The Calling of Our Lives
By Femi Fani-Kayode

Eagles do not hide when they see a storm gathering, lions do not retreat when the enemy threatens and kings do not run when they hear the sound of battle. Rather the eagle flies boldly into the eye of the storm without a trace of fear but with power, majesty, grace and passion. The lion rises and roars with courage and strength as his adversary approaches. The king does not yield one inch of the field to the marauding enemy but rather he gallantly and boldly leads his captains and princes into the most bitter part of the battle. This surely is our calling and the essence of our lives. The Lord has given us the spirit of the eagle and the lion: the spirit of the warrior and the king. We cannot and will not be intimidated by anything, any circumstance or anyone and least of all by what we see or hear. And why should we be afraid of mere mortals, for what is man? The bible asks,”who art thou o man?” It then answers it's own question by saying “thou art as the grass that withers, thou art as the flower that fadeth, a man that is born of woman, that is today and tomorrow is no more.” Indeed that is all we are before God. His word says it is He alone that has the power to “give life and to kill.” If we die tomorrow it is by His will and if we live tomorrow it is by His grace. His word says it is He alone that is worthy of our fear and of our praise.

We must therefore all humble ourselves before God and know that He alone rules in the affairs of men and determines the destiny of nations. So fear God alone and be the man or woman that He has called you to be; a prince of Heaven, a deliverer of his people, a fearless warrior and a worthy king. And one of the characteristics of a true leader and king is the courage and ability to fearlessly rise up to the occassion and speak out when faced with evil, injustice and oppression. One question that is often asked today is why should we speak out ? Why bother? What difference does it make? And yet the great Edmund Burke provided the answer to the question when he said that when good men remain silent when they see evil in the land, that is when such evil flourishes. He said that the hottest place in hell is reserved for such "good" yet silent men . This is not only true but it is also deeply profound. That is why it saddens me when some people suggest that we should not talk about our challenges and that we should not speak out and protest against the evil and injustice that thrives in our land today. Imagine what it would have been like if people had adopted that attitude all over the world and throughout world history.

If people did not speak out and protest, we would still have had slavery all over the world today. If people did not speak out and protest, we would not have had democracy in the world today. If people did not speak out and protest, fascism and Hitler's Nazis would have been alive and well today and the Aryan race would have been ruling the world with an iron fist. If people did not speak out and protest, we would still have had the evil of communism in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe today and worse still the communists would have been controlling most of our planet by now.

If people did not speak out and protest, every country in Africa would still be a grovelling colony today. If people did not speak out and protest, apartheid and the white Boers would have been ruling the whole of southern Africa by today. If people did not speak out and protest, Bin Laden, the islamists and Al Qaeda would have taken over half of the world by today. If people did not speak out and protest, there would have been no state of Israel or Jewish homeland today. If people did not speak out and protest, Iran would have possessed and would most likely have used nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction by today. If people did not speak out and protest, the military would still be ruling most of Africa till today.

If people didn't speak out and protest, the great monotheist faiths of Christianity, Islam and Judaism would never have been established and the world would still have been controlled by pagans, cannibals, ritualists and devil worshippers till today. If people did not speak out and protest, there would not have been a separation of power between the church and the state till today. If people did not speak out and protest, there would have been no freedom of worship today and neither would there have been any freedom of speech, freedom of expression, freedom to share information or freedom to communicate: there would have been no civil liberties, no human rights, no right to vote and no equality of the sexes in the world today.

If people did not speak out and protest, the United States of America would never have been founded and established as an independent nation state and she could never have become the great and powerful country that she is today. If people did not speak out and protest, Great Britain, France, Russia and indeed the whole of Europe and Asia would still be ruled by a handful of autocratic, cruel, incestous, indolent, self-indulgent, self-serving and thoroughly decadent royal families till today. If people did not speak out and protest, we in Africa would still be in the dark ages, drowning twins at birth and selling one another to slavery till today. I could go on and on.

The point is that we must speak out strongly and protest against evil whenever and wherever we see it. That is why we were educated in the first place and that is what being a believer is all about. Protesting against, speaking against and fighting against injustice and evil is the greatest duty that we have to humanity and to one another as human beings. It is a sacred trust and obligation before God. The minute we stop talking, we stop protesting and we stop speaking out against that which is unjust and evil, that is when we are truly lost as a people. That is when we cease to be the men and women that God has ordained us to be. That is when we no longer deserve to be called human beings. That is when we must bow our heads in shame forever.

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