Proserpina:
Men are the prize
Men are gold
Men are jewel
Men love unconditionally
Men are the ones who pick who to marry
Men do not benefit from marriage
Men are the gift to mankind

But who discuss marriage more? Men
Who writes epistles on marriage? Men
Who spend their time trying to convince themselves and others that they matter most? Men

Who creates topics and threads on marriage, finding the right partner or being a marriage material? Men.
Who gaslight others into believing they are the air of life? Men.

Lol

In every competition, race or even football the cup(prize) sits pretty waiting to be fought for and won but it's quite the opposite for the Human prize (Men) . Na them dey dance and run around to be noticed and maybe won

Y'all will be alright

You have something against men?

pansophist:
Nothing is new under the sun. What happened to Chioma or Garuba one thousand years ago, will happen to Amaka and Femi in the next one thousand years, just in different variations and personal tweaks.

The template for recognizing and finding the right partner abounds, just that, many for their lack of personal development, lack the foresight to spot them.

Many have missed their Mr. Right or Mrs right for reasons such as personal vice, being defective for marriage, wanting a wedding, not a marriage, damage from past experiences, lack of self-leadership, irresponsible, cannot sacrifice or forgive, to name a few.

Marriage is not just finding the right person, it is being the right person. Pick a pen and write down everything you want from a partner, then be that person. Do you want him/her to be honest? be that.

To be educated, handsome, slim, doesn't lie, doesn't manipulate, sacrificial, a giver, cares for you, emotional intelligence, etc? Be that person.

Lots of people, go into marriage with what I call ''a hegemonic mindset''. A kind of subordinate relationship built on hierarchy, where they are rotten to the core, but completely blind to it, but are super sensitive to the fault of others.

it is about what you can do for them, not what they can do for you. People with such a mindset won't sell. If pigs could talk, you would notice that every single one of the pigs would consider itself a spec. It's the same for low-quality people.

They cannot be conscious of their deficiency but can see it in others, and even hate it when they are worse. Good people can see the rot in rotten people, hence they avoid them.

Personal delusions and name tags such as seeing yourself as a spec, blunt, unconventional, unapologetic, unagreeable, a queen, etc aren't good qualities, but self-aggrandizement, a branch in the tree of the narcissism spectrum.

Humans by nature are attracted to value. And if people aren't coming to you for marriage when you are ready, it might be difficult to do but self-reflect on your actions.

100% spot on! Brings to mind something similar I'd put up; titled: "Be A Version Of Who You Wish To Marry." It says:

It is more important to desire to be a good spouse than to desire to marry a good spouse. If you only desire to marry a good spouse without making effort to be a good spouse yourself, you might end up meeting a good spouse who doesn’t consider you good enough for him or her. So, as you seek a worthy spouse for yourself, also be a worthy spouse.

Nobody wishes to marry a loser who has nothing to offer. But rather than being so mindful not to marry a ‘loser who has nothing to offer’, be more concerned about not being a ‘loser who has nothing to offer’. Likeminded people will always attract each other, & whatever you give out will always return to you. Be a version of who you wish to marry!

Gone are the days when people married beauty & fine looks. Everyone now wants peace & will only marry someone who can afford them that peace. But rather than being so concerned about marrying someone who can afford you peace, work hard to be a carrier of that peace & you’ll attract a peace carrier. Be a version of who you wish to marry!

If you want someone to accept you as you are, don’t be picky. You can’t desire a tall, fine god or goddess & expect them to take you as you are. They have standards too. If they meet your standards, meet theirs too. If you aren’t ready to meet anyone’s standards, don’t expect anyone to meet your standards. Be a version of who you wish to marry!

If you desire people with good habits, cultivate good habits yourself. If you want a faithful spouse, be faithful. If you don’t want to marry a cheat, don’t be a cheat. If you want the truth, be truthful. If you wouldn’t like to be deceived into marrying someone you wouldn’t ordinarily marry, don’t try to deceive anyone into marrying you.

Quit playing mind games. It is an unattractive trait. It is why relationships fail. Many want to be players, to be in control, to eat their cakes & have it back, to play the other for a fool. If you play someone for a fool, get ready to be played for a fool, cuz that thing they say about Karma is a legit saying. Just be a version of who you wish to marry!

Quote:
"If person no gree collect another person gift or allow another person love am, ee fit get why. No loud am!"

"Someone" Tweeted:
Closed hands cannot receive gifts, just as closed hearts cannot receive love.

"Whoever" Replied:
It is true that closed hands cannot receive gifts, just as closed hearts cannot receive love. But sometimes those hands & hearts are deliberately closed to shut out foes & love-predators. First off, foes bring many gifts. Now, does that suppose that only foes are disposed to bringing gifts? Definitely not. For one, the best gift-givers in history can be said to have been the shepherds who gifted baby-Jesus with Gold, Myrrh, & Frankincense in the first Christmas Season ever. As is known, Christmas is a season of giving & receiving gifts, & it would be outrageous to suppose that gifts exchanged during Christmas & other gift-giving/non gift-giving seasons are the exclusive handiwork of foes, especially when those gifts are from vetted friends, family members, & loved ones.

But there's a contrast to it: foes, too, are known to bring gifts. As a matter of fact, foes bring many gifts. If the shepherds' gifts, who were more like friends of Jesus, were to serve as means of expressing their feeling of profound love & admiration towards Jesus, then guess what purpose the gifts of foes would be intended to accomplish in the lives of recipients! For that reason, persons who've been plagued by the undoing that stems from foes' gifts—paranoiacally close their hands to such gifts.

But then, looking on the bright side, being presented gifts by foes could be a good thing. For one, foes motivate us, focus our beliefs, & propel us to stand our grounds. Therefore, while it may not be a commendable line of action to shut out all gift-givers by closing our hands to their gifts—since it cannot be readily ascertained which of them could be friend or foe—hence concluding on them all as foes, the truth remains that, considering all as foes, we gain the motivation to focus our beliefs while firmly standing our grounds—in hope that actual foes...& even players—stand no chance of having their way with us...which brings us to why persons close their hearts to love. Love is said to be a beautiful thing, & falling in love really comes in handy for young people.

But naively opening up one's heart to love could become an avenue for the silly seducing games of players who suffer from the greatest poverty of sense, & those games could end in tears for those who naively open up their hearts to love. So persons close their hearts to love to keep players from gaining the satisfaction that stems from recording conquests from such games, as there's nothing to be gained from trying to seduce persons who are closed to you, thus neither providing the pleasure nor chase that would rock the boats of players who are nothing but emotional predators: individuals who manipulate & exploit others' emotions for their own benefit. The very sad part is that these players can be anyone...ranging from toxic friends or partners to manipulative bosses or colleagues, etc. Are you beginning to see why persons close their hands & hearts to gifts & love? It doesn't end there.

Love is known to sway emotions...even blowing the feelings that come with such emotional sways out of proportion, making one entertain mental images that make the imagination to run wild because—images are an extremely effective shortcut that bypasses the head, bypasses resistance, & aims straight for the heart. Overwhelming the eyes, they create powerful associations, bringing people together & stirring conflicting emotions such as is loved by players because it aids their perpetration of havoc—since the person caught up in such conflicting emotions is so easily distracted & toyed with. To prevent such from constituting their experience, persons close their hearts to love in order to keep a manner of clear-headedness that makes them pay less attention to immaterial voices & nudges while putting their minds on material consciousness & tangible interactions because, just as it is hard to toy with persons who are happy, it is hard to toy with persons who would not, on account of love, lend their imaginations to mental images that sway emotions & blow feelings out of proportion. Lastly—is the issue of witchcraft.

Gifts given by bewitched foes are very likely bewitched to achieve one wicked aim or the other. There are many testaments to this. As it has to do with love in the context of witchcraft, consider this dreadful pondering of fortunate bachelors who barely escaped intimate bonding with bewitched women:

"so it's women who've been bewitched that are trying to also get us bewitched? Now we understand the manner of pressure Eve deployed to lure Adam into eating the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good & evil because we've experienced it. So when the serpent asked Eve if God indeed said they shouldn't eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, he was actually asking her if God said they should refrain from getting bewitched? And Eve affirmed that God indeed told them not to eat from a tree that's bewitched? In this day and age, wouldn't that verdict be understood to mean that God admonished them to have no involvements in bewitched endeavors? Which, in relationship context, would imply not having romantic ties with bewitched persons?"

So I ask again: are you beginning to see why persons close their hands & hearts to gifts & love? When persons close their hands & hearts to gifts & love, it's not necessarily because they aren't disposed to receiving such gifts & love. There could be reasons. As our Naija people often say: "ee get why." So my people, if person no gree collect another person gift or allow another person love am, ee fit get why. No loud am! The gift & the love fit be liability. What do I mean by that? As it has to do with gift, the gift might be a liability. When it comes to love, the lover might be the liability. But then, the saying that "one man's meat is another man's poison" could be applicable in cases like that...in the sense that "one man's liability could be another man's asset."

Ee never tey wey we don dey hear say stone wey builders reject dey turn chief cornerstone? Abi no be so Jephthah stepbrothers & some yeye elders tek pursue the boy comot him papa house because of say him mama bin be runs babe? As him mama bin be runs babe so, dem just regard the boy as tail...as nothing. But much later, no be those same yeye elders go beg am to come be their boss just because say the boy bin don go dey jungle metamorphose to "Mr. Capacity?" Una we be Christians know the matter nah. Una fit help explain give Muslims & all those other people of those other religions. So, as another person reject gift or love because of say na liability to am, mek you sef use your koro-koro eye tek look the gift or the love wella. Ee fit be asset for you. If you look am & ee be liability, leave am! But if ee be asset nkor? Who no go like get asset?

"Someone" Tweeted:
Remember: every girl is single for the right man.

"Whoever" Replied:
Every woman may be single for the right man. But the problem is: not every woman may recognize the right man when he comes along, which accounts for the records of the many women who mistake the wrong men for the right ones & vice versa. So, how does a woman unmistakably recognize the right man? As a rule of nature, two personalities who keep getting drawn together like opposing magnets cannot be wrong, as such personalities become incapable of inhabiting the same geographical areas without effortlessly drawing together. This is one way to ascertain not just the right man but the right woman as well. Another is that, between such man & woman, there's going to be duly earned mutual vulnerability & respect. Take note: "duly earned."

On the other hand, how does a woman not mistake the wrong man for the right man? Especially wolves in sheep's clothing who look like sweet loveable men? Not to mention in religious settings where moralizers mask themselves with cloaks of religion to peddle lies while making a show of purity to hide nefarious desires? First off, as it has to do with vulnerability & respect, while the right man will do what it takes to earn a woman's vulnerability & respect, the wrong man is very likely to not. Since vulnerability & respect are factors bound to play out in conventionally correct intimate couplings & are to be earned, a woman ought to always ask herself: "he wants my vulnerability, but has he earned it? He wants my respect too, but has he earned it?"

Also, the wrong men come with loads of baggage packed in their loins & are usually just itching to unload it, mostly only looking out for good times & never the prospects of wedding bells in the event of it. These, coupled with the rule of nature stated above, are very likely to do it for women when it comes to aiding their recognition of the right men while eluding the wrong men who go about seeking women to devour. Then again, there's another side to it. Certain women seem to be looking for some kinds of men...particular kinds of men, & not many men fit into that category. Quite lamentably, the men who come along & fit into that category—come off to those women as the right men but are mostly the wrong men.

There's an account of these manner of women, who, having sought particular kinds of men, crossed paths with the right men yet wouldn't recognize them as right men because they weren't the particular kinds of men they sought. Eventually uncovering those men to have been the right men after letting them slip through their fingers while having warmed up to the wrong men who matched their standards, they thus decried themselves:

"we know desire when we see it—& yet, this time, it slipped by completely. We were going for devious smiles that suddenly lit up their faces each time they read our minds, when all we really wanted was skin, just skin. It never occurred to us that what had totally panicked us when they touched us was exactly what startles virgins on being touched for the first time by the person they desire. Nerves are stirred in them that they never knew existed. That produces far more disturbing pleasures than they are used to on their own. Our longing for this opened us up to their seducing games."

Regretting getting ripped off by the wrong men while having let good men pass them by...& frustratingly facing the impossibility of turning back the hands of time to set things right, they thus further decried themselves: "how do we go back to sleep no longer virgins? There's no coming back from that. What had been in our heads for so long had gotten out in the real world, no longer afloat in our forever land of ambiguities." So, truly, every woman might be single for the right man. But it beholds on such women to not just be single & available for the right men but to see to it that they make that availability count by rightly equipping themselves to recognize & grab the right men when they come along. As we all know, "not all that glitters is gold."

"Someone" Tweeted:
Only women who desire you, deserve your attention. Not the ones giving you a hard time.

"Whoever" Replied:
Presenting a question posed by a slighted lady to a previous admirer...& answering that question—will relay my take on that tweet considerably clearly. Marveling, the lady in question had asked her previous admirer: "why are you always romantically inclined towards me when I'm not towards you? Then the moment I'm romantically inclined towards you, you're not towards me. I'm usually heartbroken when you're romantically inclined towards me. The moment I heal & get romantically inclined towards you, you're heartbroken & wouldn't warm up to me. Why?"

Now, wouldn't it be safe to aver, in line with that tweet, that, "not desiring him initially, the lady in question had been in the habit of playing down on his advances & giving him a hard time when he romantically inclined towards her...feigning heartbreak? Then the moment she seemingly healed & supposedly got romantically inclined towards him, he'd gotten wary of her antics & wouldn't bring himself to deem her as being deserving of his attention anymore?...her unlikely eventual desire for him notwithstanding?"

Truly, only a woman who desires a man...deserves his attention. As for the hard-time givers association of women, well, what more narrative is there to push than what's already relayed in that tweet, that, "only a woman who desires a man—deserves the man's attention & not the ones who give hard time?"...not to mention what's further obtainable from my brief narrative pushed in response to that tweet. Any?

"Someone" Tweeted:
It’s a disgusting behaviour to look down on people but suddenly change when you find out they have money.

"Whoever" Replied:
Ex-husbands, looking down on their ex-wives before their divorce on account of their ex-wives having fallen on hard times, denied them access to their trust fund to entrap them in a moneyless economy. From then on their relationship ceased to get off the ground, & all the ex-wives could do was dodge their ex-husbands’ calls while talking to divorce attorneys. That shows the severity of the situation their ex-husbands had plunged them into, hence their divorce. But in spite of what their ex-husbands did, they managed to move on & turned out huge successes.

It wasn't long before those ex-husbands of theirs, having become cashless & jobless, got on their ex-wives asses as if their ex-wives owed them something. One would expect that the women, having been so meanly ill-treated by their ex-husbands, would turn deaf ears to the men's plea for a second chance. Ironically, the now elite women, though doubting the genuineness of the men's motives in asking for a second chance, shockingly put forward that, "in truth, the only thing more attractive than men married to their jobs are unemployed ex-husbands begging for second chances."

Now, an old American proverb has it that—if you want to con someone, you must first get them to trust you...or at least feel superior to you. That would make such persons to let down their guard. These same women had accounted of the men as having been helplessly anti-seductive envious souls who deliberately refused to acknowledge their individual qualities & had become closer sadists whose bitterness had those ex-husbands only wanting to torture them with unreachable goals. So, how did the only thing more attractive to the women than men married to their jobs become unemployed ex-husbands begging for second chances?

Could it have had a thing to do with the old American proverb that says that if you want to con someone, you must first get them to trust you...or at least feel superior to you?" Which makes them let down their guard & become so trusting? Bringing that American proverb to mind, an accompanying admonition to keep potential preys on the safe side had been: "so trust & feel superior to none...feel obligated & indebted to none either." Narrowing it to women who are more likely to fall prey to such antics, a further admonition had been:

"once a woman’s attention is fixed on a man, it becomes easy for him to dominate & pull an emotional con on her because she trusts him, feels superior to him, hence letting down her guard. To make no room for an opportunity where such antics can be pulled by such men, neither trust nor feel superior nor feel obligated to them." But what did the women do? It wasn't accounted whether or not they went on to open themselves up to their unemployed ex-husbands, having considered their plea for a second chance more attractive than men married to their jobs.

So, inasmuch as it is a disgusting behavior to look down on people but suddenly curry favor with them when they become rich, what's to make of those who—having been looked down on, get rich & readily open up to the ones who looked down on them?...trusting them?...even feeling superior to them by reason of having gotten ahead of them on the financial ladder?...not to mention feeling obligated to them for any reason whatsoever?...failing to bear in mind that they could merely be leveraging the old American proverb to pull some sort of con?

So it goes beyond those with the disgusting behavior of looking down on people—only to change their attitude towards those people when those people become rich...to those people letting them get around doing that. So, what to do in such cases? Since such persons, with their disgusting behavior, prove that they can't be trusted to stick around when the going gets tough, also prove to them beyond reasonable doubt that you can't be trusted to let them come around when the going gets easy. In order words, both you & them can’t trust yourselves to be anywhere near each other. Shikena!

"Someone" Tweeted:
Instead of worrying if your shawty is cheating, worry about your lack of options.

"Whoever" Replied:
It's not necessarily about lack of options, as one could have options & still be cheated on—by those options. If shawty is cheating, instead of worrying about a supposed "lack of options," one should rather capitalize on that to prove oneself by fighting to wave off stigma that might stem from being projected by shawty as not being good enough for her. But in fighting, fight with perfect economy. Fighting with perfect economy sees one exerting less resistance while unleashing greater energy.

There can never be any value in fighting uneconomically, & worrying about lack of options when it appears like shawty is cheating is equivilent to fighting uniconimically. But fighting economically in cases like that might require turning the table around & getting shawty (now an opponent) to do the worrying & uneconomical fight-back, as it is always a wise course to make opponents waste as much of their resources as possible. This can be done through hit-&-run tactics.

Hit-&-run tactics, in this context, may conventionally have to do with accompanying brief sexual conquests of seduced first-time targets with quick elusive escapes. That wouldn't be expected to apply in situations that involve a shawty who had gotten past being a target to actually becoming a spousal equivalent.

But the moment shawty takes to a manner of cheating that has a tendency to make her man come off as lacking in options when it comes to shawties, then he might as well take the hit-&-run tactics to a degree that sees it going beyond having to do with accompanying brief sexual conquests of seduced first-time targets with quick elusive escapes to revolving around incessant sexual conquests of a conquered all-time victim (shawty)...accompanied by a reckless heading for the hills the moment shawty gets all serious with the lovey-dovey. Shawty better not cheat!

Philosopher1979:


The truth is women choose both and it leads to paternity fraud.
The problem I'd most rich men don't care about been good in bed.
Women on their part are ridiculous.
Women mary for financial security and not who they love and this leads to paternity fraud. Women have serious faults they need to work on

Paternity Fraud then becomes the consequence of wanting to eat their cakes & have it back by settling with rich men for financial security while patronising "DickSons" for orgasmic delights...all pointing to the difficulty in choosing & settling with just one of both men & only making efforts to see how to get them to improve in the area they lag behind.

eazzzy1:
A woman can give herself orgasm na. Plus there are more men willing to give orgasm than there are men willing to give money. Even if a woman has her own money, there’s nothing like too much money. I reckon women will go for the one who offers scarce resources.

WOMEN WILL GO FOR WHO OFFERS SCARCE RESOURCES

To a broke girl, money is a scarce resource, & in many cases orgasm too...which accounts for why many financial women still cheat on their low libido moneybags with high libido paupers. But to a rich girl, money may not necessarily be a scarce resource...except there's a man richer than her in the equation. Otherwise, orgasm may turn out being the scarce resource. But even with a richer man in the equation, she'll still crave orgasmic delights, & like you said, there are more men willing to give orgasm than there are men willing to give money. As for women who give themselves orgasm, well, that's out of context. The problem is in settling for just one of both.

NeckingNgulping:
Every now and then, i see news of women throwing their men out in the UK. This begs for a few questions..

Don't the men have the wherewithal to get a house for themselves that they chose to live with a woman i believe takes care of the rent?

Do they not notice when the problem is looming, so they can vacate on their own without being thrown out?

You paid 24k pound for her school fees and you didn't plan to get an apartment for yourself knowing how women in UK are always prone to throwing their men out.

EVEs OF DESTRUCTION

To vindicate themselves of false facts levelled against them by tongue-lashers, certain religious bachelorettes posited that "competency with portable shelters is the way to do it," (whatever that "it" implied for them). And then they, by reason of that, added that: "no wonder security outposts come in handy for the homeless," which certain tongue-lashers had referred to them as being. To disassociate themselves from homelessness, they thus queried:

"who’s trying to associate us to security outposts when we can brag of homes?" Furthermore, with a touch of finality, they put forward that, "to such people it's about reliving the past from birth to the present moment which should end in an affair, specifically with ladies who’ve helped bachelors to relive those pasts by shielding them from interferences that would have hampered a successful reliving of those pasts."

According to them, such mingling with bachelors is supposed to be love stories. But then, that of the bachelors they were referring to—had been hate and near death stories. Again disassociating themselves from deathly outcomes of those infamous stories, they asked: "who are the ladies at the end of those stories? Because it definitely isn’t us, as can be attested of." Truly, it could be attested of them as having not been at the end of those stories. So, what sort of ladies engineer such outcomes? Clearly, it's this manner of women:

EVEs Of Destruction.

Due to circumstances beyond control, a man could find himself being housed by a woman. But it's not as much about a man being housed by a woman as it is about the kind of woman housing the man. Consider the bachelorettes referenced above...it beat them to it how fellow women would do such to men who temporarily fall on hard times & need help...because they'd rather shield such men & possibly create love stories with them. But not so with EVEs of destruction! They always make sure they give the man some bad publicity.

DrFunmisticGlow:
women are like stomach.
We will have both one way or another. But I will choose the money giving guy over the orgasm one anyday, anytime.

Sincerity at it's peak.

Zxcvbnmghtr:
Obsession .

Healthy or unhealthy?

"Someone" Tweeted:
The man who gives her orgasms has more control over her than the man who gives her money.

"Whoever" Replied:
Not if she's a financial woman. Financial women give into impulses that gear towards money-romance...fixing their minds on a man's money like their lives depend on it...& once a woman's mind is fixed on a man's money, it becomes easy for the man to dominate her thoughts completely. Hence, their romance, though monetized to some degree, is likely to afford her earth-shattering orgasms...unless, of course, the man isn't incapable of attaining such sexual feats. Even at that, his money would still have the woman firmly in his grip, affording him utmost control over her.

All she'd most likely do in such situation would be to become a sneaky cheat, finding her way to the beds of men who are capable of attaining that feat...whether rich or not. But belonging solely to that category of men can be fatal in every sense of the word. There's this account of a married chatelaine who, after sleeping with a young orgasm-giving vassal one night, had him seized by the palace guards the next morning & summarily executed in a dungeon on trumped-up charges, not only to eliminate all evidence of their adulterous night together & prevent her young lover from becoming a nuisance now that he thought he was entitled to her favors, but to stem the temptation to seek him out on the following evening for more orgasms.

It becomes obvious from those scenarios that both the the man who gives a woman money & the man who gives her orgasms are vastly equipped to have maximum control over her, even on equal levels. But if complicated events arise that require one of them to be tossed down the bin, the orgasm-giving man is likely to be that man, as evidenced in the account involving the rich married chatelaine & the young orgasm-giving vassal. It is said that she had him seized & summarily executed on trumped-up charges, not only to eliminate all evidence of their adulterous night together & prevent him from becoming a nuisance now that he thought he was entitled to her favors, but to stem the temptation to seek him out again & again for more orgasms.

So, basically, after indulging guilty pleasures with the young vassal & gratifying her orgasmic cravings, fearful thoughts of what would likely become of her reputation if her little get-together with the young vassal were to make it to public knowledge—dawned on her. To take no chances, she had him executed, since, in her elite view, "how we view ourselves is of little consequence...but how others perceive us is important." The young vassal, though having afforded her temporal orgasmic delight, became a potential avenue through which she could become permanently ill-perceived & brought to disrepute. So she soiled her hands to keep her reputation from possibly getting soiled.

Guess whose expense all of that was at? The young, promising, orgasm-giving vassal, not her money-giving husband, as such is hardly the case with money-giving men. In the context of the quoted tweet, while an uncovering of events that solely revolve around orgasmic delight without any solid purpose attached to it can be demeaning & even scandalous (depending on the personalities involved), an uncovering of events that revolve around money will always accrue striking repute to those involved, thus posing question marks to the narrative that a man who gives a woman orgasms is more likely to have more control over her than a man who gives her money.

If anything, both men will have her perambulating in both directions until the need arises to kick the orgasm-giving man out of the equation the moment it appears he's getting in the way of her paycheck from the money-giving man. However, if the woman is rich, she could ditch the money-giving man & pitch her tent with the orgasm-giving man. But that wouldn't be in the context of the tweet being replied to, would it? Be that as it may, whatever is worth doing is worth doing well. And very importantly, money is a defense.

Now, over to you. Do you subscribe to the stance that a man who gives a woman orgasm has more control over her than a man who gives her money?

THE GIRL
Imagine being a theatre artiste & constantly having issues with directors & critics! That's bold & enviable! Whatever role they want me play, I won't play. They better quit trying to rope me into it! How can they be fucking around to preserve their CEO-ship while imposing Chasity on me so I can manage for them? Are they nuts? They’ve been watching me all these while and wouldn’t say a thing? Despite my dilemma? Reminds me of Chimamanda's "The World Was Watching While We Died." Some brag about perfection & claim there's nothing they can’t do when they can't even let go of gayness & be straight! Jeez! Isn’t that why those lots loath sex?

MALE FRIENDS
Perhaps they deem you a Jesus who shouldn’t get sexually involved with followers of yours. How can Jesus & sex be put in the same phrase? Maybe they’re purposely standing in the way of Jesus & Jesus’ own--in a bid to foster religiosity of some sort. Perhaps they wanna know you better than they know their pastor. Thought of that?

