I watched this inspiring video about giving and decided to share. It is a short video that I am sure will bless and inspire you.
Enjoy..
Have a lovely day.
Chinomnso Precious
Video Credit: YouTube
How do I start? I have lived with the preconception that clothes, shoes, jewellery, make-up etc are the basic ingredients for being accepted. I know some of us are going through this or know someone who is going through this phase, but I am here to tell you that you are wrong.
You’re approaching the chamber of ‘bare it all’. So take off your ‘judgemental glasses’ and ‘sanctimonious thinking faculty’. But please leave on your ‘able wrists/hands’ and ‘willing-mind-to-contribute’.
Any time I flash back to the memories of my primary/elementary school days, there are so many memories that I know will never take a step out of my hippocampus [part of the brain responsible for memory retention]. Amongst other memories, is the one I totally loved [I will tell you why I loved it].
When I was in Primary five, and my brother was in Primary three, we were ‘fortunate’ to have the experience of being dropped off at school by our mum in the morning and in the afternoon, we went home on our own [not sure if parents still allow their children return on their own ‘now’]. Here is what I [We, my brother as well] loved about returning in the afternoons. Even though, we were given transport fare for two, we always found a way to reap from where we didn’t sow. LOL. At times, before we boarded the bus, we would realise there was only one seat available, so I would ask my brother to sit on my lap for the time being till we get to the bus stop, where we would get another bus or get home depending on if it was our first journey or second.
So, such situations resulted in us having extra cash that would not have been in our possession if we had both sat down in the bus. [you see why I loved that-extra cash for sweets and all the ‘forbidden’ that we wouldn’t have purchased if everything went as was expected]
But here is one interesting thing. There were times [a lot] when we [me and my brother] sat down respectively [he was not sitting on my lap], and the bus conductor would not take transport fare from us. Like I had stretched my hand one day purposely to be sure I was not invisible and the conductor said ‘ah don’t worry school girl’. This happened so many times.
Growing up, I just felt it was an act of ‘pity’, ‘compassion’, ‘benevolence’, divine ‘FAVOUR’. [God knew my brother and I needed sweets and Ice cream]
Here is the crux of this post- Fast forward to few years later, I was in UK. There were times when I got on the bus and the driver on his own volition, would give me a young person’s bus ticket [under 19] without me uttering a word. I guess the braids/my natural hair should be what I stick to. Because, times when this has happened, I was either on braids or my natural hair [see what weave-ons made me miss]. I would accept the fare [young person’s] and quietly enjoy my journey [not quietly though, my conscience pricked me]. Also, most times when this has happened, I was ‘holding my cash so tight’ [very rich student]. Oh! let’s not forget. I called it ‘FAVOUR’. It has to be. Of course, God knows the state of my bank account.
However, there was this one time where I corrected the driver and told him that I was not in the ‘young person’ category and paid the full fare.
Here is my question- the times where I accepted the ‘young person’ fare, will you call that divine ‘FAVOUR’? Have you ever been in a situation like this? How did you handle it?
I’ve just narrated just one example, but there are different examples, like going to a supermarket where you’re supposed to pay for the carrier bags and you’re given for free or some item you bought was given to you freely [not by the owner of the shop; just the sales assistant]. Do you call that divine ‘FAVOUR’?
I know it is very easy for us to bend the word of God for times when it best suits us or interpret things ‘divinely’. So what’s your take? Bare it all and share!
Please feel free to add bible stories and verses, if you so desire.
Oh! and may God bless those bus conductors, they sure gave me a memorable experience during my childhood.
Chinomnso Precious
Photo Credit: Google
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She awoke with a frown on her face. The first thing she uttered was ‘what am I doing here?’. What happened to my place of comfort? Then the thoughts rushed in. She misses her favourite TV soaps. She misses her former bed. She misses going out and knowing the faces she sees approaching her. She misses knowing how to get to place A from place B. She misses everything that isn’t ‘now’.
And then while she thought about all she missed. He walked in.
