Show Me - Religion - Nairaland
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| Show Me by Professorcplus(m): 9:55pm On Feb 13, 2020 |
THIS PAGE IS DEDICATED TO EVERY NAIRALANDER THAT HAVE DIFFERENT THOUGHT, SOMETHING DIFFERENT FROM THE RIGHT/WRONG. I WILL BE SHARING SOME ARTICLES HERE, RADIO STATION TALKS, AND FREE OBSERVATIONS ABOUT OUR SOCIETY AS A WHOLE. THIS THREAD IS SOLELY FOR EDUCATIVE PURPOSE. YOUR OPINIONS ARE WELCOMED. |
| Re: Show Me by Professorcplus(m): 10:00pm On Feb 13, 2020 |
SHOW ME The resturant was empty and I saw him sitting alone in the corner having a meal and, for some reason, was moved to speak to him. I walked confidently to the old man and on getting closer, I observed his old, wrinkled but yet, tender-looking face and figured he must have been well into his 70s and though dressed simply, he had a rather dignified look. I had a couple of the flyers and invitations for the launch of our new church and the old man certainly looked like he needed a good church to attend. “Good day Sir, do you mind if I join you?” he obliged with a beckoning of his hand. “Sorry to bother you sir” I continued, “but I wanted to ask if you’d be free this weekend?” “Why?” He asked. “We’re dedicating our new church building” and then I proceeded to tell him all about the church and its magnificence, the materials used to build it, the contributions, the cost and how its going to be the best and biggest in the region. “I don’t remember when last I went to a church” he replied with a faint smile. Though curt, he wasn’t impolite, just very direct and obviously a man of very few words, or perhaps he was just unimpressed with me. So, I decided to take it up a notch….. “Do you mind if I ask if you are a Christian sir?” “Are you?” was his rather odd reply; as if that wasn’t obvious enough, or perhaps he didn’t hear me inviting him eagerly to my church – what more does he need to know to conclude that I am a Christian? I still went on to answer him and told him about my church attendance and church work, of how anointed my pastor is and how I read the bible and how blessed I have been attending church. When I was done, for the first time in our entire conversation, he looked up at me square in the eyes. The look lasted but a split second and yet, it gave me goose bumps for it seemed as though it lasted an eternity. It seemed as though he had looked beyond my face and eyes; deep into my heart and soul and to be honest, it was a bit scary. I felt very naked. He then smiled at me, a gentle and seemingly pitiful/ sympathetic smile. He stretched out his hand and held mine. His hands were invitingly warm and soft. He then said to me: Show me your church and I’d show you my love. Show me your pastor and I’d show you my Saviour. Show me your holy book and I’d show you my purified and saved heart. Show me your blessings and I’d show you my peace that’s beyond understanding. Show me your tithes and offerings and I’d show you the street beggars that know me by name. Show me your magnificent building and I’d show the shelters I’ve built and the orphans I’ve put through school. Show me you speak in tongues and I’d show you the language of compassion that leads me to fund the surgeries that restores sight to the blind. Show me your well-dressed members and I’d show widows that fondly call me “husband”. Show me your destination and I’d show you the way. Show me your religion and I’d show you my God. Pa Abraham’s words pierced me, for somehow, it shattered my self-righteous indignation. Those words went through my ears, scrambled my brain and sank into my soul; they were words that addressed everything that I had ever held in my mind. Tears welled up in my eyes. I didn’t understand why or how, cos I don’t normally cry. He stood up to leave, letting go of my hand but I held on, almost desperately and somehow, the only words I could mutter were, “show me!!” Source: http://acandleonahill.com/2019/11/01/show-me/ 6 Likes |
| Re: Show Me by CAPSLOCKED: 10:18pm On Feb 13, 2020 |
Professorcplus: THE WRITER WAS NEVER A TRUE CHRISTIAN. FOR ALL WE KNOW THE CHRISTIAN WILL ALWAYS PUT HIS CHURCH'S AGENDA AND SILLY DOCTRINES OVER ANY FORMS OF LOGIC OR COMMON SENSE. 2 Likes 1 Share |
| Re: Show Me by Professorcplus(m): 10:49pm On Feb 13, 2020 |
CAPSLOCKED: True. May be a true Christian or may be not. The main focus of the writeup is Service to Humanity as seen from the Old man's ordeals 1 Like |
| Re: Show Me by Vintax(m): 10:52pm On Feb 13, 2020 |
I LOVE THIS WRITE-UP,it shows that GOD hates religion and self-righteousness,and denominationalism. JESUS as GOD came to teach us how to love and live for others. 1 Like |
| Re: Show Me by Professorcplus(m): 11:33am On Feb 14, 2020 |
