KINGDOM COME
BEYOND WORDS....REVELATION, CREATIVITY,TRANSFORMATION,....
Tuesday, November 4, 2014
going home: Thinking about a Parable
going home: Thinking about a Parable: Thinking about a Parable Every time I read the Parable of the Lost Son, I’m always amazed at the grace and generosity displayed by th...
Wednesday, November 6, 2013
FROM BLOGSPOT TO WORDPRESS
Good day All,
Kindly note that going forward my posts would be on word press and not on blogspot any more.
Please follow ekpoeze.wordpress.com.
Thank you for all your support.
You people are wonderful.
Thank you!!!
I LOVE YOU ALL!!!
Kindly note that going forward my posts would be on word press and not on blogspot any more.
Please follow ekpoeze.wordpress.com.
Thank you for all your support.
You people are wonderful.
Thank you!!!
I LOVE YOU ALL!!!
Sunday, October 27, 2013
FLOATING AXEHEADS
It
was a shitty Sunday morning and I was on my way to church. “Who the
heck comes to such conclusions?” I asked myself after seeing a bill
board that screamed “Life is beautiful”. I should have felt ashamed for
conceding to the fact that I felt a Sunday morning was shitty but that
was how I felt. My heart was heavier than an anvil made of lead. Life,
like a swarm of angry bees, had stung me into exhaustion and as I went
to church, I did not feel like being in church. Reeling but standing, it
was like Mike Tyson had pummeled me with sledge-hammer blows. The only
thing that kept me going that morning was that I had to be somewhere
away from the house, so I thought I might as well go and kneel before my
King.
My
dad was so ill in the hospital that the general consensus was that he
was going to die. My wife had a couple of miscarriages in the past year.
The theme of the year for my church was enlargement. Based on that, I
took giant steps in faith by expanding my business. However, the
suppliers of my goods decided they did not want to do business in
Nigeria anymore due to infrequent power amongst other things. The loan I
had borrowed for the expansion had gone under. I had invested
methodically in stocks which the recession wiped out completely. The two
plots of land I had bought in Lekki were under litigation. My youngest
and favourite sister was nearly going crazy; her fiancé of ten years had
broken up with her and was making arrangements to marry another. I
empathized with her pain. Relationships take a lot out of us and to be
thrown aside like dirt after investing so much time, emotion and
finances into one was excruciatingly agonizing. I was confused,
frustrated and tired. My soul had been marinated in the sauce of worry,
charred on the coals of anxiety and now wild dogs of fear fed
voraciously on it. Haunted beyond belief, I felt like I had lost
everything.
I
was a member of the prayer team hence I went to pray before the service
even though I didn’t feel like praying. My emotions were a jumble of
contradictory feelings hence everything I did was by religious rote. I
got into the prayer room and went off to one corner to kneel. I started
feeling a bit better as the worship and prayers went on. To my surprise
and chagrin, I was asked to lead prayers. Of all the days! God sure does
have a sense of humour. Since I could not refuse, I decided to humor my
prayer leader, all the while wondering what I was going to pray about.
As I started speaking in tongues, I began to surf the pages of life,
down the streams of time and found myself about six thousand years in
the past…..
The
room is cramped and suffused with sweet-smelling incense, burning
touches in their sconces and lamps splintered and scattered shadows. I
see a couple of men reading the Torah, others praying and some in deep
meditation. The generic livery around here is some kind of priestly
gown. Walking about, I realize I am in some kind of seminary. It is a
prophetic school and not a rich one by any standard. The dormitories are
so cramped that I feel claustrophobic. There are about seven students
to one of these cubicles. I wonder how the students can pray and learn
in such stuffy surroundings. However, as I pass one of the rooms, I
discover that some of the students share my sentiments. A few of them
decide to go and meet the Head Teacher, a renowned Prophet.
I
follow them until they get to the room of the bald man. He has an
intense personality and fervor burns in his eyes like undying fire. The
students speak up. “Sir, our dormitories have become too small for us,
we would like to build new quarters near the Jordan where there are
plenty of logs”.
“Alright” he tells them, “go ahead”.
“Please Sir, come with us,” someone suggests.
“I will,” he says.
