THE HOLLY AND THE IVY.

                                                  

The Holly and the Ivy is one of my favourite Christmas carols. But I have always wondered why the song started with both plants but ended with the Holly being the superior of the two trees.

The holly is an ornamental tree that is believed to bring good luck and repel evil. It is one tree that remains evergreen even when the cold fingers of winter has withered and shriveled the souls of its surrounding woody cronies; this ability makes it symbolically linked to life and hope. The plant is also associated with exuberance and enthusiasm. In Roman culture it represented good wishes. In summary, the Holly is a plant with a cheerful disposition.

The Holly’s thorny nature also makes it protective in the sense that it is used to make hedges to keep people safe from predatory elements.

On the other hand there is a type of Ivy called the poison ivy. This plant causes a lot of blisters and irritation on people who come in contact with it. Sometimes, the anaphylactic reaction it causes can snuff out a life. The fume it releases when it is burnt is toxic to the lungs. Approaching this plant requires a lot of caution because it is dangerous.

As amazing as it might sound, human beings are likened to trees a lot of times in the pages of life. Jesus was called the Tree of life, David; the famous Hebrew king said that a good man is like a tree planted by the side of a river. He also said that the growth of this dude’s life is akin to that of the cedars of Lebanon and his existence abounds like a flourishing palm tree.

The holly person is jolly, makes people see beyond the winter of life, and helps to insulate people in the warmth of his conviviality. Everyone finds a friend in the holly buddy; he is a Barnabas (son of encouragement) to everyone. He prepares a spread of joy amongst colleagues, dishes out a feast of geniality like Santa Claus giving a toy to an indigent kid. The holly individual helps us forget the frosty attitude of the elements and makes us look towards the hope of spring. With him we feel we are sitting before the comforting heat released by the laughter of crackling logs in a fireplace while the world outside is filled with the howls of nature’s frustration. The holly person is a defense from pain. He heals because he injects us with the serum of roaring mirth and a merry heart doeth good like medicine. The holly nature is sweet.

Unlike the holly dude, a poison ivy person is sour, dour, abrasive and nasty. No one wants to be around this guy. In his wake, is other folks’ shattered self esteem, blistered self confidence, and scratched feelings. God help you if you are around this person on his bad day, you will nearly be choked with the deadly fumes of bitterness. This person is has a noxious effect on a spouse, children, colleagues, neighbors, friends, name it. It is lethal to have him around. He pours cold water on the bonfire of your vivacity. Poison ivies do not feel good except put someone down or backstab another. It is in their nature to cause a world of hurt. People usually cry around them. They rain down snow on others parade, don’t give bonus or even worse still, withhold salaries during Christmas. They are selfish; all they care about is me, myself, I and mine. The poison ivy person is mean!

As much as hampers and all the thrills of Christmas are so cool, please don’t let’s get it twisted and forget the reason for the season. The main gift of Christmas was a human being, the Christ. When he was born, the angels declared that following his birth was goodwill and peace towards men.  We are supposed to be the true gifts of the season.

Truth is if you are not known for peace and goodwill, you have no business celebrating this season, blot it out of your calendar in an awful hurry. Jesus was friendly, it was recorded that he went about doing good.

Considering the differences in these two plants, it is not a surprise that the holly is the king amongst all the trees in the wood. Little wonder too that it is associated with the Christ. IF YOU WANT TO BE A KING AMONGST MEN THEN YOU HAVE TO BE A HOLLY!!!  That is when you will initiate angels to continually sing this refrain to men, “GLORY BE TO GOD IN THE HIGHEST AND ON EARTH, PEACE AND GOODWILL TOWARDS MEN”!!!

Be a holly buddy this yuletide period; stand out as the tallest tree in the forest of humanity. Make someone’s Christmas wonderful and unforgettable.

So, the question is if we are living trees, what kind of tree are you?

ARE YOU A HOLLY OR A POISON IVY?

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYBODY!!!

THE GOLDEN APPLES OF HESPERIDES.

Greek mythology has it that the eleventh task Hercules had to perform was to get some golden apples from a garden guarded by a 100 headed dragon and some nymphs called the Hesperides.  Now this was one job that was even too much for the strong man so he had to get the help of Atlas in exchange for helping the titan carry the world for a while.

Life is full of herculean tasks and the absolute truth is that we cannot handle most of them on our own. Hercules was a demigod yet he needed the help of a god. All his machismo, wits, muscles, guts could not help him out this time so he needed higher power.

