My thought on JF Odunjo's Classical Poem

*Ise l’ogun ise*

(Work, far from being a curse, is the only path to any form of freedom)

*Mura s’ise ore mi*

(Work hard, but far more: work smart)

*Ise la fi n’deni giga*

(Unfortunately, if you still see work as a curse, you are set on being a dwarf for life)

*Bi a ko ba reni feyin ti*

(There is a salient need to build institutions)

*Bi ole la’nri*

(Work without building a network of capacities ends in servitude )

*Bi a ko ba reni gbekele*

(Trust God, but use that to build human 'Trusts', even if they would fail)

*A tera mo’se eni*

(Persistence pays and it yields many fruits, sooner or later. Don't quit!)

*Iya re le lowo lowo*

(Be born again, not just spiritually, but in mind and heart )

*Baba re le lesin lekan*

(Keep your culture, but move on from what your Ancestors have built, there is a lot to be discovered)

*Bi o ba gbo’ju lewon*

(Be complacent at your own risk)

*O te tan ni mo so fun o*

(Change, or become a dinosaur. Dare preserve yourself from extinction)

*Ohun ti a ko ba ji’ya fun*

(No pain, no gain)

*Se kii le pe lowo*

(No cross, no crown)

*Ohun ti a ba fara sise fun*

(There is dignity in labor)

*Nii pe lowo eni*

(Beware careful about free things , nothing actually comes free)

*Apa lara*

( Use your hand, but let your head, gut and heart do the commands)

*Igunpa niyekan*

(Knowledge moves, but technical skills lasts much longer. Merge it with changing trends)

*B’aye ba n’fe o loni*

(Love what you do , don't do things for praise)

*Bi o ba lowo lowo*

(Money is fleeting. It serves the purpose, but it is not the purpose)

*Aye a ma fe o lola*

( Do not be known for money, it is a murderous trap)

*Tabi ki o wa ni’po atata*

(The higher you go, the closer to the calamitous door you'll be, if you don't move on)

*Aye a ma ye o si terinterin*

(Be conscientious , you are what you are in the eyes of God -you dust and clay- and nothing more)

*Je k’o de’ni tin raago*

(Preserve humility, which is the truth about you, o nothingness, without God you go under, so why pretend?)

*Aye a ma yinmu si o*

(The world is only attracted to power, money and flesh; the height of folly is to depend too much on these which prevent authentic peace and freedom)

*Eko si’nso ni d’oga*

(Ah, education is everything, educate yourself to freedom)

*Mura ki o ko dara dara*

(Formal learning is but a minuscule; be deep and broad about learning, and apply what you learn)

*Bi o si r’opo eniyan*

(The vast majority are not educated, and it is little about going to school and colleges)

*Ti won f’eko s’erin rinrin*

(Look around your family and clan, you would find examples; and make comparisons)

*Dakun ma f’ara we won*

(Education is perpetual . Little minds discuss people , average minds discuss events, great minds discuss ideas)

*Iya n’bo fun’omo ti ko gbon*

( Whatever we call 'hell' comes about as a result of lack of education)

*Ekun n’be fun’omo to nsa kiri*

(Preserve patrimony, sustain memory)

*Ma f’owuro sere ore mi*

(You must set forth at dawn)

*Mura si’se ojo nlo*

( At the end of the day, we profess: love is everything, and it is a verb, an action word. You cannot love if you do not work)

An Arrogation of Power

 An arrogation of power is an ephemeral act. All efforts by man at perpetuating his history would be lost without a start from a disinterested position. It is not about you, it is about God and the people you serve. Let go and let God. Let go and let them.

Between Faith and Science; Sacraments and Reason.

The rejection by Christians, of the Sacraments, is what has resulted into what I call The Age of Matter. Science has made much progress at the expense of faith. Faith, on the other hand, has lost so much because of an abject rejection of the Sacraments; it's a question of simple law of energy conservation.

To save the world, faith can reclaim her lost energy from science through reason, which would be the battle ground , faith must employ reason to engage science in order to take back what belongs to her in all truth, and the weapons of  engagement between both parties would be M(m)atters. Matter of the Sacraments, from faith perspective and the matter of things, from Science perspective; 

If there would be any hope left at all for the world, While the battle rages between faith and science within Reason, the matter of science would have to pave way for the Matter of faith in the sacraments, only if people of faith universally embrace the efficacy of these Sacraments.

*On the Eucharist: Thoughts from the Pew (21)* *Conclusion…*

The write-up was conceived as an unhurried witness of a raw personal Eucharistic experience, a work which is a witness of the contemporaneousness of the Eucharist, and it is never exhaustive.