The
next morning, they filed out in high spirits, singing and bound
together by the twine of bonhomie. I follow them to the Jordan. The
banks of the river are inundated with so much greenery; emerald adorned
trees luxuriated majestically in the life-giving streams that lap at
their feet. Their branches nod and acquiesce to the goodness of life. It
is a beautiful place.
Then disaster strikes, as one of the students chop down the groaning trees, his axe head falls.
“Alas Sir, it was borrowed!” he cries to the Prophet.
From
his patched robe; I can see he is about the most indigent of them all. I
identify with his pain. It is amazing how things completely go awry in
our lives sometimes, even with strong prophetic backing. The Prophet had
given his word and also went with them, yet disaster occurred. The
student is left holding a piece of useless stump while the most
important thing he needed had drowned. It is reminiscent of my own life.
It seems I am left holding nothing while my dreams and aspirations have
been submerged in the roaring rivers of life. The brother feels useless
and confused. He cannot work; he cannot buy another axe head. He is
stuck like me. Losing that axe head is like losing everything. He and I
are members of an incompetent fraternity.
I
stand there mesmerized watching the unfolding scene before me while the
river ripples and gurgles like a happy child, oblivious to the drama
unfurling on its banks.
The Prophet goes to him with alacrity and asks, “Where did it fall?”
The
absurdity of the question struck me as hilarious, what did it matter?
It is not as if there is advanced technology and ultrasonic waves that
can locate the metal and maybe retrieve it. I want to leave because the
man is an eccentric but I am held by the fire in those eyes. The serious
air with which he approached the issue held me spell-bound.
The
student points to the location and the man of God throws a stick onto
the water and the axe head floats. The axe head floats! Metals never
float!
The
Prophet tells the young man to grab the metal head. I am stunned. It is
a miracle. By some supernatural intervention the laws of floatation
were reversed. As the student hugged the Prophet in euphoric exuberance,
I was hurled back to the present.
As I wondered what all that meant to my present condition, I heard the words screaming in my spirit, “Your axe head will float again”. I asked what that actually meant in the here and now and I heard “there shall be total restoration!!!”
As
I prayed I got a revelatory knowledge that the Prophet applied the
floating characteristic of the stick to the metal. There was some kind
of supernatural transference. Having that revelation made me apply the
resurrected life of the Christ to my dead and buried situations. Boy! I
prayed that morning!
Believe
it or not, my axe heads floated and I grabbed them! My dad is doing
well and uses a walker; he is still on the way to total recovery. My
wife had a set of twin girls a couple of months back, IyanuniagbaraOluwa (miraculous is the power of God) and IteOluwakiisi (the
throne of God can never be moved). Based on my dealings with my
previous partners, a new line of business came up and I was made the
major distributor in Africa. I was also able to link them to some major
properties in Nigeria as a middle man. My sister got married down the
line and has a beautiful child. That bill board was right. Life is
indeed beautiful.
…And I will
restore to you the years that the locusts hath eaten, the canker-worm
and the caterpillar and the Palmer-worm…..and you shall eat in plenty
and be satisfied and praise the name of the Lord your God that hath
dealt wondrously with you and my people shall never be ashamed. And you
shall know that I am in the midst of Israel and that I am the Lord your
God and none else and my people shall never be ashamed.
The story of the floating axe head is in 2 Kings 6.
© 2013 Ekpo Ezechinyere
Sunday, October 20, 2013
THE BURDEN OF TALENT
Greek mythology has it that King Midas demanded for a supernatural gift from a god to have anything he touched turn to gold. He was overjoyed at first until his food, water and his daughter turned to gold. The gift became a burden he could not bear.
It is amazing how many talented people have committed suicide or died from drug overdose over the years. From Ernest Hemingway to Heath Ledger, it is mind-boggling.
In the last one year, a number of sportsmen, musicians and thespians
have joined this depressing list. Other talented people like Oscar Wilde
did not commit suicide or die from drug overdose but came to a ruinous
end. Most people would slit their throats to have the talents these
stars have and the accoutrements that come with such gifts. Alas, it
seems the load of their aptitude crushes and buries them in the dirt of
death. For me it is quite a conundrum because you would think that these
ones have everything, hence their lives should be quite rosy. One would
think these celebrities would never want to die.
The
answer to this brainteaser came to me a couple of days back as I was on
my way to work listening to my favourite Christian band, Jesus Culture.
The song was “Burning Ones”. One of the stanzas goes thus….