From the genesis of creation, we were not made to function without help, which is why the Elohim said from the beginning that it was not good for man to be alone.
 
The power of partnership is exponentially powerful! Yes I know we live in a world where people hurt one another and try to swindle them out of what is theirs but that is not new. Atlas tried the same thing on Hercules but that does not negate the benefits of team work. In the days of yore when the tag team aspect of the WWE was still rocking, seeing one or two fights in this category would have shed more light on the advantages of pairing power.  “One shall chase a thousand and two shall chase ten thousand” says the good book. When two people make up their minds about something g on earth even the heavens move for them.

Firstly we need a higher power, without God, we can do absolutely nothing. We need God like a sail needs the wind to fly. Our lives are empty without Him, on our own we can’t do zip. It is delusion of grandeur to think we are self sufficient.

Secondly we need our life partners (husbands and wives); this is one area of partnership that is not maximized in our day. We even sometimes look down on our partners thinking they are a burden (men are more to blame in this regard) but this is usually to our detriment. Thing is, the first idea about team work that God had about man was in the form of marriage. The benefits of this great institution can never be over emphasized.  It just boils down to making sure you hitch your cart to the right horse that is someone you agree with (check out my post GENESIS, MAGIC AND THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING). Being alone on the matrimonial bed on a frosty night would rob you of the warmth of companionship when the harsh cold realities of living seep into the soul.

The third thing is we need people. In the chronicles of the Hebrew kings, there is a story of a widow who got into a financial ditch with her children and the revelation a seer gave her was that she should borrow vessels.Of course it should be noted that her borrowing was to develop an assets base and not to fritter it away on liabilities. We need people’s vessels, that is, their ideas, time, experience, expertise, money, name it! Most of the things that move life are based on other people’s books, past movies, technical knowhow, the works. The financial gurus of the world know they need other people’s money (this is one of the reasons the real estate market in Nigeria is exploding, OPM). On the terrain of warfare, we all need someone’s input in fighting back to back with us, so that our rear is covered while we face the issues before. We need the covering fire of friends to keep the heads of our adversaries down when we go for the big prizes.

We are sunk in the race of life without the input of others. God wanted to make man and asked for the input of His Companions. He said “Let Us make man”. Jesus needed the disciples and the women that helped his ministry, Paul had Silas, Batman had Robin, Superman had Lois Lane, Asterix had Obelisk, Bill gates had Steve Ballmer, Starsky had Hutch, Dempsey had Makepeace.The fantasy universe impresses this on us with great teams like the “Avengers, Justice League, X-men, Teen Titans, Legion of the Superheroes, etc. Life is basically team work and we should never forget this.
On the other hand like I mentioned earlier, on the road of working hand in hand with others there are also pit falls which can be avoided if we are sharp. Therefore we need to be wise, look hard and well before leaping so we don’t get burnt. Hercules had enough gumption to get the best from Atlas without being hoodwinked. Fire has great potential for good but it could be destructive; we cannot do without it! In the same vein, we cannot do without others. It is just that caution is needed!

Like Hercules, if you are stuck on the quest for some golden apples in some area of life, then it’s time to change your strategy! Seek for Help! The only time that it was recorded that Atlas moved from his comfort zone (better still comfortless zone) and made some progress in life by doing the seemingly impossible was when someone else helped him carry his burden. WE ALL NEED BURDEN CARRIERS! Even Jesus needed one. If Simon the Cyrene had not carried his cross, the road to the heights of Golgotha would have been more arduous.

Having this truth in mind would help us appreciate God, our spouses, friends and other people more. For example, if you have a business, you would not think that you are the benefactor of your workers and without your outfit they cannot take care of themselves or their families. The actual fact is that it is a mutually benefiting relationship. My people have a saying that if the right hand washes the left, the left hand would equally wash the right.

The trail of life is littered with the skeletal remains of people who tried to do it all alone. Life has no place and patience for lone rangers and one man gangs.

TWO ARE BETTER THAN ONE FOR THEY HAVE A BETTER REWARD FOR THEIR LABOUR………..

THE GREEN LANTERN CORPS

                                              

The size of bugs makes them very insidious in their nature.  A microscopic organism finds its way into the human system and causes untold damage. If its virulent progress is not countered, it ends up causing overwhelming sepsis and ultimate systems failure resulting in the death of the host.

