kuwena:

'Konwa, the bible names you mentioned as being rich were all old testament characters. I'm sorry, my dear; but could you mention some from the New Testament?

kuwena:

Listen. I'm not an authority on religion or anything of the sort; so at best I can only offer a philosophical overview of the subject. I do that below.

To understand religion (in this case, Christianity), we must look at the background of Jesus, summarily. Now, Jesus was born at a time when the Romans were lording it over the Jews, and the Jews were hating every minute of it. They were looking for someone who would come and bring a revolutionary breakaway from their Roman overlords. They searched their holy books and found that Yahweh had indeed promised them a saviour, and that saviour was to restore to them their sovereignty. It was so they perceived the issue (and that is why till date, the Jews still expect their real redeemer). This saviour of theirs was going to be a political, an economic and a celebrity leader, to show the Romans that the Jews were really a great race.

Enter Jesus, born to the 'wrong' parents, in the 'wrong' place, and from a 'wrong' village ('Can anything good come out of Nazareth?'). He grew up realizing the extent of spirituality he was capable of. He saw that he could fathom grand mysteries; could work outstanding wonders. And deep inside he knew he was not an ordinary man. He too read the scriptures, and he too saw that the Jews expected a messiah. He 'knew' then that he was that messiah; only, he would teach the Jews that they were wrong to think that the messiah would be a man of politics. They had not interpreted scripture properly.

The issue before him then, as is the case with most great men, was to change the perceptions of those around him; and this he proceeded to do. 'Blessed are the poor'; 'I am the Son of God.' These were some of the things he said that made his people entirely furious with him. Sinners, tax collectors, scum bags; these were his best friends. What a shame. Fishermen, peasants, O my God; what kind of non-conformist fellow was this? And then accusing the Jews of all manner of things; now that was terrible. 'Profaning' the Sabbath. My, was this some kind of a demon? No wonder they called him Beelzebub. Truth be told: Jesus was a societal nutcase. And a huge irritation to the Jews. He was turning society upside down. And seeming to be enjoying it, too.

Now the Jews were very principled people. They did much to be right, and perfect and just, and all that. And their religion was compatible with wealth. Indeed, most times it was the consequence of wealth, by the very logic that the leaders of their religion were often the wealthiest in the clan, and consequently the most respected. It was an exclusive, patriarchal religion. It favoured the rich, the powerful and the strong, and it could cover the excesses of the pretentious, those who pulled their camels out of wells on the Sabbath when no one was looking. It was the poor that were the victims of this religion, and Jesus wanted to change the system.

He must have seen his father, a good and just man, hammering away at the wood; and his mother, a good and just woman, kneeling at the mill; and they never seemed to get ahead. And he knew that they were not less holy than the kings and chief priests who mouthed the Torah and claimed to know everything. And he knew the kind of messiah he was going to be. O yes, he knew. And it was so he told his disciples, when they asked him to tell them the essence of his mission. It was then he told them of the encounter with Satan; how the devil tempted him to be an economic messiah, but he refused; how the devil tempted him to be a celebrity and he refused; how the devil tempted him to be a political overlord, and he refused. But in truth, he could be all these things. But only he knew; he knew he was going to be a poor man, and was going to bring the 'goodnews to the poor; tell prisoners they were free; give sight to the blind, and go tell everyone the news of God's kingdom,' where status and wealth were worthless, and only spiritual realities; not laws that people could not keep, and that favoured wealthy classes, who could live easily on pretences; not the gold in the temple, but the temple itself.

And that day when he said to his apostles that a rich man would find it very hard to enter the kingdom of God, Peter asked: 'If that is the case, then who can be saved?' Because Peter 'knew' that rich people were nearest to God; and if they were not going in, then how could they, the poor, get in? He did not know that Jesus meant the opposite, that 'the first would be last, and the last, first; that prostitutes and sinners were making their way into the kingdom of God before the pharisees and the scribes, who only washed the outside of the cup; who looked like whitewashed sepulchres, casing dead men's bones.' Jesus knew he would change the system. He would humble the proud and raise the lowly, just like his mother had always thought.

