By Ozodinukwe Okenwa
The Yuletide annual season, in its global uniqueness and greatness, is upon us once again. Christmas, the glorious birth of Jesus the Christ, is celebrated yearly on the 25th December by the Christendom the world over. Since it is universally marked just a week prior to the end of the year festivities all and sundry partake in it mindless of religion, region, race or culture. It is, therefore, that special time in a year when holidays are taken for granted, at home or abroad, either for Xmas or New Year. The week leading to the new year (starting from Noel) many folks tend to take stock of their lives, the successes, the failures, the achievements and the missed opportunities. Survival in a complex world is worth celebrating!
The reason for the season cannot be mistaken by millions around the world. Jesus remains the greatest reason for the greatest season. While atheists wallow in their fundamental belief that God or Jesus are products of human imagination, atheism is allowed just as blasphemy for us Christians is permissible. The ultimate judgement must be left to the Supreme Being.
Now, two thousand years ago, according to the various accounts found in the Holy Bible, Jesus Christ of Nazareth was sent to this world for the ultimate redemption of mankind. He came, saw and conquered human adversity. His humiliation and assassination was in tune with the prophecy divinely pronounced prior to His coming. He was indeed a messiah unlike no other mortal!
He performed supernatural miraculous deeds like raising Lazarus from the dead, feeding a multitude with five loaves of bread and fishes. He healed the afflicted preaching the evangelism of home and salvation.
Today, our world has evolved taking in revolutions and revolutionary innovations and occurrences for a better or worse universe. Over two thousand years ago the world must have been a ‘virgin’ compared to the current wild savage planet. Then, God still spoke and interacted with prophets of yore even if His visibility could not be withstood by the men of spiritual valour. Today, however, any claim of divine encounter or communication could pass for a fairy tale told by ecumenical fools and idiots.
Last weekend, a good friend of mine in the States sent me an email asking if God was still alive or dead! He asked the question because he had come to the conclusion that human forces countering the natural order of things were getting overwhelming. He listed tragedies and challenges facing mankind for which, ordinarily, God should have intervened!
Perplexed I did not initially know what to make of the missive so I decided to just log off and slept over with the posers. The next day I summoned enough courage to respond declaring that God was still very much around despite the mountain of challenges confronting man and his environment. Indeed, the poser from my bosom friend could not have qualified for a hare-brained interrogation beyond one’s understanding. It was not one put forward for juveniles!
Rather than dismissing it, therefore, it called for circumspection and sober-reflection. Without complex it must be admitted here that the God phenomenon or syndrome is neither new nor one without global controversy.
In the Bible it was said that God regretted creating man in His own image! Of course, man is imbued with great spirit and sound mind, a natural intelligence discernible from day one when (s)he is brought forth to this sinful world. At infancy babies manifest certain natural intelligence and curiosity that no other living thing exhibits at birth.
From the cradle as they grow to adulthood the curiosity and intelligence develop further leading to the formal education and knowledge of good and evil. And to the grave all would return someday, all of us having sinned and come short of divine glory!
My friend based in America is one in a million asking this crucial question on a daily basis without any satisfactory answer. Indeed our world is sick and in crisis! We have destroyed the vast garden we were bequeathed to by Providence. All the values hitherto held dear are under assault! Homosexuality, wars, famine, flooding, climatic change, poverty, diseases mankind is buffeted left, right and centre by existential problems, engineered by his kind, too complex to contemplate.
While some of the bizarre happenings tend to challenge our core belief in the living God, the Maker of man shares no blame in our organized degeneration. It is not His fault that Muhammadu Buhari has brought a great nation of ours to her knees by his vacuous and diffident leadership. It is no fault of His that the late Osama Bin-Laden and Abubakar Shekau took thousands of souls away in terrorism before meeting their waterloo.
God is not to blame for the Russian catastrophic invasion of Ukraine. Nor had His hands in the propagation of gay and lesbian rights. Whatever we are living through as our portion in life is man-made. God never asked us to develop nuclear weapons instead of abundant food to feed our multiplying kind. He never commanded Adam to marry Steve or Eve Evelyn. He is not party to political schemes and electoral violence.
Therefore, we are the architects of our misfortunes. He must have been surprised at our capacity for evil! Surely, He intervenes when and where necessary but He cannot be seen everywhere at all times.
Man remains a problem to fix by God. And how He goes about fixing that problem remains His prerogative. None of us has any say on how, when or where He decides to act decisively.
My American friend is not an atheist. Yet atheism is a growing phenomenon globally. The Japanese, Chinese and many other countries refusing to recognise the Mighty One may not be doing badly economically compared to Nigeria where folks beseech Him in total submission to His will. Nigerians love God and they always express it by their godliness and adulation.
Our last parting shot is reserved for the friend in Uncle Sam still playing ‘Thomas’ by doubting the existence of the Supreme Being. God is alie! And He will remain so till eternity. It is up to us to seek His face with supplications. And by doing good to our brethren. And above all, by loving our neighbours as ourselves!
We are believers in the Trinity, God the father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. We believe His mighty hands are upon us! Whatever happens that tends to shake our faith, we would forever owe spiritual allegiance to His awesome will. He gives and takes lives! No one born of a woman can claim otherwise. Even science has tried to obfuscate this universal truth of existence of Trinity but it has failed for generations to impress the greater majority.
As we celebrate Christmas with joy and happiness in our hearts (having survived COVID-19 and other societal challenges) this is wishing every Adam and Eve a very merry Xmas and prosperous 2023!
Between the Yuletide and Trinity, therefore, humanity is hereby called upon, even as we wine and dine, to unite forces to salvage the Adamic elements and our abused environment. Our generation is a great one and the future is bright! We must collectively keep our eyes on the ball, going forward.
Happy holidays!
SOC Okenwa
soco_abj_2006_rci@hotmail.fr