I have been wondering how human beings survived infections before Sir Alexander Fleming made his accidental discovery of penicillin. It’s a huge relief that antibiotics now exist that can halt the ravaging march of germs.

The best movie I have seen this year is “Limitless” followed by the “Green Lantern”. There was something about the “Green Lantern” that brought Nigeria to my mind. I guess it must have been all that fluorescent green (like T.Y Bello sang, “the land is green”). But Nigeria is the host of various kinds of evil, wickedness, selfishness, greed, corruption, terrorism, tribal and religious bigotry, ritual killing, armed robbery, amongst a few. Evil is what has paralyzed this country and the truth is the government cannot do anything about it. So the buck stops here, here in YOUR laps, irrespective of who you are, where you are so long you are a Nigerian.

The story line of the movie shows that the ring chose Hal Jordan not by random but deliberately, even though he did not seem to have what it took. If you are a Nigerian, it’s not as a result of happenstance. You are not a random act of nature or a product of the big bang, God INTENTIONALLY made you a product of this nation and chose you for a time like this. Like he told Jeremiah, “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew and approved of you as my chosen instrument”. YOU ARE THE CHOSEN ONE!!!

Thing about evil is that it flourishes so easily when nothing stands in its way even when it starts out in a presumably innocuous way, for example, when Boko Haram started, instead of ruthlessly extirpating it, our government was shilly-shallying and now, here we are! You don’t tolerate evil, no sane person kisses a live cobra, maybe except a snake charmer but some have even lived to regret it (some don’t even have the opportunity to regret it). A country like Mexico is overrun with drugs and safety in that place has become a thing of the past. It did not make sense to me since God categorically said evil cannot prevail over good and the wicked man will bow at the gate of the righteous but in my musings the answer came to me that the diabolic only has an upper hand over the virtuous when there is complacency amongst good men. The darkness surrounding the throne of Hades himself cannot stand the weakest flicker of light but eclipse that light and see what happens.

To salvage this nation is to dare to be different, to resist being carried away by the flood of bad things prevalent around here, let your light shine wherever you are and believe me your light is not little. Thing is, someone might feel it none of his/her business especially if you are abroad and everything is going swimmingly but life is not only about us but  about posterity, our children and their children. Just as no one can totally dissociate himself from his family, we also can never absolutely cut ourselves off from our country even if we live in Pluto. Life is about responsibility. Funnily enough, everyday people who are not Africans wake up to the call to come do something about this continent, about Nigeria. What about you and me? NIGERIA IS OUR COUNTRY!!!

I completely agree with you that the problems here are enormous that is easier to pull  an Ostrich and hide our heads in the sand like but it all boils down to your will.

The most poignant scene of the movie for me was when Parallax was on rampage and bore down on the Green Lantern with his yellow monstrous power, trying to induce fear in the Super hero by inundating his mind with all the horrific things he was going to unleash on the ring bearer. But Hal Jordan held his ground, refused to listen and instead repeated the Lantern corps vow to himself…

Brightest day,

Blackest night,

No evil shall escape my sight,

And those who worship evil’s might,

Beware my power, the GREEN LANTERN’S LIGHT!

He went on to win a major victory for mankind. His will won the battle.

On your watch and mine is evil going to triumph while we groove and feel it is none of our business? Or are you going to take up the ring of responsibility and make a pledge to this country. Are you going to become an Emerald Knight, one of the green lantern corps of this nation?

If yes, then let’s recite our oath together:

I pledge to Nigeria my country,

To be faithful, loyal and honest,

To serve Nigeria with all my might and uphold her honour and glory,

So help me God.

Edmund Burke said, “Evil only runs riot when good men do nothing”! LET YOUR LIGHT SHINE!!!

FOR YE ARE THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD……………………………………………

DRAGON SLAYER!

                                                            
One of the delights of childhood aside from popping a Popsicle into your mouth is reading or hearing a fairy tale. From Rapunzel, Sleeping beauty to Snow white, there is something about the damsel in distress that eventually gets rescued by a prince or a knight in shining armour that sweetened my childish palate.

I find it almost inexplicable that the most genteel knight gets reckless in winning the hand of a beautiful dame even to the point losing his life. To me it is the height of gallantry, the zenith of chivalry, the peak of sacrificial love.