So let this love be like a fire
Let our lives be like a flame
Fill our souls with your desire
Let our passion bring you fame.
This
I believe is the missing link to the puzzle and herein comes the X-men.
The X-men and The Teen Titans are my favourite team of Super Heroes
ever. However, I feel I have this special bond with the X-men, as whacky as that might sound.
The
X-men are a collection of people with special gifts. There gifts were a
yoke they would rather have dispensed with until they meet Professor
Xavier who became their mentor. Prof. Xavier knew power without control
guarantees disaster, therefore he taught them how to contain and control
their power. For example, Cyclops, one of the X-men released an
uncontrollable energy beam from his eyes but Professor Xavier gave him a
visor to manage, target and focus the blasts. They surrendered their
gifts and submitted to the leadership of their revered teacher. The
Professor made them accept their natural gifts, maximize them and use
them to save the world. That way, they attained a measure of peace that
had eluded them before they met him.
God is much more than Professor Xavier. He put the gifts in us and until we release the gifts back to him, we are at risk of self destruction.
He is the One that can help us deploy our gifts in a way that would be
of the uttermost benefit to mankind. For example, Paul the Apostle was
an immensely talented Juggernaut, unleashing destruction everywhere
until he encountered God. His passion, zeal and talents were now focused
towards giving life and not death.
Remember
Lucifer? He was loaded with talent and was a celebrity in heaven. He
was so gifted that he released music when he moved but he rebelled
therefore committing professional and eternal suicide. His gift got to
his head; he became a victim of pride. The dude wanted to play God and
got thrown down to dirt for his hubris. What is happening to present day
celebrities is what has been since time took its first tottering steps.
Truth
is, when people are exceptionally talented it makes them tend towards
becoming God; the paparazzi want to snap even their shadows, tons of
writers are ready to pen down the nature of their fart in graphic
details. Their self-importance makes them want to usurp their Maker and
that makes them vulnerable to self-destruction. The person and position
of the Almighty is one we do not have the capacity for. We were made to
worship not to be worshiped. When this reversal happens we become like
Icarus who flew too near the sun with wings of feathers and wax. He
ignored the instructions his father gave him so his feathers melted and
he crashed into the sea where he drowned.
For
us to escape becoming victims of our gifts, the lyrics above become so
essential. We must surrender all and become suffused with God’s love.
Our lives must become filled with His desire and we must start living
with the consciousness that our passions and talents should bring him
fame. Our gifts should be used to serve him. Paul did that! God must be
the focus, the centre around which all revolves. It is not about the
gift but the Giver!
We must be consumed with and by Him! I absolutely love the words Chris Quilala, one of Jesus Culture’s lead singers used to end the aforementioned song:
“Our hearts are burning, burning for You”.
…FOR WE HAVE THESE TREASURES IN EARTHEN VESSELS THAT THE EXCELLENCY OF THE GLORY MIGHT BE OF GOD AND NOT OF US……
© 2013 Ekpo Ezechinyere
Saturday, October 12, 2013
THE AUDACITY OF FAITH 3
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As
the sun started its weary descent down the western sky, the melodious
notes from my harp filled the valley and bounced off the craggy faces of
the ancient hills. Like fragrant smoke, they ascended up to Adonai’s
throne. My worship flowed in cadence to the dancing currents of the
gurgling brook. Peace washed over me in waves, joyous euphoria erupted
within like a sweet storm. Finding a quiet place to connect with Adonai
is something I do everywhere I go. Even at that, I needed the solace of
His presence today more than ever. My heart longed for Him like a deer
panting for water. The impending showdown made this imperative.
As I pondered on why He was so mindful of me, the brash guttural voice of the Philistine shattered the peace of the cool evening. Listening to him brag rekindled my righteous indignation and flames of burning wrath fired up my soul. It was time to have a go at him, the reason for my being here.
“Who was this uncircumcised Philistine that would defy the army of the Living God?” I had asked when I came into camp two days ago. For days on end he had harassed, tormented, taunted and bullied the army of Israel until they had all become shadows of themselves. Brave men had become cowardly ghosts. The burden of fear on their shoulders had bent their spirits. The yoke of dread made them shuffle their feet endlessly. They had been brow beaten into submission and were so ashamed that they could not look one another in the eye. The camp of God’s mighty men stank of the putrefaction of capitulation.