HAPPY VALENTINE I stumbled across this program on radio which titled Critical Thinking on Lagos talk 91.3. The program usually holds every Thursday 5pm to 6pm. I found it every educative as the invited guest talks on the psychological nature of human and love relationship. I decided to share few of the discussions here. I hope you find it enlighten. Relax and you read along. Question: Do people think that love is sacrificial and patient? Modify So, learn to love your self before going into relationship. By Zeal_a |
| Re: Show Me by nlPoster: 1:23pm On Feb 14, 2020 |
One thing nlers lack is tolerance. |
| Re: Show Me by LilMissFavvy(f): 2:39pm On Feb 14, 2020 |
Very touching......but isn't the old man supposed to at least have a church? Whatever! Anyway, what do I know? 1 Like |
| Re: Show Me by Professorcplus(m): 6:45pm On Feb 15, 2020 |
FINDING HUMANITY Another article here below. A very touching story that perfectly describes my state of mind and after reading through it, I had a rethink on how I have neglected loved ones , friends and family without checking up either texting or calling. You might not necessary have much money to give them, but just a little "Hi greetings" goes a long way! It's another Saturday morning and so I get along with my normal routine: got my sunglasses, face cap, headphones and running shoes. Today, I plan to run 20km listening to calm mediation music; not just to keep me at peace and in pace, but to lock out all these other people trying to make small talk. I need this alone time to drown all the usual city clutter and detox from the contamination I have to face driving to work daily. The stress levels, pollution, noise, traffic are enough to send you to an early grave, so today, as usual, I find a way to block it all out for my well being. The first 30minutes passed by blissfully and then, a cyclist was almost brushed off the road by an on-coming car and in his maneuver to avoid a collision, obstructed my path and forced me to jump across a drainage. In landing, I sprained my ankle. Just a mild sprain, but it meant I had to walk, instead of run, walk. Minor inconvenience. That walk home changed my life! First, in crossing the drainage back to the road, I noticed it was filled and clogged with plastic and full of infected, algae filled water; it emitted a nauseating stench. How did I never notice before now? I thought the drainage was the worst sight to behold, but after my first few painful steps, I had to take off my sunglasses…a man was attempting to filter a bottle of water from this same gutter. I had to engage him in a conversation to find out what he wanted to do with it. He had a small plastic bag with a comb, toothbrush and one t-shirt and apparently, that was everything he owned. He smiled at me and asked why I wasn’t wearing the red running shoes? I was shocked! How could he know? He saw my shock and added, “You wear the red one only on the first Saturdays, why not today?” I jog past this man every week, he knows my routine, what I wear, my pace and even what time I pass each way and I never, never, not once, took notice of him. I never felt so little. In the midst of a poor, wretched, homeless man, I learnt to be my brother’s keeper. I continued my walk but now, in deep contemplation, no sunglasses, no music – this time, I wanted to smell the air, feel the road, hear the noise and most important, I wanted to see more humans for I had already accepted, I was not one. I walked past 2 men witch amputations sitting in the dirt next to a popular food joint and I watched them stretch their hand out to beg everyone that passed. It was early and they had both made N125 already and they said it was a good start coos they normally got about 4-500 per day. I asked if they had eaten and they both burst into laughter and said, “today no be chop day, na tomorrow we go chop”. It took me a few seconds to process what they said and when it hit me, it hit me hard. Abu and Abdulahi walked, very uncomfortably, into the food joint and we ordered food and ate together. Honestly, I felt lighter after the meal and though I didn’t have much on me, I emptied my pockets to them. On my street, I noticed that an abandoned car, which I had always seen but never took notice of, had its rear window down and I caught a glimpse of a tiny hand protruding, I went close to find a lady and a baby that, based on size, couldn’t have been more than 18months. What on earth is she doing in an abandoned car? I limped to her and again, started a conversation and first shock was that the little girl wasn’t 18months but a very malnourished, under weight 4 year old. The lady had lost everything and this abandoned car was the only shelter she had and the dustbin