As I said in my post “Animated Truth”, there is a thin line between fantasy and reality a good deal of the time. As incredible as it sounds, we all have a Lover who gave everything including his life to win our hands and our hearts. We are His bride, His fixation, His love (irrespective of your deep baritone, and beefcakes, you better believe it bro!).  This is why he declares that He loves us with an everlasting love. He is extremely jealous about us and says that anyone that touches us touches the apple of his eyes. He is drunk on our love.

But his threats usually fall on deaf eyes when it comes to the wily, ole dragon. The bugger would time and time again slink in and hold us captive. We become damsels in distress looking for salvation. We are kept hostage in our enemy’s dank, dark smelly dungeon. Deliverance usually seems so distant in this hot underground pit. Hope becomes as far away as the distant stars you cannot even see. Dragons cause so much pain!

But in comes our Knight in all his splendor, silver armour shining, his sword glittering in the dark like Anduril, never can it be broken, never can it bow before an evil foe. His shield is big enough to cover us from the roaring, searing breath of the ugly beast.  Our eternal Cavalier arrives, hacking, slashing thrusting, savage in his fury, furious in his rage, berserk in his wrath. His lady has been put in harm’s way. He makes the dragon feel the sting of his sword. Good thing is that that steely body that bends the daggers of our human effort is like butter before the steel wielded by the “Lord of Heavensville”. You touch this one to your Peril, He tells the pain inducing monster and before our eyes, his sword pierces the heart of the hideous animal, it falls dead like a felled tree. He cuts of the ropes binding us and sets us free.

Are you currently feeling like a damsel in distress, held and bound by the ropes of limitation in the cave of hopelessness as you look into the bloodshot, hate filled eyes of the dragon? Has its hot breath charred your soul and broken your heart with life’s troubles? Has its slimy scaly skin pierced your health, your marriage, and your finances? Has its tail repeatedly struck fear into your spirit until your faith has almost become as extinct as a dodo? Has its claws torn your dreams and shattered your vision? Has its malevolent presence filled you with desperation and thoughts of self extirpation?

Before you give up, Cry out to your Saviour and listen well! Do you hear the sounds of hooves echoing, charging and thundering through the dark night? In the midst of your challenges, look up with greater hope! Your Knight is coming, your King is on his way and he is bringing victory and healing with him. The fight will be over in the twinkle of an eye and He would bear you on a horse more graceful than Pegasus to a future where you will live, happily ever after.  He will yet make a fairy tale out of your circumstances.

FEAR THEE NOT, BANISH THE DOUBT INSTEAD REJOICE IN HOPE, REVEL IN EXPECTATION BECAUSE OUR INAMORATO IS A WARRIOR KING; THE LOVER OF OUR SOULS IS A DRAGON SLAYER!!!

THE SUN OF RIGHTEOUSNESS IS RISEN AND THERE IS HEALING ON HIS WINGS…………………………

A SHARK'S TALE.

                                                            

I had the “privilege” of entering a Nigerian Police station recently and was shell shocked at how dingy the place was. The buildings were so ugly that a coat of paint would shiver in trepidation and disgust before embracing their walls.  It had rained the night before and there was enough water inside the station to make me go looking for a scuba diving gear. The squalor was so bad that Napoleon and his cronies in George Orwell’s “Animal farm” would not have stayed there for a day. Their own accommodation would have seemed like the Plaza or the Ritz compared to what my eyes beheld.

Some of the officers could not string words to form a good sentence in English even at the risk of losing their lives and they strolled in way past their resumption time though they are supposed to be a bastion of punctuality. Their approach to urgent things and pace was slower than a hamstrung tortoise (I wonder if they have some tortoises’ for tutors in their colleges). Looking at their physical condition, it’s pretty obvious that a lot of them cannot do a 5 meter dash without their hearts giving in.

Someone had gone to report the theft of a car and you could almost see them licking their chops like wolves at the sight of hapless lambs. They converged on this fellow with the predatory instincts and rapacity of sharks at the smell of blood. The frenzy with which they encompassed the guy even made them start fighting amongst one another. Greed filled their eyes like malevolent light and their compassion meters read zero. Anyone with the eyes to see would notice a reverse evolution taking place as men transformed into something less human. (I finally could get into J.R.R Tolkien’s mind and understand how greed turned a living being into Gollum in Lords of the Ring. Greed does that). All this was in a bid to get something out of a guy that had been emotionally assaulted by armed robbers.

