Poems: No clue

I loved one who had a clue
Because I hung around her like a glue
Then one day she suddenly flew
To a place that I had no clue. 

K.Oni

Women of the Bible: Abigail

1Sa 25:18  Then Abigail made haste and took two hundred loaves and two skins of wine and five sheep already prepared and five seahs of parched grain and a hundred clusters of raisins and two hundred cakes of figs, and laid them on donkeys. 

How a woman who was very beautiful and discerning came to be married to a man who was harsh and badly behaved, or as his name signifies a 'fool', magnificently escapes me. It is often true in love that there is more irrationality than sense. But a man with much money and power, even though a fool is at times providently blessed with a beautiful and discerning wife. Or we can say that such a union was perhaps due to family ties, namely wealth marrying into wealth, or the rich man having so much fortune was able to tempt her father into giving her away with him becoming rich in the transaction. Such was the sorry lot for Abigail, that the man to whom her father dispensed her too, was not one who was trained in the school of wisdom, nor in sobriety, although he owned much worldly shrewdness to make him the successful man that he was.

Abigail is introduced to us to contrast her with the bankrupt character of her husband. She was very beautiful and discerning. This is also to say that she was a woman of great principle, and God-fearing as we would later discover in her plea to David to forsake his anger towards her household. Abigail is the archetype that we are presented with in the book of proverbs on the happy wife. She is the excellent wife. The frame more precious than jewel and one who rises while it is yet night to provide food for her household. In Abigail's case, she provides delivery from death. What a godly woman, what a rarity, kind and sublime in every way, and as we shall later see, also full of humility as that to which we are all exalted to follow.

Proverbs 14:1 communicates that the wisest of women builds her house, but folly with her own hands tears it down. This almost became true with Abigail due to Nabal's foolishness, but Abigail's quick decisiveness remedied the situation. Her husband's own hands almost destroyed every living thing in their household by arousing David's anger when foolishly Nabal returned evil for good. He belittled David and railed at his messengers when they had only done good towards him. Thus, David strapped on his sword like every zealous man overtaken with anger and sought to utterly wipe out Nabal and all his household from the face of the earth.

Abigail caught wind of this coming disaster by being informed by one of the young men in their household. This young man told Abigail because he knew what we already knew, namely that Abigail was a wise and discerning wife. If anyone can salvage the situation, the young man must have thought then it must be Abigail. Circumstances always tug out the best and worst in a soul, or we can say that situations which happens upon us often serves to display what lies deep in our heart. And what lay deep in Abigail's soul was prudence, yes, wisdom which must have been cultivated during her years of marriage despite being married to a fool. Wealth had not injured her wisdom. She did not condescend to her husband's ways but maintain that vital principle of discipline in the areas of discernment and wisdom.

She at last constructed a plan of deliverance and the manner in which she executes it ought to cause us to arise and praise the God in whom all her faith depended. Notice that the text says that she took haste. This was no hour to linger and engage in womanly trifles or sit inactive waiting for man to deliver. Nay, she was a woman of substance and took the action of salvation into her own evely hands. She prepared an offering to appease David and the portion she commanded was that of great liberality. All these things she kept from her foolish husband. O this is another trait to be adored, let every woman who loves the Lord be generous in their given. Let them keep away wise decisions from foolish men for they will be scorned at last if revealed. Speak to them in parables if needs be like our Lord Jesus did to the stiffened of his generation that had no ears to ear.

After commanding her young men to go, she assured them that, after, she would come also and meet with David. And in meeting with David there is much caveat the women from this generation can peruse. She saw David and immediately fell at his feet and said words which were utterly destitute of any selfishness. Even though the guilt is entirely to be put upon the hard neck of her husband, yet she took it on herself and entreated David to grant her a listening ear. She rightly confesses that her husband was a fool. This is not to cast a mean eye upon her husband as to forsake that instruction for wives to respect their husbands, but it is to speak the plain truth, namely that her husband is a fool and that folly is with him. Perhaps some might say that she went too far in saying that her husband was a worthless fellow but I shall let you judge in the bosom of your own hearts. Christ often spoke the truth about the conditions of people's heart, he called the Pharisees a hypocrite, he denounced his generation as unable to discern the times, and was not afraid to label the evil man as being evil. Likewise we must not be afraid to speak clearly of the lazy man or of our times which has clearly exchanged the truth of God for the lie. And although many of us are worthless, especially me, when it comes to things pertaining to eternal life or holiness, yet we must not beat ourselves but exalt in the towering fact that Christ has made us worthy.

Were you a sinner, are you a Nabal, then there is heavenly grace for you.

Returning this pen back to Abigail, we must say that words alone cannot praise adequately her noble deeds and high character of heart. For David was entirely impressed with her plea and understood that she was an instrument used by the Lord to keep him from such a guilty act of murder. Abigail had affirmed that God will make a sure house for David. What a remarkable faith, namely that she was entirely sure that the promises of God made to David will come to pass. What a sweetened bright candle that flourishes in the darkness. What a woman found in Israel. What an Abigail and I pray that many women in our churches today may follow after her likeness.

