30/01/2016
You heard he is a cultist. You could not believe
it, you said “He is so young and He is just 16
and in SS1”. Now, you have seen him
ma*****na parting his lips, a tattooed snake on
his arm and in his hand is a bottle of beer. You
heard him say that his favorite date is the 7th
of July, and you assumed that was his
birthday. You stood afar and criticized him, you
told your friends that hell awaits him, you
shook your head and said to
yourself, “He is already doomed”. But you do
not know that within the “bad, hard guy” lies a
fragile, aching heart wanting to be loved and
showed a little care. Now, he only finds solace
in his gang because his dad and mom are on
the brink of divorce!
She knocked on your door asking to help you
do anything for food or money. She looked so
unkempt and malnourished. You were torn
between pity and disbelief. You know her uncle
to be a rich and religious man, an elder in his
church, and you cant help but wonder why she
would be in this sorry state. You concluded that
she has been wayward and disrespectful and
this is his way of punishing her for some time.
Without asking her any questions, you
managed to give her a rumpled N100 note, sent
her away and told her not to come back. She
leaves, fighting tears, wondering how she would
go back to her uncle who had sworn not to
take care of her except she warms his bed!
That man you saw yesterday has been going
through a hard time. He is a job-hunting father
who just lost his only son and has been
pondering on how to bury his dead. He bumped
into you and before he could apologize, you
have rained insults on him. You saw the tears
well up in his eyes but you did not bother to
show any empathy. To you, he is just a
depressed fellow who should not bother others
with his woes.
You saw her in a bar, stinking of alcohol. She
kept laughing and muttering to herself, “Why?
Why?” You walked past her, even though a
voice inside of you kept telling you to find out
her problem. You shut the voice down and
tagged her “A cheap drunk. A woman for that
matter”! But that cheap drunk is a widow who
had just been diagnosed with breast cancer,
moreover, she just lost her job a month ago.
Now, she thinks those bottles of alcohol could
wash away her sorrow.
And you claim to have the light, you boast in
the
scriptures because you know only the letters
(but you are devoid of revelation)!
You failed to bring the “bad, hard guy” close
and show him the truth and now he has fulfilled
the request of his gang by ra**ng his younger
sister leaving his whole family distraught and
confused;
Also, your N100 could not help that young girl
for she finally yielded to the advances of her
“rich and religious” uncle. Now, she has been
deflowered, all hormones have been let loose.
She has been selling her wares to all and
sundry and she got pregnant. At present, her
cold body is lying in a mortuary because of a
failed D&C just because you refused to bring
her close and show her the ideals of life. And
you claim you have the light;
The depressed man you insulted was seen
hanging from a mango tree recently. His
su***de note read “I am too weak to carry on”.
You could not show him any form of sympathy,
perhaps, he might have shared his burden with
you. Then you would have let him know that in
his weakness, God’s strength is manifested.
And you claim you have the light;
That “cheap drunk” is now on the hospital bed
staring into the space in despair, waiting for
death to rap on the door. All she needs is a
message of hope, a message that would give
her life – the God kind of life.
You have that message. You are an exquisite
perfume, do not bottle up your fragrance, go
and spread it where it is needed. You are the
light, do not hide your shine. You are the salt of
the world, let your taste be felt..