Recently in the southern part of the country a young man was shot to death in the presence of his mother because he confronted some policemen and told them to stop harassing and taking N20 from bus drivers. These same guys, who attack citizens with impunity and so much bravado, who pump limitless rounds of bullets into innocent boys, flee at the sight of armed thieves. They look the other way when area boys molest innocent citizens.

The men in black have become more of undertakers than protectors. They say that they are our friends but in reality they are the biggest enemy of this country apart from the “great” PHCN.  Black uniform and all, they are like soulless fiends from Hades instead of friends.

In all sincerity, I met a really good one amongst them who cared but what good can one ant do amongst so many scarab beetles.

Observing this made my heart break and I wept for this country. If the force that is supposed to protect its citizens is almost as bad if not worse than bandits aside from the fact that they wear uniforms then it is pathetic. Thinking of the whole thing reminded me of the dirge David sang for Saul and his sons. He might as well have been singing for Nigeria because that jeremiad was about the tragedy of a nation amongst other things. Truth is, the police do not have a monopoly on greed, the vice is like a cancer in the blood of this country and that is one of the major reasons the nation is in the quagmire of stagnancy, poverty and mediocrity. We forget that Jesus said that, “WE SHOULD BEWARE OF COVETOUSNESS; THE LIFE OF A MAN DOES NOT CONSIST OF THE ABUNDANCE OF THINGS WHICH HE OWNS”!!! The malady of greed is just worse with the police because of what they stand for.

But the experience got questions running in my head like a herd of stampeding wildebeest. Why is the police force the way it is? I strongly believe the answers to these questions would help the force and be like a panacea to this ill nation.  For me it is a riddle of the egg and the chicken, which comes first?

Are these people the way they are because the Government does not give a hoot about them?  Is it because they are cultured in poverty soaked and filthy environments (no one raises peacocks in pig’s swill). Is it because they don’t go for trainings and are not paid well even though their line of duty is hazardous? Is it because they almost have no insurance for them and their families to fall back on when they become casualties in the line of duty? Or is it that it is the dregs of the Nigerian’s society (the unschooled, the uneducated, the unrefined, and the mediocre) that are enlisted in to its Police force, people who were stuck in ruts on the path of destiny and decided to join its ranks for lack of something better to do? Is there a vision that guides their behavioural patterns? Do they have a clear understanding of what they are supposed to be doing?

The Nigeria populace is filled with citizens whose limbs and hearts were at one time or another bitten to bits by this black uniformed monster at one time and another. This country is hemorrhaging, HOW DO WE TAME THE SHARK??? Please, I need your input, I need some answer here.

SHAKEN, NOT STIRRED!!!

 

As much as I think Daniel Craig is a good actor, in my opinion, he doesn’t just cut it in his role as the new James Bond. Aside from being blond, the brother, can be brutish, bleeds, lacks finesse and rarely uses special gadgets. In Casino Royale he was toting a submachine gun (totally unlike Bond) and when asked for his name, he doesn’t say “my name is Bond….James Bond”.  Special rides are not part of his repertoire and the one that nearly made me pass out was when he was asked how he likes his martini and the dude responded “who gives a damn”.  The guy doesn’t brush off his suits after a brawl; surmise it to say, he falls pretty short in the suave and debonair department.

I long for the good old days of the traditional Bond. You might call me a stick in the mud but in as much as change is inevitable, why change a good thing or a winning formula.

As we go through life every day, we find ourselves in a few skirmishes where negative punches are thrown at us, insults are hurled at our persona, failure tries to stain us with grimy fingers and the labels of funny monikers are stuck on the suits of who we are but the question is, how do we handle this? We have to learn to be like Mr. Bond. After each and every melee, he dusts off his suits, downs a drink for the road, gives a punch line and moves on still looking impeccably groomed. The past is promptly forgotten for the purpose of his future and his mission. Paul was stoned almost to death but after his tormentors left, he shook himself up, dusted his clothes, and moved on with his life’s mission. The missionary said none of the things he suffered moved him. He learnt to shake things off the way he shook off a venomous asp off his hand into the fire on the island of Malta, instead of allowing the snake’s toxin stir his blood into a corrosive stream of poison.

