..........which TLC?

                                                                      

For some reason it has been difficult to let go of a lot of things I grew up loving, Entertainment Wrestling is one of them. Some of my friends have laughed it off as infantile indulgence but I have still stayed stuck to it like a Rastafarian to hashish. My wife has told me that the passion I have for it equates me with the wild mobs of ancient at Rome going wild with excitement while watching souls destroy themselves in the Coliseum. I actually thought hard about that one but still can’t help it. I think you have to be part of the WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment) universe to understand the thrills that come with the membership but that will be the post of another day.

WWE has structured their events in such a way that their fans always have a major pay-per-view event to look forward to every month. That is part of what keeps the promotion alive.

The one held last December was TLC. In this show, wrestlers that have a lot of bad blood between them go extreme using Tables, Ladders and Chairs to destroy their opponents which explain the acronym. It is usually such carnage but what got me thinking was that it was held during Xmas a festive season of joy and so much love. Quite incongruous I must say. It is certainly a wrong mix.

But the truth is that it is a reflection of our world. We live in a world created by Love (God is love) yet there is so much cruelty, hatred, wars, genocide, bloodletting, goring, smashing, bickering, quarrellings, savagery, abuse, malice, insults. We go at each other like fighting cocks, constantly display enough animosity to make a mongoose and a cobra seem like sparring chums. It is absolutely astonishing and heartrending. From the home to the classrooms, work places, markets, roads, churches, this scenario constantly plays out. It is really sad.

At the slightest provocation we bring out our fists faster than a Texan outlaw draws his .45 Colt. Venomous words pour from mouths like corrosive spittle from a serpent. Hurricane Katrina seems like a gentle breeze compared to the destruction left in the wake of some couples altercation while their children watch. Class rooms are riddled with bullets. We use our utterances like chairs to batter one another’s self esteem, throw down other people from the sky reaching ladders of enmity, and smash their hearts through the tables of violence, injuring spirit, soul and body in the process. We observe nonchalantly as relationships bleed away into nothingness and the shock is never felt until it is too late to salvage anything. Humanity is a mixed ball of yarn filled with the wounded and the hurting.

Ironically the panacea to the above is also TLC; the acronym in this sense stands for (TENDER, LOVING CARE). Tender touch, loving word and a caring nature.

I read about studies that have shown that couples who kiss each other live longer (pucker up and live long according to Zig Ziglar), children who grow up being touched fare better in life than those who do not. The scriptures are filled with examples of where Jesus healed people by touching them. In a particular instance a leper who went about with a bell telling people to give him a wide berth met Jesus and asked for healing and instead of Jesus covering his nostrils and speaking a healing word from a distance, He touched the leper. It was a tender touch of acceptance, a touch that said you belong, and a contact that removed the gulf that made him a pariah. The guy was made whole not just physically but emotionally. There was a woman with an issue of blood who by Jewish law was required to be sequestered in isolation because of her infirmity. The lady touched Jesus and got absolutely healed. The touch she gave was not an ordinary touch because a crowd was milling about Jesus. It was a pure and special touch that made the Master know that someone had touched him differently. This lady’s life was hemorrhaging away, relationships, finances, health; name it but she got her healing through a touch. Which issues are you having today? They might just be healed by a tender touch, an embrace of love. These stories show that a touch is healing for both the “toucher” and the “touchee”.

Healing words are quite essential as well. All through the history of man, we hear God whispering sweet something into ears and hearts. He affirms that he loves us with an everlasting love; we are the apple of his eyes. He tells us that even if the mountains were removed, his loving-kindness for us will remain; He said He proudly carries a tattoo on his hand which bears our names and so much more. Little wonder that His words are healing since they contain so much love. Good words are like water that makes people bloom like exotic flora.

Thirdly, a caring nature will help to heal the hurts in our world. Instead of being prickly as human hedgehogs, let us care more for one another. We should begin to love our neighbours like ourselves like the Son of David told us to. The man was caring. There was a time when he had a seminar for families numbering more than five thousand and there were limited resources after the programme but he insisted that the crowd was hungry and they should be fed even though his men resisted the idea. Another time his disciples went fishing all night and caught nothing but before they came back in the morning, He had made breakfast and had a fire going for warmth because he knew they would be cold and hungry. Jesus did all these even though he had recently being betrayed by his friends.

The thing about Tables, ladders and chairs is that it maims, cripples and could even lead to death. It shortens careers and life span. They that live by the sword shall die by the sword (check out Ghaddafi). You sow violence, you reap violence.

So which is it for you……..TABLES, LADDERS and CHAIRS or TENDER LOVING CARE?

THE CHOICE IS YOURS! But remember which ever choice you make will determine how you will fare in the ring of life and thereafter. Instead of hacking people down the way a native Indian slashes at entangling brush in the floor of a rainforest.

It would always help us to remember that………………….

……………………………………………. LOVE IS KIND…………………………………..

EROS' ERRORS!

