank until Dr Precious Omuku was called to render a solo. He chose the song of Mahalia Jackson titled 'If I can Help Somebody.'

Though the song was very melodious, I was rather drawn to the words of the first stanza that says;

'If I can help somebody, as I travel along
If I can help somebody, with a word or song
If I can help somebody, from doing wrong
No, my living shall not be in vain.'

Hmm! It is true that someone can live in vain. As the words soaked into my soul, I thought about my birthday that was 2 days ahead and how I will celebrated. I searched my soul asking, can I truly say my living has not been in vain? If your life is not putting smiles on the faces of people, then you may be living in vain. If you do wrong and make others do same, you are living in vain. The life of our beloved Delight was surely not in vain because she not only helped people, she made many smile.

As the tributes flowed in a sombre atmosphere, I observed some are gaily dressed like it was a birthday celebration. Then they started sharing snack packs and gifts. Hmm!! 'Is it a time to eat and drink?' I mused. Just then, I observed someone angling for two snack packs, typical of Nigerians. Chai! We are mourning our friend, yet someone is still thinking of 'looting.' It dawned on me at this point that what is true of celebrating the living is equally true, Mutatis Mutandis, of celebrating the departed.

Whether you are celebrating the living or the life of the departed, people will always use the occasion to either make a fashion statement and/or to feast. But at the end of the day what is most important is, will your living be in vain? Philippians 1:21 says 'For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.'

Stay hopeful. God's got your back.

Happy Sunday.

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

LESSON FROM MY DAD

 

I was thinking this morning..... While growing up in Warri, my dad taught me a lot of lessons about life by direct instructions. However, there was a vital lesson I learnt from him by observation.

It happened during my early teen years when my dad had almost completed his football team of eleven children. When his friends worry about how he was going to cater for us all through the University, I remember always hearing him say 'Don't worry, they will all be on scholarship.' My dad was not a very religious man at the time, but for some reasons he had no fear or doubt about us going through the University.

Just before we started gaining admission to the university, my dad no longer had a regular job or stable source of income. Yet, he went ahead and added a reserve bench of two, making a total of thirteen children. Then my elder brother gained admission and we were wondering how the fees will be paid. 'Where is the scholarship daddy has been talking about?' I wondered. Before I could lose faith in his words, an oil company based in my community started giving out scholarships to university students from the community. By the time the last of us graduated, 10 out of my dad's 13 children went through the university on scholarship. Wow! His words came to pass.

As I thought about how 2022 will turn out, I remembered the lesson I had learnt from my dad to only speak the right words. Be careful what you say about this year, because it might just come to pass. You don't have to be religious for this to happen. Your 2022 will not be built by bricks and mortar but by the words you speak. You can create your world with your words. Frame your life with God's word; you can't have a life that is different from your words. Proverbs 18:4 'A person's words can be life-giving water.'

Stay hopeful. God's got your back.

Happy Sunday.

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

DEM GO WAKA LOSS

I was thinking this morning..... as I stepped out for my morning walk days ago, I was approached by a young man that said, 'Please, how can I get to Road 13?' Hmm! Because my estate is so complex, I did my best in giving him direction, while I continued my perambulation. Thirty minutes into my walk, I ran into this same young man at the wrong end of the estate still asking questions about how to get to Road 13. Wow! While I felt sorry for him, I imagined what the rigmarole could portend.

Should the young man be responding to an emergency, the worst surely would've happened due to the delay. On the flip side however, should the young man have sinister motive, then it's sure a good thing that he has missed his way. In Waffi parlance, e don waka loss.

On the back of this, I recalled a customised caller tune I had years ago that says 'Any person wey dey waka for your sake for evil, e go waka loss in Jesus name.' As I replayed it in my head and smiled, I thought about 2022 and prayed.

Firstly, the wife of a friend was abducted late last year and has been with her abductors for over 50 days. Ahh! I prayed silently that any scammer, robber or kidnapper headed our way this year, dem go waka loss in Jesus name.

Secondly, bad leadership has been the bane of our beloved country Nigeria. With 2022 being a pre-election year, we are beginning to see movement of politicians here and there. My prayer is that anybody going up and down the country wanting to get into power to give Nigerians pain and sorrow, e go waka loss in Jesus name.

In this year 2022, keep your focus, plan your journey and above all, have the right motive. Do not go to and fro nor walk up and down like satan (Job 2:2), otherwise, you go waka loss o.

Stay hopeful. God's got your back.

Happy Sunday.

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

SKIP THE TRAFFIC

 

I was thinking this morning...... For the first time this year, I went out mid morning yesterday for an event. Like is common in Lagos, a supposedly 10mins journey took about 45mins. Chai! This Lagos traffic. As I settled into the reception with a cold bottle of water, I recalled a new report by the Financial Derivatives Company (FDC) Limited led by Bismarck Rewane that indicated that every Lagos resident would have spent over six years in traffic by the time they clock 55 years. Wow! It is no news that Lagos State has one of the worst traffic gridlocks in the world. What I do not understand though is how this problem has become intractable.

As I thought on this, I tried to imagine how many weeks I will spend in Lagos traffic this year and wondered what we all are doing in this Lagos. How is it that some persons are aware that they will spend 6 years of their active years in traffic and still choose to remain in Lagos? But really, isn't that a reflection of our lives? Many find themselves in places they have no reason being at and are held up for years without making progress. For some, their life traffic is where they work and for others it is their relationship. Many really want to move forward but don't know how because circumstances around them had locked them down like Lagos traffic.

In avoiding the Lagos traffic, many had devised creative ways. Some wake up and leave their homes for work as early as 4am while others rely on Google map and traffic radio to help them avoid congested routes. A few had even been ingenious enough to buy an ambulance or hearse as their personal vehicle, and breeze through some routes pretending to be on emergency response. Chai! Lagos traffic.

As you drive through 2022, plan your days, weeks and months. Be intentional about where you go or who you associate with because they could be life traffic in disguise and if peradventure you run into traffic, be creative. Creativity is of essence if you must make progress, else please raise a cry of distress (Isaiah 15:5).

Stay hopeful. God's got your back.

Happy Sunday.

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

2022: OF ANGELS AND MONSTERS

 

I was thinking this morning....... about angels and monsters. Why do many start the year as angels and end it as monsters? I learnt recently from a movie I watched, that monsters are more than just horrid looks and claws and teeths, monsters are born of deeds done. Unforgivable ones.

Apart from the cover page, all the pages of this book called 2022 are blank and we all have equal opportunity to write what we may. We may either fill the days with good or bad deeds.

Don't let hard times make you do unforgivable things because with each act grows your fangs and claws, turning you into a monster. Walk in love and forgiveness and you will be an angel. Seek good daily and you will soon notice your wings and halo.

God is not a man that He should lie, he created you in his own image and likeness (Genesis1:27). If you can't aspire to be an angel in 2022, at least be human rather than a monster.

Stay hopeful. God's got your back.

Happy NewYear. .

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