The Eucharist, far from being an archaic medieval ritual, is the actual reason and meaning behind our modern life and all the columns of thoughts that surround our present civilisation: in Politics, Economics, Arts and Science especially.

Human testimony is great and the scripture is marvellous, but when, constantly, regularly, faithfully and trustfully,we begin to eat, trust and live the Word of God made flesh, we arrive at a freedom far deeper than that which any intense trial or penance can acquire for us.

‘Surely, the Lord has been here and we did not know’ (Gen 28: 16). It is said that when scientists get to the summit of the mountain of knowledge, they would find Theologians already waiting there for them. This point of arrival - no doubt - would be about the very discovery of the reality and supreme potency of the Eucharist. Science will never find its ultimate purpose until it embraces faith in the Eucharist.

Faith also needs some humility to welcome the prodigality of Science, which then becomes a great utilitarian parable for healing, clarifying, explaining and authenticating the many perceived brittleness surrounding the mysteries of our faith.

On a personal note, I consider it as not a coincidence, but a merciful act of God’s design that this work is ending on a Sunday which is the glorious Feast of Transfiguration. 

Transfiguration explains all that I hope to discuss about my experience of the Eucharist as a perpetual sign of an existential continuum.

My best verse in the entire Holy Scripture arguably is about Jesus’ response to Martha regarding the Resurrection in Jn 11:25-26, and especially about verse 26:

25.Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me will live, even though he dies. 26.And everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?” …

This verse (26) informs my personal slogan: “Passionate about living”. My testimony is that of an experience of life as a continuum, a passage from life unto life. There is no death, what we call death is Ascension, just as our present life is about the Resurrection of Easter, since our death actually happened at our Baptism (Gal 2:20; Col 3:3).

The good thing about writing is that one becomes the first student of one's write-up. Far from being filled with any exquisite grace, I only get informed daily about my shortcomings to the lofty ideals contained in the write-up, and that is a plus.

Finally, an apology to the Academicians and Theologians who would consider this work ill-suited for their pursuit, it was not written with any critical audience in mind, so if there is any error along the lines, I plead naively guilty, for it is only a writing borne of a raw testimony of an experiential discovery, without any academical justification or professorial backing, save some little references from the Holy Scripture.

Here ends for a while my thoughts from the Pew. I rise.

6th of August 2017

Feast of the Transfiguration

*On the Eucharist: Thoughts from the Pew (20)* *The “Ite Missa est” Trilogy* PART 3

Consider how knowledge has developed through the multiplicity of words in our days. For instance, when we perform a task on computer by typing on the keyboard, we copy these words simply by selecting them and pressing ‘Ctrl+C’, and with a ‘CTRL+V’, we can paste an infinite copy of the same words, thus we achieve a massive economy of scale through this means. 

Multiply this simple method and we understand how the development of codes, software and the multiplicity of various forms of knowledge through these means have built the present economy and civilisation. This method of multiplication out of little efforts is what makes Bill Gates and everyone who applies them, rich and successful. 

But this, in a more magnificent form, is also the science behind the Eucharist, behind the multiplicity of Bread (Jn: 6), behind Mass and the actions of Calvary. This is what He sought to achieve by entering our hearts in Communion. He is our task and leverage. He purifies our minds and frees us from the ‘scarcity mentality’ that enslaves us and changes our perception unto that of an ‘abundance mentality’. 

The Study of Economics is based on the concept of Scarcity. The Eucharist, on the other hand thrives upon the ‘abundance’ concept. The two do not meet, or rather, they meet in Mary, where ‘scarcity’ is swallowed up by ‘abundance’.

Just like one who does an initial heavy task of typing words on the computer before copying them, Christ had completed the initial Eucharistic work on Calvary, what we who are His ambassadors do, from the ‘Ite Missal Est’ on (2 Cor 5: 20), is the little job of copying and pasting what has already been achieved through faithfulness and thankfulness in our daily duties. 

This Word has been made flesh and has given Himself for us in the Eucharist at Mass, we have become the copied and pasted Words as we eat Him, and as such this concept of multiplicity shall grow more and more the more the Eucharist, which originates from the heart of Christ, is understood and multiplied; but only if we do not get stuck with the love of money accompanying this progress. This petrifies the heart, do not fall for it.

After all that is said and done, we confess: A faithful attendance at the Eucharistic table constitutes the greatest work to be done on earth, every other thing happens as a corollary of this work at Mass (Jn 6: 27). This is how we ‘take away the sins of the world’ (Jn 1: 29) and multiply the world’s good (Jn 6: 1 -15) through him, with Him and in Him.

