MY COMMENTARY ON RELIGION IN RESPECT TO DIVINITY

MY COMMENTARY ON RELIGION IN RESPECT TO DIVINITY Jesus was a practicing Jew. Christ lived his life 100% righteous while in the practice of his local culture. From most ancient religious books (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Holy Qur’an etc ) written weather in raw or Canon form was written based on the idea of man’s worship of God from his cultural morals. Sharia is the culture of the Middle-East. Based on what I have read and Quranic teaches I’ve received its notable that Arabs because of their distinct form of banking share a common wealth among their local civilisation. Adashe is the word in Hausa. In the western world, it is refereed to as an Islamic Banking system. Which is structured to favour the migrating culture of Herds-men, their wives, children, cattle, servants etc in search of survival as civilisation existed as family and wealth depended on its size. It also acts as a verdict to justice as migrating civilisations cannot accommodate prisons and penitentiaries. It's a combination of Local culture, Language, Beliefs & Faith to produce Divinity. So is Judaism, Hinduism and the Law of Moses(Torah of the Old Testament before the Bible was in canon form). It is structured to protect Individual, Family and Institutional wealth as it puts away all hindrances to migration and merchant trade. For example, The Burial of a Muslim by Sharia states that a man buried on the same day in a foot deep grave embalming the smell with Frank-incense as the Mortuaries were only used by Egyptian Civilisation. A similar practice would have been the case of the Israelite in the wilderness. Also, Their prayers facing the Sun were a common practice by Jews who prayed towards the pillar of Fire by Day. The Sun rises in the East and settles in the West, this phenomenon would have been practiced by Exodus Jews who had to travel West from Egypt to present day Israel. Another observation was stealing, In my opinion the immediate punishment was the solution to a culture ignorant of a Court and Jury system and placed a Judge(Alkali) to handle judicial matters in the community. So also was in the law of Moses in the wilderness. Thieves were to be put to death. Though I find out that though Sharia was made Official in the 7th century through the Holy Qur’an it was practiced before then without compromise as it was their(Arabs) culture. Islamic Banking had existed before then also as it was the only form of Banking that could support a travelling merchant as they was no money order or ATM machines. It was more of a practice to protect the community's interest as one family. A similar case is observed in Jesus Christ as he chased a legion of demons out of a man into a swine of pigs. Of course he could have just sent the demons out like he had done before, but whoever had pigs was disobeying the Laws and customs of Judaism as it was against the Law to make profits out of contra-band items. It was against culture and civilisation to have pigs take more of a swine of them. In my conclusion, which is to crack the glass of ignorance of cultural practises and faith, I believe from my experience as a Christian that faith can be practiced alongside any culture and produce divinity. By thinking outside the box if Jesus Christ were born in Saudi Arabia, He was going to be 100% divine while practising Sharia law, as he did with Judaism. Remember He never read the Bible. Secondly, the worship of Christ has absolutely nothing to do with Religion or its practises are they are based on cultural views of how man should worship God. It is therefore organised by Man as opposed to Divinity Inspired by God through God. The Bible clearly makes us understand that prior to Christianity the first worshippers of Christ right after birth were Cattle-Herds men from the Far-East. It however never states their number which leaves a controversy with them being a clan or 3 people by the number of gifts given. It is also safe to note that Gold was the merchant's currency, Frank-incense was used by ancient Arabs for praise, prayers as did Abraham and Moses in the Bible. Myrrh was an antiseptic Aroma used on dead bodies to leave it free of fleas and diseases. These were the most expensive merchant treasures of that time used by such men. However, irrespective of what they believed in or practiced. It is clear that they were not Israelites and had nothing to do with their Law and they would be known throughout History as the ‘Wise Men’.

