Different People, One God

This post was inspired by two things. The first is the political climate in recent times. Personally, I don't really like to be partisan. I tend to lean towards an individual than the party they belong too. But not many people are like that. Most people, once interested in an issue, love the dogfight with others on the opposite end of that issue. And that's okay; partisan polarization is not the enemy. There is a reason functioning democracies thrive on it. What is dangerous is spewing hatred because someone disagrees with you. People will disagree with you. Deal with it.

The second reason is because of a discussion between my friend and I on wedding vows. Now I vehemently disagree with her reasoning and will not be stating details of her position here because...well, I'm certain she will change her point of view. I don't want that point of view to be on record. But you see, she backed her views with God's words. I did back mine with God's words too. Differing opinions, one God.

Nevertheless, as human beings, we are notorious for believing our ways are the right ways. There is a vilification of the "other".   Since we definitely interpret things differently from one another, it's no surprise disagreements abound. That's fine. I just need you to know that  someone disagreeing with you does not make them the enemy. It doesn't make them less of a Christian than you. When it comes to Christianity, no one person has a monopoly on Jesus. No one person—well except Jesus himself—has the final say.

So we don't have to take everything we hear hook, line and sinker. What does Jesus say? What does Jesus want? At the same time, we don't have to antagonize every singe person or idea to prove superiority. Disagree with grace; prove your point with grace; but never think being a Christian is equal to stupidity. Have principles; take a stand. God doesn't hate that.  God gave us minds for a reason. He gave us complex, beautiful, brilliant minds and does not mind us reasoning, thinking and maybe even questioning things every once in a while. It's okay to be confused. Just accept that there is a mystery to life, accept that no matter how hard you try, you would never know or get all the answers. Yes, even science—which  some people swear by—does not have all the answers. That's where God's superiority comes in.

You know, my pastor gave an analogy today, which I think proves my point even further. Look at Jesus's disciples; look at the breadth and diversity of what they embodied. Some were fishermen, some were zealots, who opposed Roman oppression (my pastor joked you could probably call them modern day terrorists), yet some others (Matthew, a Roman employee) were tax collectors—I mean a literal representation of Roman oppression haha. So before you go off writing someone off because one idea they have is different or before your condescending self starts to feel all superior, chill out. God is probably snickering. There is no homogeneity amongst his people. Heck, he's a creative God, you can't expect him to create a bunch of similar people with similar ideas. Nope.

However, though we differ, our love of God and acceptance of his grace makes us all common citizens of his kingdom. And that's the most important thing: an unwavering love for Christ and obedience of his word.

P.S: Needless to say, you should know that despite the kumbaya I just sang, there is right and there is wrong. The bible states this clearly. There is varying opinions, varying beliefs, and there is stupidity. We know that bigotry, racism and misogyny are wrong. So don't come to me with faux neutrality or blatant bigotry in the name of differing opinion. I will check you on that :-)

Peace out,

I

Friday Reflection

1.) I went to fill up the gaping hole in my tooth yesterday; not the most pleasant experience

2.) What sucks is that apart from a recent love for Belgian chocolate cake, I'm not your usual junk eater.

3.) Thankful for the privilege to be able to fix my teeth though.

4.) So a character had a heart attack on a show, but survived. A couple of months (years?) later, the actor playing that character had a heart attack in real life and died. I'm really weirded out by that.

5.) They of course had to finally kill off the character on the show and during his "funeral", people were sobbing so bad, I could tell they were not "acting", they were mourning the loss of their friend and colleague.

6.) I'm probably the only one who is not surprised by the leaked video of the Donald being misogynistic as usual.

7.) I can't wait to write all about whole30. Eleven more days to the finish line

8.) I think I am making new friends, all of whom I actually really like.

9.) Zeal. Passion. Enthusiasm. I need those. I need that fuel.

10.) I also need a holiday ASAP.

11.) Hurricane Matthews :-( Go away, please.