across the road was her only source of food. She somehow, hadn’t been able to bring her self to beg and she said she prayed every night that death would come for her and her baby. In all this, I got a wild thought, “if all these people are in my path daily and I am too numbed by my own insignificant worries to even notice them, how about those in hospital?” I got home took a quick shower and rushed to the nearest government hospital. I honestly can’t tell you I knew what I was going to do there, but I went nonetheless. As I looked for the ward, it started to rain, but I didn’t care because a man, late 30s, walked up to me, carrying frail looking woman who looked 70 but was his wife aged 29. He needed money for a blood test before treatment could commence and he didn’t have. She looked gravely ill and I was about to say I didn’t have enough cash (I assumed she needed a lot of money for complicated tests) but he cut me short saying “I have N700, I need only N3,450). I froze. Under the rain. Life and death separated by less than the equivalent of $10…less than a shot of my favorite whiskey. I left the hospital 3 hours later, after paying bills for half a dozen that I could find. I saved 6 lives today. 6 humans will live to die another day because of me today. And it cost me less than that the tyre I replaced on my car yesterday. 6 lives. I blame the government for a lot of the ills in our society, like refusing to create a social safety net, refusing to plan and spend adequately on healthcare and education, abandoning the poor, homeless, maimed, old, widows, orphans; our government has a job and they are not living up to it. I don’t think government understand the plight of the people and I do not think the see that an between epidemic, food crisis and poverty, we can be walking into a major disaster. But today, I look at the man in the mirror and we have agreed that we will take more responsibility for our environment, our friends like Abu and Abdulahi, the homeless like Mary and baby Chinonso, the sick like Gbenga’s wife. I frequent the hospital now and though I can never help everyone, I hope one day, I can get everyone I know to help someone I woke up this Saturday morning for my normal routine; my sunglasses, face cap, headphones and running shoes. I woke up this Saturday morning and in trying to lock out the world, thinking of just myself and my misfortune, a sprained ankle, opened my eyes, my mind and my heart. I woke up this Saturday morning an ordinary man; I go to bed today, hopefully, as a human being! http://acandleonahill.com/2019/11/01/finding-humanity/ 4 Likes |
| Re: Show Me by Professorcplus(m): 9:19pm On Feb 28, 2020 |
RELIGION CALLED NIGERIA -Zeal Akaraiwe I’ve held back from writing this for a while, but the events in the last few weeks and comments from Nigerians on radio and social media have made me rethink that stance. I find it humorously exhilarating that people are generally on the same page when it comes to what our dear country’s problem is NOT. Most agree it’s not the man at the top as we are aware that many of the major problems dominant today pre-existed him. It’s certainly not the poor men at the bottom, at least not in any mind boggling financial capacity. Many (I wish more) agree it’s not even the widely blamed corruption as this is more a manifestation and a symptom of a major sickness. Most, if not all, Nigerians would list at least one of the following as our biggest problem, which they believe if solved, would fix the entire nation: (1) power, (2) security, (3) education, (4) employment, (5) road-network/transportation and (6) poverty (7) corruption. What we all fail to realize, is that all of these things are merely symptoms of a much deeper issue. Compounding this problem for us, is the fact that the longer a symptom is left to fester, the more it takes on the characteristics of the problem and would almost certainly need a solution of its own. Unfortunately, our ogas-at-the-top seem, or at least pretend, to concentrate energy and resources on tackling and fighting one or more of the symptoms without ever addressing the root causes. I believe that most human beings, and of course Nigerians, are generally driven and motivated by their belief systems, be it faith or fear. Our character as a nation is now largely dependent on these, and the questions must be asked of faith: What is our faith? Where is our faith developed? Is our faith being developed at all? Whether you worship on Thursday, Friday, Saturday or Sunday, is your faith being developed in such a way that your character is growing positively towards being your brothers’ keeper? Of fear: What do we fear? Are we taught the punishment of The Almighty exists at