I have been thinking that maybe that is why James likes his martini shaken, not stirred. Thing is in life things will shake us up but do we allow them to stir us? For example, when we are hurt, do we feel the pain and let go or do we allow it to stir up hatred and animosity. Stephen was stoned and killed unjustly. The agony and the pain meted out to him shook him to the foundation of his life but he still prayed for his killers and forgave them. Jesus’ story was similar too. He did not allow the shaking and ripping his body took diminish his love for his tormentors and mankind. His persistent love enabled him overcome.

Do the ashes of events gone awry stick to you beyond rattling your cage, do they stir up destructive feelings of failure and defeat within. Were you hit by the blow of a big loss? Are you pining away in the cold of a summer gone by?  In the hearth where the roaring flames of love used to be, are there only charred embers left? Did a doctor give you a doomed medical report? Yes, I know any human being with flesh and blood will be shaken, but do you allow these temporary hitches to stir up depression, hopelessness, despondency and suicidal tendencies. Bro/sis, dust it off and move forward, the future beckons. Never give up, toast yourself to victory. As Fred Hammond sang “in the armor of the Lord we are standing strong and even if we take a hit, we are moving on”.

Don’t allow your boat to be rocked until it becomes a wreck submerged in the raging seas of life. MAINTAIN YOUR EQUANIMITY; THIS IS THE ROAD TO THE PEAKS OF TRIUMPH!!!

For us to rise above the “bars” of life, we would have to be like Mr. Bonds martini, SHAKEN BUT NOT STIRRED!!!

IT IS A JUNGLE OUT THERE!

                                                     

The Amazon jungle is one of the most beautiful places to visit if you are a nature lover. The diversity of flora and fauna existing in it is more incredible than the Hulk. But the Amazon is also one of the most dangerous places in the world. The poison dart frog, the piranha, the anaconda, the jaguar, poisonous plants, unfriendly tribes with their curare laden arrows are some of the reasons why you would always have to watch your back in this neck of the woods. Any traveler with a bit of gumption knows that to traverse this naturally booby trapped environment, a guide who knows the terrain is indispensable.

MTN usually tells us that life is beautiful. But as beautiful as it is, life is equally dangerous. We all live in a jungle albeit a cosmopolitan one with glassy skyscrappers, sleek machines, fashionable peeps and what have you. Like Piranhas lurking in the rivers of the Amazon, cancerous cells in the blood gobble up life and vitality. Akin to the poison dart frog, people in a vituperative way release poisonous words that kill the spirit, diabolic fiends cast poisonous spells to wreck destinies, foes and philosophers spin beautiful webs of lies (the poison dart frog is very colourful and beautiful) to trap the soul like killer spiders. Every day science tells us that some of the things we enjoy eating are now inimical to our systems like edible looking mushrooms which turn out to be lethal on consumption. Hypertension and cardiomyopathies crush the heart the way anacondas do. Terrorists and natural disasters unleash terror in the same way as jaguars. Comparative to unfriendly tribes’ curare laden arrows, sophisticated guns cough out bullets in a paroxysmal burst of death. The snakes of recession crawl in slowly to give finances that have been squirreled away deadly and venomous bites. In Nigeria, our roads are pits of destruction like the uncharted trails in the heart of the rainforest. A good deal of the time we come to our wits end like a newly arrived US marine in the Vietnamese tangled growths. We live in a world gone mad.

But what is has always been. David Jesse more than four thousand years ago in one of his most famous poems talked about terrors by night and arrows by day, mostly by philistines I presume (bullets by raiding marauders in our case), pestilence that walks in darkness (Avian flu and other insidious hardy bugs), destruction that wastes at noon day (9/11, UN building and Boko Haram, natural disasters). This guy’s world was so crazy that he went ahead and got himself a Shepherd. The bro said that even in the thick of the shadows of darkness that resembles that of the Amazon on a moonless night, he doesn’t fear squat because of the presence of his Shepherd.  His Shepherd was so good that while his enemies (wolves, lions and all sorts of predators) were gazing at him with eveil intent, a buffet was spread out before him. He was safe and relaxed like someone sipping chilled coconut milk and drinking in sunshine on a hammock somewhere on the beaches of the Bahamas.

Thing is, in life the enemy would always try to lock us in the cross hairs of his destructive firepower like a ruthless assasin. It is only the presence of a Shepherd that will prevent each person from becoming dead meat rotting on the floors of the jungles of life. The Shepherd makes sure we don’t want for protection.

DO YOU HAVE A SHEPHERD? WHO IS HE???