A good woman knows that to plea with a godly man, one must include God in the conversation and remind him of the ways of God and that the man should act accordingly. Such a talk will persuade the godly man if he is in error to forsake his ways and so it was with David. David was clearly blinded in his rage and Abigail had been God's voice, yea God's beautiful hand and feet, or we can say here, mouth, to stop David in his blood thirsty tracks. Abigail ended her plea by asking David that he should remember her when God has dealt well with him. And David did. For when Nabal was instructed of this discourse had between David and Abigail, he was as the scriptures say, 'became as a stone and his heart died within him.' This I believe came about due to the awakening of his conscience to his wrong and more so, to the terror that would have collapsed upon him. And about ten days later he died because God struck him. Omnipotent hands finally rose to grant him his judgement. O how this is deserving of us all were it not for grace. O Lord, I do pray, lift your hands of mercy against the Nabal's of this world, rise not yet in judgement until they come unto repentance. But I say, that you are God of heaven and you do that which pleases your soul.

Abigail had secured peace for her household and through her wisdom and discernment she had spared the lives of many. She providentially had been the instrument to prevent the anointed of the Lord in committing a wicked act. God used her to stop the feet of David. And through this encounter with God's anointed she became his wife after David learnt of the demise of Nabal. He remembered her when God has dealt well with him.

And when she is approached to be the wife of the future King of Israel by David's servants, her mannerisms are to be exalted. She bowed with all humility and submission and uttered that she is merely a 'handmaid to wash the feet of the servants of my lord'. This was no easy utterance; for a woman of her status would have been accustomed to being looked after for she was the wife of a rich man, even though he was a fool. She did after all possessed five young women who were hers to be directed as she pleased. And to now wash the feet of the servants of David would have been a mean thing, but she cared not for position or status but was altogether ready to do the lowliest job.

O Abigail, what a woman to be celebrated. Would you be so humble ladies as to put yourself forward to wash the feet of your husband's friends or of your father's friends? Would you have such hearts to descend so low, leaving your heaven for earth?

Many woman today I say may benefit by taking on Abigail's characteristics by being discerning and full of humility. And although external beauty is a gift given by God that makes one appear aesthetically beautiful before all eyes, yet it was not external beauty that saved the day, no. It was those inward qualities, those fruits from heaven which can be the possession of all women if they would let the Spirit be their teacher and guidance.

K.Oni

Power, corruption and lies

This week has seen two public institutions facing serious accusations of corruption. Firstly there were the claims by former undercover police officer Peter Francis that he was ordered to dig up ‘dirt’ on the family of the murdered teenager Stephen Lawrence.
 
The allegations that police were deployed secretly in an attempt to smear the victims of such a serious crime have been described by the Lawrence’s lawyer, Michael Mansfield QC, as "institutionalised deceit".
Secondly, scandal has also hit the Care Quality Commission (CQC), the body responsible for inspecting hospitals and care homes. They were accused of covering up a report, which exposed their failure to properly investigate the deaths of 16 babies and two mothers due to neglect in a hospital in Cumbria. The author of the report was told to destroy his findings to protect CQC’s reputation. It has led to CQC’s chairman, David Prior, saying that the commission was "not fit for purpose".

Like the BBC's Jimmy Savile scandal, these are further examples of the damage caused when cultures of corruption and cover-up become embedded within institutions established for the public good.  

So what does a Christian response look like? 

Firstly, these scandals are a powerful illustration of one of the least popular of all theological topics: sin. Sin is perceived by many as a very judgmental concept because it is so often used only in relation to personal moral, often sexual, issues.

But in these cases we see the impact of sin, which is beyond just the realm of the individual. Of course, the decision to smear the victim of a crime or the suppression of a critical report is wrong, but in these examples the wrongdoing has been compounded, maintained and concealed through an institution. Sin is manifested in corporate failure.

The Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby wrote a booklet called Can Companies Sin?(Grove 1992) reflecting on his experiences working in the oil industry. The answer he finds to his own question is a resounding ‘yes’. Despite their complexity, companies and institutions have moral responsibilities just as individuals do. Despite our fondness for a scapegoat who can be sacked to carry the can, few corporate scandals are any one person’s fault. Often it comes down to the "negligence, weakness and deliberate fault" of many. 

This is the sin-sickness of the world, the key underlying cause of all injustice. Rather than being used as a way of pointing the finger of judgment at others, a full and radical understanding of sin is the best way of understanding why the world is in the mess it is.

Through the presence of Judas in Jesus’s community, the multiple failures of Peter and the disputes of Paul with his colleagues, the Bible is reassuringly clear about the presence of sin in the Church.  Church history ever since has been a rich story of both the divine and the dusty. This can give us an earthy realism about the self-serving tendency inherent within all institutions.