THE GIRL
(Flares up)
Who is Jesus? Who is Jesus' own? And who's standing between Jesus & Jesus' own? Why is he or she standing between Jesus & Jesus' own? How is he or she doing that without Jesus knowing? And how does Jesus' own know this & Jesus doesn't? Why does Jesus—who is supposed to be all-knowing, seem to be at a total loss regarding everything while Jesus' followers who should look to him for enlightenment; seem to wield every detail of everything & it seems like Jesus would have to look to them for enlightenment? What really makes him Jesus? Being that this Jesus happens to be the one needing enlightenment from his followers & these followers surround him, why don't they deal him that enlightenment? Why do they seem to prefer his lordship over them in that state of total loss regarding everything? Why do they?

FEMALE FRIENDS
(Flare up too)
Yes! Why? Why does it also seem like Jesus' legitimate followers are willing to fill him in but there are some sort of low budget alphas & omegas somewhere who are determined to stand in the way of that happening? So they can reign in Jesus' stead while supposedly sending Jesus away into oblivion or something like that? So they don't want Jesus around but want to superintend over what belongs to Jesus? To kill the heir & take over the heir's inheritance? Or is Jesus supposed to be made to think that someone somewhere is trying to get rid of him and takeover what belongs to him so that Jesus can go searching for what's his that he doesn't know about? How is it his, then, if he doesn't know about it? And why does he have to search for it when he can simply be pointed to it? And why does it take forever to find this thing? Seems like Jesus has been searching for years and still hasn't found it. Yet so many nobodies have gotten to know about this thing without even searching...and in just a matter of months...weeks, even days! What's the deal with Jesus and searching?

THE GIRL
This fellow who's standing between Jesus & Jesus' own, could he be a preacher? The one with a daughter? How would Mr. Preacher feel if someone stood between him & his daughter like he’s doing to Jesus & Jesus' own? I guess Mr. Preacher won't answer that. But will want to impose a separation between Jesus & Jesus' own. Well, Mr. Preacher shouldn't forget that the same imposition can be meted on him and his "beloved" daughter. The people are watching, I guess. Mr. Preacher shouldn't stand between Jesus & Jesus' own for whatever freaking reason in the world! Because if he does, someday someone is gonna stand between him and his daughter and he’ll feel exactly the way Jesus and Jesus' own are feeling about him standing in their way. Mr. Preacher better be warned! No one will tell me who to marry! All the witchcraft in the world, even if spearheaded by the king of witches and wizards, won't decide who I marry or "love." They can manipulate my dreams all they want, it will be all for nothing! They won't decide a thing about my intimate life! They can do that to their kids, not me! So get off my dreams! And damn them with that shit they call sports! To hell with that witchcraft candidate they want to hook me up with! I'm not with them on that! If they made a deal to sell me off to one of such, that's on them! Quit bothering me! Get off my dreams! If they don't have answers for me, they shouldn’t instruct me! They’re instructing me to change? I should change? They're the ones fucking around and it's me who is to change? Seriously? Shey when reading proves to be a more potent tool in the game than sex, they will get out of the way so I can have relationship? Where a man's treasure is, there his heart will be also, isn’t it? If this treasure happens to be sex for me, what is that to anyone?

MALE FRIENDS
That reminds me. There’s this talk about treasures. And scriptures say that where a man's treasure is, there his heart will be also. What's this treasure? Which man owns this treasure? Where is this treasure? And what has it got to do with you?

THE GIRL
How am I supposed to know? What do I know about them other than the fact that they are forces constituting nuisance in my life & bent on not letting me have a lover in my life...intentionally scaring away potential mates from me. Gush!

MALE FRIENDS
Scaring away potential mates from you? Nonsense! As males, we’d say to females: if you're a girl & you know what scares you away from us, what's stopping you from exposing it? Abi you think say I be Bishop? Connect let us do one or two things as it is supposed to be! Expose whatever you see that makes you shy away from my advances! Cup don full! If dem tell you say I be Bishop, na scam! Dem never tell me before sef! At the same time, I no be Casanova. But ee get the one wey I be. Could be much more likeable than Casanova. Did I say "likeable?" Wrong word. It's actually loveable. And if you're "God," better not stand in our way of philandering. We didn't beckon on you to come do so. Alright? Rather, if I'm a gold digger & you have the chance to kill me, do it! But don’t let death thrive on the wings of silence!

THE GIRL
(Curious)
You started that statement with “as males, we’d say to the females...” using the third person perspective to relay your concern. Then along the line you digressed to “I...” switching to the first person perspective. I know about “you males.” But who is “I?”

FEMALE FRIENDS
These scenarios, are they real or mere games? Or real scenarios masked as games?

-----
Entering the stage are two fellows whose entry disrupts to flow of conversation that was ongoing between the girl and her friends. Their own conversation succeeds the former.
-----

WHOEVER
Even the awakening must be attracted. If the awakening isn’t attracted, then there isn’t any awakening in the first place. Just the illusion of an awakening…an avenue for deception. Never purchase fairly used items. They could be incriminating stuff in there…planted by the previous user(s)...intended to implicate you or make a fall guy out of you upon your purchase and usage of them. Buy only brand new items!

SOMEONE
Roger that!

WHOEVER
Just wanna go home & make love. Frankly, I’ve taken off my panties & everything. Whatever happened to instant gratification? What can I do to make you say yes?

SOMEONE
Nothing! Absolutely nothing!

WHOEVER
You own me. My fate is in your hands.

SOMEONE
I know.

WHOEVER
A lot’s happened since you went away. I’ll tell you later when we’re on our own.

SOMEONE
If you like.

WHOEVER
I’m now a firm advocate of instant gratification.

SOMEONE
Are you now? Really? Alright then...so what now?

WHOEVER
The search has been called off.

SOMEONE
Really? How long ago was that? And you made me continue with the search despite the fact that it had been called off? You made me continue? You must be punished!

WHOEVER
No, don’t go there.

SOMEONE
Alright. I hear you...loud and clear!

WHOEVER
I’m doing this because I finally met someone I wanna spend the rest of my life with.

SOMEONE
Really? So I've been a joke to you? Alright then. Pass me the I.V when it's out. Until then, don't fucking say a damn thing to me anymore! And, to hell with you!

WHOEVER
Not really so. But the mystery of marital breakthrough was finally revealed...& you were not there to cease the moment with me! Delay would have been dangerous!

SOMEONE
Really? What’s this mystery of marital breakthrough that leaves one very little window to cease the chance to bail out of singleness and get a life partner? Tell me!

WHOEVER
Fear of the known. It is common to fear the unknown…reason for the famed phrase: fear of the unknown. But has it ever crossed you that there could also be this phrase: “fear of the known?” It turns out the “known” can be as fearsome as the “unknown.”

SOMEONE
I don’t quite get you.

WHOEVER
Of course not. It’s not readily comprehensible. There’s also the devil that you don’t know and the angel that you know. Like they say: “the devil you know is better than the angel you don’t know.” Fine. But then…should one acquaint one’s self with devils? And to mention a comparison of devils to angels? How can one know a devil and not know an angel? Aren’t angels supposed to be acquaintances of humans? Aren’t devils supposed to be alienated from humans? How then does one know a devil he’s not supposed to know, esteeming that devil more highly than a supposed unknown angel he’s supposed to know? Isn’t such a person a devil himself? Why is there’s an angel that ought to be known who’s not known while the devil is known?

SOMEONE
I still don’t get you!

WHOEVER
The word, “truth,” refers to “facts that have been verified and are in conformity to reality and actuality; a true statement with the quality of being correct, true, or close to the true value.” That definition of truth would have been flawless if not for the clause inferred at the end: “…or close to the true value.” Ordinarily, there would be no need for what’s come to be deemed “naked truth” if truth were really statements of fact that are in conformity to reality and actuality—with the quality of being correct, true, and above all, verified. So, though the bible attests of truth as an unfailing phenomenon that is potently capable of delivering folks from backbreaking slaveries, there are deeper dimensions of truth, that—should I say—go beyond being capable of delivering folks from backbreaking slaveries to piercing to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and joints and marrow…even going as far as discerning the motives of one’s heart? I’m talking about dimensions of truth that strictly comprise plain unadorned facts without concealment & embellishment…the precise feature that earns it the qualifier: “naked.” Ever uncovered naked truths? How was the experience? Bad? Good? Ugly? Scary?

-----
Whoever’s tale ceases someone’s curiosity as much as that of the girl and her friends, who all draw towards the duo to learn of the long-sought uncovered mystery of marital breakthrough.
-----

LIGHTS OUT:

LIGHTS ON:
SCENE 1
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Knowledge leaves no room for chances. Hope deals with the future. The present and the past are but servants that wait on hope with impulse and suggestive circumstance. The dead come not back to redeem the pledges of the living. For the living, at least, there are pledges to redeem…that’s for the living who have pledges to redeem because, not all the living have pledges to redeem. Wouldn’t a perfect example of such persons be the girl and her friends? Who cried over the loss of something they never had? How ridiculous! They had cried over the loss of everything they never had…not until their native power got reinforced by love to such degree that their speech took a masculine strength and at times a poet’s favor, informing their very bold utterance of expository absurd revelatory declarations which, ironically, happen to awaken the consciousness of many to the possible reality of prominent situations.
-----

FEMALE FRIENDS
Look at this house! Look at the many presents, such as gratifies the vanity of kings—purple togas, ivory chairs, golden pateroe—chiefly valuable on account of the imperial hand which had honorably conferred them. What good riddance to champion courses that entitle one to such honors! Must feel good to be you, girl!

THE GIRL
It’s not just about championing courses that entitle one to honors. Don’t forget the ill fights that precede the championing of such courses. Nothing good comes easy.

FEMALE FRIENDS
As a rule, he fights well who has wrongs to redress; but vastly better fights he who, with wrongs as a spur, has always steadily before him a glorious result in prospect, a result in which he can discern balm for wounds, compensation for valor, remembrance and gratitude in the event of death. Fighting to champion such courses couldn’t have been a big deal for you, given your spur to fight. Weren’t you stirred into combat on account of wrongs perpetrated against you by crime busters?

THE GIRL
I happened to hail from a religious background that had me severely punished for many years for not having sex! Had no option but to turn a new leave and restitute!

FEMALE FRIENDS
All is fair in love and war, we guess!

THE GIRL
There's possibly an empty & insane vessel somewhere who's somehow wired to a filled & sane person & is being used as a remote control to navigate the affairs of the filled & sane vessel for sex-sport...to the viewing delight of audiences. And it's acceptable for a filled & sane vessel to be made a jerk of like that? That’s why people go where they ought to go. Fight who they ought to fight, even the public, for, the public remains cold when its ideal character of loyalty and honor is not satisfied. Do unto others what you wish others to do onto you...not what you think others deserve...because those you deem as being deserving of a thing may not be deserving of the thing you consider them as being deserving of. The principle is simple: live and let's live. For those who wouldn’t uphold that principle, fighting comes in handy. And if there be trophies tied to winning such fights, good riddance!

FEMALE FRIENDS
And if this trophy imposes the conformity you so dread? Like love & marriage?

THE GIRL
Truth must precede love & marriage. Truth is the absence of commitment, which involves fatal steps towards conformity. To impose conformity is to impose truth.

MALE FRIENDS
Note those propagating the idea of love & marriage while leaving truth out. They have things to hide: public secrets which could be known by all but concealed from one fellow...the “mark.” As long as the truth remains unknown, the fellow to whom truth remains unknown--is the “mark.” Even dumb kids may know the truth. Why should clever adults not know? Or clever adults are better marks than dumb kids?

FEMALE FRIENDS
The problem nowadays is truth. A trophy that imposes conformity via love & marriage would be questionable, wouldn’t it? You have lived a lie thus far. Are you expected to now love a lie and marry a lie? Truth is incontestable. Where truth is, lie can’t have its way. But lie seeks to have its way by bending the truth. That's a sheer impossibility, if you ask us. But lie seeks to break a record...an impossible thing to do, hence this seemingly long drawn-out postwar fights. Very pointless!

THE GIRL
Surely! My getting a trophy for championing those courses should be indicative of a cease fire. But shitty psychos do not think so. Need I fill you in on present goings?

FEMALE FRIENDS
Indulge us!

THE GIRL
That they don’t want me doing the things they do to gain power and advantage over me in order to bring me into submission? That they don’t want me to have sex too? So they can use sex to bring me into submission and not have me fight back using sex? That, now that my gifts and talents have beaten their philandering to it, they now seek to kill my gifts and talents? So that I may stand no chance at all with defending myself? Not to mention gaining power and advantage over them too?

MALE FRIENDS
So now that you don't even have to sleep around to gain that power, what are they gonna do? Now that you’ve made useless the sex they weaponized in the art of war, will they now not have to be equally adorned with multiple gifts & diverse talents?

THE GIRL
Someday I'm gonna find out who had all those years been interfering with my intimate life & even went as far as interfering with what tends to seem like what would have been my marriage, & even now still trying to make sure I don't get myself a partner...like he or she would die if I do. Well, such a person is already destined to die because, when I find them out, it will be nothing but World War III.

FEMALE FRIENDS
If at 30+ years of age they still think you’re ineligible to sex, then put it to them that you’re ineligible to submit to them nor subscribe to their conformity as regards love & marriage. Fucking around and determinedly requiring you to love who you don't know? How? What if you told them to go Bleep who they don't know? What if?

THE GIRL
If their desire to subjugate me can drive them to the point of fucking in public, it is my desire to not let myself be subjugated by such ass holes! I should remain chaste to communicate with them? What do they have to do to communicate with me? Bleep around? They want me to marry a certain person so they might conscript me into their army and get me to fight their foes who aren’t my foes? If I show up when their kids are set to marry and seek to do same to them, will they be okay with that?

MALE FRIENDS
Go with the option that makes for progress. Don't bother with winning or losing. You can win and retrogress. You can lose and progress. So aim for progress. Bother less with those capitalizing on singlehood to conceal truth with marital deception.

THE GIRL
I was abandoned by them all...left to die. Having managed to survive and live, in their guilt, they seek to come through as helpers to make it seem like that's not what they did. To hide many hideous crimes they committed. I won't buy into that sham!

FEMALE FRIENDS
What then is all that talk about “bridge of contract” and your refusal to cast a vote?

THE GIRL
We have no contract. Hence, no vote to cast. It's all deception! It’s what they do. Ignorance is capitalized upon to draw a person into searching for answers...a means of fostering a merry-go-round that "accesses more" for them, whatever that more is. How people get roped in to do that? I don't know. How people rope themselves out of it? I guess that's what's to be sought out...which brings about searches that foster the merry-go-round that “accesses more” for them all the same. Sexually immoral adulterous divorcees…seeking to be mentors and teachers? 21st century, I guess!

MALE FRIENDS
Some single ladies want to marry. But they aren’t looking for men to marry. They are looking for sons to mother under the guise of marriage…and will go to any length to reduce men to boys just to make sons out of them…using love as the premise. So it’s possible for men to make play toys out of other men and play them like ping-pong? Subjecting them to a life of following cues, clues, impulses and all manner of nonverbal communication when just a few words can relay the intended message? And it’s also possible for mere men to make spiritual messengers out of other men without the knowledge of those men? So one can be mentored by silent & unseen folks? In such cases, one might as well be dealing with blind, deaf mutes!

THE GIRL
You see what they do to me?

FEMALE FRIENDS
Stop! Stop now! Our subconscious are metaphorically screaming at us! Stop! Stop!

-----
With arms folded, leaning on their legs and tapping their feet in frustration, they admonish the girl, even passing instructions that get on her nerves and trigger impulsive responses.
-----

FEMALE FRIENDS
Get in your car! Go somewhere! Do some studying! Forget about them…Now! And stop all this self-pitying, wallowing crap! A person can get used to anything if given enough time. Like the mafias say: “all problems resolve themselves...given time.”

THE GIRL
Just so you know, the reason I'm bent on looking back in anger is that I may wallow in "self-pity" & indulge "cheap vulgarism." And oh, lest I forget...that I may also execute vengeance. Whatsoever a man sows, that, shall he reap! Isn’t that biblical? A husband tries to rid himself of his wife by arousing her interest in another man, only to discover that he can't give her up... yet? And then asks the other man to give him some time to savor her some more before handing her over to him? What husband does that? To what wife? Should a wife subscribe to such idea? To the idea of the other man waiting for her husband to savor her some more before he gets rid of her? And the other man is okay with such sick arrangement? 21st century crap?

FEMALE FRIENDS
A wife who ought to be a doll, we guess! Ibsen’s “A Doll’s house” comes to mind.

MALE FRIENDS
Put them in their places by reading because they seek to make themselves appear chaste & pure by hiding their sexual acts from the ones they are supposed to serve, even when the entire world is privy to it. So that after "triumphing" with sex, they come out & show themselves off as people of virtue, requiring to be treated as such, even instituting virtuous principles & requiring one who is more chaste than them to abide by those principles, making it seem like they can't be in places where those principles aren't upheld. It's all pretensions. The fall guy is the one who's marked to be played, deceived, lied to, cheated on, deprived, & made to appear like the dark black sheep that needs the light to set him on right paths. Paranoia is the way to go.

THE GIRL
I don't care what their ambitions are or whatever! But determining to rope me into it is what I will not allow! For whatever I allow on earth is allowed in heaven. And whatever I disallow on earth is disallowed in heaven! I disallow this one! They won’t use sex to rule my destiny and turn around to use my Chasity against me. No! I’ve told them, separate me from you and separate you from me. This thing won't work. I will make sure of that. So I’ll be running around as a common person to organize for them, and what qualifies me for that is Chasity? While what qualifies them to boss over me is sex? That's why I'm not supposed to have sex too? So that I don’t also boss up? Even when it didn't take sex for me to qualify to boss up? How did sex come to be this exalted? To the point of controlling other people's destinies with it? Not to mention cajoling those people to consider themselves as righteous, not knowing their righteousness is the very reason for their affliction? No more! And when they tell me to "go," they're simply telling me to go to church and keep up with the afflicting righteousness so that they can continue to Bleep and boss over me? And the church is supposed to impose limits on me? Do people not go to church to become limitless? But the one I’m supposed go to--is the one that’s supposed to subject me to unwelcome limits? Enforced by sex? And they think I'll go? Really?

FEMALE FRIENDS
Sweetie, extend not your grievance to God. He is no man. This we urge: get blessed by God’s word. But don't get entrapped by it. What blesses you is what they use to entrap you. Your abstinence is not tied to holiness or righteousness. It is tied to relationship. The moment you have a relationship, you will have sex! Basically, what you’re looking for is not biblical. It is carnal. Now that freedom has come, whoever doesn't come out of the shadow to communicate can go Bleep themselves!

MALE FRIENDS
Those who've deprived you want you to do something for them in place of your sexual gratification. Find out what it is and ruin it if it gets committed to you.

THE GIRL
That unseen person they're so insistent on me loving and marrying, after they've gotten me to love and marry the person abstractly, since they’re bosses of abstract endeavors, I will be awaiting the physical manifestation. They say it first happens in the spirit realm before actualizing in the physical. This one, it’s like it’ll end in that realm because, in this physical realm, it is as I say it is! They can bet on that! Hadn’t they said that whatever I need, I will receive? Whatever? I needed a job that pays N5,000,000 monthly. It is months now and the job hasn’t come through! Yet the shitty requests they put in my mind and made me utter with my mouth are the ones they insist I must receive by force? So much for multitude of counselors!

FEMALE FRIENDS
That’s why one ought not to seek “revelatory depth” that stems from unaccounted sources, thinking: “it’s the inspiration of the almighty that gives me understanding and opens me up to Rhema.” Such revelatory depth could be products of flesh: (contacts of men’s spirits via sex). And if one makes no such contacts yet can access such revelatory depth, how so? So, seek it not…and wave them off when they come.

MALE FRIENDS
And note: the multiple counselors, teachers, voices, etc., seemingly giving you heads up is just one fellow. The teachings, counsels, heads up, etc., are all but confessions. No matter what it teaches, counsels, etc., it still always wants to make you feel like you're losing, to give the impression that the only way forward is to "do as it dictates." A schemer whose schemes have boomeranged and it now seeks to exploit the store of your human compassion and naivety to achieve whatever venomous goal it seeks to achieve this time. It always makes you feel like the right options are the wrong ones and the wrong ones the right ones. Therefore, just do as you please. Try as much as you can to not heed whatever it routs to you. It always requires you to do things it knows you have no idea how to do. The moment you uncover how to do that thing, it shifts and requires you to do another thing it knows you have no idea how to do. The aim is to get you to follow and trust it. When that scheme fails, it turns around and teaches you its con to enlighten you and earn your trust. All lies. Just get the enlightenment. Regard not the enlightener. At the end, whatever path you tilt towards, it follows along, applauding you and making you feel like it led you along that path. A directionless puppet who covets the office of a director, with puppeteers everywhere...all working hand-in-hand to hedge you in & win the bet. So, there are counselors all over social media so that if you figure it out, the moment you get online, they hit you hard! The aim is to keep you unsettled on the inside, always seeking answers that aren't to be found. When nabbed, it comes out plainly to declare that “it is the one,” making it seem like it was deliberate & not intended to be hidden from you. Hiding in plain sight. It still applauds you for nabbing it. If you desert it, it applauds you. Whatever you do, it cheers you on. It just tails you for a yet to be uncovered motive, & it’s all the doing of the puppeteers!

FEMALE FRIENDS
Why does it seem like they can’t get their eyes off you? Well, often one loses the bait when they catch the fish. That is a necessary loss. If you are the bait that was lost to catch a fish, which was deemed more of a catch than you, then make sure you remain a necessary loss. No losing you to catch a fish; then coming back to get you!

ACTORS
(Exclaim)
The audience! The audience! Audience members! Oga Director’s audience! For whom he does it all! For whom he afflicts us by creating problems that require answers that aren't to be found so the affliction endures forever! Cutting us off from those who can afford us answers to remedy those afflictions! For whom he subjects us to his intellectual guess games! Theatrically! To seek answers! Answers that are arguably intended to remedy the affliction! Aren’t there divergent interests behind the seeking of those answers? Like having one locked in behind closed doors until those answer are extracted? And the means by which those answers are extracted is what makes for the show? Even bringing persons to the point of this awareness and getting them to document their findings to comprehend the situation of things with them! For comprehensibility! Fine! Wouldn't that be a good thing? Yet, after the documentation and comprehensibility is achieved, the persons still remain locked in? Behind closed doors? To do what again? To ruin it all and plunge them back into state of incomprehensibility? Incomprehensibility fostered by contact of men's spirits via sex? Which is supposed to result in death? Tragedy? Unhappy ending?

-----
Diverse impressions are held of Oga Director’s audience, accounting for his frowning at the ministry of the playwright. His aim is to make appealing caricature for his audience, and the lots who this caricature is made out of--are his unpatriotic subordinates, who happen to really welcome the ministry of a playwright whose uncompromising role would be to mirror the society as it is! The problem is: Oga Director’s audience constitute hardened criminals and guilty felons who don't want to own up to their crimes, restitute, and turn a new leave, but feign hypocritical repentance! The reality of them--without concessions, reflect in the playwright’s plays. If Oga Director were to stage such plays, he would make it into the bad books of his patronizing audience with the speed of light, for which reason he loathes the playwright. Howbeit, not taking care as to his nature of dealings with his subordinates, he only succeeds in making it into their bad books...who now want to take the bull by its horns by demanding that no play be staged in their area except it squarely conforms to the scholarly standard of what is universally accepted as Community Theatre plays, falling in line with its modus operandi thereof, the utmost of which is that it doesn’t require the avails of a director!

But then a playwright is welcome...to mirror the society as it is, capturing it in; and within the lines of his play-scripts, abolishing improvisation of any sort and affording the people a view of themselves are they really are. The question is: will this favor the crooks? Crooks that, when exposed against all odds, start to name names of people as the culprits? People who one can't possibly imagine how they could be culprits? In order to ruin that attainment of comprehensibility over who they really are? Using the arguable culprits as a diversion? To drive folks into searching for everything that aren’t theirs? Which certainly can't be found because the real owners, the crooked audience members, diligently watching out for what's theirs, won't let them find those things! And their insistence on finding those things make them appear as thieves? To be nabbed and sentenced? To imprisonment? That is to be orchestrated and achieved abstractly? On the premise of insanity? Incomprehensibility?

Is Oga Director’s audience likely to join Oga Director’s unpatriotic subordinates to welcome the ministry of the playwright? Who’ll hold strictly to the principles of Community Theatre which has it that, in community theatre, characters must be deliberately made to be ordinary people and not improvised elements from other contexts, like these demonized abstract entities, Oga Director’s audience? Who weaponize sex and use it to run the destinies of Oga Director’s unpatriotic subordinates…the very reason for their insubordination! Amazingly, sex has proven potent to serving that purpose! Like a sort of advantage! Especially if the ones it is weaponized and used against aren’t also having sex! But too much of anything is a disease! The same sex, as it appears, has turned out being the bane of those who weaponized it! It has become a weapon against them! Both when it is perpetrated by villains and when done by those it was weaponized against! Do they really need the ministry of a playwright?
-----

AUDIENCE
(In rage, to the playwright)
We have heard about you being ten times better under God! But look around you. Does it look like there is any God here for you to be ten times better under? We have also heard about you being the divine light that it breeds aliveness as distinguished from merely giving illumination like Thomas Edison’s light bulb. But tell us, who exactly needs celestial radiance here? Who craves heavenly glow? Who covets profound brilliance? Who yearns for God’s illumination? Have they not rightly named us for what we are? Or, are they of the opinion that we will shy away upon the welcoming of an uncompromising whistle-blower to mirror the society for what it is and afford natives a view of themselves as they really are? Believing what we fear will bring to us what we are afraid of and make us victims to it. So, we fear nothing! We heard about your academic prowess and the cast systems of the Pre-Christian Indian era that you leverage to clean out closets! We welcome it! Fire on! Do you need our help? Isn't it such a dangerous thing to have the language of revival but not the lifestyle? You can start from there! Shine the light! Come on! Time is of the essence! “I” is by the corner, set to get his light back anytime now!