Get rid of the Common History

Kaduna is a town that has a huge part of my history. As a child, I thought the whole city comprised of Church area, Market area and then Home and school area. As a 90s kid, my generation in Nigeria was born in an ongoing military junta and General Sani Abacha was Head-of-State. The name was common as a child because I grew up in a Military Base and attended the local primary school. We learnt about him in nursery school with the understanding that he was the ruler of the Nation. It was also common to know him on TV as he made frequent announcements that I couldn’t understand at that age, but knew he was just the power man around. At that era, it was common to know State Governors and cabinet ministers by the name ‘uncle’ as it was common to have a handful of them in the neighbourhood as they were military officers who also lived on the base on weekend holidays from their respective stations. It was also a challenge keeping up to seeing them as they also tested what you learnt in school . That era in my life is mainly the big difference in Nigeria’s history today.

As the years went by and Nigeria accepted democracy, we had a president. A civilian who was a military general and past Head-of-State. The military didn’t have the power it had previously. I still wanted to be an Officer and I loved how my father always carried out his duties. I admired it as a child because I thought his duties was to carry us around and introduce us to his fellow officers. On one occasion we were out with Daddy and he was fully dressed in his ceremonial dress for the annual military celebration. A Peugeot 406 pulled up in front of the Base and everybody went dead as a stick. This man came out as everybody looked on. Officers, Enlisted personnels and civilians. He walked as everybody stopped to salute. I asked “is that the president?”, and then my brother replied, “No, that is General TY Danjuma. He is in charge of Defending the Nation”. With My heart, I whispered “I want his job”. 

As the day went by I watched Air shows, military parades, parachute jumps etc. wanted to be all of those at once. (I was a child) LOL. Today Nigeria stands out a century, Old and 54 yeas in independence. As a Nigerian youth what are chances than our generations would have such opportunities to History. The history taught in primary schools have been the same all through, except they eliminate the ones who die out of the new history and just continue with the same names adding few titles to make them different people. As a result of relaxation of these the present youth who makes up 80% of the population is losing almost three decades worth of National history to their names. Is it in remembrance when you stood in line to sing the anthem and pray? To pledge to your mother-land? The days when we sang songs of patriotism as we marched to learn irrespective of whether it was private, public, home, church, mosque etc. Where celebration to be a country was done faithfully and out of doubt of being killed or judged. Independence was more than just October the first. It was an everyday lifestyle. Its sad to see that the labour of our heroes past is going in vain as the living the heroes are tarnishing our labour. The best we can do is pray because right now a huge percentage of Nigerians deep down have no idea on who to give that patriotism too. But as we have prayed as Children for God to help Our youths the truth to know, and today we are the youths. It is quite obvious that no prophet is required to tell us that we know the truth already. We need to do something. We are losing out of history. #NigeriaWouldStand Parry 1st October, 2014.

Nation against itself

Nigeria has become the centre to tragic news in the world today. I have so many questions that I get from the news. I have never felt so troubled at heart over anything in life like the unrest and corruption going on. I am a North Eastern Nigerian and by that I have loved ones who have been killed as a result of Boko Haram. Yesterday on the news we had 12 soldiers being sentenced to death by firing squad. None of them from the North East chosen to fight the unrest. This are men that are from cultures, tribes, ranks, religions etc practiced in Nigeria by Nigerians. A father of an infant, the only son of an octogorian, the breadwinners of families being punished for attacking and firing a "sinless" general. (He is sinless as he wasn't charged for anything the soldiers said). These men range experiences from novices to soldiers with international peace keeping medals. My mind never pauses, but ask, why would a soldier of such experience fire at a General in a domestic unrest? After all these years of combat a soldier who has to complain would have a good reason too. No food or water and having to fight an enemy who comes prepared. The climate in Borno state is unfavourable I have experienced. Or could the problem come from lawmakers? Who does have no combat experiences and had no loved one killed in the North-East. Or haven't experienced any violent activity with Boko Haram except by press videos? Or could it just be the soldiers who were at fault. Maybe they committed mutiny for some reason. The Armed forces have failed if it can kill its very own while ignoring the actions of the enemy. The Army is taking an action that is in the glorified form of what happened to Aluu Community. Where murderers pass judgement on the thieves. If we say we are a country that believes in God, we are surely not practicing our beliefs. For whatever we are practicing is no where near that.