all? Are we afraid of the laws of the land? Do we have a conscience that berates us for wrong doing? Do we even know what is right and wrong anymore? I’ve been thinking about it and I’m now convinced that I may have identified one of our “ROOT” problems. Please note I said “root problem” and I also said “one of” so feel free to add yours. The problem? Religion! The institutions and the leaders. I do not write this to critise the churches, nor their pastors, nor those who attend. I write this in the hope that all those of us who call for accountability within our government, who call for responsibility within our political class, who abhor the decay in our society and country, see that we need to task ourselves by searching out truth within ourselves first. And where more to start, than in the institutions whose primary responsibility is to teach and propagate truth, honesty, love, kindness, decency etc. For a start, I grew up in a society where your MORALS and VALUE systems were well built up largely in one of 3 places: home, church and school. On the home front, your parents’ morals were really built in church. In school, your teachers’ morals were also built in church and at home. So, elementary mathematics states if x=y and y=z then x=z i.e. the church plays a significant role in shaping our values, our morals, our conscience and most importantly, when we do go astray, in correcting us and reeling us back to where we ought to be. I recall during my NYSC in the late 90s when my cousin said he wanted to go to Bible school, I was like “Dude, can you even spell Bible?” But his logic was simple, “It’s a good business to go into – easy money and tax free.” He said this despite the fact that it was sacrilege at that time to even think that you would want to start a church without a calling from The Almighty! In my younger days in church, we were taught about right and wrong ; but today I look at my generation and those following and, the truth is, nothing is ever wrong. It’s all ‘relative’ and about what is ‘convenient’. We were taught honesty and it didn’t matter if you were caught or not. Today, it’s about what you can get away with and if you get caught, it’s your ‘enemies’ plotting your downfall and if you don’t get caught, then “God himself must have orchestrated your getaway”! Just make sure you bring back the requisite 10% of the loot to appease Him and it’s all good. I recall a friend who bought a BMW in 2001, but took “young-shall-grow” night bus to see his folks for fear that they would set the car ablaze as he couldn’t explain where the money for it came from. I can picture that scenario today in many homes – blessings and prayer would follow without a question as to how the money was made. The end justifies the means. We were taught about kindness . I still recall that it was seen as awkward to get to church with only one occupant in a car; we used to stop at bus stops looking for people to give a ride. Do I hear you say “Nigeria was different then”? It definitely was, but who and what has made it different? US! You and I!! We were also taught about working hard and working well – ‘going the extra mile’. These principles eliminated the cancer we have today called mediocrity – but let me not digress. I look around today and realize, the answer to many (if not all) of our woes isn’t very far-fetched; not too hard to think about if you consider the parable our Lord gave about sowing seeds that fell amongst thorns, it’s short-lived because worldly cares choked the life out of it. We criticize the politicians and leaders for surrounding themselves with sycophants who merely tell them what they want to hear and let the truth go to blazes; and yet, I just imagine how quickly we would abandon a church/pastor/imam who dares tells us the truth that we have erred and need to make restitution. Oops, did I say “restitution”? I can hear some ask “What is that?” Are we really any different from the so-called evil politicians? Nigeria is plagued with liars and thieves, self-willed individuals and the blind leading the blind; we are plagued with churches and pastors (note small ‘C” and small ‘P”) who are businessmen!! Don’t get me wrong here, I have nothing against men of God who have a calling to be Pastors and lead Churches (capital P and capital C). My problem is the fact that a lot, if not all, of those who fall into one or more of the symptomatic categories above spend all day on Sunday (or any other day their religion dictates) going to listen to a self-titled CEO, who heads a tax-free enterprise, who’s well versed in motivational speaking, gone to a theological school and stands on a pulpit with a microphone . These are those that I refer to as businessmen, though