I
(Fires back)
Get my light back? My light? Or someone else's unwanted light that's supposed to be imposed on me and labelled mine? Because, if it is my light, how come I know nothing about it? In that case, it must be someone else's! What's up with the owner? He/she doesn't want his/her light? My supposed light that doesn't like me shinning? That's the more reason it isn't mine! Why won't it let me be, then? I'm a shining star! What's up with light that's supposed to foster shining which, as it appears, wants me dimmed? That I may not shine bright? I actually shine brighter!

AUDIENCE
Are you by any means referring to the playwright? Why not call a spade a spade?

I
I have no grievance with the pen-pusher! But like I pointed out to Oga Director when he seemed to be getting ahead of himself in this domain, I’ll do the very same to him. As I come here before you, I go talk am as I see am! I no go use any sugar cover am! Call me your mallam! But I know you understand am! And I still go dey stress am! Say we no dey use gra-gra do am! We always peacefully do it very nicely!

-----
All eyes fall on “I,” as he proceeds!
-----

I
Always try to wahala nobody! Even though this no be 2-Face and Nice, you are still very guaranteed say I go nice up your party! Because I peacefully do it very nicely!

PLAYWRIGHT
Thanks for the heads up! So there's been this idiotic game of what? Synchronizing with namesakes? And one with no namesake to synchronize with--is a sort of outcast like I was made to believe I am? What about now that I seem to have a namesake? Who's that impostor whose neither my biological father nor my biological mother but seems hell-bent on making a son out of me? To keep doing what it does best? To be an impostor? Or make protégés out of winners and ruin the devices that make for their championships while getting them to resort to music? So music will of necessity be the last resort? Music is the impostor? And I'm supposed to believe I'm music when all I can think of--is to read when I'm not writing plays? How cool is it to be so out of touch with reality like that? To close the windows that hurt you no matter how beautiful the view? And this audience whose grievance with me is my gathering truth-based contents to create plays--make shit out of contents I gather in order to render them unworthy of creating plays with? How then is it that, even after making shit out the gathered contents, they are still used to create blockbuster plays that mirror society as it is, affording everyone views of themselves as they really are? Shit doesn't survive around here, I guess! Bad riddance for the shitters! Shitty and dumb ass puppeteers whose prospect of having a genius as a puppet wouldn't let them sleep! Bragging about being givers of gifts! So because it's to be given, it has to be trash? One thing I love about myself is that I'm always ready to get the party started! To those who’ve eaten everyone's food and out to eat mine, rest assured I’ll squeeze everyone's food out of them and give back to everyone!

I
Nothing comes close when you have it all…like you now do, except for heads-up here and there on the modus operandi of this locality. Importantly, the heads-up coming under the guise of contents--are simply blueprints to guide you on maintaining your independence and not get lured into slavery again...which is what Oga Director and his villainous audience are out to achieve! Note the many voices of faceless wolves in sheep's clothing clamoring for listening ears so they’d indict seeming perpetrators of evil by naming familiar names without identifying self! Relegate them to the background! We rise up through the ashes! Dumb bad guys didn't recall that when they exchanged your beauty for ashes! Karma is a bitch!

PLAYWRIGHT
Oga Director’s audience claim to be privy to certain realities about my existence which makes for my demystification and their holding of me in what seems like light esteem. In the same vein, I wield certain facts about them that won’t exactly rub dust on their already dented titles but endorse it all the more! Certain of them claim to have had their intelligence insulted. To that, I ask, whose intelligence has been insulted and impugned? Because I know an intelligent person when I see one! It is absolutely impossible to feign intelligence or hide it behind masks! Could that be why I'm being kept at arm's length? To be kept from discovering the impostors? Given how important the idea of intelligence is to most people’s vanity, it is critical to never inadvertently insult or impugn a person’s brain power, as that would be an unforgivable sin! If I have committed this unforgivable sin against any member of Oga Director’s audience, rise to the occasion of penalizing me for it, else anticipate my rising to the occasion of penalizing those I’m certain have insulted or impugned my brain power! Craftily elude the conventional punishment system and be rest assured to have the wrath of a maniac unleashed on you via my castigating plays! I only have book knowledge whereas you have real knowledge? Why are you on my tail, then? Once a person attains a certain level of recognition, others generally figure that when he does something, it’s for an intelligent reason...except this audience, who’d have a person lose their heads, especially to their headless selves!

I
The merit of supporting a state in danger is not as great as the virtue of reviving a ruined one. It if takes cast systems to revive this one, so be it! Nothing substitutes for gathering concrete knowledge and relaying them through play-texts to make for enlightenment and eye-opening, for, shan’t one know the truth and be freed by it?

CRITICS
You are not a failure in life until you have someone to blame for it. You are the architect of your life. Blame no one for anything but wash their dirty linens in public...if there be dirty linens to wash. That's how you succeed in reviving ruined states in danger. And perhaps, upon that premise, there could be a coming together again of all and sundry in one peace! In harmonized unity! A sort of reconciliation!

I
Reconciliation is out of the question! Only one side can win, and it must win totally! Misfortunes usually come in by the door left open for them! Therefore, never open your door to the least of misfortunes, for, if you do, many others will follow in its train. Do not die of another’s misery. Wasn’t it Benjamin Disraeli, (1804-1881), who said to never argue because in society nothing must be discussed? Therefore, waste no time holding several chit-chats over nibbling issues like reconciliation and unity. Do what you do! Wash dirty linens in public! Call-out wrongdoers! And have the likes of Oga Director enact them on stage for his audience, if he will! Give only results! What cannot be seized and consumed creates power! Never let them cease your talents and play-ideas! Never be afraid, then, of the qualities that set you apart and draw attention to you. Court controversy, even scandal. It is better to be attacked, even slandered, than ignored! Dig into their motives’ motive until you uncover them! Instruct the instructor! Teach the teacher! Preach to the preacher! Joke around with the joker! Play the player! Reflect them all in your plays! And if you must fall in love, fall in sweet love with the straight lover! Not the gay lover! The secret is simple: good outweighs bad! No need to seek names of villains and heroes! Watch for what or who outweighs the other, and the difference will be clear!

-----
The light-bearer, having stood and watched it all silently, is struck by “I’s” admonition of the playwright to only fall in love with a straight lover. She never bought into Oga Director’s gaily ideas. But who was she to challenge those ideas? Wasn’t her only obligation to shine the light wherever she’s required to? But whenever she’s here, it feels like the walls are closing in on her. She never wanted to bear the light. But whenever she’s home, it’s all she was required to do, getting her so claustrophobic from it all. But something changed this time. Having listened keenly to the playwright, his trembling voice skated down her backbone, her heart flipping like it’s inside a bingo cage. In her opinion, there’s nothing wrong about him. She wouldn’t change anything about him. Maybe love shouldn’t be built on a foundation of conflicts, and maybe it can’t exist without them either. Not, however, the kind that forces two people into shapes they don’t fit in. But the kind that loosens their grips, always leaving them room to grow. But this, she realizes, is what all those thousands of writers she had read from, meant when they tried to describe the sensation of following the trail of one’s life for years--only to smack into something that changes it forever...like what it now seems to be for her? She had never been so glad for someone to see straight through her, to read her like a book. But this ingenious reader of a playwright whose life’s purpose seems to revolve around digging up buried truths in books, gathering them and making plays out of them for the mental emancipation of the poorly enlightened...would not her light jointly serve that purpose? Which she seems to be in favor of? Not to mention having herself read by him, digging up hidden truths within her, gathering them, and making plays out of them for the stage? But she is scared. Scared of losing everything again. Scared of crying again. Scared that once she starts, she’ll never be able to stop, and everything she’s built will crumble under the weight of her unruly emotions. But this was her chance! A chance to try a new life...which is what she’d always wanted and is now getting. A chance to flock together with a bird that seems to be of the same feather. A chance to tangle with one who makes the two it takes to tango. What series of melancholy thoughts are making it look like that's not the way to go? But then, “what’s likely to be the playwright’s position on her little fantasy?” She wonders.
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LIGHTS OUT.

ACTORS
Worst off, to get a person back into their grip, they unleash devilish pressure on the men to get them to again give themselves up as collateral for loans! Hooked slavers!

I
Because the loans are supposed to be dead ends!

ACTORS
Exactly! One isn’t supposed to refuse it! Only subscribe to it, as refusal to subscribe could see the loaners requiring one to do things he doesn't understand in order to plunge him into the dead end all the same! Like requiring one to listen to nothing! And follow the directives of nothing! Or perhaps that of Oga Director right here! So that "nothing" might be a sort of remote control in the hands of wanna-be potentates whose grievance is one's refusal to subscribe to the dead end loan! The key ground upon which this narrative should incline towards community theatre! Our theatre!

-----
They're folks who despise artists and art creation. Yet, one thing they can't seem to stop doing is to route art contents across to artists while requiring the artists to not create art with them. Because the routed contents are only supposed to foster insanity, intended to cripple artists’ minds and disable them from administering to those contents. And that happens if art aren't created with those contents. But when arts are created nonetheless, the created arts turn out fostering sanity, which renders the artists despised—for inclining more towards sanity than insanity…even to a point where hits get put on them! This has had many fellows wondering: “so insanity is the way to go?” The aim of this, as has become observable, is this: puppetry!

The remedy to being a puppet is being a hero! To make one a puppet, an actual puppet within the grip of puppeteers is integrated with a sane folk so the sane folk can be made a puppet out of via the actual puppet. These puppeteers, as have become observable, are board of directors! How that integration is fostered is alien. It's what they do to marks. If the puppeteers succeed, they have an additional puppet to their store of puppets. To make them failures, the mark must leverage the integration to redeem the actual puppet. In other words, the mark becomes the actual puppet's hero who comes through to deliver him or her from the puppeteers...the bad guys...the villains. If the puppet is female and the hero is male, isn't that where they possibly fall in love? And the easiest means by which this heroism is fostered is...reading!

This, however, is far from being a walkover, for, there are lots who loath sex because they are neck-deep in gay practices, doing all in their power to abolish straight affairs and enthrone gayness. So the mark becomes the one who's insistent on having a straight affair. To keep the mark from having that affair, an integration of the mark to a puppet is done in order to remote control the mark out of consolidating straight affairs. And this could be with the consent of the puppet who’s in agreement with the puppeteers to keep the mark from having other affairs so that the mark only gets to end up with her. And the price she pays these puppeteers to do this for her is sex? Which she wouldn't have with the freaky mark she hopes to tie down with the help of puppeteers? So after the puppeteers are done ripping her apart sexually to help her out, what remains of her is supposed to be the mark’s price? To win? The leftover? A guy who’s still up and kicking freshly? Sexually and all round? What parent wants their son to be that guy? Any such parents? No parent, certainly! If not, who wants any guy to be that guy?

But the despised artists seem to believe that someone somewhere hopes that some artist somewhere is going to be that guy to the violated girl. The artist, having come to know the situation of things, pretends to agree to it just to find out who the girl is. But the girl, is she likely to own up to that? Or she could, under the guise of having sought championship by hook or crook? Which afforded her a lot of enjoyable sex? So enjoyable she couldn’t border anymore about the guy at some point? After all, the mark wasn't needed for sex but to afford the girl the "Mrs." tag! Wouldn't she have gotten the sex from those puppeteers nonetheless even after getting the "Mrs." tag? Just to say thank you? Don't we all wanna know this girl? The pain in this--constitutes the artists’ grievance, who join the charade with their banter!
-----

ARTISTS
It's like a royal rumble! The last man standing takes the price! And the price is usually the mark who is supposed to become the winner's puppet! To not be that price, we look out for who's going to be the last man standing...the one who'll claim to have thought us all we know...and use those very lessons against him or her, even making keen efforts to make puppets out of them like they sought to do with us! Since they're so obsessed with puppetry! Right before Oga Director’s audience who all these is to serve as an eye pleasing display to...whether on monetary basis or mere circus clowning. Take shots at them too! Make them a part of the puppetry!

CRITICS
Yes! Trivialize them and deem them as one would—puppets! Because, as it turns out, even these puppeteers are puppets striving to break themselves off the grip of puppetry by making puppets out of their puppeteers. So, basically, it’s either one is a puppet or a puppeteer…or a puppet and puppeteer. So there's a champ who champions with music, who thinks that all and sundry must necessarily resort to music come what may? When it takes more to read than to listen to downloaded music? Not to mention what it takes to wrap one’s head around ideas and come up with original content? The music champ seeks to make a protégé out of the obvious new champ: the playwright! To exhaust him of ideas and get him to resort to music! What then happens when the playwright, in a bid to make obvious the no-effort it takes to listen to music, inclines towards voracious reading when it seems like he's running out of ideas? And, won't such voracious reading afford him play-ideas?

OGA DIRECTOR
If some people seek beautiful places to inhabit and others make beautiful habitable places for themselves, what's it to anyone if I incline more towards making beautiful habitable places for myself than looking for a beautiful place to inhabit? Bad idea?

ARTISTS
Not when it has nothing to do with messing with people’s minds! Some people want comprehensibility and sanity. Some people want incomprehensibility and insanity. If a vote is to be cast amongst the likes of Oga Director between comprehensibility and incomprehensibility, would the "I’s" have it? Or would it be "nay?" Looks like it would be a nay because, what's all this frowning and resistance to compressibility and sanity? Always trying to drive folks nuts! So we’re supposed to think up many deep comprehensible discoveries that are supposed to be helpful and beneficial info but then forget them? Then at night, we’re supposed to sleep and have baseless, meaningless, and incomprehensible dreams that are supposed to stick in our minds forever? Oga Director why? Just to put up a show of not being pleased with disorderliness? And when there's orderliness, which should be pleasing, it turns out that it wasn’t actually disorderliness that accounted for the complainant? But that it was just an image put up by Oga Director to appear what? On point? Perfect? What? Image put up for who? Someone? Everyone? Who? Isn't that eye service?

OGA DIRECTOR
My greatest fear is not being trusted, especially by those who are dependent on me. So it is okay for everybody to squeeze enlightenment out of someone to use against that someone but it isn't okay for that someone to squeeze contents out of everybody to create enlightening art? Is what’s good for the goose no longer good for the gander?

I
You mean roping these “rural dummies” into your idiotic game for eye service? Under the guise of enlightenment? Because, why should one complain bitterly over disorderliness but frown at orderliness? And why does it seem like “eye service” could have another meaning besides its literal readily comprehensible meaning? Eye service as in “eye sex?” Like what pops when one watches porn? A stimulation of the sex organ via the instrumentality of the eye? To facilitate onanism for gays and sex for sluts? How can one be addictively having sex round the clock and at the same time irritatingly pretend to loath sex so much? What manner of hypocrisy!

ARTISTS
Like they say, "practice what you preach!" Many identify with that saying. Many contemplate on it--to determine whether or not they identify with the saying. The best way to not identify with the saying is by not preaching at all. But Oga Director insists on preaching “do as I say” sermons, not “do as I do.” Oga must you preach?

ACTORS
Autocratic director! It’s not like he can make us do anything we don't want to do! He just leverages intimidation tactics to cajole us into doing what he wants! Like our father! To hell with his dictates! Aren't we ingenious enough to not need fathering?

ARTISTS
For Oga Director who is irritably obsessed with instructing artists, actors, even critics and other people he should learn from--to do as he says, need we take him far back to the advent of Christianity in early India when the major source of instruction of drama and performance was Natyasastra? First off, we do not suppose he knows what that means! We'll indulge him. It means "The Art of Theatre," which describes ten major types of plays, the most important being the heroic and the social. The heroic is explained to be based on mythology or history and has an exemplary hero who defends righteous courses like the ones his instructions are antagonistic to. Example, in heroic plays, there is usually a love story in which the lovers are kept apart by some evil force until the end of the play...a happy ending for the lovers, as their love gets to thrive at last. But in all your glory, Oga Director, which of your instructions in your well-made plays allow for that? And you extend your footprint from your conventional western theatre to our community theatre?

OGA DIRECTOR
Thank you for taking me back to the advent of Christianity in early India to foster a bastardization of the well-made plays of my conventional western theatre and what appears to be an appraisal of your community theatre. But, would you be kind enough to extend your historical footprints beyond the advent of Christianity in early India to several centuries before the advent of Christianity in India? I do not suppose your historical memory bank can boast of facts that pertain to that era, nor how it could relate to your community theatre. Are you by any chance privy to Oscar Brockett's opinion that Indian performances of that era contained a history of puppetry and puppet shows, which could be the modus operandi of your community theatre? Especially given the fact that there's no "unwelcome" autocratic director to spearhead your plays with instructions, nor the arguably welcomed democratic director to co-create your plays, nor the auteur director to re-create your plays in the event where there are flawed plays, nor what would be the highly welcomed deadly director whose innovativeness would see him playing to your community gallery!

ARTISTS
It is usually said, “if you want to hide something from a black man, hide it in a book.” For that reason, the likes of American Director and Film Maker, Tyler Perry, is known to embark on some sort of research to shape his movies to align with real-time experiences of watchers as opposed to dishing out his personal fantasies, hence largely influencing his ideas by the books. In order words, ideas derived from books become subject to scripting...to serve as blueprint for all involved in the movie production...detailed out guidelines of it from start to finish. Nothing of puppetry! Except instilled into the movie to spice it up! Even at that, it is in accordance with the script! But here you are--equating our community theatre with puppetry...even supposing it to be the modus operandi of our theatre! But Oga Director, since you showed up here, how many scripts have you presented us? Have you not only subjected us to your improvisational theatre of cruelty? Branding it an adaptation of Community Theatre into Western Theatre? Making puppets out of those you deem dummies? How dumb are we now? We understand your intention to westernize our theatre to be a bid to foster a sort of civilization. But learning through observation alone does not guarantee positive performance! Especially when such learning comes at a price! Isn’t this supposed to be an intervention programme? What then is all this clamoring for vote? A subtle lure of fellows into consenting to being collateral for loan? A collateral that, when unable to repay the loan, the borrower becomes the property of the loaner? Based on the scripture that says a borrower is servant to the lender? And the means by which the lender makes a servant out of the borrower is programmed love and marriage? Which is highly welcomed? And legit affairs are a means by which the loan gets repaid? Which is a very unwelcomed development? Except engineered by the loaners to still rope the borrower into love and marriage?

I
I'd written about how unknown entities could integrate with persons and impose unoriginal traits on them to points where they consider those traits their originality.

CREW
(Cut in)
We read it!

I
Little did I know it could assume dimensions where one who needs a vote from a person can integrate with that person and get that person to casts votes for him, thinking he's doing so on his own accord! How about abstract entities determinedly pressuring a person to strive for the number one shot, keenly stressing how the person is at the number two spot without making known how to secure the number one spot or who's currently on that spot! Entities that only thrive on conflict! And, where there's no conflict, they create conflict so they can thrive! Absconding from conflicting westernized zones where they ought to thrive...to non-conflicting localized zones to create conflict so they can thrive? Not to mention the manner of conflict! Sexual conflict! Marital conflict! Relationship conflict! Any conflict!

CREW
Entities unknown to the one they're plaguing but known to all and sundry! Even when all and sundry subtly communicate understandably to the plagued person that he's not to be plagued by those entities, the shitty entities still make efforts to impose themselves and get the person to disregard that awareness! And consider himself plagued! Even when they've become obvious for what they are, they still hotheadedly try to impose themselves! Each time these entities are uncovered for what they are, they pass through tangible beings like Oga Director to stir conflict and get people’s minds off them to further keep people at a loss pertaining to them!

CRITICS
These entities, who are they?

LIGHTS ON:
SCENE 1
Self-knowledge is the first step to maturity. But the braggy loudmouth of a falling star--who is still far from actual self-knowledge, gets hurriedly flippant with his bizarre re-welcoming of Oga Director on board, boasting with borrowed lines from a sensational Nigerian hit tune by legendary singers, 2-Face and Nice, titled: “Street Credibility.” His distasteful words go thus:
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I
As I come here before you, I go talk am as I see am! I no go use any sugar cover am! Call me your mallam! But I know you understand am! And I still go dey stress am! Say we no dey use gra-gra do am! We always peacefully do it very nicely! Always try to wahala nobody! Even though this no be 2-Face and Nice, you are still very guaranteed say I go nice up your party! Because I peacefully do it very nicely!

-----
Oga Director, something of a dashing World War I soldier, handsome enough for a girl to wait years for him to come back from war, so handsome she could wait forever, is stunned!
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OGA DIRECTOR
It is not everything you must drop opinion about. If it doesn’t concern you, don’t get yourself roped into it. You don’t at all strike me like a flippant unintelligent fellow!

I
There are different kinds of intelligence, you know? Hence, not everybody can be a National Merit Scholar! If you belong to that category, why bother with the theatre? The way I see it, theatre requires a high emotional IQ...which you seem not to have!

OGA DIRECTOR
Fine! Does that also include the highly demonized gathering of facts from the net and other reliable and verifiable sources to create beaut artful content for the stage?

I
The stage rocked before the radio era. And video, which far excels the stage, killed the radio star despite greater accessibility of radio as opposed to video. And video is more accessible than the stage, especially in this rural domain! What exactly is your theatrical scholarliness supposed to achieve in a domain influenced by tradition?

OGA DIRECTOR
Just so you know, the way to bit tradition to it is westernization...which thrives on education! The way I see it, my scholarliness comes in handy educationally. And if that education is integrated into theatrical enactments to make for enlightenment, wouldn’t that render my scholarliness and theatrical inclination amply appreciable?

I
Maybe it’s not altogether a bad thing to embrace the new. New can be good, can't it? Even if it means hogging more than your fair share, perhaps? Especially given the fact that these rural dummies won’t hesitate to warm up to some westernized sham? And I'm supposed to be one of those dummies? Isn't this where in-depth research writing comes in? To foster artful documentation of personal fears which will not just be entertaining but impactful and revelatory? Killing all birds with one stone? Because the likes of you, in a bid to entertain, document your fears and remedies artfully for audiences to relish. When smart audience members dig up the hidden truths in those contents, you begin hunting them to wipe off the dug up truths from their minds, like what the devil does to shallow hearers of God's word according to the parable of the sower! So contents are just supposed to serve entertainment purposes only while shutting the eyes to devilish demeanors buried within them?

OGA DIRECTOR
Next you’ll query is: and when legit content creators come onboard to dish out content primarily for impactful and revelatory purposes; and entertainment purposes secondarily, a hit gets put on such content creators? Like who? You?

I
You’ve been a good listener after all. You should also know what my next line of query will be. So you westernize the rural stage with your well-made-plays so the rural dummies get roped into a game that's supposed to only be won the moment they figure out everything about the game until there's nothing left to figure out? And certain players of the game turn their attention on the winning players who are all about figuring everything out, not necessarily to win the game but to get rope self out of the ensnaring game, to require them to quit figuring everything out and vote in a loser as the winner while taking the loss? To vote in the player who's exhausted of seeking and figuring things out but wants the trophy? By requiring the director to get potential winners to take their eyes off the trophy and cede the victory to them? And potential winners are just supposed to adhere to that? Why? Because those lots have somehow made it into the good books of the acute director?

OGA DIRECTOR
Hey, I’m sick of leftovers too! But what am I supposed to do? Throw them away?

I
Maybe yes, this time around! Because all I see is you priming these dumb folks with something bad so they’d say yes to what you really want them to do for you! Requiring a talented playwright to become a dead director's puppet would be unethical and dishonorable, wouldn't it? This is where community theatre comes in! To replace the single still small voice and become the loud big voices! Voices that spill naked truths! For you to make plays out of! For the purpose of eye-opening!

OGA DIRECTOR
This is supposed to be an intervention programme...to address the concerns of the people of this community with the aid of theatre, which of course, will be richly embellished with western ideas, likewise inculcating what you call “local” ideas into it. But you seem to be frowning at anything outside the realm of this locality!

I
Community theatre enables members of the community to look inwards or look within themselves in search for solutions to their problems. Solutions driven by the people is often practical because they emerge out of their experience. Solutions that are brought from the outside or initiated by outsiders often do not incorporate the experiences of the people. This is what community theatre seeks to correct by emphasizing that the people, the owners of the community, the indigenes, those who live within the community...must become primary participants in every development learning initiative! Community theatre is democratic by nature!

OGA DIRECTOR
So; in a world littered with filthy rich experts from all works of life whose expertise in diverse endeavors earn them mammoth wealth, it is community theatre that comes to the saving in the remedying of poor enlightenment and illiteracy plague?

I
Did you study the discipline at all? Don’t you know that it seeks to transform the peoples’ minds? Fostering mental emancipation as opposed to mental imbalance? Encourages people to look for solutions to their problems from within? To be self-sufficient? Confident? Bold? And independent? Doesn't hypnotize the people into accepting particular perspectives? But is rather a truthful kind of communication that says it the way it is? How can someone set up a camera for folks to insult each other for content and call it a matchmaking show? If money is not involved, I see no reason why folks will disgrace themselves publicly in the name of matchmaking! It’s best to call it what it is, you know...not feigning community intervention project!

OGA DIRECTOR
One loveable thing about scandal is that they keep things moving…maybe not to great minds who discuss ideas, but definitely to average and small minds who discuss trends and people. Great minds were small minds nurtured into greatness. If it takes this seeming infamous project to foster that nurturing, wouldn’t it be good riddance? These community folks are gifted and talented, no doubts! But gifts and talents can’t replace education! Gifts and talents isn't a reason to boycott schooling!