My Nigerian Upbringing

Back home in Nigeria its never unusual to 'spank' a child when he is wrong. The culture truly speaks of sparing the rod and spoiling the child. My younger brother and I never experienced any form of beating from our Mother as my older siblings claimed. Our father was the cool parent always there to make you happy. They always said "you two were born when Mummy was Old". They always had interesting stories of sneaking out the house to play with friends and how they were caught. They were not allowed to be out of the house. They were had forced afternoon nap after school and compulsory reading. But that doesn't mean that we didn't have more interesting things to say.

It sounds funny in my head as I smile to write this story. Having a Mother that didn't spank me didn't mean that She was old. My never gets old. Her strength is being renewed everyday. I actually see it as she gets younger everyday. The reason for her not spanking us was because she worked till late and came hem just in time for the dinner and family daily night devotion. Now that doesn't mean that I wasn't spanked. Oh! No!!. There is more to the story. Which Nigerian cultured child wasn't? LOL. Everyday after school I was home with these set of people which I termed to be evil. Their common name was 'Aunties'. To me they wee just wicked. They always said "Thats how Mummy trained us too, we have to train you too". I felt they were exaggerating the way my mother treated them. The only harm my mother could cause was to shout. And when I say shout I mean it was loud enough to wake everybody up in the house or call your name from few houses away. That was a super power.

My Aunts forced us t study, Spell, read and write. By the time I was in Primary 5 I could comfortably calligragh with both hand while taking notes in school. Their reaction to indiscipline was so fast we taught we were being beaten ahead of a crime to be committed. Her best weapon was Slippers and 'Sheku' (Kilba word for wooden spoon used to stir tuwo). The way and manner those items appeared in their hands was unbelievable. Before you could imaging the scene the movie was over. The closest comparison I have is the movie THOR when he stretches his hand to grab his hammer.

Before going t secondary school, I saw the significance of all thisThe first time I was top in class I ran to my Aunt first to show her the result. She smiled and said "thats why we are always hard on you". I was so happy that day. Her smile showed fulfilment. There was joy in her eyes. She was married then with a daughter who just started kindergarten. You can't just imagine the pressure that was upon her daughter to read. LOL. Her daughter was unbeaten all her days in Primary school. Today she is in JSS3 and still keeps a high standard in her education. I know that impacting the right discipline in a child based on example and leadership is the best investment anybody can give. You also train generations to train you own generations. My Mum didn't have to pay for a private lesson teacher to achieve that. It was all for free. For me it wasn't for free because it was a horror at that time. 11 years later I'm still seating down to do the same things I was forced to learn.

 I know my parents are proud of me. Even if they didn't directly give the training they wanted for me. They gave it indirectly and It gave a perfect result. I know a lot of people around the world can relate to my story. If you think investing in a child is too much work. Read my story again

Parry Hedima
parryhedima.blogspot.com

An Old man's anonymous poem.....

When an old man died in the geriatric ward of a nursing home in an Australian country town, it was believed that he had nothing left of any value.
Later, when the nurses were going through his meager possessions, They found this poem. Its quality and content so impressed the staff that copies were made and distributed to every nurse in the hospital.

One nurse took her copy to Melbourne. The old man's sole bequest to posterity has since appeared in the Christmas editions of magazines around the country and appearing in mags for Mental Health. A slide presentation has also been made based on his simple, but eloquent, poem.

And this old man, with nothing left to give to the world, is now the author of this 'anonymous' poem winging across the Internet.

