..........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…………………………………..