Thursday 28 June 2007

THE SUPERNATURAL.

If you probably think that this universe (the whole of space and everything in it, including the earth, the planets and the stars) of ours just came into existence, then you should think again. There are mysteries in this world and it will be a huge joke that all things came into being as explained by scientists through the Big Bang Theory (an idea which states that everything around us was once condensed in a state of massive density and temperature. As space expands, so does our universe. Over the course of billions of years, the planets and galaxies we know of and the ones we don’t have been slowly moving outward). I believe that the universe was created and controlled by the supernatural because the complex processes of nature cannot be comprehended by any mortal. Call me a religious fanatic, but see what I mean…

It cannot be a coincidence that the human brain contains some one hundred billion neurons which are capable of electrical and chemical communication with tens of thousands of other nerve cells. It cannot be a coincidence that there are more than one hundred billion galaxies (the system of stars that contains our sun and its planets, seen as a bright band in the night sky) in our universe. It cannot be a coincidence that the human heart beats more than two and a half billion times in an average lifetime without ever pausing to rest. That we have seasons and that they have never ceased cannot be an accident.

Now let’s narrow it down to the sun. What can we ever do without the star called sun? The movement of the earth around the sun is responsible for day and night. Water is indispensable but even the water cycle cannot be complete without the help of the sun. We cannot even feed without the sun as plants get their food through photosynthesis (the process by which green plants turn carbon dioxide and water into food using energy from sunlight). Sunlight is now used to generate solar energy. Sun is also universally used as a drying agent. The innumerable uses of the sun cannot all be mentioned. And yet the sun cannot be said to be a happenstance; an amazing architect must have intelligently put it in place.

Face it, the existence of the universe is too complicated for the Big Bang Theory. I need no soothsayer to conclude that someone must have orchestrated the universe; it has to be God! Call him the Absentee Landlord. Call Him the Supreme Being. Call Him the Sun God if you wish. Call Him Allah if it pleases you. I call Him Jehovah; the God of Abraham. There is no searching of His understanding. He is the Rose of Sharon, the Lion of Judah, the Lord of Lords, and the Prince of Peace. My God is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent. He is the pillar that holds my life. He’s the source of my wisdom, my strength. Without Him, I can do nothing. He is a covenant-keeping God; I judge Him faithful.

It’s amazing how we consult a user manual when we purchase any new equipment but often fail to acknowledge the Creator talk less of consulting Him for direction in our dealings. You are not an afterthought; the Creator has a plan for your life and it’s wise to seek his counsel in your sojourn on this earth so that your life can be meaningful. Nothing is guaranteed in this world of ours without the permission and help of the supernatural. You need a backbone; a helper, a shelter in the time of storm. You may be a genius with dreams and aspirations; you may even be hardworking and full of purpose but verily I say unto you, you cannot succeed in life’s tempestuous sea without the supernatural help.

Who do you believe in? Is it working for you? Whatever God means to you, acknowledge Him. Stop struggling on your own, ask for His help. Connect to the source of life so you can enjoy a guided and blissful life. Good it is to listen.

Tuesday 19 June 2007

PURPOSE.

Have you ever wondered why a pick-up van and an 18-seater bus are different in their constructions? Simply put, the difference in purpose necessitated the variance in their construction; the purpose for the construction of the pick-up van is to carry goods while the purpose for the construction of the 18-seater bus is to convey at least 18 passengers.

A closer look at the human body and how it functions will give you a better understanding of this subject. The human body is an amazing machine, full of intricate systems that keep us going. Different organs in the human body have different purposes and they function simultaneously. Without blood, the human body would stop working. The average adult has about five liters of blood living inside of their body, coursing through their vessels, delivering essential elements, and removing harmful wastes. The heart sends blood around the body. From the moment it begins beating (at 21 days after conception; the human heart begins beating at 70 to 80 beats per minute and accelerates linearly for the first month of beating) until the moment it stops, the human heart works tirelessly [In an average lifetime, the heart beats more than two and a half billion times, without ever pausing to rest]. The lung is man's essential respiratory organ. Its principal function is to transport oxygen from the atmosphere (which brings almost 10,000 quarts of air into the lungs daily in about 23,000 breaths) into the bloodstream, and to excrete carbon dioxide from the bloodstream into the atmosphere. The human brain is the most complex organ in the human body. It controls the central nervous system, by way of the cranial nerves and spinal cord, the peripheral nervous system and regulates virtually all human activity. Involuntary actions such as heart rate, respiration and digestion are unconsciously governed by the brain, specifically through the autonomic nervous system while complex mental activity, such as thought, reason and abstraction is consciously controlled. (Facts culled from Britannica Concise Encyclopedia - Britannica.com) We could go on and on. All the organs have not been put in place by the creator as decorations; they’ve been specifically designed to carry out specific functions so that you and I can live.

