Quiet lamb turned warrior

I've spent the last week reading through the book of revelation while thinking about Christmas and the entrance of the Savior of the world. The beautiful dichotomy of the quiet lamb turned warrior, and the implication this should have on Christians. I thought it most appropriate to share with you this spoken word piece I wrote some time ago while in Nigeria. Feel free to comment. All thoughts welcomed, even dissenting ones and I promise not to treat you like President Paul Kagame treated dissidents back when he first came to power in Rwanda. (that's an African political joke:))

GRACE

The all sufficient one who stands tall

He is all Grace

All truth

The entirety of our reality

The truth is as we lift Him, eyes of men are drawn in

Grace has a name,

the effervescent metamorphosis of His essence

To seek and to find is the glory of kings

If you are a king, go find grace

Search Him out

Allow me to help you

Go to His home, knock on the door to His throne

His home encapsulated in the God being

Nestled in the depth of His Spirit

His home is in me, His home is me

so you can refer to me as a queen

His spirit who knows the mind of Christ

He searched the heart of men looking for where to abode

He knocked on the door to my heart, I opened

Embraced him unrelenting

Where I go, Grace follows, oozing out and sipping through

Can you lay ahold of Him? Don’t be shy,

Approach the throne of grace with confidence and ask for what you need

It doesn’t matter where you’ve been or where you’re coming from

Those who hunger and thirst will be filled

His generosity is far too high He never runs dry

To the increase of His Gov’t there is NO END

Spanning the dimension of forever and a day

He is the first, the last

All things- nature, magnificent galaxies

Even the highest figment of your fantasies

All held by His sustaining power

Even the Sadducees couldn’t comprehend this

What then is the meaning of this sustaining-

to catapult one from despondency to a permanent state of REST

set between the ultimate reality that He is, therefore I am

His movement none can fathom

He’s like water fire

Soothes body soul spirit

Mends broken minds

Heals wounded hearts

Cloud of despair attempts to descend on a family after the loss of a child

Grace envelopes the room, galvanizing them to sing praises to the one seated in heavenly places

Hopelessness and grief crouch near like hidden lions on the prowl

Grace violently tramples on their vices using intangible devices

Grace isn’t denial of truth confined to all 5 senses but acknowledgment of him who transcends. Our chosen reality demands this

It isn’t conjuring up all one’s might to keep positive perspective, but in this retrospective pause

Selah

Remembering not by power or by might but by the permeation of His Spirit, says the Lord

Rain rain don’t go away

Come again yesterday today and forever

For as rain and snow drip drops unto the ground, watering all,

providing seed for ye sower and bread to be lowered into the bellies

so shall his word burst forth from his mouth like wind and fire, like the gentle whisper, covering every crevice in the earth.

It yields forever fruit, lasting, uninhibited

returns to him full of treasures untainted unadulterated

You cannot contain it

His words come back saturated

Bubbling over with anticipation & proclamation

To the increase of His govt there is no end

To the apprehension of His grace- be unrelenting

Grace- the earnest anticipation of good, like soaring on wings of eagles

Without much effort

Without much flapping of your wings

Go ahead- SOAR

In other news- My nephew is the most handsome creature I ever did see.

THE PATRIOT

VIGILANTES

In my management course we learned different ways civil society can ensure government accountability in the developing world. Two such ways are:

1.     Naming and shaming

2.     Collaboration and working towards common goals

Of course by the nature of these two types, a civil person would have the propensity towards the more positive approach, however approach #2 isn’t always the most effective. Maybe a more appropriate way to say it is that those who use method 1 have most likely tried method 2 and it proved impotent. Recently I sat in a home with my Uncle and a new friend and we discussed this very issue of keeping Nigerian politicians accountable. He is what I call a controversial vigilante who borderlines blackmailing politicians via social media and pressuring them to do their jobs. His ways have been impacting, particularly on the state government level, and I walked away pondering a thought, which I want to discuss here. 

Which approach will I, Frances, who believes in shaking up the status quo and developing people and systems, adopt as a lifestyle?! Do I just pick one or is it legal to alternate?

In a society like Nigeria where corruption came in with 7 of its strongest men, secured expansive land, then built a very large estate because it wants to put down roots for generations to come, the easier and perhaps more piercing solution is to vilify a government official who embezzles public funds. (insert here- The scene in ‘The Patriot’ where Mel Gibson’s character is referred to as ‘the ghost’ when he fights the Brits and after killing a soldier, he hacks him to pieces). Why? Because they killed his second son. Does the end justify the means? Does this approach fall under naming and shaming? I think it goes beyond. My friend’s initial approach falls under a third category- hacking out the wickedness in people. I really don’t mean to be vile, forgive me, it’s just that there are officials who exert their best efforts in managing a perplexing society and then there are those who are wicked and have consideration for only them. Both kinds of governance exist in every country and I don't know what it takes to root out evil in men and women who rule. The more stories we hear of people looting money, contracts and projects executed without proper management and accountability mechanisms, the more I think Nigeria is like a bow legged teenager and while others have exerted much energy and resources trying to straighten her walk, she lacks the will herself, though the strength is ever present. Soon. Very soon she will walk straight. This will happen after she undergoes intensive surgery and physical therapy for sometime. The surgeons must find a way to fix her while still upholding her beautiful complexity. The surgeons are Nigerians themselves. 

 

Maybe what I’m saying here is that the dignity with which we respond to poor governance and poverty mindsets is the most crucial aspect to all this. 

My individual response matters.

Our collective response matters.

 

If I hear one more person say, ‘that’s just Nigeria for you’, I might throw ‘em bows. I pray we continue to be discontent with status quo, yet apply wisdom in when and how to drive change. I love the Sound of Music and Sister Act for many reasons, one of which is two unconventional women stepping into worlds of strict order and discipline, and their presence alone mess up every existing system. Everyone including the 'sisters' mature in the process and after the damage is done, the result is a conglomeration of accepted imperfections. We need Maria and Sister Mary Clarence in our worlds, otherwise we're left to vain imagination that results in nothingness.  

At the end of meeting my new friend, his brother said to me, ‘don’t deal sooo harshly with people, for a time will come when it’ll be your turn to govern’. Hard pill to swallow, yet a life saving tablet.

This land is such a beautiful enigma, and I’m grateful to have been born in this quagmire.

AND NOW FOR YOUR VIEWING PLEASURE..THINGS YOU FIND IN NAIJA (local term for Nigeria(n))

PLEASE direct your eyes to the center. 140 years old?!?! Esta la verdad?!

life in boarding school

Celebrating Dad's 60th

Biafra rally. They want Nigeria to split and establish a new State.

Visiting my sister/friend at camp

I know my babies will be this adorable

Educating youth on child sexual abuse. Part of Blessing O Foundation initiative