Goliath had them where he wanted. They had listened to his unending rants, drunk from the cup of his seeming impregnability until their senses were flooded with his power. They reeled from the imagined force of his might, staggered from the blow of his relentless words. The amount of psychological shellacking they had received had turned the bravest lion into the most timid lamb. The Philistine made my people forget who they were! Their eyes had deceived them hence making their hearts fail.
However, I was having none of it. I refused to accept his potential for destruction. I rebuffed his words. I shut my ear to his screams of rage. I blinded myself to his physical immensity. I did what Saul, Eliab and his cronies could not do. I engaged what they forgot. It was not about how big, fearsome, or intimidating the enemy was. It was not about the enormity of the challenge. It was not about what or who I saw before me, it was about the differential advantage. It was about the covenant. We are circumcised, they are not. Adonai Lives, Dagon is a lifeless statue of a god. From the time I laid my eyes on him I refused to acknowledge him. He was of no consequence, his threats meant nothing. To me, he was already a defeated apparition, dead meat for the vultures.
Thing is, the heathen deceived them, making my people feel the battle was theirs. That was what the King thought too, which was why he offered me his beautiful armour. I declined respectfully; knowing that the battle is the Lord’s and not mine to fight. I was not used to warring with human weapons. God does not rely on man’s instruments of war. The arm of flesh never prevails. The army of the Living God forgot its champion. However, I remembered Him. They trusted their chariots and horses; I remembered the name of the Lord, my God!
I bent down and picked five smooth stones which I put into my shepherd bag. I added my sling and took my shepherds’ staff. My time in Saul’s court had made me somewhat proficient with a sword but I wanted to disgrace the Philistine. I was going to put him down like a common bird, a crippled lizard. I was going to run down the flea infested mongrel for daring a chosen generation. Going toe to toe with him in a sword fight would be granting him too much honour. For insulting Adonai, he was going to taste the most ignominious dust of defeat in the history of human warfare. His people were going to see their champion die unceremoniously.
Humming a song to myself, I strode towards the hulk of a man. He saw me and was enraged; he could not believe the affront. He was so angry that he played into my hands. He cursed me in the name of Dagon and turned the battle into a clash of deities. That made my work easier. He spoke against me, words of divination and curses of enchantment. The giant never knew that there is no divination against Israel, no enchantment against Jacob. Of course, I did not keep quiet; I talked right back at and against him. I countered the blade of his words with mine, verbal clangs that echoed in the silence that filled the Valley of Elah. I knew this was where the real battle was and I could not afford to lose here. I out-talked the bugger. I spoke so much that his words became a dirk to the long sword I wielded. He did not have a prayer. The bastard of Gath had been condemned to die!
I live by faith and not by sight, so I saw him go down in my mind’s eye. I pictured him fall like he was poleaxed. I told him his head was mine. I knew that a dream had to be visualized before it can be realized. I told him that I was going to cut off his head even though i did not have a sword.
I ran towards him, put a stone into my sling and shot at him. The fact that his shield was so large that another had to carry it for him counted against my foe (in battles of faith, someone else carrying your shield for you is a sure fire road to disaster). My stone went through the only uncovered spot on his body; the fore of his massive head. He crashed like a felled oak. With my stone i plucked him from the tree of the living and he fell like rotten fruit. The bigger they are, the harder they fall. The philistine champion was dead. I kept to my promise, took his sword and beheaded him.
His people were distraught with disappointment and the army of Israel was emboldened, running after them and shouting songs of victory. It was a massive rout.
…..The kingdom suffereth violence and the violent taketh it by force…
© 2013 Ekpo Ezechinyere
Sunday, October 6, 2013
THE AUDACITY OF FAITH (2)
By
nature I am a ‘gusher’. When I like something I cannot just stop
talking about it even if am gagged. I remember one night when I woke up
early and felt like watching a movie. I felt I would just watch
something for about an hour then go back to bed since I was going to
work in the morning. That was the end of my sleep because I decided to
watch ‘Avatar’ which I had been looking forward to seeing since it came
out about two years before. I went to work high that morning, asking
everyone whether they had seen ‘Avatar’. It was this overenthusiastic
mood that made me meet a great friend (Obaro, do you still remember?).
Recently, I was nearly flailed by kith and kin because I could not stop
gushing about Sally Kenneth Dadzie of Moskedapages, the literary Queen of
Nigeria’s blogging series.