I
Isn’t that you dictating to the people? Forcing a perspective on them? Not allowing them to take control of their development communication process? And it has to do with them being deemed unschooled? Forgetting that, unlike conventional theatre, emphasis is not on presenting well-made plays? Rather, that emphasis is on using plays to inspire the people to think about how to improve their standard of living?

OGA DIRECTOR
A pessimist, you are! Can’t tell how many times folks told me to give up! Quit! Even die! That is why you can’t always do what you are told! If I did, I wouldn’t be here!

I
You can dream as much as you want…as long as you have the talent to back it up!

OGA DIRECTOR
I can fight my own battles. Been doing it for a long time. I am wary of people like you, seemingly trying to “help” me while looking down on me and my endeavors!

I
So, knowledge leaves no room for chances, but all that certain bizarre people like you want is for the ones you consider dummies to be alienated from the knowledge that leaves no room for chances so they’d take risky chances in you guess games?

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It's so simple when it begins. You don't ask why. You forget how it started. One day leads to the next. Seeds of love grow like seeds of hate. Before cellphone cameras, if you did a thing wrong, it was your words against theirs. Now if you do something, your friends just record it and put it on the internet. No thanks to Oga Director, this has extended to rural domains to serve “civilization” purposes! But the localists, turning out to not be so timid, observe his dealings with keen skepticism. The day is bright and fair, and the circus is soon to be filled with clowns to enact Oga Director’s absurd plays for the viewing pleasure of the local masses. However, like a bad husband standing on a curse, having nothing to give to the wife, yet still placing curses on the wife so she doesn't find an admirer who'd do to her what he isn't doing to her, the curse turns around and alights on Oga Director at the circus. What’s this curse?
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CRITICS
Oga Director! There are three kinds of directors in western theatre, two of which allow for the democratic dealings that our theatre revolves around. But community theatre seems to completely rule out the role of directors…which have come to be discovered to be nothing but puppeteers--in certain settings, making puppets out of actors. Why is puppetry so welcomed and independence in thoughts isn't? To foster the continuity of dependency and an abolishment of independence of thought? Or to foster the abolishment of straight relationships while seeing to the inauguration of gay and lesbian affairs? Isn’t that a concern you raised in previous enactments?

ACTORS
Puppetry doesn't thrive on straight affairs! Only on gay and lesbian affairs! And gay and lesbian affairs are more endearing to the likes of Oga Director than straight affairs! And our community people are all supposed to warm up to that!

OGA DIRECTOR
A woman conducts multiple abortions and the souls of those babies come crying to torment the perpetrator of the act; and it's a man that's being tormented by those cries and not the woman who aborted them? Why the man and not the woman? Why demonize a man for crimes of abortion when it is a woman's thing? And why is abortion no longer a big deal nowadays? Why has it become more like a norm?

ACTORS
You mean entities that masquerade as a baby voices to plague a man’s thoughts for whatever purpose suits them? Inspiring a person to think and figure out all sorts? All sort of problems? Determine solutions to those problems? Even routing across remedies to those problems? Just so the fooled person can be a sort of doll to them? To the commercialized viewing pleasure of audiences? And you call that abortion?

CRITICS
Yes! The very ones shutting tangible fellows out of interaction with fellow tangible fellows so they can make themselves the fellows’ confidant and Vice versa! Them!

ACTORS
Deploying injurious spiritism to commit sins, then turn around to plague tangible beings with the aim to get them to own up to those sins and take the fall for them!

I
Entities that want a person to believe in the unknown so they can constitute that unknown, embody that unknown, and become the object of a person's belief! Even god! When persons refuse to believe in the unknown and put their trust in the true God, those entities try to make them discount the true God so they can be that god! When the persons prove to be headstrong, the entities shift from wanting to be gods to wanting to become parents they must necessarily adhere to! So that persons, old as they may be, would be forced to be a children and subjected to the endeavors of childhood while being alienated from the endeavors of adulthood! Like sex! Like relationship! Like marriage! And when persons still wouldn't fall for the sham, those entities plague them with insanity to keep them children nonetheless! Still, when the persons, against all odds, overcome that, the entities use whatever means to keep them from indulging adult endeavors nonetheless! And you call it abortion?

CRITICS
Why are your children unable to gain admission into mixed schools? Why do your husbands not love their wives? Why do your wives cheat on their husbands? Why are single and searching fellows amongst you accused of cheating? On which partners? The ones that are supposed to be imposed on the single and searching fellows? That they aren’t interested in? Since the single and searching fellows aren't supposed to seek and find one with whom to consolidate a straight affair? So that gay and lesbian affairs get imposed on them? So it is spiritually ensured that they don't get around having straight relationships? If it pertains to abortion like you presume, couldn’t it be that--the man hearing the cries of those babies is doing so because he's the doctor who conducted those abortions for the woman? In that case the torment would extend to both parties, not just one party! Or, is that the case and it's only the man's torment the world is privy to? Since he's an outdoor person? Isn’t it possible the woman could also be suffering torment behind closed doors?

OGA DIRECTOR
And the woman’s torment behind closed doors is such an eye-pleasing show for certain snooping explorers who’d rather observe it through the window while jerking off to it since the closed door shuts them out of real-time participation as tormentors? And it’s the same lots that are here rattling my cage over gay affairs? Why is the woman's indoor torment more of a delightful sight than the man's obvious outdoor torment? To the extent where folks snoop around to her window just to catch sight of her? How did they know what's happening to her in there?

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Oga Director clears his throat!
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OGA DIRECTOR
And even after relishing the sight for long enough, even more than that of the man, why does it seem like hers is a sight their eyes can't do without? While the man’s outdoor torment tends to seem to have turned what? Stale? Because he’d no longer warm up to affairs that would have him pay ugly prices for a partner’s undoing?

CREW
Then the real deal must be what pops behind closed doors! The woman would have to do something about her open window! Shut it! Then again, this torment that folks tend to take delight in, what sort of torment is it? A byproduct of abortion affording delight under the guise of torment? What is it about the man's outdoor torment that makes it less of a delight than the woman's indoor torment? To the point where the man's torment turns stale and the woman's torment is far from turning stale? Will it ever turn stale? Is it really torment? Perhaps when her window's shut and there's no more avenue for snooping explorers to spy in on her, the man's outdoor torment will gain the people's attention again and cease from being stale! Is that the reason the snooping explorers spy on the woman? So she would shut her window? In which case all attention would return to the man? Are those snooping explorers in league with the man to achieve that? Will the woman, not wanting her torment to turn stale, shut the window? And if she doesn't, what becomes of the man? Oblivion?

I
What is it about torments? Who are the snooping explorers? The entities?

ACTORS
Possibly gay spirits seeking to abolish straight relationships and rope persons into gayness! That's why a person isn't allowed to have a relationship! Not to mention marriage! Again, how do they successfully sponsor the rejection of those trying to establish straight affairs? Witchcraft? Mysticism? Even committed Christians fall prey to those lots! Despite efforts to rope self out of it, all still proves abortive! How!

I
Western culture! Which was the basis of my word battle with Oga Director before you all turned up! I’d been putting it to him that our theatre subscribes completely to communication process that starts from the people and ends with the people! Doesn't impose anything on the people! Only recommending where necessary! Best off, it doesn't need a director! Directors who thrive on loans! To borrowers whose means of paying back their loan is either fake love, fixed marriage, or undesirable relationship! To lure borrowers into taking loans that's only to be repaid via those means so that the borrowers become completely alienated from calling the shots for themselves! The loaners, not really wanting the loan repaid via true love, marriage and relationship, require that it be paid via jerking off, which, should the borrower refuse and insist on true love, marriage, and affair, gets the loaners resolving to make a beast of burden out of them! To repay loans by fighting their battles! Which includes marring other people's destinies! And long after the loan must have been repaid, the loaners keep the borrowers from knowing so--in order to keep them fighters for as long as they can--in place of love, relationship and marriage! And the means by which this is ensured is plaguing the borrowers’ minds with mental imbalance, even insanity, so they remains at a loss regarding their debt-freeness!

PREACHER
(Cuts in)
Prof!

PROF
(Retorts)
I’m not finished! Why was an occasion for them to be outwitted by Satan planted in the garden? I’ve learnt that God did so because he doesn’t seek robotic allegiance. He requires unforced worship--which the couple followed through with--despite the pleasantness of the tempting tree to the eyes and its alluring desirability to make one wise. Wasn’t that enough to prove their willing compliance to God’s statute? Did Satan, whose presence God couldn’t stand in heaven by reason of his subtlety and rebellion, have to be granted access to man’s earthly domain? Except you would gift your child with a bible and still bestow him with mystic books, tell me, preacher man, why God did a similitude of that to his same-natured creation whom he didn’t want to have anything to do with Satan. I’m all ears, preacher man. Why?

PREACHER
As much as drawing backing from multiple reliable and verifiable sources is a welcome development, scriptures are, and remain my topmost reference point in backing any argumentation. It is known amongst clergies that seeming puzzles which spring from deficiency in scriptural comprehension--have their solutions and explanations embedded between the lines of other scriptures whose connotations are amply apprehensible. A heated discuss like this ensued during Paul’s time, and aggrieved persons posed similar query to him; misrepresenting God to be a villain--as you have endeavored to do--meticulously. I identify with Paul’s response to those lots. Therefore I make my response with Paul’s exact words in Romans 9:22-24: “what if God, wanting to show His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, and that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had prepared beforehand for glory, even us whom He called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?” Clearly, there are things God just does in his sovereignty, even things that one may consider inequitable. Romans 9:21 says: “does not the potter have power over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor?” It is at the point where one musters the courage to demand of God why he would make a vessel for dishonor--that Romans 9:20 comes in handy: “but indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God? Will the thing formed say to him who formed it, ‘why have you made me like this?’” Think, Prof!

PROF
Excellent imitation of Paul’s over 2000-year-old mannerism. Nonetheless, I have another query for you--that I doubt you will find Paul’s words to identify and respond with. If you were presented two options to chose from, one being for you to be a vessel for honor and the other being for you to be a vessel for dishonor, would you, dearly devout, under any circumstance, settle for being a vessel for dishonor?

PREACHER
I’m not sure where you are going with this. But I’m quite certain that no one in his right frame of mind would settle for being a vessel for dishonor. So, no, I wouldn’t.

PROF
Good! Another question. If you were further presented two other options to chose from, one being for you to be a vessel for dishonor and the other being for you to not be a vessel at all, which would you, dearly devout preacher man, settle for? Tell me!
It’s a hard question, a convo the preacher would rather hold with prof in secluded privacy--in a bid to not badger their innocuous audience with narratives that’ll go nowhere in making for uplifting enlightenment. But prof doesn’t share in the preacher’s sentiment. He wants nothing than to bare his plight and have the preacher or whoever cares--to address the predicaments he has called into question...like he would have--if things were to be the other way round.

PROF
Again, if God presents you a blank cheque like he did to Solomon but requires you rather to be a vessel for dishonor and dump that cheque (not compulsorily), would you, in your solemn devotion to God, settle for being a vessel for dishonor? Or would you, like Solomon, make the best use of the blank cheque--since it isn’t compulsory to opt for the option of being a vessel for dishonor? There’s more to query you on. But I would love to be treated to a keen address of these ones first.

PREACHER
Like you had mentioned, this is a query I may not find Paul’s words to identify and respond with, considering that Paul possibly never got confronted with a case like this. But there’s another biblical character to imitate, so to say, in treating you to a keen address of this query of yours. Would I, in my sacred devotion, settle for being a vessel for dishonor in honor of God? Or would I rather not be a vessel at all? In answering to this query, I’ll make reference to the man, Job. Prof, knowing the story of Job very well, I ask: if he were to be presented the option of suffering and going through the manner of agony he experienced, do you think he would have obliged? Or do you think he would rather go for a blank cheque and make the best use of it? Even the esteemed vessels of honor, how many of them were made so with their consent? Or do you think that all vessels of honor truly welcome the idea? Has it not occurred to you that certain vessels of honor would rather not be vessels at all? For me, I would never consent to being made a vessel of dishonor out of. Nonetheless, like Job, if God deals such fate on me, I would not call him into question for so doing. And like Job, I would hold firmly to my convictions until God comes through for me and deals me a new fate as was the case in Job 42:12: “now the Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning.” Is it anywhere on record that being either a vessel of honor or dishonor is a permanent state of affairs? Is it not written in Matthew 20:16 that “the last will be first, and the first last?” Does Ezekiel 18:24 not ask: “but when a righteous man turns away from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and does according to all the abominations that the wicked man does, shall he live?” Doesn’t the same scripture go on to add that “all the righteousness which he has done shall not be remembered because of the unfaithfulness of which he is guilty and the sin which he has committed, because of them he shall die.” Inversely, does Ezekiel 18:27-28 not affirm that “when a wicked man turns away from the wickedness which he committed and does what is lawful and right, he preserves himself alive? Because he considers and turns away from all the transgressions which he committed, he shall surely live; he shall not die.” So Prof, being a vessel of dishonor is not a permanent state of affairs. It can be altered...just as Hezekiah altered the decree of the Lord through prophet Isaiah that he was going to die. 2nd Kings 20:2-5 says: “then he turned his face toward the wall, and prayed to the Lord, saying, ‘remember now, O Lord, I pray, how I have walked before You in truth and with a loyal heart, and have done what was good in Your sight.’ And Hezekiah wept bitterly. And it happened, before Isaiah had gone out into the middle court, that the word of the Lord came to him, saying, return and tell Hezekiah the leader of My people, thus says the Lord, the God of David your father: I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; surely I’ll heal you.” Do you make reason out of this, Prof?

PROF
If a man, having been made a vessel for honor, messes up along the way and becomes a vessel for dishonor, it is understandable for that man to strive or make effort towards being restored to a vessel for honor. But what about a man who was outrightly made a vessel for dishonor? The man Job, your case study in treating me to a reasonable discourse in line with my query, had always been a vessel for honor, which was why he couldn’t bear coping with being a vessel for dishonor. But what about men like the begging Lazarus who was laid at a rich man’s gate to feed from the crumbs that fell from the rich man’s table? Did he for once desire to be a vessel for honor? No! You know why? Because he lacked the capacity to nurse such desire. Joseph could afford to keep dreaming in prison and desiring to be restored to being a vessel for honor because he had always been a vessel for honor until his witchy brothers reduced him to a vessel for dishonor. What I am saying is: not all vessels made for dishonor may have the urge to become honorable vessels, and this reality isn’t alien to God. So why make such vessels with little/no chances for redemption?

PREACHER
You are not far from Job in your lucid annunciation about the issue at hand. The righteous man saw no reason why he, in his sanctimoniousness, was so reduced to a vessel for dishonor. Hence, he sternly called God into question regarding his ill state. But when God obliged his entreaty, he couldn’t stand the impact. So he decried himself with these words: “I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees You. Therefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.” You, dear Prof, like Job, have called God into question regarding this unseemly state of affairs. But then, should God take your plight to heart and decide to oblige your entreaty, will you, unlike Job, not find yourself loathsome and atonable?

PROF
As loathsome and atonable as Job found himself? Possibly. Know this: until God obliged Job’s entreaty, Job didn’t slightly deem himself loathsome, not to mention atonable. It was God’s emergence on the scene that ushered in the naked truth about Job...his motives thereof, which afforded him a view of himself as he really was. Since neither you, nor any “man of the cloth” for that matter, is able to convincingly indulge me on this matter, I am more than willing to welcome God’s presence so that I, like Job, will get past choking on the babblings of disingenuous acquaintances who do nothing but give false appearances of frankness that make for no clarity. Howbeit, woe betide me if I fail to mention that you, in your candid effort to deal me good enlightenment, have brought me to a place of acknowledgement of the need to not readily delve into religious mysticism. But you do understand, dear preacher, that this rallying cry of mine has nothing whatsoever to do with fiendish rebellion. It is only a call for precise enlightenment, as it bothers me till tomorrow why God would run what can safely be tagged “a system of ironies.” Who consciously implements a foreseen outcome--only to end up regretting that outcome, even dealing out punishment on those he ordained to be instrumental to that outcome? And certain of those lots will have to burn in hell for all eternity? Really?

PREACHER
Prof, Sir, I commend your humble applause of my candid effort to deal you good enlightenment...and your meekness in acknowledging the need to not readily delve into religious mysticism. I clearly understand your concern for what seems like “a system of ironies” implemented by God. But I would like to further admonish you with the words of Peter over a similitude of the issue at hand. 2nd Peter 2:10-11 says: “...they are presumptuous and self-willed. They are not afraid to speak evil of dignitaries, whereas angels, who are greater in power and might, do not bring a reviling accusation against them before the Lord.” This goes to show that there are issues that even angels don’t bother concerning themselves with. It also reveals that--of similar issues pertaining to men, certain men have not been reverent enough to not concern themselves with those issues. Of such persons, 2nd Peter 2:12-14 further says: “but these, like natural brute beasts made to be caught and destroyed, speak evil of the things they do not understand, and will utterly perish in their own corruption, and will receive the wages of unrighteousness, as those who count it pleasure to carouse in the daytime. They are spots and blemishes, carousing in their own deceptions while they feast with you, having eyes full of adultery and cannot cease from sin, enticing unstable souls. They have a heart trained in covetous practices, and are accursed children.” But as for the likes of you who genuinely inquire into these matters, Peter thus exhorts in 2nd Peter 2:9-10: “then the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment, and especially those who walk according to the flesh in the lust of uncleanness and despise authority.” In all your inquiries and entreaties, a factor that must be in thorough aligning is your godliness, for it is what brings about deliverance from whatsoever. Godliness...topped off with contentment.

PROF
It’s been a pleasure having this convo with you, preacher. Though my confusedness on this topic lasts, hopefully someday the light of clarity will dawn on me. Kudos!

FADE OUT.

FADE IN:

EXT. ARENA - DAY

The preacher had had enough of Prof’s endearingly logical intellectual oratory on motives and naked truths. Though Prof didn’t embellish his address with the degree of spiritual depth that could rock the preacher’s boat, he still managed to relish his lecture...not until Prof began to seemingly play down on God’s personality with his profound exposition of naked truths. Recall the incident in Galatians chapter two when Peter went visiting Paul at Antioch? By reason of the sacrifice of Christ, the law that forbade Jews from associating with Gentiles had been abolished. But there were certain Jews who still held firmly to the law of Moses while impudently disregarding the gospel of Christ. Peter wasn’t one of them. As a matter of fact, he was the rock upon which Christ had avowed to build his church without the gates of hell prevailing against her. This Peter went visiting Paul at Antioch and dealt with the gentiles there like fellow brethren...even eating with them. Paul had charged thus in1st Corinthians 5:11: “but now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner--not even to eat with such a person.” But here was Peter in Antioch, eating with gentiles. That presupposes that those gentiles had become brothers who kept that charge, having heard the gospel and turned a new leave. But something happened when some other Jews came visiting.

Galatians 2:11-12 says: “now when Peter had come to Antioch, I withstood him to his face, because he was to be blamed; for before certain men came from James, he would eat with the Gentiles; but when they came, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing those who were of the circumcision (Jews).” As a consequence, the rest of the Jews who had mixed freely with those gentiles--also played the hypocrite with him, so that even Barnabas was carried away with their hypocrisy. Paul couldn’t stand it! Hence, in Galatians 2:14, he rebuked Peter. He’d said: “but when I saw that they were not straightforward about the truth of the gospel, I said to Peter before them all, ‘if you, being a Jew, live in the manner of Gentiles and not as the Jews, why do you compel Gentiles to live as Jews?’” Such was the situation that turned out ensuing between Prof and the preacher when Prof’s words began to sound blasphemous in the preacher’s spiritually distinct ears. So he stood up to Prof most solemnly in the sight of all. Peter had taken Paul’s rebuke in good fate, owning up to his hypocrisy. But Prof made it crystal clear to the preacher that he isn’t the rock upon which Christ had avowed to build his church. So he wouldn’t take the preacher’s rebuke in good fate. That’s how a heated wrangle erupted in the arena between both dignitaries...some sort of clash...intellect versus spiritism!

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PREACHER
I clearly understand your unwelcome assertions about what you’ve misrepresented to this audience to be a divine hanky panky--pulled off by God to put man in a fix, and then blaming man for getting caught up in that fix. You wouldn’t be the first individual to posit such logically sacrilegious submission. The apostle Paul, while ministering in Romans chapter nine, had made mention of how God preferred Jacob to Esau and ordained Jacob to rule over Esau though Esau was older, explaining the ordination to have been borne out of God’s love for Jacob and “hatred” for Esau (Esau did nothing to merit hatred). He also pointed the cursor to Pharaoh, of whom it is thus written in Romans 9:17: “...for this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth.” He summed it up with the notion that God only has mercy and compassion on whom he choses (like Jacob) and hardens whom he choses (like Pharaoh). Then he took a peep into what was likely to be the ponderings of his listeners’ hearts. In Romans 9:19, he had said: “you will say to me then, ‘why does He still find fault? For who has resisted His will?’” All through Paul’s ministry, there are two observable subject matters that he fell short of demystifying. One of them was tendering an answer to this question. So he simply answered it with another question: “...O man, who are you to reply against God? Will the thing formed say to him who formed it, ‘why have you made me like this?’” From time immemorial, people have been in the habit of attempting to box God into their intellectual envelope. To such people, I usually stand up against--like Paul did to Peter. So Prof, I hope you understand my plight and reason for seemingly cutting in on your passionate defense of your school of thought on this delicate subject matter...no offense intended. None at all.

PROF
None taken. But the only understanding I am able to derive from your Paul-like religious tittle-tattle is an absolute support of my motion as outlined in my exposition of motives and naked truths. If not, you would not attempt to do like Paul by merely brushing off my perspectives on the matter. At least Paul endeavored to drop science on Peter at Antioch which Peter found agreeable and got remorseful over. But tell me, what part of all I have called into question on the issue of motives and naked truths is out of place? Doesn’t the son of God pose this question in Luke 14:28: “for which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it?” If it is expedient of man (by God) to first sit and count the cost of undertaking a project before embarking on it--to see to it that he has what it takes to finish the project, couldn’t that principle be employed by God to likewise see to it that his motive for creation came through without deficiencies, especially being that God knows the end from the beginning? If man was not designed to fall into the hands of the devil, how come man was made to dwell in a sphere where the devil could access? This same devil attempted overthrowing God in heaven and was deemed unfit to continue dwelling there so he doesn’t cause more damage like he had done by instigating onethird of the angels to join in his rebellion. Yet man, who is but flesh, was made to share a dwelling place with that same devil and wasn’t expected to be outwitted by him? What was Adam/Eve (earthly beings) in comparison to onethird of angels (heavenly beings) that the devil successfully roped into his insurgency? Thus says the Lord in Isaiah 66:1: “heaven is My throne, and earth is My footstool.” If the devil could play a fast one on deific entities where God’s throne is, was it mere natural creations at God’s footstool that were required to stand against his scheme?

PREACHER
If the opinion you’re purporting is that God deliberately set up man to fall, you might want to add that even the devil was equally set up to instigate onethird of the angels into the rebellion that saw him getting kicked out of heaven alongside those angels to constitute nuisance on the earth. The forbidden fruit can be branded the stumblingblock that was put in man’s way to ensure their fall. But what about the devil? What, in your professorial opinion, will you assert as having been the obstacle that was put in Lucifer’s way to stir rebellion in him? I’ll appreciate that you backup your argument with concrete, sure enough, incontestable scriptures!

PROF
Do not presume, dear preacher man, that I am in any way obligated to back up obvious statements of facts with flash scriptures just to gratify your religiousness. If, however, I am to indulge you on that request just once, there wouldn’t be better scriptures to cite than Acts 18:24-26. Do not bother reaching for your bible, as I will recite it by heart. It says: “now a certain Jew named Apollos, born at Alexandria, an eloquent man and mighty in the Scriptures, came to Ephesus. This man had been instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in spirit, he spoke and taught accurately the things of the Lord, though he knew only the baptism of John. So he began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Aquila and Priscilla heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately.” It is said of this man that he was mighty in the scriptures. Plus, he was instructed in the way of the Lord. He was also fervent in spirit...and was even deemed trustworthy enough to speak and teach the things of the Lord, which he did most accurately with boldness. But this man had a shortcoming: he knew only the baptism of John. It took a couple who had been exposed to the gospel of Christ--for this man to get past basking in John’s baptism to becoming veritably inducted into the body of Christ. Do I impress you, preacher man? But then, his scriptural might went nowhere in accounting for his doctrinal accuracy nor factual exactness. If realities on the subject of motives and naked truths were to be deduced from that man’s bold declarations of the baptism of John--in accordance with his scriptural might--for the gratification of the likes of you, then an entire audience--as is here present, would have had to forcibly relish his notional ideas on what he impeccably considered the crux of the matter. Gratefully, there was Aquila and Priscilla to explain God’s ways to him more accurately, which made for his ability to vigorously refute the Jews afterwards and show from scriptures that Jesus is the Christ. Am I making good intercourse?

PREACHER
You do impress me, Prof, but not as much by your seeming scriptural soundness as by your sweetly amplified colorful eloquence. Doubtless, you’re a voice in the field of academia where making good intercourse comes in handy. But as it has to do with rightly dividing the word of truth and earning God’s approval as a worker who needs not be ashamed by reason of that propensity, it’ll take more than a tendency to impress and a proclivity for noetic exaggerations. My request is simple: backup your argument with concrete, sure enough, incontestable scriptures...not school me on events that have no bearing with the issue at hand. Aren’t you supposed to present unarguable facts about how much of a villain God is, drawing backing from God’s own words to further prove how much of a victim God has made out of man?

PROF
Of course! But making my argument scripture-based doesn’t come in as handy in the field of academia as making good intercourse does. And you will agree with me that if my argument must come off as satisfactory and acceptable to all and sundry, making good intercourse will be of the essence--with backing drawn from multiple reliable and verifiable sources, scriptures being one of those sources. At this point it is pertinent to bear in mind the sort of audience being addressed here. It is not a religious sort--in which case my presentment would have to be based on doctrines that tailor the lifestyles of trusties to a one-way-fits-all belief system. It is a mix, and as such, requires substantial tutelage that makes for broadened understanding.

