CURE FOR FORGETFULNESS (A NARRATIVE POEM)

#pastorbiodunsoretire

The story goes of a forgetful man 

Looking for cure  for a forgetful mind 

At last he hears of a strong medicine man

Recommended to him by many mouths 

He travels seven forests and seven seas 

Till he comes to a lonely forest 

The abode of the renowned witchdoctor 

The sought-for gives the seeker 

A fetish like goblin’s gourd 

Plugged in the mouth with cuckoo’s quills 

The seeker to spread the content 

Like condiment on his comestibles 

Having given a praise-bath 

And a shower of thanks to the forest wizard 

His nose leads the way home 

His feet follow excitedly 

After hundreds of footsteps of his 

Long enough to recognize them on the crackling leaves 

He hears some fast footfalls behind 

And close to the speed of light he turns around 

He is faced with a familiar figure 

Almost catching up with him 

Baba regains his strength 

After panting for what seems like ages 

And these words come out of his mouth 

‘My son, I’m sorry It escaped my mind to tell you

That the gourd must not sit on the ground’ 

The addressed son opened his mouth, no energy to close 

‘This is meant to cure forgetfulness,’ he thought aloud 

But here is the giver falling prey to forgetfulness

So everyone forgets after all!’ 

Man’s petition to God should ever be: 

May I not forget what I should remember 

Nor remember what I should forget 

And God’s admonition to man has always been: 

Forget your past and forge ahead 

But remember your future and plan ahead 

HEAVENS ARE THREE

#pastorbiodunsoretire

An average Jew believes there are three heavens: 1st heaven, 2nd heaven and 3rd heaven. 

The first heaven is the earth's atmosphere (the gaseous envelope surrounding the earth). It is also called firmament (Gen. 1:7,8). 

[7] And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so. [8] And God called the firmament HEAVEN. And the evening and the morning were the second day. 

The second heaven is the outer space or the rest of the Milky Way solar system comprising the sun, the planets, their moons and the spaces in-between them as can be seen from the earth. 

In addition, the second heaven also includes all the other solar systems (each complete with its sun, seen as star from the earth, and a body of planets) apart from the Milky Way solar system of which our planet Earth is a member.

That is the heaven first mentioned in the Bible (Gen.1:1). 

[1] In the beginning God created the HEAVEN and the earth.

As can be seen from the scriptural references, the two heavens mentioned so far  are created and are therefore not eternal. 

But the third heaven is not created. It is eternally the habitation of God and His holy angels. 

This is the spiritual heaven and the dream of every child of God. 

Apostle Paul said that he was caught up to that third heaven which he also later called Paradise and there heard unspeakable words (2 Cor. 12:2-4). 

[2] I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) such an one caught up to the third HEAVEN. [3] And I knew such a man, (whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) [4] How that he was caught up into PARADISE, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.

That is the heaven every child of God should set his or her mind on. From this uncreated and eternal heaven, the new (or heavenly) Jerusalem will emerge as the headquarters of the new heaven (sky) and new earth (Rev. 21:1-2).

[1] And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. [2] And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of HEAVEN, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

Every human being on earth should desire to be with God in that eternal and beautiful heaven. And the way is so easy:

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life (John 3:16).

Shalom!

RUSH-RUSH: CALM DOWN! (A SHORT NARRATIVE)

 

#pastorbiodunsoretire

Segun was at the dining table waiting for the meal. He was beginning to grow rather impatient. Every other thing was set on the table except the food itself. 

The spoon and the knife lay supinely on the table-mat to his right while their counterpart, the fork, lay low in preparation for action on the left. The sweating bottled water fizzled at the top beside a scrupulously clean glass. Even the toothpicks were stacked in their container like Joseph's standing sheaves. But the food was missing.

After five more minutes the food finally arrived. 

It was rice and stew garnished with a lot of beef. No sooner was it placed than Segun grabbed the spoon and buried it into the profusely steaming rice. Though the eyes were suggesting the food was very hot, his stomach would not want to wait a second longer. In no time a spoonful of the rice landed on his tongue and all hell was let loose. 

His mouth danced wildly and his tongue recklessly. It was uneasiness all over. Quickly, his lips made an O-vent in-between them to suck in air continuously. The bloated grains knocked about in his buccal cavity for some time before their eventual cooling off to make the onward journey to the gullet. But not without leaving a permanent mark in the cavity – a burnt tongue and a scathed palate.

As he nursed his wound, the old man, his server, came to the dining room and sat on the chair at the narrow edge of the table, opposite him. He gave him a stern look for a moment and then asked,

‘Your wound, whose fault? I that brought the food or you that took the food? Whose fault, Segun? Whose fault? Whose fault...'

Segun long closed eyes popped suddenly from the REM and alarm was written all over him in his reclined position on the three-seater. He stealthily arose and got his mind stormed with the dream and its obvious interpretation. Impatience kept jingling his upstairs bells. No doubt he had been impatient in many things.

‘Old man, the fault's mine, not yours. It's mine!'

The clouds gathered in his eyes and when fully loaded, another round of showers was delivered on his laps. 

The swelling emotions tugged his legs and straightway he fell on his knees to weep in the bosom of his Lord. He cried passionately for mercy. 

And how he found peace with his maker!

(Culled from More Haste by Abiodun Soretire)