With
this background, I hope it would make it easier for you to bear with me
as I am about to gush again. This time it is about ‘The Lord of the
Rings’, a story monumental both in its written and screen forms. Till
forever, I still wonder where the writer, J.R.R Tolkien got such
inspiration from. Most times I would rather read than watch because I
believe it is almost impossible to capture all the emotions of a book in
a movie. For example, I nearly wept out of disappointment when I
watched the “Eagle has landed”. The movie nearly made me puke which was
unbelievable since I read the book standing up. The excitement could not
just make me sit still. However, Peter Jackson, the director of the
‘Lord of the Rings’ trilogy was absolutely brilliant. Watching the
trilogy takes you through all the colours of the human emotional
spectrum. It is world-class!
The
part of the movie where Gandalf had to face the balrog, a demon from
the ancient world, is even way better than the book version. This bit
eternally mesmerizes me. First time I saw it, I kept rewinding to this
piece. It is full of inspiration and speaks to me no end.
The
Fellowship of the Ring, a motley group of men, was on the way to carry
out a destiny-impacting mission when the evil creature appeared to stop
them. This is so reminiscent of life.
Thing is, in life we are all on a mission of purpose like the Fellowship of the Ring, whether we realize it or not. For
the discerning, the purpose is usually for the destruction of evil.
Edward Jenner discovering the cure for smallpox is a leading example.
Even as I write, everybody is on a mission. The mission might be that of
a husband trying to preserve the fellowship of his wife and family,
someone trying to get an educational qualification, another trying to
put his finances in place, a mother trying to get pregnant, a bachelor
who wants to get married to a good wife, a rebel who knows he is on a
wrong track and wants to get back on the path of a divine mandate. Life
is absolutely about fellowship (friends, marriage, etc) and purpose (our
reason for being).
Then
the balrogs come up on the path of life to derail our plans, to stop us
in our tracks. Balrogs are purpose killers, dream destroyers. They
stand on the way to frustrate and ensure we do not get to our
destination. They bring pain and death. Balrogs are demons from the
ancient world, challenges that have existed before we were born,
situations that take the winds out of our sails, huge problems before
which all our resources seem puny. When they come up, we are at our wits
end. We do not know what to do, sometimes the horror they unleash (for
example, cancer) petrify us.
Gandalf
met the balrog at the bridge of Khazad-dum. This bridge in real life is
where we are made or broken. It is at this point that victory or doom
is determined. This is the place we either slink away like
cowardly hyenas into the arid lands of defeat or roar and fight like a
wounded lion. It is where a couple having issues might go on to have a
divorce or go on to a happily ever after fairy tale. This is where a
struggling entrepreneur might jettison his dream or move on to millions
and so on.
Question
is what do we do when we get to the bridge of Khazad-dum? Gandalf
provides the answer to this query. He shows that we must never keel over
in a dead faint. We must stand our ground and fight. We must never
capitulate but look the balrog square in the eyes and fight for
everything we hold dear. Fight for our fellowship, fight for purpose,
fight for destiny!
Gandalf
told the others to run but he stood. He fought with all that was in
him. He refused to be intimidated. He shouted out to the hellish
messenger, “You cannot pass. I am a servant of the Secret Fire, wielder
of the flame of Anor. You cannot pass. The dark fire will not avail you,
flame of Udun. Go back to the shadow! You cannot pass."
He
did not walk down the path of dejection wondering why fate dealt him a
bad hand. Instead, he refused to have all his plans scuttled. I think in
life, we cower easily most times while keeping mum hoping the issues of
life will gently pass by. Not Gandalf! The old man did
not keep quiet. He kept saying what he wanted even though the odds were
against him. He believed he could come out of the battle victorious.
Mind
you, Gandalf was not just operating in a realm of bravado. He had faith
in his master, what he believed (the Secret Fire) and who he was
(wielder of the flame of Anor). He was carrying something, o gbe ina sori,
he was a fire carrier. To survive on earth, we need a force behind us, a
Secret Power that others might not know about backing us (Psalm 91:1).
Without it, we are sunk. Life preys on those who have no backing.