*On the Eucharist: Thoughts from the Pew (20)* *The “Ite Missa est” Trilogy* PART 2

The Eucharist is the Incarnated word, the scripture which we have all become is the judgement of the world, and it begins from us who are the household of His Spirit (1 Pet 4: 17). 

But, this judgement is not a negative one, it is a verb, it is work, it is love and it is entirely immersed in His mercy. We only experience this work, either as a judgement than of mercy, in proportion to our lack of faith and humility, than of the reality of our sins and insufficiency.

This judgement or mercy -as the case may be- happens this way: once we receive Him - in awareness or not - we become like a Sink (that beautifully analysed in the study of Thermodynamics) , a dumping space for the world’s garbage. Or, like dipped towels that absorb water, we acquire the capacity to cure the world’s ill by absorbing them, so doing making up ‘what is lacking in His suffering’ through this absorption (Col 1: 24). 

Unlike Thermodynamics Sinks, we go beyond converting and recycling our sins and the sins of the entire world. By faithfully fulfilling our daily duties, we develop the means - through Him, with Him and in Him- to expiate all sins committed, to purify every good badly done and to supply for enormous works omitted out of neglects. Welcome to Redemption where nothing is wasted. What wonders we shall see on judgement day, when those who do next to nothing are awarded an ultimate glory!

   

While the Eucharist does not eliminate the trials of life, it mitigates and leverages their negative effects through the merits of Christ’s sufferings. Whatever we may be going through now could have been worse without the Eucharistic effect . How would we have handled it, we who dread the present grave circumstances? 

He says: ‘'Come to Me all you who labour and are overburdened and I will give you rest'(Mt 11: 28). That statement finds an ultimate truth within the Eucharistic livelihood .

*On the Eucharist: Thoughts from the Pew (20)* *The “Ite Missa est” Trilogy* PART 1

If Albert Einstein’s thought on Relativity and Isaac Newton’s formula of Gravity, can provoke such a change of an entire civilization, then, affirming that a holy and faithful reception of the Eucharist achieves so much more in fostering the world’s goodness, would not be a frivolous statement of piety, but a perfect fact about the reality of progress.

Eucharist is the actual source of all the positivity that we see, yet we study with admiration the Einstein and Newton’s wonders, and forget that we who receive Christ in the Eucharist are the actual protagonists of civilisation. 

But, how are we sure that all these Eucharistic ponderations are not figments of our imaginations? The answer lies in an unselfish verification of their effects. Like the Disciples at Gethsemane, we are often asleep and do not perceive in us and in the world, the unbelievable Eucharistic consequences of Ite missa est. The gusto of life as an awakening is in the verification of these Eucharistic actions in our daily activities.

With a humble attentiveness and a holy perseverance, we can perceive the growing effect of the Eucharistic authenticity in our lives and in the world. It was not a day that we and our ancestors create the present mess, to presume that within this realm of existence, the resolution of them would take a day, is an illusion begging for forgiveness. A God who has not come to abolish the law, but, with grace and mercy, has come to complete them, works on everyone uniquely within the confine of their space and time. Blessed is he who can wait and see.

God’s work of recreation goes on. Do not dwell on the spectacular, an attentiveness and perception of little things is what produces a multiplication of thanksgiving, the origin of a multitude of blessings. Take nothing for granted, His work continues in us, sharp and prompt but, gentle as silence; directing our plights, perfecting our actions, warding us from every evil and inspiring every little motives and actions of ours. 

 

Let us perceive His actions (Jn 10: 38) in little things, such as, a reduced frequency of our losing things, serendipity, just in time experiences, meeting important appointments. He conquers massive evils by giving victories in little things. 

Gradually, He reduces our fears and develops in us a humble and authentic confidence. As in the process of metamorphosis, our fallen natures are gradually flayed and made to give way to the freedom of the Spirit, where we grow from glory unto glory (2 Cor 3: 18).

Slowly but surely, amidst the ‘flip-flop’ of life, we shall perceive the orderliness of our lives, even amidst trials, sins and inconsistencies; we shall gradually develop the capacity to accept the things that we cannot change, build the courage to change the things that we can change, and receive the clarity and wisdom of perceiving the difference between these two.

‘Ite Missa est’, “go forth. Go in peace to love and serve the Lord”. The Liturgy becomes ours, the Eucharistic baton is passed unto us. The church becomes for us, not simply a building along the high street, but a manifested source, where we experience the continuation of the liturgy, in us, and in the whole universe, within the uniqueness of our being. 

Resurrection then becomes a positive ad infinitum.