This realism helps us avoid twin dangers of cynicism and naivety. We should reject the easy commentary of the cynics who simply deride all public bodies as hopelessly corrupt. They are wrong – strong public institutions are fundamental to any country and many good people are faithfully working within them. But we should also reject the naivety that leaps to defend public institutions at all costs. We should be wary of shifting the blame onto one or two ‘bad apples’ while ignoring the corporate nature of problems. 

And there is a role for all of us. Whether at work, in our communities or our churches, we can commit to speak the truth about issues that need exposing and addressing. When we do this, we become those who bring light to shine in the darkness of a sin-sick world. We should not be superior but humble, for we are not free of sin, but simply follow the one who is. The one who said: "You shall know the truth and the truth will set you free."

Jon Kuhrt is executive director of social work at the West London Mission and blogs atwww.resistanceandrenewal.net

Miscellanies 81: Come have communion with Christ again

Many miserable Christians are birthed from a lack of a secret communion with Christ. They have forsaken the intimacy of prayer, the transforming power of the word, the ministry of the Darling Holy ghost to their souls; these they have altogether neglected. They rise each day with a hardened heart, not knowing the fullness of their salvation nor the great absolute enjoyment that is found in Christ, and thus, they descend upon the world with much hypocrisy and guilt. Only if they had sat at the breakfast table with Christ and fed their souls with how much the Father loves them, how much Christ think and cares about them, and how the Holy Spirit wishes to impart in them all those virtues, yea, those sweet delights that brightens the face like a contented happy child. They would walk upon the world with a foreign love which would make the sons of this world blush and say, ‘see how the sun shines in the face of these Christians. They have the same cares and sorrows, but they live their days as if all of their treasures are stored elsewhere. They love and love.’ 

Come my dear Christian and have communion with Christ again. If Moses after fellow-shipping with the Lord had to cover his face, how much more on this side of the cross will you come away happy and beaming with love?

K.Oni

Nobody ever said I had pretty eyes

I Don't really want to wake up today,

I want to close my eyes to be far from the pain,

Today is full of rain.

I want to smile but my soul can't see the need.

You'll never hear me scream, but I bleed like a sacrificial lamb. 

A prisoner of my own history, with no friends

They don't really care, but they'll say my analysis is not fair.

Back-packing through life with the shadow of my own death,

I really want to care, but nobody understands, So

I keep running, but I end up in myself.

Don't think I'm cold if I don't say hello,

In times like these I just want to be free, to see

To believe, to release, to think that there's happiness for me,

Because you see, as a youth, let me tell you a truth

I cried alone, almost swallowed a stone so I would choke,

Then my life would be broke.

I learnt life ain't nothing but tears

Full of fears as I watched my best friend taking away by meth.

Nobody stops to notice the man on the street

Or the rich middle class girl on speed,

Getting A's but she won't take a break

In-case you realize that she's a fake.

Death is all we are owed

Life is empty in a eyes that is full of sadness.

And when they bury me, bury me fast

Send me away with one of my beats, play it once so the crowd can hear

My attitude to living, for being, now I'm glad I'm leaving.

Forgive me Mama for drama, I never worked hard like my papa,

But it was always on my mind, that I was no good, of no earthly use.

Feeling ugly and alone, so my feelings went stone cold.

I used to be bold, now I won't even hold a conversation about being old,

Because souls like mine are always ready to dine with death,

Nobody ever said I had pretty eyes, so I made them sad.

And she believes that no one can love a girl with scars

So I took her to meet the man with eternal scars.

He can understand, even though you are struggling to feel alive, let me lend you a hand.

This is true love, calling me at 4 am because she knows I'll be awake,

Staring out at the sky, wanting to fly to be free from this hard ground.

Death is all we are owed

Life is empty in a eyes that is full of sadness. 

By K.Oni

I have a love

I have a love that life could never ever tire

It is anchored in heaven with a wire

Every day it gets a little higher.

No day can steal this night away

Even though she is far away

This feeling never ever goes away.

She is my sun in the day, My moon in the night

Although we fight, its tight, its right

Her face is the fairest, rarest, carest.

Her kiss in the morning melts me

I breathe in her fresh air, best friends

We still have our best years.

No need to mourn those days when I cried

When I tried, when I lied, I thought I died.

Lost you to the wind, couldn't sing, wanted to drink the poison

Then you came running, hugging me, telling me that you need me.

Let me count the ways that I love you,

I forgive you, though there are shadows under my eye

And creases on my cheek, in truth there is love in this girlish face.

Thank you for your grace, lets start again, make way in the sunset

Let me give you a lily, I'll never be silly.

K.Oni

The Kingdom of God is here

A video that I made from the UWE Christian Union weekend away.

By K.Oni