Fortunately, our own lot is a whole lot better than Gandalf’s. One,
we have The Ancient of Days, who existed before any ancient demon. He
is The One who existed before any pesky problem. Secondly, we are not
servants, we are sons. Now are we the sons of God! We are
also fire carriers because He makes his angels spirits and his ministers
flames of fire. To have a fighting chance in life, we must know who we
are! Gandalf knew who he was. It is also imperative that we must talk.
Talk at and against your adversaries. Silence means certain defeat! The
surest way we can know who we are though, is by studying the living
letters of God’s word. The dark fire cannot avail our own Fire, because
our fire is the Light that shines through the darkness and cannot be
withstood by any form of gloom.
Gandalf
had a sword and a staff; we have the comforting rod of our Shepherd and
the sword of the spirit. So take a stand on the gap and look that
bugger of a balrog in the eye. Tell it to go back to the shadows that it cannot pass. Stand for God, yourself, your family, your purpose, your world!
It
is important to know that when you engage in such battles, you might
get some hits but you will come out victorious. The balrog’s fiery whip
caught Gandalf as he was falling and dragged him down with it but in
part two of the trilogy, we saw Gandalf resurrected. He had evolved from
Gandalf the grey to Gandalf the white, a stronger and better person
with more powers. We can only come out better and stronger on the other
side. We pass through fire and through water to emerge in a large place
of great prosperity.
Be
audacious against any kind of destiny destroyer, don’t back down for
any reason. Tell that loathsome creature (whatever the balrog stands for
in your case) that IT CANNOT PASS!!!
“…you are of God little children and have overcome them, for greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world…”
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Sunday, September 29, 2013
RE-WRITTEN 2
CONTINUED FROM RE-WRITTEN 1
....“Doctor, are you
sure there is nothing we can do to save the leg? Without a limb, she is useless
to me! I can never go out with a cripple, talk more of marrying one.”
The fates were
unkind; for it was at that moment Kemi came to and heard Teddy talking to the doctor. She was utterly
shocked at the disdain that filled his face when he said 'cripple'.
…the street lights on the way home were
non-operational, a situation not strange for Nigerian roads. Teddy had been
speeding like a bullet and it was all he could do to steer away from the
hulking shadow that came rushing out
of the darkness at them. If he hadn't been drunk, he would have realized
that the life threatening silhouette was a truck that
had broken down in the middle of the road. There was no caution sign whatsoever
to warn road users of its existence.
The truck was situated in such a way that
the driver’s
side would have taken the maximum hit on collision. However, Teddy, even though
drunk, had enough presence of mind to swerve the car in such a way that the
passenger’s side was the most affected.
As the Jeep rammed into the truck, the agony
of screeching and screaming metal shattered the quiet night. Following the
accident, silence pregnant with foreboding reigned again over the debris of
broken bodies, burnt rubber and tortured metal. The car had become a match box
crushed in the hands of a peevish giant and from its innards seeped blood. The
blood was everywhere, a crimson tide that made the senses reel. The policemen
who had gathered from a nearby check point shook their heads and snapped their
fingers in melodramatic wonderment. They stood at the scene making no attempt
to rescue the duo since they believed no one would come out of such horrific
wreckage alive.
The wails of an ambulance siren soon filled the night
with its lament, expressing grief over the spoils of a calamitous night. The
medical crew managed to extricate the victims and everyone sighed in relief and
amazement to see they were still breathing. The wounded couple were then rushed
to a nearby hospital.
Teddy came out unscathed except for a deep
gash on his forehead which was sutured. However, Kemi was in terrible shape.
Her right leg was mangled and she had lost so much blood. To make matters worse,
her blood group was O negative which was rare to find. She was going into shock
but mercifully, the Doctor on call that night also had the same blood group as
hers and donated freely.
While she was being resuscitated, Teddy
placed a call to her mother.
“Ekaaro ma. Kemi ni accident l'aaro yi, she had an accident this morning". He always resorted to Yoruba, their native language when he spoke to Kemi’s mum. "She needs surgery and someone has to sign the consent form. She is
at Lifegate Specialist Hospital". He said that in a very detached manner and left the hospital. He
never went back!
Kemi’s mother gave a go ahead for the
procedure which went successfully.
While recuperating, her world became black.
Bats of depression flapped their wings continuously in the dark caverns of her
soul, the shrieks of their ultrasonic cries bouncing off the walls of her mind.