That day Mary went to visit Elizabeth was not fortuitous. She had perceived a young man come to her, dressed in white, looking like an angel. He had told her that his name was Gabriel, a messenger from Yahweh El-Elyon; he had come to tell her that she was to birth a son (this was the same angel that the Al-Qua'ran said visited The Prophet, may the peace of God rest forever upon him, and told him to recite in the name of Rassullulahi, who made man out of clots of blood, on the holy mountain, when the The Great Prophet, eis salaam, was in prayer). The angel had told her to rejoice, she who was so highly favoured by God; that she was to conceive a son of the Holy Spirit. The angel also told her that Elizabeth in her old age had conceived. And as she ran into the older woman's house later on, she spoke in ecstasy of her perceived liberation:

My soul is filled with joy
As I sing to Yahweh, my saviour
He has looked upon his servant
He has visited his people
And holy is his name
Through all generations, everlasting is his mercy
To the people he has chosen;
To the hungry he gives food, sending the rich away empty
In his mercy he is mindful of the people he has chosen
For even though I am poor, my name will sound out the earth
He takes kings from their thrones
And seats peasants thereon
He will bring back Israel from servitude
As he promised Abraham and all his posterity.

It was her hope that her child would do all that, and more. And Jesus did not disappoint. In all the controversial life he lived, this one message of his was constant: That God was bound to resist the proud and favour the humble; that the poor were to inherit the kingdom of God; that the meek were to inherit the earth; that we were not to worry about food, for the birds were fed by God; that we were to become like little children, not caring what we would eat the next day, since the next day would take care of itself. That we were to allow people to slap us on the other cheek when they had ascribed to themselves the liberty of slapping us on one; that we were to give our tunics as well, to those who took our coats.

O how angry he was when he came that day and saw the people selling in the house of God! His temper flared out, and his veins stood. The vicious anger consumed him so much that he could barely contain it. The villains of materialism were not content with practising their exploitative merchandise out in the streets; they had to bring it to the temple too! The temple he could not visit often because of transport costs. This would not do at all. He formed whips and began to flog. He flogged the traders with such passion that they upturned their tables and fled for their dear lives. He was very consumed with indignation as he panted afterwards, daring them to come within seven meters of the temple precincts if they loved their lives. And when the Jewish authorities asked him what right he had to do that, he said: 'Destroy this temple, and I will rebuild it in three days.' Or simply, 'I am ready to lay down my life to preserve the rapidly eroding spirituality of the common people; the spirituality that you seem destined to squelch with all this materialism of yours.' And the Jews 'knew'; they knew he was a mad man. And what was more, they knew they had to kill him. Before he came to the notice of the Romans.

But Jesus (Isa eis salaam) had proved one point: materiality was nothing. Spirituality was everything. He had never been part of the wordly system that favoured the rich. He had been a radical. He had prayed, when he knew he was leaving his apostles: 'Father, keep them in the world (to continue the mission), but do not let them become part of it.' He did not want his disciples to become like the materialistic people the world was filled with. People who could not do the will of God, but kept mouthing endless nothingness to Yahweh, a Yahweh they did not even know. A Yahweh he 'knew' because he 'came from him,' whereas the others all came from the devil. He dreamed of a world where there were no capitalists; no exploitative commerce; only brotherliness, where the young and old played all day long; did not eat at the expense of others; where there was to be no suffering; no death; only singing and playing, and listening to the Son of God talk about heavenly things. Like Mary who sat at his feet that day he went to visit his friends, though Martha complained to Jesus, telling him to let her help out with the chores. He recalled the rich young man, who had kept all the laws of Moses. Jesus had 'looked steadily at him and loved him'; he had thought that here was one more person to do the will of God in full. Here was one more disciple. He told him the catch: 'Go and sell all you own, and then come and follow me.' But the young man's face had fallen at the Lord's words, and he had turned away from Jesus, who in frustration had declared it near impossible for a wealthy man to enter the Kingdom of God. And others who had admired him and come to know where he lived, heard him tell them that the son of man had nowhere to lay his head. He was to be free from all material encumbrance.

