Encouragement
WHERE IS THY STING?????
The Friday morning(2nd April 2004) was quite chilly for it had showered at dusk,and I snuggled under the warmth of the bed spread.I had woken up with this feeling it's gonna be like everyother day save for the flurry of activities in my family home which reminded me of something I hate to remember.With time,the feelings thawed as the reality which I tried to suppress rose like a wave within me.I waltzed in and out of the fringes of the dream world and the real.It was not until the hearse van arrived from the morgue that the shock waves of reality coursed through my spine and deep into my being.
My uncle,who's well over 90years and I were the first to see my brother's body lie in state.It was a very rude shock.....that my only brother now reclined in a coffin,breatheless and lifeless! There was great wailing and lamentation by my family members,kinsfolks and friends.I tried to console as many as I could all to no avail.At the funeral service that followed later,I sat speechless and tried to hold my heart and head up.I had composed an oration but couldn't get to read it cos pent up emotions whelled up within me.I had to give it to my very senior cousin who grew up with my brother...they were like inseparable twins.His oratorial skills as an english major relived fond memories of their childhood days and adult life but it was not without much anguish in his soul.While that lasted,my brother's kids reclined on my laps,oblivious of what transpired as reality around us.I watched as they slept peacefully and unperturbed Wish I had their kind of quiet and peaceful mien!
The priest rounaded up the funeral rites at the graveside which was beside my father's.I watched with tight lips as the coffin was lowered deep into mother earth,while a beloved auntie of mine held my hands tightly.I had done same for her a few months earlier when she lost her mother.I assured her I was okay but she wouldn't loosen her tenderly grip on me.I sure was okay and had long resolved not to wallow in sorrow.Death sure tries to steal the joy of living,but why would I let it gloat in superflous joy?NAY!!
My father had died while I was a toddler,and I grew up recognising the void of fatherhood created by death.I have seen beloved friends,relatives and others die.I have written many a dirge amidst tears,in loving memory of beloved ones.And as a little kid,the thought of dying scared me stiff.The fear tormented my soul each time I reclined on the bed to sleep at night.I would wonder," what if I die in my sleep,where would I go?.What a benumbimg question I couldn't unravel.Nightmares were commonplace experiences I grappled with those early years of mine life and early adulthood.
It was not until 1994,after some divinely orchestrated events that culminated in my being born again that this "fear of death" lifted from me.It's siege ceased! And ever since,I have slept each night with much relish.I now know that death is not just a "necessary end",but the begining of another life so sublime in quality and greater in dimension than the one we live here in this cosmos...the earthly life!
So while the choir sang sorrowful tunes and people cried,my auntie and I still maintained that grip of empathy and comfort.She loosened it transiently to let me pay my brother, the farewell and final respects.I stepped out of my father's grave,walked up beside my brother's,picked up the spade,scooped some soil and held the handle firmly and proclaimed loud.It was not a mutter as I declared to the hearing of those that mourned and the onlookers:
....O Death,where is thy sting?
The grave was covered with a heap pf sand till the coffin faded out of sight.We later walked back to the family house knowing that the sting of death may be painful but has a remedy for Jesus Christ had provided the antidote before he left the earth,having called the bluff of death ,by rising from the dead,breaking the seal of the tomb.That gave me assurance and comfort to the extent that I could call its bluff too,because he (Jesus Christ) has tasted death for me!
Excursion:
1...yeah,though I walk thro' the valley of the shadow of death,I will fear no evil,for thou art with me;thy rod and thy staff they comfort me....Ps 23:4
2....to give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,to guide our feet into the way of peace.....Luke 1:19
3...For I am persuaded ,that neither death nor life...shall be able to separate us from the love of God,which is in Christ Jesus our Lord....Rom 8:38-39.
4....Death is swallowed up in victory.O death,where is thy sting? O grave,where is thy victory?The sting of death is sin;and the strength of sin is the law.But thanks be to God,which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.......1 Cor 15:54-57
5.That he( Jesus Christ) by the grace of God should taste death for every man..that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death,that is the devil.and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage....Heb 2:14-15
6. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes: and there shall be no more death,neither sorrow,nor crying,neither shall there be any more pain:for the former things are passed away....Rev 3:4
APPRECIATIONS:
When Jesus Christ died,his mother seemingly had only Apostle John to console her,but I have recieved so much comfort from friends too inumerable to count.Thanks all for the barage of commiserative visits, phone calls,barage of text messages and avalanche of emails.I am most grateful to you all for the friendship and brother hood I have so enjoyed.Love ya all and God bless:
Cheers,Shalom and cheerio.
Felix Abrahams Obi
NUGGETZMAN
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