                                                                        

I absolutely love romance! Oh, the sheer magic of it! I wonder about my love for it sometimes since it’s gotten me a lot of flak from the wife recently for allowing the madness of Lagos to dry up my creative juices. But there is no denying that it is so beautiful and heartwarming. Anytime I remember Sabrina being serenaded by the musical group hired by Jason before he proposed in “jumping the broom” a sweet incandescent fire lights up within my heart and gently spreads through every fiber of my being. I can watch that scene a gazillion times. What about great romantic stories woven around it like that of Cupid and Psyche, totally engrossing! I guess if I were an ancient Greek heathen, I would have bred swans in honor of Aphrodite, the mother of Eros (Cupid), the Greek god of romantic love and desire.

All the fallout of amour is attributed to this brother. Rains of kisses, drizzle of chocolates, lines of poetry, forests of roses, the rollercoaster high of it all. This guy sure is something (anyone that controls romance certainly is for me). A sip from his pool will beat any drink that Bacchus brews any day. I like the dude. Of course I sought his friendship and made him my pal.

Unfortunately as I got to know him better, our friendship started going awry. I am not the kind of guy that gets unnecessarily carried away. As I observed his ways, I noticed there was something wrong with his magic. It lacked the kind of potency I sought for. The relationships he created petered out like a rivulet of water in the desert. They had the lasting power of tapestries woven in the loom of an arachnid. I wanted more, I want something that will last forever, something that will make me live happily ever after.

In all honesty, I love his imagination, he waves a wand over a bloke and the Romeo gets the idea to propose to his Juliet in a glassy submarine swimming in the guts of an ocean while guppies and marlin gaze on in bright eyed wonder and sea anemones clap their colourful tentacles in ceaseless amazement. The whole arena is lit by floating water resistant bulbs in the shape of oyster shells and quietly in the background Kenny G in conjunction with Chante Moore masterfully mixes the windy enchantment of the sax with sugared throaty tones producing a cocktail of delightful music. The whole experience is spellbinding. But a few months down the line, the two are deeply immersed in a messy altercation/divorce. Something is certainly wrong here and that is my grouse with Mr. Eros. Love should be forever, endless, eternal.

During Valentine season when Mr. Eros is mostly venerated, there is enough romance in the atmosphere to make Shakespeare speechless but paradoxically, the cauldrons of mother earth froth over with implacable hatred. It’s a befuddling occurrence, a shameful sham. Check out my earlier post VALENTINE BLUES .

Princess D had it all, castles, princes, flowers and horses, but I can almost wager she died of a broken heart. There is sure a missing link, a lost piece in Mr. Eros romantic puzzle.

During my ruminations, I met another fellow, who is not as glamorous but there was something about his own ways that appealed to me. His name is Agape and he is the custodian for charitable love, the God kind of love.  His kind of love is committed and practical. His love is the real deal. It is not fleeting, IT’S ETERNAL!!! This was the kind of love that made Jesus love and die for humanity even with all our depravity.

When push comes to shove, Eros gives way but as unexciting and as unglamorous Agape might seem to be, it is stronger than death. While Eros only lasts when the going is good, Agape goes the whole hog. Eros makes the mistake of being carried away by the zephyr of romance and does not bother to see the face behind the bouquet of flowers not knowing if it is a beast that would smack its chops while feasting on the raw pieces of one’s heart. Agape sees everything, warts and all and still decides to love deliberately, intentionally and unconditionally. Some I know say “ if you love me, love my fart”, that is Agape for you (for God commendeth his love towards us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us). Agape would keep loving until the Beast turns into a lovable prince.

Agape believes the best, when your partner forgets to get a gift on a memorable day, it would make excuses but Eros would fight like a wounded boar until someone is left bleeding or hurting. He would charge like a bull in a china shop until emotions have been destroyed like delicate crystal. Eros can be merciless, Agape is merciful.

Eros is mostly self centered, he would saturate you with champagne, forget-me-nots and earrings made from lapis lazuli for sex or for the security he gets from being around you or for your money or because his esteem gets pumped up when he becomes the cynosure of all eyes as both of you walk into a restaurant (selfish bugger that he is). In contrast Agape is selfless, he would carry a cross; go through any kind of pain for his beloved.

Eros insides are darkened with bile, he would continually wave score cards of how you did not do this and how you did not do that, he never lets go of a grudge but Agape never keeps scores.

I am not saying romantic love is bad but it’s like the spice that adds flavor to a dish. It’s not the main dish and no one can live on spices. We need real meals to survive. Charitable love is the real dish, the main course and it is only through it that relationships can survive. Of course when the spices are added it makes the meal more delectable.

I think it is sheer folly and madness to build the foundation of our relationships solely on Cupid, a blindfolded cherubic baby who flys about shooting arrows at random.

For true love to flourish, we have to allow God flow through our hearts… FOR THE LOVE OF GOD HAS BEEN SHED ABROAD IN OUR HEARTS BY HIS HOLY SPIRIT…….

In a world where everything is crumbling with failing systems, we need the COMMITTED pillars of Agape. Eros will always come short of the mark despite the fact that Cupid has been shooting his arrows since time immemorial. He still can’t hit the bull’s eye of our hearts no matter how much he tries. All his shots are like the occasional high induced by drugs but…..

LOVE (AGAPE) NEVER FAILS…………………