10/07/2021
WHEN DEATH MATTERS THAN LIFE...
(Lessons from the life and death of Prophet T. B. Joshua)
"The best way to Honour the dead is to love the living..."
- Fr Boniface Opaluwa.
Attending a funeral service should be a way of showing solidarity to the family of the deceased. It does not necessarily mean it's a show of love to the dead.
The dead do not need love.
It is only the living that need love.
Attending the burial of a person you never loved or liked is like witchcraft.
Unless you are bound by religious, professional or societal obligations, you have no business at the funeral of a person you disliked or hated.
A million tears cannot wipe away insults and abuses (a) deceased endured from us.
🟢A man should have more guests at his wedding than at his funeral.
🟢A house warming party should have more attendees than the funeral of the house owner.
🟢Happy birthday likes and comments should be more than RIP comments.
🟢Congratulations should be more readily given than RIP.
🟢Hello, how are you doing has more value than the best entry in condolence register and well scripted oration in burial brochure.
Those who are begrudging general overseers and prominent Nigerian pastors for not embarking on condolence excursions and media parade to the family of TB Joshua should be guided in their reasoning.
That people ply the same or similar trade does not mean they should be friends. And in the bizarre circumstances where comrades are arch rivals and colleagues become sworn enemies, there is apparently and obviously no case as some overzealous attention seekers are trying to fabricate. Simply put, if someone did not like TB Joshua when he was alive, why do we want to force him to love him now that he is dead?
The truth is this, human beings (including me) try to make gain from every possible situation.
Many so-called sympathizers are using the occasion of the death of TB Joshua to gain popularity.
Those who called him names and branded him fake prophet but have suddenly fallen in love with him are the hypocrites. If you did not like him when he was alive, what is his picture doing on your profile or dp?
If the other pastors and overseers do not have any personal connection or obligation to mourn him, their sincerity in staying away is commendable.
If however you called him names and wrote unprintable things about him, parading yourself around him in his death makes you a coward and a Pharisee.
The Shakeprarean admonition-"Nihi mortius, nisi bonum" (Say nothing of the dead except good) is a way of letting the dead rest in peace. It doesn't make any sense for us to continue waging our earthly and vain wars beyond the grave.
The man received a fair share of criticism from many while on earth. It is not unusual. Whoever would want to sail on the oceans must be prepared to battle the winds.
The man whom you buried alive is dead, and suddenly you want to exhume and canonize him.....
There is a reason why judgement is to be left for God. Everything begins from Him. Everything ends with Him. He is the Alpha and the Omega. Whatever we may think and say, the fate of T. B. Joshua is now known to Him alone.
.. Until then, let us strive to touch lives in a way that when we die good things will be said of us.
Let us use our means to touch lives so that we don't entertain and amuse ourselves in the name of burying the dead. It is utter wickedness and sheer show of shame when we feast and drink to stupor at the funeral of one who died of hunger.
Let honesty be the parting gift we bequeath to the dead. Let us Honour their memories by showing some respect.
RESPECT.