Cranky Old Man

What do you see nurses? . . .. . .What do you see?
What are you thinking .. . when you're looking at me?
A cranky old man, . . . . . .not very wise,
Uncertain of habit .. . . . . . . .. with faraway eyes?
Who dribbles his food .. . ... . . and makes no reply.
When you say in a loud voice . .'I do wish you'd try!'
Who seems not to notice . . .the things that you do.
And forever is losing . . . . . .. . . A sock or shoe?
Who, resisting or not . . . ... lets you do as you will,
With bathing and feeding . . . .The long day to fill?
Is that what you're thinking?. .Is that what you see?
Then open your eyes, nurse .you're not looking at me.
I'll tell you who I am . . . . .. As I sit here so still,
As I do at your bidding, .. . . . as I eat at your will.
I'm a small child of Ten . .with a father and mother,
Brothers and sisters .. . . .. . who love one another
A young boy of Sixteen . . . .. with wings on his feet
Dreaming that soon now . . .. . . a lover he'll meet.
A groom soon at Twenty . . . ..my heart gives a leap.
Remembering, the vows .. .. .that I promised to keep.
At Twenty-Five, now . . . . .I have young of my own.
Who need me to guide . . . And a secure happy home.
A man of Thirty . .. . . . . My young now grown fast,
Bound to each other . . .. With ties that should last.
At Forty, my young sons .. .have grown and are gone,
But my woman is beside me . . to see I don't mourn.
At Fifty, once more, .. ...Babies play 'round my knee,
Again, we know children . . . . My loved one and me.
Dark days are upon me . . . . My wife is now dead.
I look at the future ... . . . . I shudder with dread.
For my young are all rearing .. . . young of their own.
And I think of the years . . . And the love that I've known.
I'm now an old man . . . . . . .. and nature is cruel.
It's jest to make old age . . . . . . . look like a fool.
The body, it crumbles .. .. . grace and vigor, depart.
There is now a stone . . . where I once had a heart.
But inside this old carcass . A young man still dwells,
And now and again . . . . . my battered heart swells
I remember the joys . . . . .. . I remember the pain.
And I'm loving and living . . . . . . . life over again.
I think of the years, all too few . . .. gone too fast.
And accept the stark fact . . . that nothing can last.
So open your eyes, people .. . . . .. . . open and see.
Not a cranky old man .
Look closer . . . . see .. .. . .. .... . ME!!

Remember this poem when you next meet an older person who you might brush aside without looking at the young soul within. We will all, one day, be there, too!

PLEASE SHARE THIS POEM (originally by Phyllis McCormack; adapted by Dave Griffith)

The best and most beautiful things of this world can't be seen or touched. They must be felt by the heart!

#BringBackOurGirls

234 Girls have been kidnapped in Nigeria. Does that mean that the ones who are free should act like they are in bondage? All I see on my timeline is people now criticising girls for posting pictures on Facebook because their mates are kidnapped. Does that mean that the free girls can't go on with their everyday lives? They can't be happy to socialise or smile or enjoy? Somethings need to be said. As painful as this may sound to some ears, is that a lot of people still deserve to be happy even in the midst of chaos, destruction and confusion.

Now don't get me wrong, I wouldn't want my mother crying over a missing sibling with no attention, or my sister being taken into captivity by abstract people. I wouldn't want to be the father of an abducted child that would be begging for help from people who were actually careless with lives. Its a bad feeling and worst of it is that no parent knows whats happened to those girls. I believe everybody deserves to know the where about of family and not just make illusions based on press reports.

But the truth be told. Nobody should be criticised for being free because of others in captivity. And because you are free doesn't give you an excuse not to pray for those in captivity or offer any form of support. Your support could be praying, supporting in the campaigns (online and on air), making a peace movement. The purpose of your freedom is to make people free, its not just about you alone. Always remember," How you use your freedom now, determines whether you'll be free in future.

Finally, I would urge everybody to pray, give support, It counts. Always remember," How you use your freedom now, determines whether you'll be free in future. 

Parry Hedima

A Danger in a lot of Countries

These pictures show a personality a leader should develop with subjects. As seen in this Picture` of the Daily Mail(Article at bottom of page) shows how the Prime Minister of the UK takes the public transport system and even makes conversations with people who are around him. It was taken in 2011.

In Nigeria where I was raised, sirens, guards and uniform agencies are common for transporting Dignitaries. They are conveyed in Expensive cars to the office, eat high end meals from restaurants, buy import designs, live the "High-Table" lifestyle and the list can go on and on. Now before I would continue I want you to keep in mind that I support the concept of someone with money to spend his earned money and spoil himself as to satisfy his wants and needs. But what of governments whose official take money from the government which was probably meant for a different project, or people changing numbers on public budgets to finance their lifestyles from taxpaying citizens money. This leads to discussions of advanced slavery (modern slavery as media call it) and this happens even in advanced worlds of the earth.