they stand on a pulpit and preach. We are a generation of prosperity preachers and believers! I have nothing against prosperity; however, I have a major issue, when it is preached at the cost of the true gospel – honesty, kindness, hard work, being your brothers’ keeper etc. We preach that if you are making money, of which no one cares the means anymore, then The Almighty must be happy with you and therefore whatever you do/did to make the money is ok. And again, please do not forget God’s share of 10% to launder your conscience. Ask yourself in silence and honesty, when last did you hear from a pulpit, the words holiness or kindness; fairness or equity; humility or service? Then think about the last time you heard the words prosperity, blessing, abundance, promotion. How can we sit back and believe that bad things are “not our portion” when we do nothing to prevent decay in our society; we sit and condone illegal behavior, celebrate mediocrity and even wickedness. So, it’s neither politics, nor bad politicians; it’s not corruption nor indisciplined officials; it’s not the lack of good workers nor is it poverty. All these are certainly major problems we have, but are all symptoms of the real problem and have, with time, become so core in our system it is now hard to recognize as symptoms; hence we attack them wondering why there are no results not realizing that a symptom may dissipate, but will only manifest somewhere else as something else. Forgive me as I attempt to link a lot of psychological and theoretic dots here – May have been sitting in a church Sunday after Sunday, for years on end, obeying, whole-heartedly, what we hear from the pulpit. This then forms into a habit. We are unable to recognize nor follow the TRUE teaching of our Faith that requires us to have a PERSONAL relationship with our creator in a way that He can speak to you. We sit under the tutelage of people who sometimes are as clueless as us, and worse, sometimes even pretenders. They give instructions for us to act upon and tell us that The Almighty has spoke through them – we believe – hook, line, sinker. We believe because we are either too lazy, too brainwashed or too scared to search the Holy Book and verify what we hear. We believe because we are too guilt laden to object. We believe because we feel that blind obedience is a small price to pay even if we are wrong; we believe because we lie to ourselves that it is better to be safe than sorry. What safety? We become like slaves to a hard master; we are in a mental state akin to drug addicts. What does all this habit then do to us? We become psychologically intimidated and it makes us refuse to ask questions. Expand this growing attitude a little and you will then understand why a large majority of the church-going population have formed a habit of not asking questions; of not holding accountable those in authority; for not verifying the blatant lies we hear from the ogas-at-the-top; for having an aloof attitude to our being raped, plundered, mauled emotionally, financially and psychologically – for we have gotten used to all this and we have formed the habit of accepting, as Fela put it, sorrow, tears and blood – and I will add, torture, theft and death. We now believe we have no option but to wait for the CREATOR to come from heaven, wear a suit, contest elections and rule us! Can we, as a people be this naïve and idiotic……I don’t know, but I look around and I believe the answer is abundantly clear. Nigeria isn’t a bad country, it’s the inhabitants that make it what it is. source: http://acandleonahill.com/2019/11/01/religion-called-nigeria/ 2 Likes 1 Share |
| Re: Show Me by Janeberryy: 10:02am On Jun 23, 2020 |
Nice |
| Re: Show Me by Dtruthspeaker: 12:21pm On Jun 23, 2020 |
Professorcplus: And you all wonder why you are confused and you no longer know Right and Wrong, Good and Evil. Instead of using the Law that states "You are either Up or Down, In or Out, Good or Evil", for it is written "ye can not drink the Cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye can not be Partakers of the Lord's Table, and of the table of devils". 1 Corinthians 10:21. But you choose to first deceive yourself. Then you wonder why and how Satan, thereafter, comes to take you to the even the Most Foolish Deceits, and you were found there. Mmnh, interesting!!! Oh, I get it, you want to play for the middle, neither good nor evil,  . Haha, guess what, that is what the Law of Hot and Cold meant in the Bible, God has already handled it and Prepared a Special Place for you guys. haha! Man, Always trying and seeking ways to Outmaneuver The Highest! Whoh! very entertaining indeed. |
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