You know, I think one of the reasons Jesus has remained one of the most controversial figures of all times is that no one; I repeat: I do not think that anyone at all fully understood Jesus. Nor does anyone understand him even now. Take Peter for instance. When Jesus first met him at the river, he asked the man to follow him. Peter at once felt he was a Holy man, which Jesus was. He left his hair long like a Nazarite, and he wore simple clothing. He also looked grave. And Peter did not think he was worthy to be in the company of such a man. Yet, after having stayed with Jesus awhile, he had the effrontery to call him the Son of God, only to deny him later on, and then to accept all over again to be the leader of a new church. None of the other apostles fared any better; not even John, I think, fully understood Jesus. Nor does the Holy Roman Catholic Church, I dare say. Indeed, I do not think that Jesus really intended to establish a church. His apostles may have quoted him as saying: 'Thou art Peter, and upon this rock will I build my church.' But I think this was probably added to the gospels to justify a growing congregation with Peter as its head. Recall in this regard that scholars have called history a collection of lies jointly agreed upon. Not that I say the gospels are lying. If you know what I mean. I think Jesus just wanted to be a sign, a sign to the Jews, and by his death and resurrection (though the Mohammedans do not agree he died at all, and have credible justification to disagree), a sign to the world that we can live above the consciousness of materiality. We can live a transcendental life free from the encumbrance of earth. And Jesus lived this life to the full. There is no evidence that he owned anything. Even his clothes were taken off him and balloted for. He died naked, though the Catholic Church for sake of propriety contrived to put a towel across his pubic area, supposedly to play down the porn aspect of the reality. But Jesus was a true man of heaven on earth; and this is probably why the earth could not keep him. This is one thing both Mohammedans and Christians agree on: Jesus could not stay dead; Christians say he resurrected; Mohammedans say he was hidden by God that he might not taste death. And Jesus did not stay dead because death is of earth, and Jesus had nothing belonging to earth. 'No comeliness was found on him'; no comeliness of earth. It is through Jesus' example that Christians can sing:

For death could not hold him captive
Even in the grave, Jesus is Lord (2ce).

In modern times, Mahatma Gandhi, a Hindu, has tried to be like Jesus. This was a man who studied Law in South Africa and in the United States of America. He came back to his own country at a time when the United Kingdom was lording it over India. He led his people through a peaceful revolution, declaring hunger strikes and civil protests (recall that Martin Luther King Junior was to follow in Gandhi's footsteps) that eventually made India free, though at the expense of Gandhi himself. But something is significant: All through Gandhi's life, he tried to remain simple; he even had Jesus for a mentor; a story is in this regard told of Gandhi: A friend of his came to visit him and saw the photo of Jesus in his house and asked, 'Why keep that; you aren't even a Christian.' To which Gandhi replied: 'I am; I am a Christian at heart.' When he died, the pope went to pay him homage. A modern day Jesus-want to-be.

So so. And me? Nah. I could never be like Jesus even if I tried. But at least, let me not be like Judas that perpetrated his death. You know, there is a Negro Spiritual on that:

Would I be like Judas, that's what's worrying me (3ce)
Let me stop, watch and pray as I go on.

