Heaven they say finds its bearing in the afterlife, whether this submission makes sense or not, I however share in its avowal. Being a realistic human being I am quite often reminded that this heaven I sort after; be it a location or a spiritual illusory is certainly a destination whose geographical graphical mapping exists only in the minds of the death and God himself, so I will let the death tell its tales while I awe and pray to God that we all get there someday. I say this with no reservations to the numerous doctrinal standpoints that may critique my postulations. Conversely, heaven to me is being around family and friends and being conscious about the aura, the energy dispelled with every second that passes by; the fights, the laughs, the reconciliations, the cajoling among a thousand unpredictable things that happen in such a setting. Heaven is indeed a place in my heart, a place I want to be by all means, being among my family and friends, laughing and crying about the stupidest of things, or persons that have a thing or two that brings out ingeniously something capricious about me.
If I was told that I would miss home like I do right now, I would probably swear that there exists a virgin in a labor room somewhere, and is at the verge of birthing a baby. I cannot believe that it had to take this battlefields, bursting with the landmines of live to decipher clearly the difference between the heaven I’m coming from to that which I sort to live both in the physical and spiritual terms. The bullets that life throws at us are firstly unending and are secondly but more importantly, a means of revealing the vulnerabilities and emptiness that lay quiet within our souls. As a result of my desire to serve my father land and make a name for myself, I lay hold decisions that can be thematically summed as between “life and death”. “Being your own man” that seems to be the right? It sure is, I mean who wouldn’t want to be called the man? But little do we know that the enemy that lurks your downfall is not concerned about your readiness ascribed by age and gender, whether you call yourself a man or not. As a matter of fact, Life is your greatest enemy, it doesn’t sleep, it comes hard at you every god damn second, whether you are ready for the brawl or not. It doesn’t check with the weather forecasters; neither does it take into cognizance your state of health. Now can you imagine a heaven for the living, where would it be, have you been there before?
As I position my hand on the keyboard of this computer and I begin to write, nostalgic about the journey, the memories and the elation that comes with being home, I find myself screaming silent shouts dispelling my frustration with what is obtainable in this place. I am not financially poor neither am I very rich but in neither states I believe we all want to be home, and Home calls out to us. They say ‘never forget the road that leads you home’ but the delinquent here is not ‘forgetting the road’ it is being constantly conscious about the road and not being able to walk that path again – You are only a child once. Knowing fully well that, you are on a that journey of no return, and your destination has been coursed by nature. In this phase of my journey, I made a vow to my country that I would remain loyal, faithful and to serve her with all my heart whenever it beckons my services. Like a soldier who takes orders from his superiors, so I am to my nation. My peers and I sometimes enjoin our voices on the social media and other safe means to cry out our frustration with the system, that in our opinion subjects us to hardships besides the one life incessantly subjects us to.
…it is being constantly conscious about the road and not being able to walk that path again – You are only a child once.
Deep within our souls, hearts and mind, we desire an outlet to air out our frustrations about the pressures of life. What we seek is a heaven that looks like home, in fact, we need home- a place where we can be children again. Seemingly, children have nothing to worry about. The truth is Adults are only children in grown bodies and bigger clothing, with empty pride to cover our disgusting adult nakedness. Call me a soldier because life is indeed a battlefield that I am indulged in, and I am not winning at all. A racer? You can call me that too. I tell myself that the race is between the three ME’s; Me, myself and I. But in reality, I am competing against a life that is armed to the teeth determined to keep me abased. I am racing against my peers, it has always been survival of the fittest and this is no cliché, you are either a lion or the lion’s meal. And lastly, I am competing against myself, and this, this I do daily, until all my demons are subjected to my command. So you tell me, have I painted a vivid picture already?
“I am competing against a life that is armed to the teeth determined to keep me abased.”
Heaven is right here with us, it is our family and true friends, and they are the only real thing amidst a bunch of fakes that we go after, they are the only God ordained force that have and would continue to aid in our fight against the unrelenting giants of life. Now I know, why my parents are legends. They may not be perfect, beside no one is, but they must have fought a good fight to be here. The heaven that I talked about is right here, so do not miss this one and equally miss the other. Your relationship with your family may be broken like glass, a hell on earth. My advice is that you fix it, make it the heaven you sort. We are privileged to be giving heaven on this plagued earth. Therefore, fix, call, text, chat, invest and love yours.
“Heaven is right here with us, it is our family and true friends”
Dedicated to:
The Bitrus’
The Nyako’s
The Abok’s
Juliet, Godwin, Jenny, Kyen, Mayowa, Mary-Jane, Theo, Prince, Sunny, Lekon
among a dozen others who I consider family and friends. I love you all.