Book of the Month: Violence

Believe it or not, this is the book of September not October. I don't know why October came two days early*. She be like that sometimes. Okay so, Violence may sound like it's a book about actual physical violence, terror etc. in the literal sense. No. It's not about a war or revolution or murder. No, it wasn't literally about violence. Rather the violence here was a symbolism for violence of the mind, of dignity. Acts of violence are committed when a person is denied the opportunity of being educated, getting a job, feeding himself, getting medical attention etc.

There are kinds of political and economic systems that brutalize a man. It was these types of brutalization we saw in Idemudia, the protagonist of the novel, who suffered in the despicable hands of poverty. The book delved into the lives of Idemudia and his wife, their lack and nothingness against the lives of Obofun and his wife, Queen who, thanks to greed and corruption lived in opulence, plenty and wealth.

More than just a story however, the book touched on systemic poverty and the nuances of a failed system in Nigeria of the 70s. A particularly poignant part was at the beginning of the book when Idemudia fell terribly ill, and getting him good healthcare was a disaster. Just as poignant and deeply mortifying were the things both Idemudia and his wife had to do to put food on the table.

It also focuses generally on our institutions and how poorly they serve the citizens. Police is not really your friend is what we discover when mama Jimoh's husband is arrested. Our justice system is deeply flawed. Health care is a travesty. Sigh. The issues are too numerous to count.

It's as much a political book as it is a fiction. What saddens me is that some of the issues highlighted still persist in today's Nigeria. Basic healthcare is still inaccessible, abject poverty still has its grip on many people, and exploitation of the government by it employees is still very commonplace. A select few at the stop still have the monopoly of the system, and there is a vested interest in seeing the country fail in terms of infrastructure and basic services.

So yes the book tells a good story but it also mirrors Nigeria.

Now while I like that the book highlighted very important themes, I don't particularly care for the style of story telling. It put a lot of burden on the actors to tell us what was going on. A lot of time, there were long, endless quotes from characters, which can be fine. Except how do uneducated people speak such eloquent English? I mean, barely educated Adisa had a full grasp of English. Also, perhaps I missed it, but where the hell was this book set?! How do you write an entire fiction without mentioning the setting? At first I thought it was a fictional South Western city in Nigeria; a place that mirrors Ibadan for instance. But then again it would sound very South South-ish.

Anyway, good stuff or good enough to be book of the month!

See you next time ;-)

Love,
I


*Life just happened (and it's still happening) very fast. I barely found the time to read for leisure, let alone write about it. I will try to do better by better managing my time. I hope.

Friday Reflections

1.) Crickets!

2.) Ha, it's been so long since I did this. **Dusting cobwebs**

3.) No, I did not run out of one line quips and ramblings.

4.) The last time I did this was May! Don't blame me; summer was busy!

5.) Fall is here!!! All that excitement is because my shows are back.

6.) Why do people cheat folks of their hard-earned money? This is a developing story but yeah I'm currently really angry at how unethical some Nigerian small businesses can be.

7.) Remember how I used to love Don Lemon's show? Yeah. No. I have not watched in months. I am tired of CNN bringing on racist, bigoted, misogynists on air in the name of some faux-neutrality. Miss me with that nonsense, please.

8.) I started Whole30 on Monday. It deserves an entire post on its own. Plus it's just day five, who knows how much longer I'll last?

9.) On fear, anxiety, and nervousness: a discussion with M.

10.) I read this article on getting to your "30s" and all of a sudden: the veil is removed; you can see clearly since the rain is gone; and you know, you are now mature. I thought:  "either this is some real BS or I'm extremely precocious, cos I'm just in my mid twenties and this pretty much describes me".

11.) The West Wing is pretty gooooooooood!

The People's House: A White House Tour

"The White House is the only building in the world that is free museum, an office, and home to a head of state. But this isn't simply a place for Presidents. It's 'The People's House'—so it's your house, too" - President Barrack and Mrs. Michelle Obama

I'm gonna confess now and say these heavy-photo posts are part due to me being so busy (thanks to a new schedule) I can't properly edit a post for the blog. I'm pretty sure I will have a book of the month though, so there's that.