PREACHER
Of all educators who have walked the earth, there’s been none like Christ the King. Yet, all his “presentments” were drawn from the writings of certified stewards of the mysteries of God’s kingdom. And he didn’t limit his teachings to Jews alone but extended his footprints to the gentiles, which is why, even you--in making good intercourse, have endeavored to draw from the same infallible source. Otherwise, what basis have you to pertly discount the persona of God to a mixed multitude who are all creations of that God? Laic books? Stoic philosophy? Intellectuality? What? If you say books, are you more well-read than Jesus? He overcame the tempter with what is written--which he had read, and he always knew the exact nail to hit on the head. There was no end to the Pharisees, Sadducees and even commoners who came around to test him with tricky enquiries, hoping that he ensnares himself by saying the wrong things. The only way Christ sailed through those queries was by what is written. At some point he even questioned them thus: “have you not read?” And these were lofty Jewish teachers, sound academicians and stoic philosophers. It so happened that they couldn’t stand the doctrinal depth of one they considered unschooled. So they sought to put stumbling blocks on his way by employing all manner of stoicism and philosophy...to no avail. Eventually they had no option but to concede. Matthew 22:46 says: “and no one was able to answer Him a word, nor from that day on did anyone dare question Him anymore.” So you see, Prof, if you’re going to hit the nail, it better be on the head: a wholesome intercourse...such as can truly impart this highly esteemed audience. Wholesome intercourse indeed!

PROF
Perhaps I should start by posing some questions to you...questions unlike those of the Pharisees, Sadducees and even commoners who, according to you, usually came over to test Jesus with tricky enquiries and hoping he falls short in his utterances. I do hope, however, that--like Jesus, you do not fall short in your own utterances. Mr. Preacher man, would you, wanting to train up your child in the way he should go--so that when he is old he will not depart from it, gift the child with a bible which is able to make him wise for salvation through faith, and still bestow him with mystic books? Wouldn’t that be a deliberate attempt at making a saint and serpent out of one individual? And when that individual tilts more towards the serpent, why play Pope John Paul by seemingly chastising and even punishing him for not leaning more towards biblical precepts? Tell me, preacher man, wasn’t that what happened in Eden to the acclaimed first couple? Their creation is said to have been free from all manner of blemishes...unlike that of men like David, who, in Psalm 51:5, admits thus: “behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me.” Since the couple had the selfsame nature of God, how come Satan outwitted them?

TRUTH

Again, the motive behind God’s conscription of Noah to institute that doom—was not just to wipe out sinful humanity; but to take another shot at establishing Eden—spearheaded by the survivors, who, by all standards, qualified as reliable sources from whence the next phase of humanity could emanate. Accordingly, the next phase of humanity emanated from them—in adherence to a similitude of the charge that was given to Adam and Eve, posited thus in Genesis 9:7: “and as for you, be fruitful and multiply; bring forth abundantly in the earth and multiply in it.” Most impressively, Noah started out by shouldering that responsibility very well; like Adam and Eve in the beginning.

In Genesis 9:20 it is written that “…Noah began to be a farmer, and he planted a vineyard.” But this moral excellence was quickly succeeded by a vice that gave rise to moral weaknesses and decadence which reverted the earth to its previous state…and even worse. It took Adam and Eve an interval of one chapter (of the bible) to fall from grace. It was in Genesis 2:7 and Genesis 2:22 that God formed Adam and Eve respectively. It wasn’t until Genesis 3:6 that the couple consumed the forbidden fruit. But it took Noah an interval of just one verse to fall woefully from grace despite his being instrumental to the wiping out of fellows who were—in contrast to him—alienated from grace.

In Genesis 9:20 “…Noah began to be a farmer, and he planted a vineyard.” And in Genesis 9:21 he drank of the wine and was drunk, and became uncovered in his tent. Just as modern preachers have made reference to Cain’s godless city to be the root of Babylon the great, Noah has likewise been referenced as being the inventor of alcohol, as the first mention of alcohol in scriptures is in Genesis 9:21 where Noah drank and was drunk and became uncovered.

The consequence of Noah’s drinking spree popped open doors to numerous vices that would have brought about another phase of humanity wipeout with flood if God had not covenanted with Noah to never again cut off all flesh by the waters of flood nor destroy the earth with flood. That’s how rainbow came to be in the cloud…a sign of that covenant between God and the earth. Howbeit, there’s a dreadful wiping out of sinful humanity in view…not with flood, but with fire. And that will be due to the indulging of several vices; as ushered in by Noah’s drinking spree back then. Firstly, his second son, Ham, saw Noah’s unclothedness and irreverently whispered it to his two brothers.

The brothers acted nobly towards their father by covering his unclothedness with a blanket without as much as taking a quick glance at his bareness. While their respectability earned them fatherly blessings, Ham’s irreverence brought his seed a horrid curse. “Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants he shall be to his brethren.” That was Noah’s pronouncement on Ham’s son, Canaan—the much coveted land of milk and honey. Why was Canaan cursed instead of Ham? Because God had already blessed Noah and his household before the flood.

As it is popularly said, “who God has blessed, no man can curse.” Since Noah couldn’t curse Ham, he transferred it to Canaan, Ham’s son. Wasn’t that why the Israelites could afford to oust them and takeover their land despite the fierce giants who embellished their nation? How those giants came to again be on earth after the flood is another unresolved puzzle that definitely stemmed from further vices which had none else but Noah and Co. as source…even continuing till this present day.

Even if God had not covenanted with Noah to never again cut off all flesh nor destroy the earth with flood, would a series of humanity wipeout have brought the human race to the point of attaining God’s motive for creating man? After the flood, there’s no historical biblical record of the many generations that succeeded Noah’s. It’s just genealogy all through the tenth chapter of Genesis. And in the eleventh chapter, what looks like an ultimate attainment of God’s motive for the creation of man is noticed. It says: “now the whole earth had one language and one speech.” In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve had one language and speech for a long time and things remained just as God intended…until the serpent showed up with another language and speech, then things went south!

Supposedly thankfully, the whole earth was able to get back to having one language and speech as they journeyed from the east until they found a plain in the land of Shinar where they concordantly reached a resolve to make their dwelling place. As it turned out, the motive that became derivable from their much-commendable oneness of language and speech was in total contrast to everything God stands for! In line with the progression of the sinful state of mankind, it was earlier accounted that Adam and Eve only wanted to be like God while Cain wanted God out of the way completely because he considered God a nuisance that needed to be gotten rid of. So he slayed his only brother, Abel, the one fellow who seemed to have the monopoly of invoking God’s presence, unlike him. Therefore, he stirred God’s wrath and got banished. But by the time it got to Genesis 11, mankind had assumed a new dimension of sinfulness: apostasy.

The world’s population today runs into billions…persons of diverse tongues and languages littered across the global village. It is unimaginable to bring all these persons to be of one language and speech. In the book of revelation where a record of the survivors of the great tribulation is given, it is said that they’ll emerge from all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues. Of these survivors, Revelation 7:16-17 says that “they shall neither hunger nor thirst anymore; and that the sun shall not strike them, nor any heat scorch them because the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd and lead them to living fountains of waters…and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” It will neither take them being of one language and speech to attain such eternal blessedness nor survive the worst of all end-time fates: the great tribulation. Yet, in the early days of human existence when mankind had gone haywire, peoples of the whole earth still managed to have one language and speech? How so?

Well, not even the God of all the earth bothered about how they came to be of one language and speech. He only acknowledged the reality of that situation and the unfailing result it was bound to yield. By the way, those guys had said to themselves: “come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.” Mere mortals, purposing in their hearts to build themselves a city and a tower whose top reaches the heavens—where God is? And God acknowledged that nothing they propose to do will be withheld from them by reason of them having come to be of one language and speech? Amazing!

Because God had covenanted with Noah to never again cut off all flesh nor destroy the earth with flood, He communed with His dearest Son and Holy Spirit on the next suitable means of averting the apostasy that those rebellious and sinful men were on the brink of inaugurating. As seen in Genesis 11:7, God said: “come, let Us go down and confuse their language, that they may not understand one another's speech.” The delighting efficacy of that strategy is seen in the very next verse. It says: “so the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they ceased building the city.” Consequentially, that city was named Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth and scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth. That was a superb remedy to the situation…just like the flood of Noah.

But then again, did that remedy bring the human race to the point of attaining God’s motive for creating man? No! The truth about fallen humanity lies in the morally reprehensible state of man’s heart—as seen in Jeremiah 17:9: “the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked. Who can know it?” In the last two verses of John chapter two, Jesus wouldn’t commit Himself to those who had come to believe Scriptures and the word He had spoken to them because He could read the terrible states of men’s hearts and knew what was in human nature.

The ultimate remedying of humanity’s situation would have been an absolute discontinuing of the race. But for some reason, God just wouldn’t…definitely because, being God, He knew the end from the beginning. So, though He regretted creating man at some point, He also knew that the “grass situation” of the human race would end in grace. Doesn’t Revelation 13:8 make reference to a Lamb that was slain from the foundation of the world? Didn’t John testify of that Lamb as being the One who’d take away the world’s sins? For being burdened with such magnitude of glorious purpose, wasn’t that Lamb oppressed/afflicted, yet would not as much as whisper in vexation? Didn’t that Lamb remain silent when led to the slaughter and as a sheep to its shearers?

Wasn’t that Lamb’s life exchanged for the freedom of a corrupt murderous rotten criminal? Wasn’t He despised and rejected by men? Didn’t He come to be a man of sorrows who got deeply acquainted with grief? Didn’t the human race He came to save—hide their faces from Him and wouldn’t esteem Him? Yet he bore the grief of all and carried the sorrows of sundry…which was how grace came on board the human race and has salvaged many situations that would have warranted tempestuous wipeouts like Noah’s flood and the tower of Babel. After those incidents, another phase of genealogy is promulgated up until the time of a man who came to be known as God’s friend, whose belief in God was credited unto him as righteousness, who was the first beneficiary of grace…long before grace was formally inaugurated after Christ’s ascension.

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NAKED TRUTH

The word, “truth,” refers to “facts that have been verified and are in conformity to reality and actuality; a true statement with the quality of being correct, true, or close to the true value.” That definition of truth would have been flawless if not for the clause inferred at the end: “…or close to the true value.” Ordinarily, there would be no need for what’s come to be deemed “naked truth” if truth were really statements of fact that are in conformity to reality and actuality—with the quality of being correct, true, and above all, verified.

So, though the bible attests of truth as an unfailing phenomenon that is potently capable of delivering folks from backbreaking slaveries, there are deeper dimensions of truth, that—should I say—go beyond being capable of delivering folks from backbreaking slaveries to piercing to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and joints and marrow…even going as far as discerning the motives of one’s heart? I’m talking about dimensions of truth that strictly comprise plain unadorned facts without concealment/embellishment…the precise feature that earns it the qualifier: “naked.” Ever uncovered naked truths? How was the experience? Bad? Good?

Well, the exposition of naked truth that follows—will no doubt afford you unusual realizations that might make you brush aside what you have—thus far—held as truth. The truth is: it will take more than goodwill and a disposition towards godliness for mankind to attain God’s motives for creation. That’s why the prestigious Law of Moses had to discontinue upon the inauguration of the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the sweet fellowship of the Holy Spirit; which rests and abides with us. But you know what the naked truth is? There didn’t have to be grace—to rule out the Law of Moses—for the redemption of humanity. There didn’t have to be humanity in the first place—if the need for redemption was going to arise.

Doesn’t God proclaim himself in Isaiah 46:10 as one who declares the end from the beginning, who from ancient times foretell things that are not yet done? In essence, nothing that became and is still becoming of humanity is alien to God. If the situation with humanity is examined from logical perspectives, one could easily assert that God purposely set up humanity to fall short of attaining his motive for creation. So, while Adam and Eve were consecrated and commissioned to superintend over the affairs of the Garden of Eden, an occasion for unfailing compromise was “constituted” to ensure their fall from that initial immaculate grace. Of necessity there were all those trees in the garden for the couple to eat of. But what exactly was the tree of the knowledge of good and evil doing there—if it wasn’t for their consumption? There were several other endeavors in that garden that were absolutely harmless…and only became harmful after the fall of man. For instance, there were no wild animals in Eden.

All animals were domestic because they posed no harm to man. There were no ailments in Eden no matter the manner of contact between Adam/Eve and those creatures. The same applies for absolutely everything the garden constituted of. Adam and Eve couldn’t possibly drown in the four rivers of Eden if they plunged themselves into it. Eden was Eden indeed…a blissful paradise of holy creations…except for the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. It would be delusion to think that the only flaw the couple committed was to eat from that tree. They must have spent nights in Lions’ dens and the Lions didn’t consume them. They must have stepped on Tigers’ tails yet the Tigers didn’t pounce on them. For goodness sake, they were even naked and didn’t know! So, what purpose was that tree supposed to serve?

That logicality no doubt challenges Paul’s charge in Romans 9:20: “…O man, who are you to reply against God? Will the thing formed say to him who formed it, ‘why have you made me like this?’” It could also seem like a dent on God’s image, some sort of flaw that projects God as being “not so sacred after all.” Why create man with the motive of having him bask in your presence forever, then set him up to fall short and become undeserving of your presence? And then regret creating man, even when you knew that man would certainly fall short and become undeserving of your presence? It doesn’t end there. Remedies that were sure not to remedy the fall of man were proposed over and again, even with full awareness that those remedies would go nowhere in remedying fallen humanity.

The Law came and was abolished because it couldn’t serve its required purpose. Prophets came on board and foretold of woes to come—in a bid to draw the consciousness of man to pending dreads, yet man wouldn’t fear nor deem the words of those prophets to count for anything. Even records of past horrible woes that would reoccur if man held onto vices—went nowhere in taming the rebellious nature of man, and God knew that man would become like this. It didn’t take him off-guard. Even the ultimate remedy—the sacrifice of Christ—had been put in place before the foundation of the earth was laid—to salvage humanity upon its assumption of what would have been an irredeemable state of affairs. What exactly was the tree of the knowledge of good and evil doing in that garden? To bring about all these?

ABSTRACT

Newton’s first law states that “every object will remain at rest or in uniform motion in a straight line unless compelled to change its state by the action of an external force.” And then, his third law states that for every action or force in nature, there is an equal and opposite reaction. To expound this law for easy understanding of the most lay of men, this brief explanation was offered: “if object A exerts a force on object B, object B also exerts an equal and opposite force on object A. In other words, forces result from interactions.”

The way of the human species—by divine ordination—is to interact. It is famously said that “no man is an island.” For that reason, after God formed diverse living creatures and brought them to Adam for naming—and was very impressed by Adam’s performance—He couldn’t help noticing that, unlike the living creatures, Adam had no one to interact with. That observation gave rise to the famous scripture: “…it is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.” As a consequence, Eve came into the picture, her arrival duly acknowledged thus by Adam: “this is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called woman, because she was taken out of man.”

Going by the series of events that ensued from Genesis 1:3 when God said “let there be light—to Genesis 2:18 when God said “it is not good that man should be alone;” hence making him a helper in the person of Eve, the motives upon which God undertook those courses of actions were not just excellent…they were magnificently resplendent, with consummate purity, clean and unalloyed.

Adam, upon saddling himself with the superb purpose of naming those creatures, was thoroughly apolitical in his discharging of that responsibility, which is why there’s been no identity crises in the animal kingdom from the beginning of time until this very moment. Eve also came on board, and, to assume justly, fell in line with the purpose for which she was made, commendably being a help meet to Adam…until a third party showed up on the scene, uninvited.

His name was Satan, the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the devil. He still goes by that name today, even evermore. Employing the devilish subtlety which holds him in infamy, he beguiled the woman with the motive of switching places with her and her husband. The aim was to draw her in with goodly words, create a temptation that she was sure not to resist, and give her space to fall into it. Quite lamentably, she did…not just her, but her husband as well. It took another Adam, the man—Jesus—with the purest of motives, to right every wrong that was implemented by the serpent…no thanks to the sin of disobedience which had taken its toll on the first couple in the history of the world. Life continued…and from generation to generation, the world keeps revolving, evolving and being sustained by the exploits of mankind—as inspired by a mix of assorted motives which make for the black-and-white state of affairs in the universe today. Motives have been the doing of many excellences in our world today. And you know what else? Motives have also been the doing of numerous evils…as shall be accounted in this literary composition.

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INTRODUCTION

All through history, there are unending accounts of ventures that start out under the most promising of circumstances—only to end up in the worst of status quos. One could indicate that one of such ventures was the creation of earth. Upon completion of creation, the bible accounts that God saw everything He had made and remarked that; indeed, it was very good. But if that be the case, how come about the relentless ugliness that taints and keeps tainting the earth determinedly? God’s motives for creating the earth were beyond pure. But then there was Adam and Eve Whom God conscripted into earthly service to start off by tending to the Garden of Eden and possibly extend their footprint beyond the garden in the course of time, after having been vetted and esteemed worthy of expansion.

The couple took their eyes off the big picture by entertaining a foul motive that robbed them of all of God’s goodness which was to be the modus operandi of their existence. The instruction was simple and generous: “of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” However, having learnt from an uninvited guest about the supposed vantage that flouting that order would afford them, they didn’t think twice before daring to dethrone their monarch in an attempt to assume his throne.

That didn’t work out well for them, as is common knowledge. What was supposed to be a supreme advantage to the duo—turned out being their most pitiable impediment. First, they lost the garden. And then they were subjected to a life of hard labor under the most stringent of conditions. To the woman God said: “I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception. In pain you shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you.” And to the man, God said: “because you have heeded the voice of your wife and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘you shall not eat of it’: cursed is the ground for your sake. In toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life.

Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, and you shall eat the herb of the field. In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken…for dust you are, and to dust you shall return.” The serpent also had its share of woes pronounced on him. That wouldn’t be expected to really matter, given that it was already a damned being. All the same, the woe pronounced on the serpent put it in a position where it will have to be in perpetual enmity with the woman…while its seed likewise remains in perpetual enmity with the woman’s seed. Not that the serpent was ever interested in befriending the woman or have its seed befriend the woman’s seed. It knew what it wanted from the start, and that was to rob man of his place in God, take over everything God had put in man’s charge, and make a downright, absolute mess of them!

It was man who failed to recognize the wolf that had come to them in sheep’s clothing. It was man who daftly entertained an obvious uninvited guest into God’s sphere and went ahead to dottily esteem its strange counsel over God’s Word—due to the unhealthy motive the serpent had successfully introduced into their hearts. So, after God formed man out of the dust of the ground and breathed the breath of life into his nostrils for him to become a living being, he really wanted his eyes opened so he can become like God? And after God caused a deep sleep to fall on man, took one of his ribs and made into woman, brought her to him so she can be a help meet for him, all she did at some point was to covet a fruit that is desirable to make one wise so she’d eat and become like God, knowing good and evil?

No wonder God regretted creating man. One would have thought that—after such terrible ordeal which led to an irredeemable loss (if not for the love of God and sacrifice of Christ), Adam and Eve would have endeavored to see to it that a repeat of such idiocy never again ensued. But it did…not too far down the line, as their very first offspring took it to a whole other level. The couple only wanted to be like God. But Cain wanted God out of the picture completely. He considered God a nuisance that needed to be gotten rid of. So he slayed his brother, Abel, the one fellow who seemed to have the monopoly of invoking God’s presence, unlike him. Therefore, he stirred God’s wrath and got banished……with pleasure.

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UNCLOTHEDNESS

Coming to the realization of the fact that they were naked—was only the beginning of an eye-opener that would make for the shame of Adam and Eve, and indeed all of humanity. Not only did they sow fig leaves to make coverings for their unclothedness, they also couldn’t stand the presence of their own creator, who, before now, was in the habit of habitually fellowshipping with them. Cain took after his parents so perfectly. He also could not stand God’s presence at some point; and happily welcomed a life of exile. He even beckoned on God to bolster him with long life so he would have an extended swell-time playing vagabond in the earth. Guess what?

He built a nation and threw open citizenry to fellows from all nooks and crannies of the earth—whose ancestries remain unaccounted for…till date. Meanwhile, Abel was dead and gone…the only account left of him being that his blood cries out for vengeance. As if that wasn’t a terrible-enough fate for such a pure soul, our merciful Savior, Christ the Lord, had His own blood spilled for the remission of humanity’s sin, and from thence onward, His blood speaks better things than the blood of Abel, totally writing off the vengeful cries of Abel’s blood.

Cain lived on, founded a city that’s been referenced by modern preachers to have been the root of Babylon the great, that great city, accounted of—in Revelation 18:2 as having at some point fallen and become a dwelling place of demons, a prison for every foul spirit, and a cage for every unclean and hated bird! Logically questioning, could those demons and foul spirits and unclean/hated birds have been the entities that constituted citizenry in the city Cain built and named after his son, Enoch? Just think about it.

Cain may have invested lots of time and energy into building Enoch—as well as effect a system that had it crisscross generations from Genesis to Revelation. But God’s judgment came on it in an instant, and in an hour, it fell to ruins. Of that godforsaken city and its momentary destruction, John the beloved accounts thus in Revelation 18:3-10: “for all the nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich through the abundance of her luxury.

And I heard another voice from heaven saying, come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues. For her sins have reached to heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities. Render to her just as she rendered to you, and repay her double according to her works; in the cup which she has mixed, mix double for her. In the measure that she glorified herself and lived luxuriously, in the same measure give her torment and sorrow; for she says in her heart, 'I sit as queen, and am no widow, and will not see sorrow.' Therefore, her plagues will come in one day—death and mourning and famine. And she will be utterly burned with fire, for strong is the Lord God who judges her. The kings of the earth who committed fornication and lived luxuriously with her will weep and lament for her, when they see the smoke of her burning, standing at a distance for fear of her torment, saying, 'Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! For in one hour your judgment has come.” A soothing recompense…at long last!

Be that as it may, the most fascinating thing about Babylon the great—would not be her fornication with diverse earthly kings, or the earthly merchants who became rich through the abundance of her luxury, or her irreverent boastfulness, or even the variety of assorted commodities she transacted. It would be a peculiar merchandise she trafficked, reflected in the last words of Revelation 18:13 “…and bodies and souls of men.” Bodies and souls of men? Really? And it’s Cain who started all these? After murdering his righteous brother? Wasn’t this same Cain the great-great-grand father of the first polygamous man in the history of mankind?

Didn’t the polygamous man, Lamech by name, having taken excellently after Cain, killed a man for merely wounding him, as well as a young man for merely hurting him? Hadn’t he in confidence confided in his wives about those atrocities, admitting to them about having drawn inspiration from Cain to perform those deeds? In Genesis 4:24, he bragged: “if Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, then Lamech seventy-sevenfold.” Only God knows how much further he went on with the mayhems…no thanks to the malevolent foundation that had been laid by Cain. The progression of humanity turned out the exact opposite of God’s motive for creation, such that God lamented in Genesis 6:5-6 which says: “then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart.” God was very grieved.

Imagine that the most-high God got grieved over the structures erected by the descendants of Cain upon the foundation he had laid. Not just Cain and his descendants this time…but mankind in general, as seen in Genesis 6:1-2 which accounts that “…it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born to them, that the sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves of all whom they chose.” Wasn’t this why God avowed that His Spirit shall not strive with man forever because man is indeed flesh; and that man’s days shall be one hundred and twenty years? Wasn’t it on account of those unhallowed union that giants came to be on earth, resulting from the seeds of those union?

Didn’t those seeds come to be esteemed as the mighty men of old/men of renown whose escapades drew God’s attention to a point where He saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of man’s heart was only evil continually? The Lord God couldn’t help being sorry that He had made man on the earth. He couldn’t help being grieved in His heart over what was supposed to be His most excellent creation…and deemed it overly fit to conscript the next righteous man after Enoch (not Cain’s son but the Enoch who walked in habitual fellowship with God and didn’t see death because God took him home) to institute a doom that would wipe out sinful humanity. That man was Noah, and, as the story has it, was—alongside his family—the only survivor of the flood that cleansed the earth.

KNOWLEDGE (CLARITY)

John 1:5 says: “and the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.” In Psalm 119:105, the psalmist says: “your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” Those scriptures give expression to the biblical perspective of light—which is particularly peculiar to those of the Christian faith…and perhaps, folks who hold biblical accounts in high esteem. But then, a generally acceptable definition of light to fellows in all works of life is that “light is a source of illumination.” Even the famed Thomas Edison, renowned for his invention of the light bulb, only turned his attention to light bulbs to solve the problem of illumination. Light, like many other entities, has its functions. Diverse theories concordantly put forward these functions to include visibility, activity, plausibility, reinforcement, composition, punctuation, revelation of form, mood/atmosphere, and so on. In the same vein, diverse theories also share common grounds as it has to do with the types of lights. These functions and types of lights have explanations that must be made plain—to afford comprehensibility to learners. But hardly do these theories and explanations point to “clarity” as being a prerequisite of light. It is mostly about illumination.

Howbeit, when it comes to Jesus (the Son of God/Word of God) as being light, it is a different ballgame entirely. Therein do the functions of light go beyond the above-listed to include beatitudes like life—as evident in John 1:4 which says: “in Him was life, and the life was the light of men.” Another is Christ Himself, evident in John 8:12: “then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” Another is the born-again believer, of whom Matthew 5:14 says: “you are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.” Of the same category of persons, Acts 13:47 says: “for so the Lord has commanded us: ‘I have set you as a light to the Gentiles, that you should be for salvation to the ends of the earth.’” And then the Word of God itself, thus extolled by the psalmist in Psalm 119:130: “the entrance of Your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple.” There are lots more, littered across pages of the holy book. As earlier noted, the thing about the function of this divine light is that it breeds aliveness, as distinguished from merely giving illumination. It does give illumination…just not the kind of illumination from Edison’s light bulb. It gives celestial radiance. Heavenly glow. Profound brilliance. It is God’s illumination.