He smiled and said- ‘Why are you any different from the Israelites in the Wilderness?’ She thought to herself; ‘Now that’s a bit too harsh, don’t you think?
He answered; ‘Harsh?’ Okay, let’s talk.
Compare what you are missing, to what the Israelites almost killed Moses and Aaron for in Exodus 16, are they any different?
They are just the insignificant things that you’ve focused your attention on, that now seem to be overly important compared to what is to be attained with your presence in this place. Do you think I just get bored and decide to do something funny, and then your life seems to be the best joke to crack? Nah! You should know better.
So know this- There’s nothing, I mean NOTHING that has ever taken place [that will take place] that I am not aware of. You cannot be taught when you are on the mountain but in the valley. I am still the maker of the valley and the mountains, so I reside there. Don’t forget your previous blessings.
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Then He asked her: ‘Is this the first time I’ve taken you from your place of comfort?’ She answered ‘No’, bowing her head in shame. So why do you think that this time will be worse than before? Considering that I am the same yesterday, today and forever. Even more, the Latter is to be better than the former, remember?
Yes! I get it. What you desire is not visible. I know human beings like the ‘instant noodles’ way. But hear this- there’s no growth in the elevator. And I don’t do elevator, you’ve to take the stairs and I will provide railings and a bounce to your feet. You won’t be walking alone. Nothing of virtue is born overnight.
So suck it up! Chin up! Wipe those tears! I see you have loads of them; how about saving them for the good times ahead [tears of joy]. Just focus on me. Thank me. Ask me what it is that I want you to learn [this will fasten the process, because once you learn what is needed, you move on to the next level]. Seek to see good in the midst of all and stop crying for the ‘Lamb stew of Egypt’. I have assorted stew for you.
Then He left…..
This is for me and you. We may be going through a major or minor change in our lives and it looks as if nothing seems to be making sense or nothing is coming together. Let us rise above the situations and be like Job in Job 13:15 [Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him; I will surely defend my ways to his face]. We should not be Christians only in the midst of the ‘good going’. Remember God is the God of the mountain and the valley.
So this week, propose in your heart that whatever it may be, you will stand firm. God works all things together for our good. Employ patience to do its work, so you become mature and well-developed. Be encouraged!
Please share and leave your comments…Chinomnso Precious
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It is difficult to write about this one- not that one enjoys writing anyway- but writing about a thing where pangs of guilt as the victim and sometimes the wrongdoer periodically collide is not actually the most enjoyable activity to do. Ha, where do I start? Stereotype. Why do we stereotype, often with so much ease, comfort and unabashed audacity? That black is bad and white is good- why is that a preconceived theory in many of us? Why? Ok, ignorance, many seem to argue, is the main reason and I remember a recent event that perhaps gives credence to that school of thought. And yes, my brother, I realise that one could stereotype with a positive intention (stereotypes could be valid, I know) – but that does not mean it is completely right.
The problem with stereotyping- or at least the most dominant one- is that it gives you a single face of a thing and projects it as the only undiluted, unaltered face. And we all, if we want to be honest, have at least an experience of this projection. Ok my sister, let me tell you one recent experience. My own experience. It was an evening. I remember that evening, it was six; perhaps seven o’clock, the period of the day for most when the siblings of hunger and tiredness surfaced. I had just arrived home, famished, you could almost hear the walls of my stomach contract painfully. It had been running on empty for most of the day. The doorbell rang behind me and I opened it to behold the pretty face and figure of a Caucasian blonde silhouetted at my doorway.
‘Can I speak to you for a moment’?, she asked. Well, if anyone can, with those admirable features of yours certainly you’ll be top of the list, I replied. Ok, that wasn’t the actual reply, but a weak smile and nod was my reply. You see, I was still hungry. Then she started speaking. She was a volunteer, representing a charity organisation assisting the needy in various countries across the world. It was a large organisation, ubiquitous across developing regions, and it had hundreds volunteers- trained professionals of relevant fields- helping out. And they survived on generous donations from kind members of the public. She was calm, she was articulate, she was knowledgeable, she was passionate, spewing out possibly hundreds of words per minute- the perfect salesperson. No, I must find a loophole using a strength- details. You see, I am a bit too competitive.