Now back to the subject my point on the difference in lifestyle puts the citizens in a box where they are forced to think in diverse ways and come to conclusions that make governance difficult. Like coming to think of it. The ruler has no idea what the price of the most common meal is, the most affordable meals price, the average cost of living within, the economic disasters this people face and this causes an adverse effect on the formation of groups who want to put in rules that fit their lifestyle or standard or living. Or the definition of exposure according to their mindset. Now these groups tend to form in numbers bringing about many different concept and theories of how things should work. These multiple concepts a lot of times conflict with each other and basically becomes a disaster because these people don't take things into the right hands for judgment because of their lack of believe in the government ruling them. It has been common for Nigerians to just set up a committee in minutes and make a judgement of how they think things should go. A famous incident swept the world when four students were burnt to death(Alu 4) in Alu Community in Nigeria. The government gave a lot reactions to that without even realising that these people took out judgement on the students based on events that had been happening in the past of people being burnt down to ashes if caught stealing.

Let's take for example the 1993 presidential debate in Nigeria. Chief MKO Abiola knew the price of the common commodity goods that an average Nigerian citizen consumed and also kept record of their prices. leaders like this would have been predicted to be great because if you look at it through history right from King David of Israel, a great percentage of great rulers are the ones who have actually been in the shoes of the people. These are people who have felt the suffering and recognise the needs of commoners around them. If leaders can understand the perspective of subjects it helps to govern accordingly to the demands of the people. It gives an idea of how cultural, geographical, educational, media factors have affected the mindset of people and makes you understand ahead of time what there reaction to certain behaviours would be or limit of boundaries to push to exercise duties as a leader.

This is not just an observation based on Nigeria. Leaders such as Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Luther King II, William Wilberforce, Desmond Tutu have been noted to make impact in their various categories of how they helped people and the remarkable characteristic that these figures portrayed was the ability to identify the problem by the root. A lot of them didn't come out the solution to the problem they were against or have the right solution to the problem but they were known for being the right person for that situation. These men knew the surroundings and what was going on in them they had felt the agony that people felt before they were able to speak against such. Mandela was a lawyer who used to listen to people bring problems about different difficulties, Gandhi was the man of the people who apparently did everything like and with them, Desmond Tutu and King II were clergymen who might have heard a lot of complains from people around them. These men didn't just wake up in the morning with a motion to do the things they did. This was one of the moving forces that awakened the ability of this people to that extent.

Also in the USA where I Schooled, that is the main topic on the street. People say the government has no idea of clue of what is going on in their lives, they pay taxes, work hard but yet get no benefits to show their efforts in government. A lot of them use Medical and Health insurance as factor too. A lady said angrily at me one day "The government is put there to make things difficult for me, they have very expensive built up infrastructure, built up facilities, expensive government operational cars and yet we the people who ay for all these stuff live low lives without even the access to speak to these people". It was reported that the money the United States has spent on modern wars is enough to remove poverty from the earth for 10 years and yet more and more are being spent and this same situations are seen in many countries of the world today.

By Forbes magazine I checked the Worlds best governments and found that the countries in the Top 5 most especially were countries with good Government?Citizen relationship ratio. They don't have the best of economies or wealth. But the satisfaction with their citizens was high. With Denmark and Sweden as First and second place. There citizens are said to be %93 and %92 satisfied with the government. Making these Nations the happiest on earth even though the taxes in Denmark is said to be one of the highest in the World.

Now the issue of relationship is seen to be how important it can actually save a lot of government officials stress to be good leaders. It makes governing easy as the government knows direct needs of people and can actually solve it directly without the stress of actually creating government committee  to find things out as mostly done in Nigeria.

In my conclusion I would like to note that possible solutions can't really be jumped into as social, culture and religion also affect governance especially in other than western countries. And my observation is based on the 21st century influence on social media, internet and friends, discussions and hobbies. I'm open to discussions, comments and arguments on my page as well as questions.

Thank you and see you next time.

Parry

Actress Sanyogita Meyer and Mr. David Cameron(2011) picture from the UK Daily Mail