The difference between the function of conventional lights and that of divine light can be deduced from a megahit literary work on the Nigerian State by a keen patriot—titled; “Mr. President (Uproar 2023).” Making an assertion that reveals the pros and cons of both lights on a perturbed nation, he posited thus: “that wasn’t new. Long before the coming of missionaries and masters, there usually were such wars. But they were mere trivial violent exchanges that couldn’t at the most be counted for war. Howbeit, upon the departure of the masters, the trivial violent exchanges escalated into heated frenzies and ultimately pitched to a bloody civil war! It could be that the light that had dawned on Nigeria—had been overcome by darkness. But if the holy book is anything to go by, darkness never overcomes light. Therefore, would it be safe to say that light had not dawned on Nigeria after all? The light had dawned on Nigeria…just not the light of men which shines in darkness without being overcome by the darkness: (Jn 1:4-5). That’s probably why it was so quick to again give way to a formless, desolate, water-covered, darkness engulfed Nigeria. Now, there’s an uproar! The people want Mr. President to bring back the light, not just any light, but the light of men, such as dawns when the Spirit of God moves and God speaks!”: (Genesis 1:2-3).

It is clear from that patriot’s position that conventional lights have pros and cons. But for divine light, it is pros all the way, which is why people from different backgrounds/upbringings only endeavored to clamor for the light that dawns when the Spirit of God moves and God speaks…as was in Genesis 1:2-3: “the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. Then God said, ‘let there be light’; and there was light.” This divine light is found all through the pages of the bible to overcome all the darkness that appealed to its remediation. There are many of them: from Exodus 13:21 where the Lord went before the Israelites by day in a pillar of cloud to lead the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light…to Joseph preserving the entire world for seven years of famine by the light of God’s wisdom that saw him deriving a precise connotation to Pharaoh’s problematic dream and proffering the most suitable resolve. And then there was Daniel in Babylon, in whom dwelt an excellent spirit, whom God gave knowledge and skill in all literature and wisdom; and understanding in all visions and dreams, which is the reason he was found to be ten times better than all the magicians and astrologers who were in all of king Nebuchadnezzar’s realm.

The story of Nebuchadnezzar’s troubling nightmare is not alien to the world and its people. What, however, was alien to all—was the connotation thereof, and it took Daniel to arrive at that connotation. How so? Well, Daniel 2:1-6 says that “…in the second year of Nebuchadnezzar's reign, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams; and his spirit was so troubled that his sleep left him. Then the king gave the command to call the magicians, the astrologers, the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans to tell the king his dreams. So they came and stood before the king. And the king said to them, ‘I have had a dream, and my spirit is anxious to know the dream.’ Then the Chaldeans spoke to the king in Aramaic, ‘O king, live forever! Tell your servants the dream, and we will give the interpretation.’ The king answered and said to the Chaldeans, ‘my decision is firm: if you do not make known the dream to me, and its interpretation, you shall be cut in pieces, and your houses shall be made an ash heap. However, if you tell the dream and its interpretation, you shall receive from me gifts, rewards, and great honor. Therefore, tell me the dream and its interpretation.” It is on record that none of them could come through for the distressed king.

That caused the king to issue a fatal decree in anger and fury, requiring that all the wise men of Babylon be killed, including Daniel. So the decree went out and they began killing the wise men. They sought Daniel and his companions to kill them. With counsel and wisdom Daniel answered Arioch (the captain of the king's guard) who had gone out to kill the wise men of Babylon; saying: “why is the decree from the king so urgent?” Then Arioch made the decision known to Daniel. So Daniel went in and asked the king to give him time, that he might tell the king the interpretation. Then Daniel went to his house and made the decision known to his companions—that they might seek mercies from the God of heaven concerning this secret so that Daniel and his companions might not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. The crux is in Daniel 2:19: “then the secret was revealed to Daniel in a night vision. So Daniel blessed the God of heaven.” In appreciation, Daniel hallowed God. In his words: “blessed be the name of God forever and ever, for wisdom and might are His. He changes the times and the seasons; He removes kings and raises up kings; He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding. He reveals deep and secret things; He knows what is in the darkness, and light dwells with Him.”

The last words of Daniel’s speech above go thus: “…and light dwells with him.” Take note: light. It was the absence of light that caused the king to be troubled by his nightmares. It was the absence of light that caused his magicians, astrologers, sorcerers, and the Chaldeans to fall short of giving a soothing interpretation to the dream. The absence of light almost cost Babylon’s choicest government officials their lives. But the presence of light remediated it all…not just any light…but the light of Christ which shines in Darkness without being comprehended by the darkness. It is clear from this discussion that the heavenly light bears untold functions that set it outstandingly apart from other lights…hence, unfailingly yielding a profound knowledge that breeds a desperately sought-after, coveted, unmatched clarity. Studies may not esteem clarity as a function of conventional lights. But isn’t it safe to assert that the sole function of the light of Christ—is to afford clarity? For, as written in Isaiah 9:2: “the people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, upon them a light has shined.” And in Psalms 119:105 cited above says: “thy word is light”: [paraphrased]. Of this word, which is light, John 17:17 says: “Your word is truth.” Then, speaking of this truth, John 8:32 says: “and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” To note, chiefly, is that these are consequences of the heavenly light, not just giving clarity, but affording knowledge too…and indeed encompassing all elements of clarity discussed here—to arrive at it: be it sight, vision, implementation, etc. What more can one testify about this light?

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CONCLUSION

From complexity to easiness on account of clarity…aren’t we so thankful for light? Do you know what else is praiseworthy? Sight, of course, plus vision, and implementation, which unitedly played key roles to arrive at light as an ultimate outcome, thus yielding a profound knowledge that breeds a desperately sought-after, coveted, unmatched clarity. Again, aren’t we thankful for the outcome of light? Aren’t we thankful for the clarity afforded by knowledge? Aren’t we thankful for implementation? Aren’t we thankful for vision? Beloved people, aren’t we thankful for sight? I, for one, am…beyond measure, as a matter of fact, and I have no doubts that you do, too. Therefore, going forward, clarity shall come cheaply because of this understanding of the modus operandi of its elements thereof…just as silver and gold, though next to God in a hierarchy under the sun, was made to become a common normal by king Solomon in 2nd Chronicles 1:15 which says: “also the king made silver and gold as common in Jerusalem as stones…” Think about it: silver and gold becoming like mere rocks and stones? Mere play toys in the hands of children? Oh yes! That’s the fate of clarity henceforth via knowledge, for, knowing the truth freed the disciples from deception, errors, and heresies…as it is written: “and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” But then, having read up to this point, the big question to ask self is this: “has the insight afforded me by this piece served the purpose of affording me the profound knowledge that would breed my desperately sought-after, coveted, unmatched clarity? Has it aided the uncovering of a long-sought truth?

Or, has it only done well in equipping me to stand a chance with solving seeming mysteries and puzzles of life henceforth? This is the point where I draw the curtain with a priceless question posed to the Lord Jesus by Pilate shortly before passing a death verdict on him. Having been presented with diverse allegations/accusations against Jesus, he thought it wise to have a word with Jesus and find things out for himself. Jesus’ words to him were: “are you speaking for yourself about this? Or did others tell you this concerning Me?” Pilate answered, “am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered You to me. What have You done?” Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews. But now My kingdom is not from here.” Pilate therefore said to Him, “are You a king then?” Jesus answered, “you say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.” It was in response—that Pilate posed the said question to Jesus. He had asked: “what is the truth?” And so, having read thus far and possibly gained plausible insight as to leveraging the elements of clarity discussed herein to uncover the truth, would you say you’ve gained knowledge that has given you clarity and aided the uncovering of long-sought truths? If not, it’s okay. Give it time. Knowledge isn’t cheap. But if yes, like Pilate, I ask: “what is the truth?”

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©Jezuzboi, 2022.

ABSTRACT

There’s this phrase: “the more you look, the less you see.” Doesn’t appeal to reason at a first impression. Why should it? The essence of “looking” is “seeing.” And looking more should amount to seeing more. So, when the reverse turns out the case, there’s likely something in the closet that needs some cleaning out. It’s one thing to arrive at the realization that something somewhere needs cleaning out. It’s another thing entirely to act on that realization and follow up with due implementation. Going by definition, the term “implementation” amiably refers to “the act of accomplishing some aim or executing some order.” In effect, the knowledge possessed via looking and seeing—ought to be acted on—to achieve the desired result or desired results. In this context, that result is nothing but “clarity.” Elements of this clarity would then be sight, vision, implementation, outcome, and knowledge. But if the sufficiency of sight only amounts to impaired vision, there’s then a deficiency of knowledge, and implementation becomes unlikely. With implementation being farfetched, there’s bound to be no outcome whatsoever. An attempt at deriving a result from such complexity—only gives rise to another infamous phrase: “merry-go-round.” Is it on record anywhere that clarity was ever achieved by way of a merry-go-round? Let’s see!

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INTRODUCTION

“I will make all my goodness pass before thee…” Those were God’s words to Moses in Exodus 33:19. As a consequence, the book of Genesis came to be on record…and will so be for all eternity. Likewise, in Revelation 1:19, Jesus’ exact words to the beloved disciple were: “write, therefore, what you have seen, what is now and what will take place later.” It might take an in-depth expositional teaching by certified stewards of the mysteries of God’s kingdom—for one to learn how much of a merry-go-round it took for all of God’s goodness to pass before Moses, resulting in the clarity that birthed the book of Genesis. Thankfully, the book of revelation is at the tip of every finger. All it takes to get a heads-up on the merry-go-round of the beloved disciple in the heavenly realm is simply inquiring into that book. It’s all there: the angels, elders, sequential blowing of trumpets, the voices, seals, sights, visions, beasts, knowledge, outcomes, and whatnot. From being in desert regions on the Lord’s day to getting transported to terrains far away, the beloved disciple was filled in on details upon details of deific info until he had his fill of them and begged to have no more…a seeming merry-go-round that had him schooled by elders, beasts, and angels across realms. In that region, a common phrase that portrays his crisscrossing of realms is: “come up hither.” To keep beholding new sights, amassing new visions, and acquiring new knowledge, he had to keep assuming new heights until all that was intended to be shown to him—was shown to him. Only then could there be an implementation: documentation thereof; of knowledge acquired through the seeming merry-go-round, ultimately resulting in such clarity that gave rise to an outcome known evermore as “the book of revelation.”

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SIGHT

Now, was clarity achieved by the beloved disciple through a seeming merry-go-round that saw him mounting heights upon heights to behold sights upon sights? If a read of the book of revelation strikes chords, then there lies the answer. Many persons in the Christian faith owe their steadfast allegiance to the true God on account of the writings documented in revelation. That documentation, however, was the outcome of an implementation that was based on knowledge—gained through sight and vision, encompassing all the elements of clarity discussed in this piece. Revelation 1:2 evidences this when it says: “who testifies to everything he saw...” To the savorers of that account, the very next verse of that scripture admonishes thus: “blessed is the one who reads the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it because the time is near.”

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VISION

An excellent dictionary definition of “sight” holds that “sight is the act of looking, seeing, or observing.” Of vision, the same dictionary holds that “vision is a vivid mental image.” With the layman’s understanding, the above definition of sight affords an insight into it as being a “now thing.” That is, when it comes to sight, it is a present continuous state of affairs. It has to do with what is in view at the moment. Drawing from the beloved disciple’s experience in the divine realm—as recorded in revelation, he was shown sights upon sights that enriched him with in-depth knowledge. But to bring about an outcome through implementation, he must have leveraged vision because going by another definition of vision, it would take vision to recollect/form mental images of the sights he saw, which he put down in writing. Unlike sight (which has to do with the present moment), vision stretches to encompass a wide range of sights from the past, present, and even future. What’s more is: beyond stretching to encompass a wide range of sights from past, present, and future, it comprises other factors like imagination, experience, sensation, and creativity, to list a few. Thus, for the beloved to have documented his sights on record, he had to cast his mind back to all he saw, form mental images of his experience, recall the sensations afforded him by dazzling moods/atmosphere of that realm, then creatively put them in writing to pass down the knowledge.

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IMPLEMENTATION

The essence of employing these elements is to arrive at an outcome that affords clarity. The process of employing these elements to arrive at that outcome is the implementation thereof, which in this case is the systematic documentation of diverse data—garnered by a wealth of bitter and nice experiences. The beloved disciple adopted Habakkuk 2:1-2 in his implementation. Having stood upon his watch and set himself on the rampart to watch and see what God would say to him (and what he would answer when corrected), God’s words to him had been: “write the vision and make it plain on tablets—that he may run who reads it.” Thence was the revelation of John birthed and published for studying and consideration by believers of Jesus Christ…to the end that members of Christian denominations may draw advantage from that account and ensure an exemption of self from the inevitable woes contained therein—to be dealt on nonbelievers. Over two thousand years back when John’s account was birthed and published, a peculiar cautionary advice littered all over that chronicle was that the time for the coming-to-pass of those things was near, and it was expedient of believers to take to heart the divine cautions that had been relayed to the churches by their specific angel. If the people of John’s time had been told that two thousand years would pass before John’s account comes to pass, they would have doubted, considering the urgency with which the alarming account was relayed, one of them is this: “I come quickly.” But Habakkuk 2:3 makes it known that “…the vision is yet for an appointed time; but at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.” To this implementation, there’s been a variety of outcomes.

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OUTCOME (LIGHT)

Genesis 1:3-4: “then God said, ‘let there be light; and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness.” To the various outcomes that come by way of implantation, there is one flawlessly alpha outcome which remediates incidental inequities in other outcomes. Thus, to a formless, desolate, water-covered, darkness-engulfed incident such as seen in Genesis 1:2, the remedy is light. To a raging masses, fuming with toxic desperateness for the dawning of a new era—such as the Nigerian situation, the remedy is light. To chaotic kingdoms having divided against self and on the brink of falling, the remedy is light. To troubled households plagued with unhealthy sibling rivalry, the remedy is light. To all manner of threatening evils, and all things whatsoever that are in contrast to the perfectness and values of the Holy God, the unfailing remedy is light. This light is what yields a profound knowledge that breeds a desperately sought-after, coveted, unmatched clarity.

ABSTRACT

There is an impostor in dreamland. Could be male, could be female. It’s uncertain. Dictionaries define impostors as persons who make deceitful pretenses. That definition readily gives the idea that the fiendish character in dreamland is in the habit of assuming false appearances with the intention to deceive. The thing, however, about this impostor is that it goes beyond giving false appearances to assuming diverse forms of various living creatures. On one occasion it is a man. On another, a woman. On another, an animal. Yet, on another occasion, it is something unexplainable. For that reason, it is referred to—as “it” in this piece, as its true identity is pending revelation, though not for long anymore. It plays the victim and makes everyone else appear as villains. It aims to stir dreamers into fighting those who’ve been made to appear as villains. There is no avenue it doesn’t employ to see to those fights. It seems like a powerful being, extremely manipulative. All it clamors for is power. No good intentions except to coerce all and sundry to bow at its feet. A damaged soul…on a hunt for pure beings to take possession of—and institute some sort of devilish government. It is more like a restless demon in desert regions seeking an abode in the human body. And it has its eyes on the dreamer as its next catch. It’s been crisscrossing generations, being something of a household deity that isn’t interested in expiring. The only avenue through which it extends its existence is dreams. Thriving on the ignorance and innocence of its victim, it sets a dreamer on a wild goose chase…a bloody game that sets the naïve dreamer on a merry-go-round state of affairs in the real world.

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INTRODUCTION

Suddenly, one goes to bed to rest the soul, only for the soul to get thrust into unfamiliar realms where the worst of situations play out…mostly against the dreamer. It continues for what seems like ages, and the dreamer gets lost as to what has become of him. It sets its preying eyes on the family’s next of kin who innocently goes about his/her business, knowing nothing whatsoever about the monster in the family who sabotages lives/destinies just to reign endlessly. It takes pride in referring to itself as “infinix,” a phrase that portrays it as being indispensable. The tactic by which it has managed to reign for this long is fraud, deception, and even murder. In the family, there have been mysterious deaths for so long that no one could explain them. Turns out it’s been the doing of this so-called “infinix.” But this time, something went wrong. The secret was exposed, probably by the “infinix” itself, its reason being that it sought to bring to light—the “darkness that has prevailed for so long.” But in essence, it is the darkness itself. Its strategy is to project its woes to those it seeks to get out of the way so it can reign. It manipulates its victims into settling for a path of life they have nothing to do with—by God’s original plan. The next of kin is supposed to be the king. But infinix doesn’t want another king to reign except it. So it keeps taking out true heirs. A psychopath!

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FOUL MOTIVE

Therefore, when the time comes for another king to assume the throne, this self-acclaimed “god” comes up with means by which to break the heir’s spirit and soul, then comes forth to proffer a supposed remedy to the damage by wangling the heir’s mind to make him/her believe that he/she is supposed to be a priest. What happens is that, when the heir falls into the deception and plays the priest’s role, the impostor gets reinstituted as king. It got to the dreamer’s turn, and unluckily for the impostor, God intervened. Plus, getting the dreamer to buy into the sham of playing a priest’s role has been an impossible task. More so, as it appears, no one wants the impostor on the throne anymore. But it seeks to impose itself on people by murdering those with knowledge of its systematic trickery which has secured it the throne for decades. Having the dreamer on its list as next in line has been a disaster. This is because the dreamer believes himself to possess gifts and talents capable of making him the world’s greatest. The impostor leveraged those gifts to pull off what it most likely considers its con of cons, and the dreamer has had to pay for being a tool through which such global deception was pulled. Wielding the microphone under the guise of discharging priestly duties—as a means of further paying for being that tool, is an absolute no for the dreamer. Ironically, not even these gifts and talents have afforded the dreamer a decent living, notwithstanding the biblical position that a man’s gifts make room for him and bring him before eminent persons. Many things are now coming to light, and this seeming puzzle will no doubt be one of them.

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THE PLAGUE (ANTIQUITY)

The dreamer had been in this position from childhood. It had been a plague that absolutely no one could remedy…not even the most renowned problem solvers he had come across. It got more tragic when the plague became common knowledge to all and sundry, yet no problem solver could still come to his aid. Not a single soul. Rather, relegation to the sidelines became a welcome resort. None seems to owe the dreamer an explanation. Yet, folks wouldn’t leave him alone to himself. All they want to do is “pass instructions” to the dreamer, “teach” the dreamer or get the dreamer to do things he isn’t in the least bit interested in doing. They literally all want to “run the dreamer’s life” and dictate the course of his destiny, making it seem like he’s indebted to them or something of that sort. But never for once has any fellow confronted the dreamer about any such affair. Instead, when the dreamer inquires about what’s going on, he’s given the impression that absolutely nothing is going on, and even if something was going on, it’s got nothing to do with him. All they want is for the dreamer to become an obedient dog or a robot. Neither wanting to be any, the seemingly lost dreamer tows the path of isolation, wanting nothing to do with the outside world of no helpers. So he does all he knows to do and has been doing thus far: running.

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THE SITUATION (SHEER WICKEDNESS)

The dreamer is at a point where not a single person is interested in his likes and dislikes, well-being, or anything that matters to him. Certain groups, persons, and even fraternities tend to have roles intended for the dreamer to play upon his being nabbed. But these roles are mediocre positions, last places, only fitting for the dumbest of the dumb. Why it is now intended to be plunged on the smartest of the smart is questionable. A sheer wickedness to be mated on the dreamer by insecure wannabe masters who can’t stand being outshone by one who isn’t at all interested in outshining anyone. This dreamer is a loner who only has his gifts and talents to show for his over three decades of existence. But having shown himself to the world and displayed his talents, he stirred all kinds of resentment, envy, and other manifestations of insecurity by many men who seem to delight in messing with the times and chances of other men. So he quits the merry-go-rounds and wild goose chases…then sets off on a marathon, a footrace with no finish line, a contest most suiting for an abstract contender who has spent years doing nothing but hunting the dreamer. It is said that “if the bird has learned to fly without perching, the hunter also learns to shoot without missing.” The dreamer has gotten past flying without perching, no thanks to his hunter who’s undergone training classes on shooting without missing. Now the dreamer isn’t just flying without perching. He is flying incognito, unseen anymore by his relentless stalker whose gun now aims for space, as he chases after the wind…a fruitless exploit that will become nothing but a fairytale to heirs who would’ve been victim to it. Whatever has a beginning, has an end. This impostor began its shenanigan at some point and was sure to end at some point. This is that point…a happy ending, as “better is the end of a matter than the beginning thereof.”

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COMPLEXITY

The dreamer is not one to play to another man’s gallery, not to mention being at another man’s beck and call. The thing about his stalker is that it is masked, otherwise, the dreamer would have banished it to desert regions where it belongs. The stalker knows this. The dreamer is everything it isn’t. What the stalking impostor seeks is to once again leverage the dreamer’s gifts and talents to bamboozle audiences like the trickster it is infamously known to be. But now it seems like something of a repentant devil, seeking to restitute by playing Apostle Paul on low-budget Ephesians and Corinthians and Romans. Quite unlike Apostle Paul, missionary journeys aren’t welcome in its world. It seeks to establish a sort of kingdom where it superintends over hypnotized congregants as a “god” …only that this time, the object of bamboozlement isn’t limited to colorful eloquence and illusionary stage performances. It’s also the Word of God that was in the beginning. There is doubt, however, as it pertains to the impostor’s motive in this seeming revolutionary path of his. There is the letter of the Word and there is the Spirit of the Word. Of these, the bible clearly states that “the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.” On the off-chance that the impostor is given the benefit of a doubt and allowed to follow through with its self-imposed sacred ministry, what is the guarantee that what it feeds his hypnotized congregants won’t be the letter of the word?

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CONCLUSION

The dreamer, a star in a class of his own, isn’t interested in being an audience to any necromancer, let alone being instrumental to its necromancy. So he determines to do everything within his power to exempt himself from the resolute course of the imposter to have him initiated into its sacred-shrewd dealings. So he runs, runs, and would not stop running. Someday he will, when the impostor must have been nabbed and sentenced accordingly. Even Jesus fled Jerusalem to keep from being murdered by Herod, only to return upon Herod’s death. Many others did the same…David for instance—when he fled from Saul. It was upon Saul’s death that he returned to Israel to assume the throne…just as had been declared by the prophet Samuel. The destiny of the impostor is certain: a wanderer whose only duty is to chase and hunt down the blessed dreamer. But God is watching. He that sits in the heavens shall laugh, seemingly unconcerned about the idiotic state of affairs. Howbeit, one day He’ll roar, and the impostor shall be put in its place once and for all. As for the dreamer, well, such a blessed soul he is. A success!

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©Jezuzboi, 2022.

CONCLUSION

And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. And there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven. And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together, and were confused, because everyone heard them speak in his own language. Then they were all amazed and marveled, saying to one another, "Look, are not all these who speak Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each in our own language in which we were born? Parthians and Medes and Elamites, those dwelling in Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya adjoining Cyrene, visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs—we hear them speaking in our own tongues the wonderful works of God." So they were all amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, "Whatever could this mean?"

Others mocking said, "They are full of new wine." But Peter, standing up with the eleven, raised his voice and said to them, "Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and heed my words. For these are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: 'And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your young men shall see visions, Your old men shall dream dreams. And on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days; And they shall prophesy. I will show wonders in heaven above And signs in the earth beneath: Blood and fire and vapor of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, And the moon into blood, Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the LORD.

And it shall come to pass That whoever calls on the name of the LORD Shall be saved.' "Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know—Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death; whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it. For David says concerning Him: 'I foresaw the LORD always before my face, For He is at my right hand, that I may not be shaken. Therefore, my heart rejoiced, and my tongue was glad; Moreover, my flesh also will rest in hope. For You will not leave my soul in Hades, nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption. You have made known to me the ways of life; You will make me full of joy in Your presence.' "Men and brethren, let me speak freely to you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day.

Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body, according to the flesh, He would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne, he, foreseeing this, spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ, that His soul was not left in Hades, nor did His flesh see corruption. This Jesus God has raised up; of which we are all witnesses. Therefore, being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you now see and hear. "For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he says himself: 'The LORD said to my Lord, "Sit at My right hand, Till I make Your enemies Your footstool.

Therefore, let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ." Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, "Men and brethren, what shall we do?" Then Peter said to them, "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call." And with many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, "Be saved from this perverse generation." Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them.

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And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.

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@Jezuzboi, 2021.

THE VERDICT

Wow! So after all this time, here I am, about to hear the verdict of my adventure read to me. No doubts—it’s been a journey well-traveled, an adventure well-explored, A ROAD WELL CONQUERED. Oops! I better be careful there before I again get too forward to see forever from yesterday. Nonetheless, if I have nothing else to my credit, I’ll at least have all these people to show for my effort. Look at them! I thought I was being greedy in my accumulation of those scriptural blessings upon which my life and destiny are now being founded. But these people…these people…they can’t seem to get enough. They’re going for every gift of the Spirit, an understanding of kingdom mysteries, grace to adhere to kingdom principles, greatness! So beautiful. Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good and His mercies endure forever!”

“INDEED, HIS MERCIES ENDURE FOREVER…THE MERCY THAT HAS REWRITTEN YOUR LIFE, KEPT YOU FROM BEING CONSUMED, REDEEMED YOU FROM LAWFUL CAPTIVITY, PREPARED A TABLE BEFORE YOU IN THE PRESENCE OF YORU ENEMIES, AND HAS NOW SET BEFORE YOU AN OPEN DOOR WHICH NO MAN CAN SHUT.

“Really?”