My sister and I, despite our insanely hectic schedules, took the time this weekend for a White House Tour. We almost decided to forget about it when we got the email from our Congressman's office (MONTHS after applying) that our request to tour the White House had been granted. Unlike other museums and public places, you can't just walk into the White House for a tour. You have to go through your Senator/Congressman months in advance and then you are either rejected because no space, or accepted. We were rejected earlier this year, but my sister never quits. Good thing she doesn't because the second time was a charm.  I did not plan on blogging about it, but I figured not everyone gets to tour the White House, so why not?

Well here goes:

Chronicles of the Billy Goat Trail

I went hiking yesterday. First of all, it was a terrible weather to go hiking. I could have sworn I was going to faint from the heat. But that was not the real problem; the real problem was just how difficult the hike was. If I had done just a little research of the trail the day before, there was no way I would have gone. I'm certain I would have opted out. So yay for being too busy to research the trail spontaneity. It was also a group thing so that mollified things a little bit. I took some pictures, of course. Unfortunately, I don't have pictures of the really difficult paths of the trail. Your homegirl was too busy surviving, plus I had to protect my phone from falling. It got to a stage I had to go on all fours to climb; it's a miracle I  did not sprain an ankle or bruise myself. Thank the Lord with me. Also, the great conversations with my friend, Ene helped a great deal. I don't know how I would have gone through it without her. If you think I'm being histrionic; I'll put things in perspective for you. The hike itself alone was about two hours thirty minutes!

Anyway, it was the Billy Goat Trail at the Great Falls Park. Enjoy!

How To Ruin Your Labor Day Weekend And/Or Make a Colossal Mistake

In the summer of 2014, while preparing for graduate school, get a PC. Decide that the PC is not good enough for you, so get a MacBook. Be oblivious to the fact that you just used your money to buy yourself a whole lot trouble in advance. Rather, tell yourself you just bought computer security for numerous years.  Finish graduate school with your computer still intact. Be thankful that your computer is solid. Quirky, but solid. So keep living life.

Two years later. Wake up on a beautiful Saturday morning; grab your laptop and start working.  Make substantial progress, because it’s morning and you are most productive in the morning. Be cogent, clear, concise, and very analytical. Keep typing and tying your arguments together like a boss. Think about getting coffee or tea just to be bougie, and then remember you react terribly to caffeine. Respect yourself and keep working. Then…cue people from your village*.

Remember this rockstar woman doing rockstar research you recently met. Google her [for the umpteenth time]. Think about a personal statement you once wrote to remember how ambitious you once were. Open this personal statement. Get inspired all over again. Decide to close it and continue working. Click “x”. See “Do you want to save the changes made to document11?” but READ “Do you want to save the changes made to SOP?” Assume you mistakenly typed something while reading the personal statement and click “don’t save” because you don’t want any changes to that genius statement.

Click on the Word icon in your computer to continue working and get a blank document. Squeeze your face and turn up your nose in confusion. “Where the hell is my work?” Ask in confusion. Minimize every page in search of your work.  Squeal in horror at the realization of your stupidity and colossal mistake: you just deleted your WORK.

Scramble over to Google to try to pick up pieces of your broken heart and mind, because honestly you gave your freaking all to that work and do NOT know where to begin. Try everything Google tells you. Scurry over suggestions upon suggestions: remove one eye; remove one ear; insert one tooth inside your system preferences; nothing. Ask your Dad if he knows what to do. Hear him ask you why you did not save it in the first place. Ask yourself why you did not save in the first place. Rush over to your sister who is usually very resourceful. Stand with her in the bathroom—yes the bathroom—till she comes up with something. Try more solutions and read people talk about solutions that worked, and watch your idiotic computer not respond to the suggestions. Realize your computer was a waste of money. Because really why are Macs so freaking annoying and hostile to anything not made by Apple?

Go to your BBM and post your misery. Watch people respond, with kindness to your stupidity. Take their (you guys rock, by the way. Really) suggestions and again witness your computer’s idiocy.  Be grateful for the love you receive.

Call Microsoft. Call Apple. Sigh.

Eat.

Accept your fate.

Start your work all over.

That, ladies and gentlemen is how to ruin your perfect weekend. Or, How to Be Dumb 101.

Love

I

*I do not have a village, but that sounds like the only logical explanation for my daftness on Saturday morning.