Where are your volunteers working, what specific countries, I asked. Her face lit up, obviously fully aware of the answers. ‘Oh, countries like India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Africa….’. ‘Africa’, she reeled out as from an imaginary list, her countenance now overcome with a seeming default sense of pity and sadness. Well, she could have continued if I did not stop her- of course I wouldn’t miss that opportunity to offer an education. ‘Countries like Africa you say?’, I queried. ‘Yes’, she replied oblivious of the new course of the conversation, ‘we have volunteers in Africa, they need food, water and medicine…’. Pity, more natural pity from her. I cringed. She had fallen guilty of stereotyping the continent of Africa as one country, with all parts of the ‘country’ in need of food, water and medicine. All parts of it struggling to survive, needing and surviving on kind volunteers from thousands of miles away. ‘Well, that’s wrong’, I started. ‘Africa is not a country. It is a continent of 53 different countries’. My tone was a bit forceful, instructive. But her eyes lit up, willing to learn. So I tell her more.
I tell her that Africa isn’t a country, but a continent. A colourful continent. One of diverse people and culture and varying histories. And a growing army of able, educated, passionate young people. I tell her that her charity organisation, could be in Africa, but in just a couple of countries in Africa. I show her pictures of modern streets and skyscrapers, pictures from Nigeria and asked if her charity organisation could be in such a place- she said no. I tell her about Nigeria, South Africa, Ghana, Namibia, Kenya and a few other places- she conceded that she was wrong, slightly shame-faced. She innocently blamed it on the one-sided Western media, that seeks to cast sadness on what is beautiful because it was, black. I smiled, the smirk of victory obvious in whatever facial expression I had on. And I continued, a lame attempt to undo whatever the anti-African revisionists had done…
You see, that thing called stereotype, that often initial and sustained practice of using one side of a thing to represent the whole has somehow stuck with mankind for a while. A long while. I remember- in my first zoo visit as a child- checking to see if I can notice the cleverness and craftiness of ‘mbe’ the tortoise- as the children storybooks I read had described it as cunning, wiry and dishonest. Of course it wasn’t- or rather I couldn’t see it from merely looking. Or gazing with careful concern, if I could see the ‘proudness’ of the colourful peacock, because the books I had read said it was so. Well, I couldn’t. These are things I recall, rather hilariously anyway. It goes further. I remember being questioned in my first place of student internship why my English Language was apparently so good and thought process apparently good too. It wasn’t consistent with the belief my superiors had, that the Northern part of Nigeria- where I had my initial education- had students in schools who were totally inept at every strand of learning. Or why I wasn’t ‘quiet’ and ‘reserved’ in team meetings. At that time, I was defensive and understandably so- what else is more preposterous as ignorant stereotypes? Reflecting on those incidents, I would have treated them with perhaps, some genuine sense of pity.
Stereotypes are usually preconceived; a story a person knows about a thing without actually having an experience with the thing. and to insist on only one story about a thing so strongly, isn’t just right. You see, I struggled with stereotypes while growing as a child; prejudice and other forms of discrimination still faced me much later, but none as frequent as being a victim of first hand stereotype. Hence my understanding of the mind of the perpetrator- usually ignorant – and the silent sufferings of the victims. And I understood my new friend; she listened, she smiled and she accepted the new education. More importantly she accepted that it is right and important for one to challenge stereotype where they exist, and correct them. She accepted that while this may be a difficult task, owing to the huge influence of the media on our minds, in one’s small sphere of influence such correction can be made, one at time. She accepted that in the face of more persuasive information, the stereotyped mind can be aligned to what is right. She accepted that she has a duty, armed with the right information, to challenge stereotypes.
So finally my first vlog is here. I am making use of my YouTube Channel- Chinomnso Precious.
So here’s a short video that serves as an introduction to my vlogs to come. I hope you enjoy watching it.
Please share and leave your comments.
Precious Thoughts! 