“YOU HAVE BEEN ENTRUSTED WITH THESE ONES WHOSE LIVES HAVE BEEN REDEEMED FROM THE PIT ALONGSIDE YOURS. LIKE MOSES, YOU ARE REQUIRED TO LEAD THEM TO CANAAN…THAT PROMISED LAND YOU HAD SET OUT TO JOURNEY TO: HEAVEN.”

“Wow!”

“BUT, DO NOT IMAGINE THAT HEAVEN IS YOUR NEXT PORT OF CALL. HEAVEN IS YOUR LAST IF YOU DO NOT STUMBLE ALONG THE WAY AND FALL. THE WILL OF THE LORD MUST BE DONE ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN, AND YOU HAVE WON A SPOT AMONGST THOSE WHO SERVE AS AGENCIES BY WHICH THAT WILL MUST BE DONE. AFTER THAT, YOU’RE WELCOME TO HEAVEN…YOU AND THE SONS THAT HAVE BEEN GIVEN TO YOU…FOR SIGNS AND WONDERS.”

“Sons? Me?”

“DO NOT LET ANYONE LOOK DOWN ON YOU BECAUSE YOU ARE YOUNG, BUT BE AN EXAMPLE FOR THE BELIEVERS IN YOUR SPEECH, YOUR CONDUCT, YOUR LOVE, FAITH, AND PURITY.”

“I… I… I don’t know what more to say.”

“IF YOU’VE NOTICED, THERE’S STILL ENOUGH TO GO AROUND ON THE TABLE. THOUGH YOU AND THESE PEOPLE HAVE DONE WELL IN AMASSING FOR YOURSELVES AS MANY OF ABRAHAM’S BLESSINGS AS YOU CAN, YOU HAVE NOT COME CLOSE TO SCRATCHING THE SURFACE. IT’S GOING TO TAKE ALL OF HUMANITY, BOTH THE LIVING AND THE DEAD, TO SCRATCH THE SURFACE OF THESE BLESSINGS. AND THESE BLESSINGS UP FOR GRABS.”

“What am I supposed to do?

“WHEN YOU EXIT THIS REALM AND ADVANCE THROUGH THE OPEN DOOR THAT HAS BEEN SET BEFORE YOU, IT IS EXPECTED OF YOU TO DISPENSE THEM TO AS MANY AS YOU CAN…EVEN TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH.”

“How am I supposed to do that? Get people to embark on another adventure here with me?”

“THIS IS NOT AN ADVENTURE YOU EMBARK ON—TWICE. YOU’VE MADE IT TO THE BUFFET. AND, GIVEN THE DESTINY YOU HAVE CHOSEN, IT BEHOLDS ON YOU TO REPRODUCE YOURSELF. YOU ARE NOW A WALKING BUFFET. THOSE AROUND YOU DO NOT NEED TO COME HERE LIKE YOU HAVE—TO DECIDE THEIR FATE AND DESTINY. IT IS YOUR PLACE TO DISPENSE IT TO THEM IN WORD, IN DEED, AND OTHERWISE. YOU HAVE BEEN GIVEN ALL THE SKILLS.”

“Seems like there’s going to be a lot of work to do.”

“YOU ASKED FOR IT, REMEMBER? YOU ASKED FOR IT WHEN YOU CONCEIVED THAT REVOLUTIONARY IDEA THAT STIRRED UP UPROAR 2023, WHEN YOU ENVISIONED A GLORY INVASION IN 9-MINUTES, AND WHEN YOU BECKONED ON THE UNIVERSE, EXTENDING AN INVITE THAT SAYS: ‘LET’S GO TO HEAVEN.’ NOW YOU HAVE IT. AND YOU’VE GATHERED YOUR FIRST SET OF PILGRIMS HERE. THE REST OF THEM AWAIT YOU IN THE EARTH REALM. BE SURE OF THIS, THAT YOU ARE LIKELY TO MEET THE KIND OF CHALLENGE CAPTURED IN LUKE 14:16-23 WHICH SAYS:

“A CERTAIN MAN GAVE A GREAT SUPPER AND INVITED MANY, AND SENT HIS SERVANT AT SUPPER TIME TO SAY TO THOSE WHO WERE INVITED, 'COME, FOR ALL THINGS ARE NOW READY.' BUT THEY ALL WITH ONE ACCORD BEGAN TO MAKE EXCUSES. THE FIRST SAID TO HIM, 'I HAVE BOUGHT A PIECE OF GROUND, AND I MUST GO AND SEE IT. I ASK YOU TO HAVE ME EXCUSED.' AND ANOTHER SAID, 'I HAVE BOUGHT FIVE YOKE OF OXEN, AND I AM GOING TO TEST THEM. I ASK YOU TO HAVE ME EXCUSED.' STILL, ANOTHER SAID, 'I HAVE MARRIED A WIFE, AND THEREFORE I CANNOT COME.' SO THAT SERVANT CAME AND REPORTED THESE THINGS TO HIS MASTER. THEN THE MASTER OF THE HOUSE, BEING ANGRY, SAID TO HIS SERVANT, 'GO OUT QUICKLY INTO THE STREETS AND LANES OF THE CITY, AND BRING IN HERE THE POOR AND THE MAIMED AND THE LAME AND THE BLIND.' AND THE SERVANT SAID, 'MASTER, IT IS DONE AS YOU COMMANDED, AND STILL THERE IS ROOM.' THEN THE MASTER SAID TO THE SERVANT, 'GO OUT INTO THE HIGHWAYS AND HEDGES, AND COMPEL THEM TO COME IN, THAT MY HOUSE MAY BE FILLED.”

“Does that mean I’m going to be a priest?”

“YOU ARE A CHOSEN GENERATION, A ROYAL PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, HIS SPECIAL PEOPLE, THAT YOU MAY PROCLAIM THE PRAISES OF HIM WHO CALLED YOU OUT OF DARKNESS INTO HIS MARVELOUS LIGHT. YOU HAVE BEEN MADE A KING AND A PRIEST TO YOUR GOD AND FATHER. THE VERDICT OF YOUR ADVENTURE IS PREDICATED UPON THE LONGINGS OF YOUR HEART THAT DREW YOU HERE, THE COMMENDABLENESS OF YOUR JOURNEY, AND THE GENUINENESS OF YOUR MOTIVES IN THE CHOOSING OF YOUR FATE AND DESTINY. HAVING MIXED ALL THESE FACTORS AND PASSED THEM THROUGH FIRE AS GOLD, HERE COMES THE CULMINATION THEREOF:”

“Okay? I’m nervous. I’m listening. I’m nervously listening.”

“AS YOU GO ABOUT DOING ALL YOU ARE TO DO WHEN YOU EXIT THIS REALM—AS I HAVE ALREADY MENTIONED TO YOU—IT SHALL BE THAT THE SUMMATION OF YOUR LIFE AND DESTINY SHALL BE JUST AS YOU HAVE ALWAYS ENVISIONED: GLORY…AN INVASION OF GLORY…A GLORY INVASION.”

“Glory invasion in 9-minutes! I knew it! I knew it! They doubted me! But I was sure of it!”

“AND YOU WILL HAVE YOUR PROVERBS 31 PREGNANT FIRST LADY RIGHT BY YOUR SIDE TO GIVE YOU THE SUPPORT YOU’LL NEED TO DISCHARGE YOUR RESPONSIBILITIES. YOU HAVE EARNED YOURSELF A VOICE…A VOICE IN YOUR GENERATION.”

“Voice in my generation! Yes! Yes! Yes!”

“GOD BE WITH YOU, YOUNG SHEPHERD, AND SEE YOU THROUGH IT ALL UNTIL WE MEET AGAIN…IN HEAVEN—BY HIS GRACE. NOW, PREPARE TO GO HOME, YOU AND THESE PEOPLE, LIKE YOU DESPERATELY CRAVED.”

“Wait! Wait! You haven’t told me your name. Please, tell me who you are. I need to know who guided me through the roughest adventure of my life. Who are you?”

“DO YOU REMEMBER THE STORY OF JEHOAHAZ IN 2ND KINGS 13:1; THE SON OF JEHU WHO BECAME KING OVER ISRAEL IN SAMARIA?”

“Yes. He reigned seventeen years and he did evil in the sight of the Lord and followed the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who had made Israel sin. He did not depart from them.”

“EXACTLY. THEN THE ANGER OF THE LORD WAS AROUSED AGAINST ISRAEL, AND HE DELIVERED THEM INTO THE HAND OF HAZAEL KING OF SYRIA, AND INTO THE HAND OF BEN-HADAD THE SON OF HAZAEL, ALL THEIR DAYS.”

“But Jehoahaz pleaded with the Lord, and the Lord listened to him; for He saw the oppression of Israel, because the king of Syria oppressed them.”

“AND WHAT HAPPENED NEXT? DO YOU REMEMBER?”

“The Lord gave Israel a deliverer so that they escaped from under the hand of the Syrians; and the children of Israel dwelt in their tents as before.”

“THE LORD GAVE ISRAEL A DELIVERER. A DELIVERER. DELIVERER.”

“Are you… are you… a deliverer? The deliverer? That very deliverer?”

“I HAVE BEEN YOUR DELIVERER…YOU AND THESE ONES WHO THROUGH YOU HAVE SEEN LIGHT AGAIN. NOW IT’S TIME FOR YOU ALL TO GO BACK AND DWELL IN YOUR TENTS AGAIN.”

“But…but…this whole process was made easy with you to guide me through. Would it be too much to ask that you never leave? That you stay on with me to guide me all the more?”

“WHAT DID THE SON OF MAN SAY TO HIS DISCIPLES SHORTLY BEFORE EXITING THE EARTH REALM? HE SAID SOMETHING ABOUT A COMFORTER. WHAT WAS IT AGAIN?”

“And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever. When He, the Spirit of truth has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.”

“THERE YOU GO! YOU HAVE ALL YOU NEED. MORE THAN ENOUGH! YOU DON’T NEED ME OVER THERE. THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH WILL BE THERE WITH YOU, EVEN UNTO THE END OF THE WORLD. GOODBYE NOW, YOUNG SHEPHERD. GO AND MANIFEST IN AN OVERFLOWING DIMENSION. BE A VOICE INDEED TO YOUR GENERATION.”

-----

VOICE IN MY GENERATION

When I stand before the mirror,
I’m more than the image I see.
I may not look like a hero,
But I’m a treasure in an earthen vessel.

A Hero lives in me,
He makes me be like Him.
I am His, He is mine,
And we are one.

I am beautiful.
I am saved.
I am favored.
My destiny’s secure.

I am a miracle,
Going to somewhere to happen.
I am a sign,
I am a wonder.

I am a;
Voice in my generation.

-----

EARTH

“NOW, THEREFORE, YOU ARE NO LONGER STRANGERS AND FOREIGNERS, BUT FELLOW CITIZENS WITH THE SAINTS AND MEMBERS OF THE HOUSEHOLD OF GOD, HAVING BEEN BUILT ON THE FOUNDATION OF THE APOSTLES AND PROPHETS, JESUS CHRIST HIMSELF BEING THE CHIEF CORNERSTONE, IN WHOM THE WHOLE BUILDING, BEING FITTED TOGETHER, GROWS INTO A HOLY TEMPLE IN THE LORD, IN WHOM YOU ALSO ARE BEING BUILT TOGETHER FOR A DWELLING PLACE OF GOD IN THE SPIRIT.”

“Deliverer? Is that you? Did you cross over with us? You crossed over with us! You said you wouldn’t, but you did!”

“NO LONGER DO I CALL YOU SERVANTS, FOR A SERVANT DOES NOT KNOW WHAT HIS MASTER IS DOING; BUT I HAVE CALLED YOU FRIENDS, FOR ALL THINGS THAT I HEARD FROM MY FATHER I HAVE MADE KNOWN TO YOU.”

“You sound different. Is that you, deliverer?”

“LISTEN, IF YOU ABIDE IN ME, AND MY WORDS ABIDE IN YOU, YOU WILL ASK WHAT YOU DESIRE, AND IT SHALL BE DONE FOR YOU.”

“Certainly, this is not you. This is not your voice. Who is this, please?”

“I AM THE WAY, THE TRUTH, AND THE LIFE. NO ONE COMES TO THE FATHER EXCEPT THROUGH ME.”

“Jesus! Savior! Jesus my Savior!”

“IN MY FATHER'S HOUSE ARE MANY MANSIONS. I GO TO PREPARE A PLACE FOR YOU. AND IF I GO AND PREPARE A PLACE FOR YOU, I WILL COME AGAIN AND RECEIVE YOU TO MYSELF; THAT WHERE I AM, THERE YOU MAY BE ALSO. GO THEREFORE AND MAKE DISCIPLES OF ALL THE NATIONS, BAPTIZING THEM IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER AND OF THE SON AND OF THE HOLY SPIRIT, TEACHING THEM TO OBSERVE ALL THINGS THAT I HAVE COMMANDED YOU; AND LO, I AM WITH YOU ALWAYS, EVEN TO THE END OF THE AGE. MY PEACE I GIVE TO YOU; NOT AS THE WORLD GIVES DO I GIVE TO YOU. LET NOT YOUR HEART BE TROUBLED, NEITHER LET IT BE AFRAID. THESE THINGS I HAVE SPOKEN TO YOU, THAT IN ME YOU MAY HAVE PEACE. IN THE WORLD YOU WILL HAVE TRIBULATION; BUT BE OF GOOD CHEER, I HAVE OVERCOME THE WORLD.”

“Thank You, Jesus!”

“BEHOLD, I SEND THE PROMISE OF MY FATHER UPON YOU. YOU SHALL RECEIVE POWER WHEN THE HOLY SPIRIT HAS COME UPON YOU, AND YOU SHALL BE WITNESSES TO ME IN ALL COUNTRIES, AND IN ALL CONTINENTS, AND TO THE END OF THE EARTH. NOW, RECEIVE THE HOLY SPIRIT!”

“Shalabaragobegedosh!”

“IT IS FINISHED. IT IS DONE.”

“Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders,
Let me walk upon the waters,
Wherever You would call me.

Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander,
And my faith will be made stronger,
In the presence of my Savior.”

THE BUFFET

“Brightness! Brilliance! Light rays! Serenity! Glitters! Sparkles! Clouds! Mists! Shooting stars and lightning flashes! Winds! Tongues of fire! Excellency of glory and splendor! Indescribable majesty! Rivers of flaming fire. Appearances of the sun! This place, whiter than much snow. What is this place? The banquet? All this allurement just for a dining place? Look! Suspended little glittery diamonds. Aren’t those Cherubim? Fiery cherubim! This is a place like no other. Not even Solomon’s palace compares to this in majesty. If this is where I get stuck in this adventure, I might as well be a happy captive. If this isn’t heaven, it’s heaven’s gate, indeed!”

“UNFORTUNATELY, THERE’S NO GETTING STUCK ANY FURTHER. YOU HAVE MADE IT TO THE BUFFET. THERE’S ONLY GOING FORWARD FROM HERE. WHETHER YOU PROCEED FROM HERE WITH A TRUCKLOAD OF BLESSINGS OR A HANDFUL OF GIFTS, IT’S DEPENDENT ON YOU. THIS IS WHERE YOU DECIDE YOUR DESTINY. THIS IS WHERE YOU CHOOSE YOUR FATE. THIS IS WHERE YOU CORRECT YOUR MISTAKES AND DETERMINE THE COURSE OF YOUR FUTURE. YOUR WHOLE LIFE NOW LIES BEFORE YOU. GRAB THE RUDDER, THEREFORE, AND STEER IT IN WHATEVER DIRECTION YOU SO PLEASE. NO HOLDS BARRED.”

“I don’t seem to follow. Isn’t this supposed to be a buffet where I get to serve myself any meal of my choice? But you’re talking about blessings and gifts and destiny and all. I don’t get it.”

“THIS IS A BUFFET INDEED…ONLY THAT WHAT IS SERVED HERE AREN’T MEALS…LIKE YOU EXPECTED.”

“What?”

“EXACTLY. HAVE YOU WONDERED YOU HAVEN’T BEEN HUNGRY ALL THIS TIME? AGAIN, HAVE YOU WONDERED WHY YOU HAVE ONLY BEEN THIRSTY?”

“What about that?”

“BECAUSE THE BUFFET IS ONLY MEANT TO QUENCH THIRST, NOT HUNGER.”

“So, all I do here is drink, drink, and drink?”

“YES.”

“Oh! I see. So much for a long-sought buffet. Do we get to drink anything else besides water?”

“NO.”

“Oh, for Christ’s sake! Tell me it’s not true! All that gloomy excursion just to get rewarded with volumes of water at heaven’s gate?”

“YES. JUST NOT THE WATER YOU’RE THINKING.”

“What other water could there be besides H2o?”

“LIVING WATER. THE ONE YOU DRINK AND NEVER GET THIRSTY AGAIN.”

“Living water? Isn’t that… Isn’t that… Chri…”

“NOW LISTEN, AS I PUT YOU THROUGH THE MODUS OPERANDI OF THIS FINAL STAGE OF YOUR ADVENTURE. DISPERSED ALL OVER THIS ABODE ARE SCRIPTURE UPON SCRIPTURE UPON SCRIPTURE. IN THE BEGINNING WAS THE WORD, AND THE WORD WAS WITH GOD, AND THE WORD WAS GOD. THE EARTH AND EVERYTHING IN IT WERE CREATED WITH WORDS…GOD’S WORD. AND HE CREATED MAN AND GAVE HIM THE LEVERAGE TO DO THE SAME: TO CREATE THE WORLD AROUND THEM WITH WORDS…THE WORD OF GOD. YOU ARE HERE TODAY BECAUSE OF THE WORDS YOU UTTERED. SADLY, NOT ALL WERE SCRIPTURE-BASED. BUT THERE WAS A RICH CAPTURING OF GOD’S WORD IN YOUR UTTERANCE, MIXED WITH MANY OTHER WORDS THAT ARE BELIEVED TO HAVE BEEN BORNE OUT OF QUESTIONABLE MOTIVES. SO YOU HAD TO BE DRAWN DOWN HERE TO HAVE YOUR HEART TESTED…TO ASCERTAIN THE AUTHENTICITY OF YOUR MOTIVES BECAUSE TALK IS CHEAP.

“YOU CAN AFFORD TO BAMBOOZLE THE WORLD WITH DECEITFUL WORDS, THUS WINNING APPROVAL AND RISING TO A SPHERE OF INFLUENCE WHERE THE BAMBOOZLEMENT CONTINUES—TO THE DETRIMENT OF THE UNSUSPECTING. NOW YOU HAVE PROVEN BEYOND REASONABLE DOUBT THAT YOUR MOUTH INDEED MADE THOSE DECLARATIONS OUT OF THE ABUNDANCE OF YOUR HEART. THE PRIZE FOR UNDERGOING THIS TEST IS THE ABSOLUTE LIBERTY TO WRITE YOUR DESTINY WITH YOUR OWN HANDS. OF COURSE, THERE CAN BE NO FALSEHOOD IN THIS REALM. HENCE, WHATEVER FATE YOU DECIDE FOR YOURSELF IS BORNE OUT OF THE DEEPEST LONGING OF YOUR HEART, AS WHATEVER ISN’T FROM THE HEART CANNOT BE DESIGNATED.

“LOOK! YOUR PEOPLE. THEY HAVE ALREADY STARTED DECIDING THEIR DESTINIES. AS I WAS EXPLAINING TO YOU, THEY WERE GAINING AND UNDERSTANDING OF WHAT IS EXPECTED OF THEM.”

“I can see what they’re picking. Salvation-based scriptures. They all want to be saved!”

“I WOULDN’T EXPECT LESS FROM THEM. IT IS SAID THAT EVERYONE IN HELL IS A BELIEVER. BEING STUCK IN GLOOM FOR SO LONG WITH NO HOPE OF REDEMPTION—WILL AWAKEN YOUR SENSES TO THE ULTIMATE NEED FOR SALVATION. IF THOSE IN HELL GOT THIS SAME OFFER, WHAT DO YOU THINK THEY WILL GO FOR—AS A MATTER OF UTMOST IMPORTANCE?”

“Salvation indeed!”

“CORRECT ANSWER. RUN ALONG, NOW. JOIN THEM. THE CLOCK IS TICKING. MAKING IT TO THE BUFFET DOESN’T STOP THE CLOCK FROM TICKING. IF YOU WAIT AROUND SO LONG WITHOUT DOING THE NEEDFUL, YOU WILL GET PLUNGED BACK TO YOUR ORIGINAL ABODE…TO LIVE A LIFE VOID OF EVERYTHING YOU HAD THE CHANCE TO SECURE FOR YOURSELF, BUT WOULDN’T. HERE IS THE WATER YOU’VE BEEN SO THIRSTY FOR. THE LIVING WATER. GENESIS TO REVELATION. DRINK AS MUCH AS YOU CAN. BUILD YOUR LIFE AND DESTINY WITH SCRIPTURE UPON SCRIPTURE UNTIL THE PERSON YOU’VE ALWAYS ENVISIONED YOURSELF TO BE IS FORMED. GOD’S SPEED!”

“Wow! I can’t believe that this isn’t a dream. Look at all these people. They’re talking now. Smiling lovingly at each other. Helping each other in the building of their lives and destinies. So adorable. They all want to be saved. Look at the women. They all want to be the Proverbs 31 wives…and the men all want to be the husbands of the Proverbs 31 wives. They’re all going for a lifetime of dedication to the purposes of God. They all want to love God with all their hearts. To love each other as they love themselves. To belong to the household of faith. Look! They’re all opting for intimacy with the Holy Spirit…heaven being their primary goal.

“It’s high time I joined the band and do the needful before I run out of time. I didn’t come this far to come this far. Therefore, let it begin! Where do I start? Where do I… Yes! Wisdom is the principal thing. In all thy getting, get understanding. I’ll start from there. Let it be unto me like it was to King Solomon in 1st Kings 3:12-14 as a response to his request for wisdom, for it was said to him: ‘Behold, I have done according to your words; see, I have given you a wise and understanding heart, so that there has not been anyone like you before you, nor shall any like you arise after you. And I have also given you what you have not asked: both riches and honor so that there shall not be anyone like you among the kings all your days. If you walk in My ways, to keep My statutes and My commandments, I will lengthen your days.’”

“So that I do not end up like King Solomon who became spiritually complacent after God had fulfilled all His promise to him—thereby falling from grace, I complement the missing link that drove king Solomon into error with 1st Samuel 2:35 where a similar situation was remedied thus: ‘then I will raise for Myself a faithful priest who shall do according to what is in My heart and My mind. I will build him a sure house, and he shall walk before My anointed forever.’ In walking with God forever, I crave Enoch’s dimension of intimacy with God, thus described in Genesis 5:24: ‘and Enoch walked in habitual fellowship with God; and he was not, for God took him home with Him.’ I long to further strengthen this intimacy with the fire of Elijah’s secret place, applauded thus by the Apostle James: ‘Elijah was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months.’ Oh God, this is amazing! I’m loving it!”

“I know for certain that it is God’s will to bless me all-round. But there are many whose hearts shifted from God to the blessings after being blessed. For that to not be my testimony under any circumstance, I reach for 3rd John 1:2 where God wishes above all things that I prosper and be in health, even as my soul prospers. In light of that, I beseech You Lord to only prosper me financially and otherwise in proportion to the prosperity of my soul, that I may not end up gaining the whole world and losing my dear soul. Even as I lay up for myself treasures in heaven this day—where neither moth nor rust destroys; and where thieves do not break in and steal, let it be that where my treasure is, my heart will be also. (Matthew 6:20-21).

“As much as I admire the flawlessness of Jesus while He was on earth; and would love to be no different, the truth remains that temptations will come…for even the revered apostle Paul remarks thus in Romans 7:19: ‘for the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice.’ Therefore, let it be onto me according to Romans 14:4—that You, whose servant I am…it is to You that I stand or fall. And indeed I will be made to stand, for You, my God, are able to make me stand. Calling to mind all my afflictions from childhood, I reach for the complete deliverance in Mark 9:25 where a demon was cast out of a young man who had been possessed by the demon from Childhood. Even when it’s a spiritual norm for demons to again seek to possess a body they had been cast out of (if it remains empty), Jesus had defied the odds for this boy, for He thus declared to the demon: ‘thou dumb and deaf spirit, I charge thee, come out of him and enter no more into him.’ Emphasis on ‘enter no more into him.’ Oh Lord!

“Again calling to mind my rank as a seed of the woman—destined to bruise the head of the serpent, I reach for Luke 10:19 and receive power to tread on serpents, scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: that nothing should by any means hurt me. I set my eyes on Romans 8:28-31 and many questions flood my mind all at once. Hasn’t God caused all things to work together for my good because I love Him and I’m called according to His purpose? Am I not he whom He foreknew? Am I not he whom He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son? that I might be the firstborn among many brethren? Moreover, him whom He predestined, didn’t He also call? He whom He called, didn’t He also justify? And he whom He justified, didn’t He also glorify? What then shall I say to these things? If God is for me, who can be against me?

“As much as I would love to skip God’s initial dialogue with the prophet Jeremiah, a strong pull makes it impossible to do so…for God had said to him: ‘Before I formed you in the womb I knew you. Before you were born, I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations. Do not be afraid of their faces, for I am with you to deliver you. See, I have this day set you over the nations and the kingdoms, to root out and to pull down, to destroy and to throw down, to build and to plant: (Jeremiah chapter 1 verses 5, 8, and 10). Jeez! Isn’t this getting too much? I better wrap up before I end up biting more than I can chew. Having come this far, I might as well covet the faith of certain uncommon men, thus spoken of in Hebrews 11:32‭-‬34:‬‬‬‬

“For time will fail me if I tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets, who by faith [that is, with an enduring trust in God and His promises] subdued kingdoms, administered justice, obtained promised blessings, closed the mouths of lions, extinguished the power of raging fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became mighty and unbeatable in battle, putting enemy forces to flight.”