Jesus' life was so radical that it is sensible to say it cannot be lived in the world. So Christianity as I see it today is an emotional response to the life of Jesus. It's no more the poor who are blessed, but the poor in spirit. It's no more going out there to sell all you own and follow Jesus; it's about owning all you care to, but pretending you didn't love owning all that. It's about being slapped on one cheek and holding the arm of the slapper and saying: 'Ol boy, why now?' It's about compromise; about our perception of 'giving to Caesar what belongs to him'. And this has left Christianity the way it is today: Crusades, Schisms; Permissivism: Gay marriages; gay bishoprics; religious witchcraft; occultic inclusion among otherwise religious leaders; pastors sleeping with married women; Reverend King attempting to burn his parishioners; holy magic in the name of miracles and revivals. Prayers and fasting using Christianity to ask for material wealth, instead of simply for daily bread and for the will of God to be done. When we realize that our religion is an emotional response, we will begin to see beyond our noses. Our perceptions will be clearer, and like the six blind men of Hindustani, we would agree that what we call an elephant is really only a fragment of the whole. And then we will become more tolerant of other creeds. Jesus taught his disciples to pray; he said:

Our father in heaven
May your name be praised
May your kingdom come,
Your will be done on earth as in heaven
Give to us what we will eat one day at a time
And forgive us our faults
Even as we forgive those who fault us
And do not test us too hard.

His way was blessed, but not everyone can follow it. There are some who desire to become fulfilled in other ways; making so much money, or dying while trying to. And it's not just Fifty Cent for that matter. Maybe it's me, or you, 'or someone by my side'. Think about it.

If your goal is to prosper in order to fulfil God's purposes, God will bless you. If it's just to be rich, you're on
 your own

kuwena:

You know, Kenosky, you really have to give us a hint as to what's happening with you over there at training. I recall I have told you this before. Why you refuse to live up to your responsibility as Godfather of this thread is one of the wonders of the world. Come on, man! Make us happy.

kuwena:

There may be some people reading in, and waiting for this 'proud' Kuwena to go and fail at the Interview, and then fail again, and keep failing at whatever he does, and even lose his current job, 'so that im go dey humble, and we go hear word from am; make we no talk, make we leave am to dey fool im self; im no know wia im dey.' To all of you haters. Happy Sunday. May you receive from God EXACTLY what you wish me. You and all your children. Amen.

, kai kuwena, u no dey cease to amaze mi, your sense of humor is unparalleled, abeg just be your man and go blast them for the interview, you're UDEME- drops of greatness in u, forget about 'haters', i'm sure they will always b there as long as u look out for them!

kenosky:

[size=13pt]kenosym, aniffy4eva, pgm, pak, its like say work don catch up with una, since after the 100 pg mark- a lot of u have gone MIA, na now i understand y after all the pomp and fanfare which greet 100 days in office, our leaders seem to hibernate. The 100 pg bug catches up with them. Where una dey? [/size]

kuwena:

There may be some people reading in, and waiting for this 'proud' Kuwena to go and fail at the Interview, and then fail again, and keep failing at whatever he does, and even lose his current job, 'so that im go dey humble, and we go hear word from am; make we no talk, make we leave am to dey fool im self; im no know wia im dey.' To all of you haters. Happy Sunday. May you receive from God EXACTLY what you wish me. You and all your children. Amen.

kenosky:

[color=#000099][size=13pt]niyoo, i hail your courage- it takes a great man to say 'i am sorry!', indeed, u must be udeme

kenosky:

[color=#000099][size=13pt]
aniffy, eh ya, no wahala, keep on rocking! u got mi lost though, where b the 'wild city'? P town? u fit hit mi on kenosky123@yahoo.com.

AlfaPrime:

@Annify4eva
You asked a question which has been roundly replied to by several contributors on the thread. We're somehow awaiting your own take on the definition of wealth and indices for measuring a successful life. Welcome to your internet connectivity, too.

kenosky:




[size=13pt][ , kai kuwena, u no dey cease to amaze mi, your sense of humor is unparalleled, abeg just be your man and go blast them for the interview, you're UDEME- drops of greatness in u, forget about 'haters', i'm sure they will always b there as long as u look out for them! [/size]