She thought she was going insane. Life was just about the motions now. All the
juice had been wrung out, the sauce of living was bland, and she just existed. She felt lost,
numb and dead especially when she thought about the aborted baby that the battery of tests had revealed. She had been
pregnant! Her boyfriend was unmoved by this revelation,
all he cared about was the crushed limb. He didn't want her hobbling beside him for the rest of her life,
irrespective of her beautiful face.She felt like
someone had ripped out a part of her heart.
Kemi was furious
with herself. She had seen all the signs but kept a blind eye to them. She had
always known Teddy was selfish. He had always been more interested in showing
her off like one would a brand new custom made SUV. She was beautiful,
intelligent and a social butterfly which made her fit easily into the circles
he moved in. His friends after meeting Kemi always called him a lucky bastard
for having a chic like her. Without a leg she was a SUV with a knocked engine.
Her allure had diminished! She felt so foolish.
She built an
impregnable cocoon around herself that no one could penetrate and kept all and
sundry at bay. The day she completely lost it was when Gabby came to visit her
with his wife and little baby. Even though he was genuinely concerned and did
not spite her in anyway. The visit was the last straw that broke the camel’s
back.
That night, the
mistakes of the past wrestled her to the ground and put a stranglehold on her
throat. She could not sleep as she thought of all that could have been. Desolation tore at her soul with the ferocity of a grizzly, a grizzly that swiped
relentlessly at her until all her being became a mass of fresh weeping wounds.
Her life reeled out before her. Her past was swiftly moving
pictures of black and white while the future was blurred images with lots of
static at the end. She saw that instead of the confetti she had waited
feverishly for, it was sand that was going to be poured on her coffin. In place
of the love songs that was supposed to accompany her steps down the aisle to
the altar, she was going to be sent off on a barge of dirges. She was never
going to wear the designer wedding dress she had always envisaged. Instead, her final journey was going to be in black unceremonious garments.
She imagined how the medical staff would freak out when they came to discover her corpse,
pale and without breath, swimming in the sheets of her own blood.
Diabo Culebra rubbed his hands together in a
delightful flourish. Puffing furiously on the cigar dangling in his mouth, he
took a sip of the cognac swilling in the glass beside his laptop. The ending of
a dark story was what he lived for,
what gave him orgasmic joy. For him, they didn’t get
better than how the plot of “Life” was going to end. He started typing the conclusion.
Kemi grabbed a brand new razor blade and began to take it down, aiming for her wrists, a guillotine determinedly descending to sever
the vessels carrying her life essence...
The door
to Diabo's study shattered with such fury, that he
was frozen in place…
...As the blade descended, Kemi halted mid action.
He turned around to see the Author of “Life” walk in
with some of his body guards and Eve. Eve was the disgruntled staff that he had
gotten to betray her former
boss. After she gave him the soft copies of the story that he had requested
for, Diabo employed her as one of the assistants in his publishing firm. Eve
discovered she had made the mistake of her life. The person that deduced that
the grass always looks greener on the other side is profoundly wise. Mr. Diabo was a hard task master, he made you
work weekends and public holidays without pay. He never forgave, gave queries at the
slightest infraction and owed salaries.
Furthermore, he was the father of liars
and never made good on his words.
She was still being owed for the betrayal she performed for him.
On the other hand, she realised that it was greed that
made her disloyal to her former employer. He was kind and merciful and would
pay every man his due but she wanted to rise up the ranks very quickly without
going through the process. Secondly, her spending habit was appalling so she
always owed which was why Diablo’s offer had
been quite tempting.
Eve confessed to the Author of “Life”, who forgave her
and gave her back her job. They went together to
the Diabo's “Lair”, which was where the thief called his home and broke down his door.
The Author of 'Life' was usually a lamb but when crossed, he
became a lion. He strode majestically to where Diabo was cowering and punched
him hard on the jaw. Diabo fell
like he had been struck by lightning. As he laid on the floor, he tried to work
his mouth and knew his jaw was broken. That was the last thing on his mind
though. With the amount of offences he
would be charged with in court, he knew his days were up because he would be
locked up and the key thrown away.
The Author of “Life” retrieved his story and was
wrathful at what Diabo had done with it. He took the story home, went up to his
study and wrote and wrote…
Kemi glanced at the TV. Someone had changed the DSTV channel to 331, 1 Gospel and musical strums filled the room. She had always been a
sucker for good music and this was heavenly. She saw a guy with a thick mop of curls
strumming away and stomping his foot like there was no tomorrow and then the
songs came and washed over her aching soul. She did not know the group but saw
their name was Jesus Culture. They sang so lustily! The music was beautiful and
the lyrics were healing.