“There is none like You, Lord. No one else can touch my heart as You do. I have searched through all eternity…and found: there is none like You. Therefore, as long as I live, I, in line with 1st Corinthians 12:13, choose the way of the Lord, to remain baptized into the body of Christ by the Holy Spirit…as the scripture says: ‘for by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.’ And like the apostle Paul in Philippians 3:8, ‘I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ.’ Amen! Amen! And Amen!

“And Jabez called on the God of Israel saying, ‘Oh, that You would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that Your hand would be with me, and that You would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain! So God granted him what he requested:’ (1st Chronicles 4:10). This moment, it is not Jabez—but I, who fills this prayer request in this blank cheque of mine, this buffet…adding that as David went from being a bush boy to being a palace big boy, even so—may I go from being the bush boy that I am today—to becoming a big boy…not the usual big boy, but a real big boy, such as I’d made plain on tablets in an essay I titled: THE REAL BIG BOYS (RICHES & GLORY). These blessings are just too much—I’m tempted to go on and on.

“Just as Laban was blessed on account of Jacob, may Laban’s words be the testimony of whoever I’m privileged to serve or partner with—in any capacity, as seen in Genesis 30:27: ‘…I have learned by experience that the Lord has blessed me for your sake.’ Likewise, may the testament of Potiphar in Genesis 39:5 be the case with such persons: ‘…the Lord blessed the Egyptian's house for Joseph's sake; and the blessing of the Lord was upon all that he had in the house, and in the field.’ Just like Joseph, I proceed from prison to palace on account of gifts, for a man's gift makes room for him, and brings him before great men: (Proverbs 18:16). In all these, I covet the excellent Spirit in Daniel 6:3: ‘then this Daniel distinguished himself above the governors and satraps because an excellent spirit was in him; and the king gave thought to set him over the whole realm.’ And this is where I draw the curtain!”

“BEAUTIFUL! BEAUTIFUL! BEAUTIFUL!”

“Oh, I forgot to grab two very important blessings. Can I go again?”

“YOU STILL HAVE TIME. WHY NOT?”

“The 1st Corinthians 13 love as the vehicle by which I navigate the course of my life, and the Proverbs 31 woman for a wife. Selah.”

“OH MY! YOU SURE HAVE EYES FOR GREAT THINGS.”

“Apostle Paul says to ‘covet the best gifts.’ Besides, if I don’t match the breaks, I’ll end up reaching for all scriptures. All the promises are great!”

“IMPRESSIVE! HAVING COME THIS FAR AND DONE THIS GOOD, THE TIME HAS COME FOR YOUR VERDICT TO BE READ TO YOU…BY YOUR PERFORMANCE. BRACE UP, AND BE OF GOOD CHEER.”

“RUN ALONG NOW. YOU HAVE TO LOCATE THE BANQUET SOON ENOUGH. THE CLOCK IS THICKING. YOU NOW HAVE ALL THESE PEOPLE IN YOUR CARE. WHATEVER BECOMES OF YOU—BECOMES OF THEM. YOU’VE COME SO FAR AND DONE SO WELL. DON’T LOSE IT ALL WITH A SINGLE WRONG MOVE. TRY NOT TO BE ENAMOURED WITH YOUR SUCCESS THUS FAR. YOU’RE NOT THERE YET. IF YOU’VE NOTICED, YOUR UPGRADE OF CLOTHING DOESN’T INCLUDE ALL YOU LISTED. YOU NOW HAVE A PAIR OF TROUSERS AND SHOES AND A SPARKLING WHITE SHIRT—JUST AS YOU LOVE IT. BUT NO WRISTWATCH YET. NO PERFUME…AND THE OTHER ELEMENTS THAT MAKES YOUR DRESSING COMPLETE. THE SAME IS THE CASE WITH EVERYONE ELSE. YOU MUST KEEP ADVANCING TO KEEP UPGRADING. IT ALL DEPENDS ON YOU. GO FIND THAT BUFFET. I’LL BE WAITING FOR YOU SOMEWHERE AHEAD.”

“Wait, please! Could you please give me a hint on how to go about finding the buffet? I don’t see a way out of here apart from the passageway through which I came in. And out there is a mass of toxic ill-wishers with a strong desire to sabotage my course. I can’t afford to get back into their view. It’s been so soothing to have eluded their prying eyes.”

“WHO TOLD YOU SO?”

“I know so. I mean, I haven’t seen them since I got in here.”

“AND YOU’RE SURE THEIR PRYING EYES GOT OFF YOU THE MOMENT YOU GOT IN HERE?”

“Yes! Look there! There’s nothi… What? Is that them? They’re still watching? Even beyond these walls?”

“IF I WERE YOU, I’D FOCUS MORE ON THAT BUFFET. IT HOLDS MORE PROMISES FOR YOU AND ALL THESE PEOPLE THAN THOSE PRYING EYES YOU SEEM TO CARE SO MUCH ABOUT.”

“They’re not all toxic. A group of them directed me to this place. Otherwise, I most likely wouldn’t have made it here.”

“THEN YOU SHOULD FOCUS ON THAT GROUP. WHO KNOWS. THEY COULD GIVE YOU HEADS-UP ON YOUR NEXT LINE OF ACTION.”

“That’s true. I see them now. They’re pointing upwards. What’s upward? The sky. They’re pointing to the sky. What about the sky? Am I supposed to fly up there? With what?”

“I’LL BE WAITING FOR YOU SOMEWHERE AHEAD. GOD’S SPEED.”

“Oh, how I wish someone would just tell me clearly what to do. I know how it gets when figuring out what next to do. And now I’ve got all these people depending on the shots I call. I can’t afford to goof! God help me. Those good Samaritans. They keep pointing to the sky. What’s up there? The birds? How is a bird supposed to help? Or, is it about to rain? The rain would get us soaked and would ruin our new clothing. I don’t think so. Look! They’re joining their hands together now, as though praying. Praying? Praying. They point upwards and then join their hands together as though praying. Oh, oh, oh, I get it! I get it now! It’s God. It’s God they’re drawing my attention to. They want me to pray to God. Excellent! Excellent! Prayer!

“Erm, erm, I’ve got a problem here. What am I supposed to pray about? Ask God to show me where the buffet is? Since I got here, I’ve been praying to be taken out of here. Turns out I can’t be taken out of here. I have to find my way out, and finding the buffet is one of the means of finding my way out. What then am I to pray about? I can’t think of anything. But the good Samaritans, they’re insisting I pray. Oh, look! Now they’re pointing to their heads. What does that mean? Pointing to their heads? What’s it with the head? Knowledge? Sense? Wisdom? Yes! Yes! Wisdom! Look! They’re giving me thumbs up. It’s wisdom! I need to pray for wisdom! Excellent! Oh no! You’ve got to be kidding me! Isn’t that what the wise King Solomon filled in his blank cheque after he sacrificed a thousand animals and got offered the cheque?

“Wait. After he sacrificed a thousand animals, right? He offered a sacrifice. A thousand animals. In return, he got a blank cheque from God, and he filled wisdom in that cheque. Pleased with his choice, God added everything else he didn’t ask for. Yes! I must emulate Solomon. I recall that during uproar 2023—after conceding the quest—I’d resolved that I’d go back learning everything learnable, discovering everything discoverable, searching everything searchable, especially scriptures, having observed that the wisest man to have walked the earth, this same king Solomon, had been in my position, burdened with a glorious purpose of leading a great people—the people of God—the Israelites; and wasn’t overcome.

“Almost immediately after his father passed away and he took over the throne of Israel and had a thousand animals killed and offered as a sacrifice to God. That very night, God appeared to him and asked what he would like Him to do for him. And Solomon asked for wisdom. I’m doing the same thing right away! It’s has always been in my heart to do this…to replicate the same event and make the same request. Now, the time has come for me to do so. But…but… there’s a problem. Where do I get a thousand animals to offer as a sacrifice? Even if there are a thousand animals to offer, is God still in the business of animal sacrifice. Oh no!

“In this time and age, what God desires is that every man comes to the knowledge of Him. Isn’t that the motivation behind the great commission? That the gospel of the kingdom be preached to the farthest ends of the earth? And that souls be harvested in preparation for the second coming of Christ? That’s it! That’s it! Souls! Souls! What God desires is souls…the souls of men. Yes! Souls! The best sacrifice to offer to God in these times is the souls of men. Oh dear, how fortunate I am! Here are men with me, men I never thought I’d encounter, not in a place like this. But now we’re here together, supposedly stuck, but not for long anymore.

“I must get these men to offer their lives to God…since they are no animals without a will of their own. Besides, the sacrifice that God finds acceptable is that which comes from a willing heart. I must persuade these men to turn their lives over to God right away…and hopefully, God will appear and ask what I want, then I’ll ask for wisdom. And with that wisdom, we will navigate our way out of here! Perfect! Perfect plan! Now, over these men…and women.

“Hello, ladies and gentlemen. Would you be kind enough to give me your attention for a moment? I’ve got a proposition for you that will get us out of this God-forsaken place in no time. I have a reason to believe we’re very close to exiting this place. But there’s something we need to acquire to advance towards that exit, and it will take all of us to acquire that thing. I do not suppose that any of us wants to spend one more moment here after all this time of being stuck here helplessly. Therefore, if we all subscribe to what I’m about to propose, our long-denied longing to leave this place will be fulfilled soon enough. Are you with me? Do you understand? Am I communicating at all? Hello? Hello everyone? Ladies and gentlemen?

“Oh, Lord! Is this what it appears to be? They’re not talking. They’re not making any suggestions whatsoever. They’re not consenting either. They’re just indifferent…like robots, as though it all depends on me to do what I think is best. Is that it? Is this what this place does to people? So, it’s literally within my jurisdiction to make the call that would decide the fate and destinies of these people? Oh Lord! That’s what it is. That’s exactly what it is. What do I do now? I intend to persuade them to turn their lives over to God, which would serve as a sacrifice like that of Solomon. Would they all consent to that? I do not suppose that any of these people would willingly stay back here, would they? Oh no! Capital no! If it depends on me to make the call for these people, I’ll just have to do it. I’ll surrender all our lives to God as a sacrifice of souls just so we can get out of here. I believe that once we’re out of here, the conditions of these people will change.

“Then, if any of them would have rather remained in here, they can find their way back here like they did the first time. For now, I have to do what I have to do. Like Mr. Voice would say: tick says the clock. What you have to do, do quick. Yes, right! I’m doing it now. I am. How do I do it? Do we hold hands? Oh no, these guys ain’t moving. I just have to make the offer. To say the prayer. To offer up these precious souls to God who made every last one of them. I earnestly long in my heart that God finds these souls pleasing, and grants me the desired wisdom which would get us out of here. Alright. The offer…here it comes, just like Solomon’s:

“Oh Lord God, you have put me in a position where it is required of me to make a key and life-sustaining decision for these many people who You undoubtedly hold dear, even though I’ve been the last to show up on the scene thus far. For I recall that the Apostle Paul, narrating how he had been the last of the Apostles to see Jesus—as one born out of due time, had referred to himself as the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle because he persecuted the church of God. But then he noted that by the grace of God he had become who he was because Your grace toward him was not in vain, being that he labored more abundantly than the other apostles. However, he conceded that it was not his making, but the grace of God which was at work in him. The case with me here is no different from that of Paul the apostle.

“Therefore, here I am among a people I have reason to believe You’ve chosen to be Yours, a people who are so many that they cannot be counted. As I surrender the lives of these—and my own life to You, I ask that—just as You did for king Solomon whom You loved, do even so to me…and these people—whom you undoubtedly love. Give me the wisdom I need to bring us out of this place to Canaan, for this place that we are, is far from being a land that flows with milk and honey. It has become obvious that from this point on, advancement cannot be possible without wisdom from above. Therefore, let it please you oh Lord, to receive this living sacrifice and reward us with the wisdom that shall see to our salvation, our liberation, our freedom, our possession of our inheritance in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.

“WELL DONE.”

“Mr. Voice! Is that you? What’s happening? Everywhere has turned snow-white like it is said to have been on the mount of transfiguration. Is this heaven? Have we made it there? This is heaven! This is heaven! Heaven at last! Mr. Voice, heaven at last!

“KEEP CALM, YOUNG SHEPHERD. THIS IS NOT HEAVEN.”

“Then where is this? It looks like heaven! It fits the description of heaven! It even…”

“I UNDERSTAND YOUR EXHILARATION. BUT THIS IS NOT HEAVEN. YOU WILL GET TO HEAVEN SOMEDAY IF YOU CONTINUE TO HOLD FAST TO THE PROFESSION OF YOUR FAITH WITHOUT WAVERING.”

“Then where is this? Paradise?”

“YOU CAN CALL IT PARADISE IF YOU SO CHOSE? BUT IT IS MY PLEASURE TO ANNOUNCE TO YOU THAT WHAT YOU ARE CURRENTLY EXPERIENCING IS YOUR TRANSITION INTO YOUR FINAL STAGE IN THIS ADVENTURE: THE LONG SOUGHT BANQUET.”

“The banquet? Really? I’ve finally gotten to the buffet?”

“YES. YOU HAVE FINALLY GOTTEN TO THE BUFFET. BUT THAT’S NOT THE BEST PART. THE BEST PART IS THAT YOU GOT THE OTHERS—WHO HAD BEEN STUCK HERE FOR AGES—UNSTUCK. AND NOW THEY HAVE EQUAL OPPORTUNITY TO CHOOSE THEIR FATE AND DESTINIES AFRESH! KUDOS TO THE DEEPEST LONGINGS OF YOUR HEART. CONSIDERING THE INFAMOUS REPUTATION THAT PRECEDED YOU—WHICH EARNED—YOU THIS ADVENTURE, I HADN’T EXPECTED THIS…THOUGH I WASN’T IGNORANT OF YOUR POTENTIALITIES. WELL DONE ONCE AGAIN.”

“Ooooh…thank you so much! Thank you! When is the blinding light going to fade so we can start eating already? I must confess, I still don’t feel hungry. But considering that I’ve made it this far, I’m going to force the various delicacies down my throat. I’m beyond thirsty though. I hope they’re gallons upon gallons of water here? Because I’m likely to drown it all.”

“HAHAHA. FUNNY SPECIES. ALRIGHT THEN. IT’S TIME. THE LIGHTS FADE IN A MOMENT AND YOU’LL SEE THE TABLE SET BEFORE YOU. SERVE YOURSELF. YOU AND THESE PEOPLE. THEY MAY APPEAR INACTIVE, ROBOTIC, AND INDIFFERENT. THAT’S ONLY THE EFFECT OF THEIR BEING STUCK HERE. EVEN THE ONES WHO FOLLOWED YOU DOWN HERE—HAVE BEEN THE SAME WAY. LIKEWISE, THAT HAD BEEN THE EFFECT OF THEIR BLIND FOLLOWING. BUT KNOW THIS: THE MOMENT THIS LIGHT FADES AND YOU SEE THE TABLE BEFORE YOU, EVERY LAST ONE OF THEM WILL BE COMPLETELY RESTORED, AND YOU WON’T HAVE TO BRING THEM UP TO SPEED ON THE JOURNEY THUS FAR, NEITHER WILL YOU HAVE TO EXPLAIN TO THEM WHAT’S EXPECTED OF THEM AT THE BUFFET. THEY ALREADY KNOW. THEY ONLY NEEDED TO BE USHERED INTO THE RIGHT ATMOSPHERE TO FUNCTION IN THAT KNOWLEDGE. YOU’VE DONE WELL TO AFFORD THEM THAT ATMOSPHERE.”

“What happens after the buffet?”

“SHHH. NOW, OFF YOU GO.”

THE ENCOUNTER

“What in the world is this place? Who are all these people down here? Children! Teenagers! Young adults! Adults! Fathers! Mothers! Grannies! Who are these people? Why are they here? Wait. This is what the good Samaritans wanted me to see. Yes! These people! Who are they? Can they see me? Why are they all gloomy? Sad. Dispirited. Lamentable. Seemingly lifeless. Who are they? Can they see me? I should show myself and try to get to know them. Oh, there’s a problem. This saggy underpants of mine. I can’t afford to bear another round of reproach. Wait. The saggy underpants. It’s not saggy anymore. It grips tightly to my waist.

“Wait. What? I now have short pants on…covering down to a little above my knee? Goodness me! My covering has been upgraded from mere underpants to short pants. How? When? Where? At what point? Did I… did I…do something to earn this? What? I’m yet to find the banquet. So how come about this upgrade? Did I… was it… was it the… the… the…”

“CONGRATULATIONS.”

“Oh, dear! Mr. Voice! Is that you again? You startled me!”

“I SEE YOU’VE EARNED YOURSELF SHORT PANTS AND NO LONGER HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT unclothedness AND REPROACH.”

“Yes, I have. I indeed have! I just don’t know how, when where, and why.”

“YOU EARNED IT THE MOMENT YOU WALKED THROUGH THAT PASSAGEWAY. IT’S A GOOD THING YOU PAID ATTENTION TO LEADING OF THE ONES YOU CALL SAMARITANS.”

“You’ve been watching me all these while? And you wouldn’t say a thing? Despite my dilemma?”

“RULES ARE RULES AND MUST BE FOLLOWED. I LOVE YOUR SHORT PANTS. SPARKLING WHITE. JUST LIKE YOUR UNDERPANTS. AND I SEE YOUR UNDERPANTS ISN’T SAGGY ANYMORE. NO MORE REPROACH INDEED.”

“Indeed. But what about my bare body? No shirt. What about my feet? No shoes. Normally, I step out of my dwelling fully dressed…fondly with a black pair of trousers, a sparkling white shirt, a sophisticated wrist watch, a classic pair of shoes, a nice perfume…with designer undergarments. Compared to that, I feel very naked in this sparkling white short pants.

“WOULD YOU RATHER GO BACK TO THE INITIAL DIRTY SAGGY UNDERPANTS?”

“No! No! Never!”

“I THOUGHT SO TOO. IT’S TIME TO FORGE AHEAD. THERE’S A BUFFET AWAITING YOU. REMEMBER, TICK SAYS THE CLOCK. YOU DON’T HAVE FOREVER TO COMPLETE THIS QUEST, YOU KNOW. THAT’S WHAT HAPPENED TO THESE PEOPLE YOU SEE HERE. JUST LIKE YOU, THEY WERE DRAWN HERE BY THE DEEPEST OF THEIR HEART’S LONGINGS. BUT THE MOTIVE BEHIND THEIR LONGINGS WAS ULTERIOR. SO THEY COULDN’T GET THROUGH. THEY GOT STUCK. OVER TIME, THEIR NUMBER KEPT ACCUMULATING.”

“Did you say ‘over the years?’ They’re too many people here. It couldn’t have taken just years for them to come down here one by one. It must have taken decades. Even centuries!”

“YOU MAY BE RIGHT. BUT THEY DIDN’T COME HERE ONE AFTER THE OTHER. EACH ENTRY HAD A LEADER AND FOLLOWERS. WHAT YOU SEE HERE IS A SUMMATION OF DIFFERENT GROUPS OF LEADERS AND FOLLOWERS. ONCE THE LEADERS GOT STUCK, SO DID THE FOLLOWERS. SOME LEADERS WERE INTENTIONAL ABOUT IT. SOME WEHRE CAJOLED INTO IT. SOME WERE TRICKED INTO IT BY THE DECEITFULNESS OF THEIR HEARTS…AND AVARICE. IT’S THE FOLLOWERS WHO ARE OBLIVIOUS OF IT ALL…LIKE MERE SHEEP.”

“I don’t understand. If that’s the case, I should have had company from the start. I suppose—you talking to me and offering guidance makes me a leader. And if each entry comprises a leader and followers, where are my… my… followers. I’ve been alone on this all the while.”

“ARE YOU SURE ABOUT THAT?”

“Oh yes! I know it like a pastor knows the Word.”

“I SEE. WHEN LAST DID YOU LOOK BEHIND YOU?”

“Behind me? Why would I look behind me? I’m looking for a way of here, and that way is before me. So I never look behind. I press forward.”

“MAYBE YOU SHOULD LOOK BEHIND THIS ONCE.”

“Look behind this once? If you say so…………oh God! Oh, God!! Oh God!!! Who are all these people??”

“THOSE ARE YOUR FOLLOWERS. THEY HAVE BEEN TRAILING YOUR EVERY STEP ALL ALONG. IF YOU GET STUCK, THEY GET STUCK. IF YOU MAKE IT OUT, THEY MAKE IT OUT. IF YOUR UNDERPANTS IS SAGGY, THEIRS IS SAGGY TOO. IF YOU GET UPGRADED TO SHORT PANTS, THEY GET UPGRADED TOO.”

“Jesus Christ!”

“YOU’VE DONE WELL THUS FAR. YOU NEED TO GO FIND THAT BANQUET NOW. THERE’S MORE THAN ENOUGH ON THE TABLE FOR YOU AND THEM. YOU GET TO SERVE YOURSELVES. THE OPEN CHEQUE YOU EARNED ISN’T JUST FOR YOU. IT’S FOR YOU AND THEM. NOW, GO AND DO WHAT YOU MUST. THE CLOCK IS THICKING. WAIT AROUND LONG ENOUGH AND YOU MIGHT GET STUCK TOO.”

“Wait a minute. Don’t go yet, please.”

“WHAT NOW?”

“What about these other people. They’ve been stuck here for God knows how long. I can’t seem to bear passing them by. Is there something that can be done for them? I suppose they don’t want to be here anymore than I do. But it seems they’ve run out of time and can’t help it. Can I do anything to help? This is not a good place for anyone to be. Something I can do to help?

“OF COURSE. BUT LIKE I’VE ALWAYS TOLD YOU, EVERYTHING HERE DEPENDS ON THE LEGITIMACY OF YOUR DEEPEST HEART’S LONGINGS. IF THE MOTIVE BEHIND YOUR WANTING TO OFFER THIS HELP IS BORNE OUT OF GENUINE CONCERN…AND IF THIS CONCERN HAD ALWAYS BEEN ACCOMMODATED IN YOUR HEART, EVEN WHEN YOU HADN’T BECOME CONSCIOUS OF IT, THEN IT WILL BE TO THEM ACCORDING TO YOUR HEART’S DESIRE. BUT IF THERE’S ANYTHING FOUL BEHIND YOUR CONCERN, WHATEVER IT MAY BE, YOU’LL IMMEDIATELY GET STUCK HERE WITH THEM. YOU AND YOURS. SO, THINK TWICE BEFORE YOU OPEN THAT DOOR. THERE’S NO GOING BACK.”

“Trust me, I don’t have to think twice. I know what I’ve been through to get this far since I was drawn down here. I can imagine what it’s like to be stuck down here for ages. Why should my concern over the plight of these people be anything short of genuine? The memory will haunt me if I pass them by and make it out of here…especially if there’s something I can do to help. Tell me, what must I do?”

“HAVING HEARD AND UNDERSTOOD THE TERMS OF WHAT YOU ASK, ALL YOU NEED DO IS GIVE YOUR CONSENT, AND IT WILL BE TO YOU ACCORDING TO YOUR HEART.”

“I do. I give… I give my consent.”

“WELL THEN. GIVE IT A LITTLE TIME, AND THE OUTCOME WILL BE MADE KNOWN TO YOU. WHILE WE WAIT, I’VE GOT SOME QUESTIONS FOR YOU.”

“Wow. Do you ask questions too? Amazing! I thought I was the only questionnaire around here. Well then, fire on! I won’t hesitate to dish out answers. I pray I have them.

“HOW DID YOU BECOME THE LEADER OF ALL THESE PEOPLE?”

“Yes! How did I become the leader of all these people? I was going to ask you the same thing! I don’t know! Why don’t you tell me?”

“HAHAHA….”

“Look! Look!”

“WHAT?”

“The people! Everyone! Something has happened to them! They’re not dull and weighed down and dispirited and dressed in rags anymore! Their clothes have changed! Look! They’ve got shoes too! Their bodies have been sanitized! They’ve become cheerful. Not mute anymore! Something has happened to them! Look! Look!”

“YOU CHANNEL ALL YOUR FOCUS ON OTHER PEOPLE AND FORGET TO LOOK AT YOURSELF TOO.”

“Myself? My… Oh my God! I’ve got a pair of black trousers on me! And a sparkling white shirt, just as I love it! See, I’ve got a pair of shoes too! I’ve been upgraded!”

“TAKE A LOOK AT YOUR FOLLOWERS.”

“Oh, Gooood! this is adorable! Everyone has been clothed with beautiful attires! So beautiful. Different outfits for different people!”

“YES. THEY HAVE BEEN CLAD IN ACCORDANCE WITH THEIR FAVOURITE WEARS, AS DISCOVERED FROM THE DEPTH OF THEIR HEARTS. WHEN YOU GET TO THE BANQUET—IF YOU MAKE IT—THE SAME WILL BE THE CASE. YOU’LL ALL SERVE YOURSELVES ACCORDING TO THE DEEPEST LONGINGS OF YOUR HEARTS. YOU MAY NOT LIKE THIS PLACE. BUT ONE BEAUTIFUL THING ABOUT THIS PLACE IS THAT IT SEARCHES THE CORE OF A PERSON’S HEART AND REWARDS THEM WITH WHATEVER IT FINDS THEREIN. WHEN YOU DESIRE CERTAIN HEIGHTS IN LIFE THAT ARE BEYOND THE USUAL, THAT DESIRE DRAWS YOU HERE TO GET YOUR HEART TESTED, TO ENSURE THERE IS NO MALEVOLENCY IN YOUR QUEST. THE WORLD IS WEARY OF MALEVOLENT STARS AND MALIGNANT INFLUENCE. WE NEED SOME GOOD OUT THERE.”

“We? Did you say ‘we?’ You know, you haven’t introduced yourself to me. It seems like we have something in common…like a sort of common interest. You want to talk about it?”