The nose cannot suffice for the eyes; the two organs have different purposes. You’ve been built and equipped for a special purpose; which is informed by the gift(s) you’ve been endowed with. You can only excel in the area of your strength(s); where you can shine effortlessly. If you are gifted in sports, you may fail woefully should you consider a career in medicine. A born philosopher may not shine being a civil engineer. “A musician must make music, an artist must paint, a poet must write if he is to be ultimately at peace with himself. What one can be, one must be.” remarked Abraham Maslow.

Alas, majority who are even conscious of their talents are using it wrongly because they don’t know why they’ve been endowed. Truth be told, as Myles Munroe rightly said “When purpose is unknown, abuse is inevitable”. Don’t abuse the talents that you’ve been endowed with. If you have oratory skills, don’t use it to slander your fellow men, rather use it for the good of mankind. If you’re vast in science, don’t use your skills to the detriment of man; rather use it for man’s development. You have been created to function in a particular capacity so that you can contribute your quota to the development of man.

A life without purpose is like a ship at sea without a set destination. The level of success you will attain in life, ceteris paribus, will be a function of how you can harness your talent(s) to fulfill your purpose. Stop playing religion. Look within and discover your gift(s). Find a worthy purpose that will match your gift(s) and then follow through, though the heavens fall.

Stand up and be counted, the world is waiting for the manifestation of your latent gift(s). Arise and shine!

Monday 11 June 2007

SELF REALIZATION

Imagine how impoverished the people of Niger-Delta in Nigeria were for ages before the discovery of crude oil in their land! For centuries, the people lived and died in penury when all they needed to lavish was beneath them. Such is the fate of all those that won’t realize self! Your story will not change until you realize the latent deposits in you.

Treasures will not be worthy of the name if it can be sourced easily. Treasures are often hidden; talk about gold, crude oil, name it. Trees had always been with man but it was only when man saw a chair in the tree that wooden chairs came to being. Animals have always been with us but only when man saw that hides and skin could be sourced from animals did we have leather. There was no such thing like hydro-electric power supply until man learned to harness the power of the flow of water to his advantage. The list is endless.

Man cannot progress without self-realization; the importance of self-realization to the development of man cannot be overemphasized. All that man needs to thrive in this world has been made available to him by the creator, only that they are hidden. What’s left is for each individual to discover self and harness the available resources for his good. As Ralph Waldo Emerson rightly said “What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.” We have illimitable deposits within us. We’ve been equipped to flourish.

Don’t be confused, you’re not an afterthought. You are not useless; you are so much better than you even know. You don’t have limitations except the ones you deliberately place on yourself. You might not be able to write like Shakespeare nor paint like Michelangelo, but you surely can do what you were born to do! Look within and identify your talents. You are a masterpiece. You are capable. “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, 'Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous?' Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We were born to manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us, it's in everyone. And as we let our light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.” remarked Marianne Williamson.

Majority are crawling today despite the fact that they’ve been provided with wings to soar. If it is your desire to leave your footprints on the sand of time, then you must wake up from your slumber! You must discover your latent gifts and use them to the full.

The glorious future is yours, take it! Live your dreams!!!

Monday 4 June 2007

Failure

Countless number of lives have been ruined because of the fear of failure; majority of potential world changers have deprived themselves of their glorious destinies. The fear of failure should not stop us from daring. As Theodore Roosevelt remarked, “Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs even though checkered by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much because they live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat.” It is far better to fail gallantly while pursuing a noble cause than not to attempt.

Nobody wants to embark on a mission only to fail at the end; it sure hurts to fail. But sometimes, failure is inevitable if we must grow. If you don’t risk trying, you lose all the probability of winning. If you dare to try, you cannot fail totally. And even if you do fail, as you sometimes will, you would have learnt some valuable lessons that will prevent you from failing in the future, and besides without disappointments, you can’t really appreciate victory. Don’t give-in to any situation. There are always lessons to learn from failure(s). As Henry Ford put it, “Failure is an opportunity to a more intelligently begin again”. When you fail, you should learn from your mistakes, improve on the concept and then try again.

Truth be told, if it’s not done right, it will definitely result in failure. It is often said that Thomas Edison failed a thousand and one times in trying to invent the electric bulb, yet he persisted till he got it right. When asked how it felt to fail a thousand and one times before getting it right, it was told that Thomas Edison said that he never failed, but that he only learnt a thousand and one ways in which it simply could not work. Thomas Edison was indomitable and that was why he was able to have several patents to his name.

You may not win every battle, but you shouldn’t raise the white flag without putting up a fight. Even if you fail, try again. You might not be able to decide the outcome of your efforts, but you sure can decide how you react to it; you can either learn from it and progress or you give-in to it and retrogress. The choice is yours; your future is in your hands.