What do you believe?

Relax; I am here to seek enlightenment, not to pontificate. To ask questions that always bothered me, not to cast shadows over your beliefs. I have friends that are saved, people with strong feels about their faith and its place in their lives but I have always wondered, what does it all mean in the end? I am not sure what I believe or not (I know, I could have written that differently but try to stay focused). I know that as soon as man was able to process cognitive thoughts he started to ask questions about his place in the big scheme of things. Christians believe what they believe and there are about one billion Moslems that will beg to differ, so assuming everybody is right to a degree where does that leave God? Somewhere today a deeply religious person probably passed away but tonight another deeply religious person will pray, “Thank you God for sparing me and my family”. Is the prayer not really saying “better him than me”? We read in the papers everyday where another Iraqi family was decimated by an errant missile and we casually flip over to the next page, and I know it is not because you don’t care or that you don’t wish them well. I am conflicted as to what is I believe, blind faith like the type a child has for the mother regardless of whether or not she is an irresponsible mother or a drug addict has been hard for me to accept. I used to pray and I believed all my prayers were answered, but that had nothing to do with anything. I know some pretty awful people who have been blessed with even more good fortune, so obviously they must be praying too.Am I asking for too much to want to know the why, when and how? Shouldn’t I just wrap religious rituals (for Christians, Sunday church and mid-week worship and for Moslems the five daily prayers) around myself like a warm blanket and assume I am protected from the chill of an aimless existence. Somehow, I think most people are not much concerned with finding the right way, just as long as it is their way, Moslems are right, Christians are right, same goes for Hindus, Buddhists AND EVERYONE ELSE. Maybe what I asking is, even if there isn’t a divine design to the affairs of man, don’t we have to believe that there is one anyway to keep us from being even more inhuman to one another? Seriously, if you have a plausible way of looking at this, I would like to hear it.

Man and Romance

I was forwarded this note by the friend of a friend, thought it was nice, decided to share.

Through out the age of man the art of courtship has changed drastically. Back in prehistoric times, man would see the woman of his dream, bring her an animal carcass then club her in the head while she was distracted. He then would drag her unconscious (and possibly brain damaged) body back to his cave for some sweet “caveman lovin”. In biblical times men would have to work for the father of his future bride, sometime for years even. Beautiful, just beautiful. With technology constantly changing and spoiling us, people have grown to be lazy. No more thrill of the hunt. No more challenge. No more going out and slipping some hot chick the date rape pill. Lazy people are now relying on the internet dating services. Some pathetic souls have even lowered themselves to placing an ad on Craig’s list…my friend got his 72 inch flat screen TV from there. Some people have even tried to justify themselves to me by saying “it’s hard finding a companion out there. I can’t seem to find anyone out there that’s decent.” So you chose to post an ad in the same place where people can buy a use toilet… good job. You know what kind of people circle around these websites; child molesters, rapists, stalkers, and R. Kelly. For those of you that say there’s just no one out there for you, here’s a list people who are not very good looking but found love:Hitler had a fiancée, Mimi Reiter, as well as a mistress, Eva Braun.Pamela Anderson also found love… and she’s a walking STD!Seal… have you seen his face? The man has more craters then the moon. Kiss from a rose? More like a kiss from a rhino’s ass!C’mon, if Marc Anthony can get Jennifer Lopez, there’s hope for you too. I mean the man does look like a cracked out Jimmy Smits. Quit living in the land of make-believe by saying “I’m waiting for the one of my dreams.” Point being, get off your ass make yourself presentable and begin your quest. And don't forget to lower your expectations.

The Audacity Of Hope.

There are very few events in your life were you remember exactly where you were at the exact time it happened, I have been fortunate enough to experience two of them. The first was September 11th 2001, at about 9.00 AM, I was coming off the E train from Queens, my stop was the Times Square station on 42nd and 7th, I was late and in a hurry to get to work, but on that day there would be no work. The whole of New York City appeared to be transfixed watching the giant TV screens surrounding Times Square, I made to ask the guy next to me what was going on, but before I could say a word, the second plane came into view of the cameras and we all watched, transfixed, as the plane flew straight into the second tower of the World Trade Center, there was a loud gasp as if a million people collective sucked in air, then a quietness (not silence but a stillness, like church) for a nano second it was like the world stopped, and then all hell broke loose. I write this not to revisit 9/11 but to explain how engraved the details of that day are in my mind, I could write a book of the events of that day alone, from the glassy eyed look in peoples eyes, to the wild rumors spreading like forest fire about alien invasions, even the trek out of New York City that day was epic. But I am getting side tracked; the second time was of course last night.
The unfathomable event that unfolded last night, will carryover into the lives of generations yet to come. That the black grandson of a goat herder from Kenya, raised by a single white mother on public funds without the “proper” connections could compete and prevail against historic odds is a story of biblical proportions. The is a uniquely American story, those of us from Nigeria know this intimately, it could not happen were we are from. In Nigeria, the same ruling class of has more or less held the country hostage for almost half a century, the chances that a “nobody” will rise out of the dirt without the aid of machine guns and flak jackets to preside over the affairs of our nation is slim to none. The euphoric joy that was felt around the world (My Mother is a Obama fan and for the past few months it’s been Obama this, Obama that, the woman lives in Kaduna and has not been to the States since 1992.) resonated in my house, I have not slept a wink, I will one day tell my children about the greatest election of my generation and the belief that it installed in me, that I hope I will be successful in passing on to them, Yes we can, Yes we can