Nothing can separate
Even if I ran away
Your love never fails
I know I still make mistakes
But You have new mercies for me everyday
Your love never fails
Chorus:
You stay the same through the ages
Your love never changes
There may be pain in the night but joy
comes in the morning
And when the oceans rage
I don't have to be afraid
Because I know that You love me
Your love never fails
Verse 2:
The wind is strong and the water's deep
But I'm not alone here in these open seas
Cause Your love never fails
The chasm is far too wide
I never thought I'd reach the other side
But Your love never fails
Bridge:
You make all things work together for my
good
The song was a hook that reeled her into an
ocean of love she had not swum in ages. The essence of a God she had forgotten
washed over her. In that sea, she dissolved until every cell in her body became
tears that merged and fused with the Force of Life that bubbled in the living
waters. The ocean, in which life was being baptized, cleansed and washed her so
much she felt new. It was like being re-birthed.
She remembered how her grandma used to take
her to Sunday school. The joy she used to experience when being regaled with
the tales of David and Goliath, Noah and the ark, and other stories. The sadness of the crucifixion, the euphoria
of the resurrection, the sweetness of the Cabin biscuits and the Three Top
drinks. The teachers usually ended up giving her extra biscuits because she
usually answered most of the questions.
As she grew older, she had meandered away
from those paths especially after she started going out with Teddy. It went downhill from there onwards.
When the Doctor on call went to check on
her that night, he saw Kemi on a personal mount where transfiguration was
taking place. He knew he had happened on a very private moment and went out
quietly. As he walked to the Doctor’s room, her rapturous image stayed with him
and would not let go.
When he saw her the next morning, she was a
new creature. The old Kemi seem to have passed away. She was radiant and
friendly.
“Good morning, Miss. Olude,” greeted Dr.
Timothy. “How are you doing this morning?”
“Good Morning, Doc, Please forgive me for
my churlish attitude, you saved my life by your donation and I have not been
good mannered enough to say thank you. I am so very sorry.”
“Pleasure’s all mine, Miss. Olude,” He said.
“Please call me, Kemi.”
“Since we are dispensing with formalities,
you might as well call me Tim.”
She smiled and light poured from her eyes
to fill the room, she had such limpid eyes. He was amazed that he had never
noticed. Since she had always been
drenched in the rain of depression, they had been difficult to perceive. Her
smile was accompanied by two playful dimples that danced merrily on her cheeks.
“Really?” she asked.
“Yup, try saying Tim, you will find out it
doesn’t hurt at least not as much as the intramuscular shots you take anyway.”
“Hmm, a Doctor with a sense of humour, you
are rare Tim. Anyone ever told you that?”
“I think someone has mentioned it. Has
anyone ever told you that your mouth is like an exquisitely sculpted grotto
with fine pearls decorating it and a river of rubies running through it?”
She giggled, “Tim, you are quite a
flatterer.”
“Just calling a spade a spade, ma’am.
However your own spade is diamond studded with a golden handle.”
That morning, Tim left late after handing
over and came earlier than usual to resume his night duty.
There was something about Kemi that he
found irresistible. He had been praying for a wife before he met her and the
more he prayed, the more he was drawn to her.
One thing led to another and a year, six
months after they met, they got married. The wedding was lovely but the only
fireworks that exploded that day were the ones in her heart for her man. It was also the first day she used her new
prosthetic limb.
Tim had a brother working in a research and design company in America where prosthetic limbs that are
almost as good as normal limbs were manufactured. Kemi had the privilege of being fitted with one.
She got pregnant and finally delivered a
beautiful baby boy. As she suckled him that day, his baby fragrance filled her
being. She absentmindedly ran her hand
over his curls and felt such gratitude towards the Author of her Life.
She remembered one of her Grandma’s
favourite scriptures and it struck her how true those words are.
I KNOW THE THOUGHTS THAT I THINK
TOWARDS YOU. THOUGHTS OF GOOD AND
NOT OF EVIL, TO GIVE YOU A FUTURE
AND A
HOPE..
© 2013 Ekpo Ezechinyere
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