The Joys of Childhood, The Sorrows of Adulthood (III)

  ...messy, violent and horrible place fraught with untold economic hardships, severe hunger, wicked and devilish crimes, frequent incomprehensible and bizarre death cases, unnecessary civil and international wars, and to crown it all, uncontrollable natural disasters that affect thousands and thousands every year.

Life becomes troubling and unsettling to sentient beings especially the adult. Man cannot escape these troubles for he faces them in every corner of the global village. They are poured on him. He is greeted with news of nauseating murder or other horrible crimes when he switches on the television or radio early in the morning. When he buys a newspaper, his eyes cannot miss the incessant reports of terrifying armed robbery, unnecessary kidnappings, shameful rape, gruesome murder, shocking fraud, and institutional corruption.

Can the adult really have rest? Those who have the wherewithal to even take a vacation become restless and bored after few days session of fun and pleasure. The sorrows of the adult are indeed many. Here, they begin to realize the truthfulness of the words of Job when he said “Man, born of woman, is short-lived and glutted with agitation” (Job 14:1).

But the problem of the adult is never the problem of the child. Indeed, the child is insulated from grief resulting from global problems that constantly afflict the adult. When there are wars and deaths, the child eats serenely. When there are reports of murder, rape, and armed robbery, the child plays peacefully. When unfavorable economic conditions forces parents out of work, the child eats and plays with no angst.

No wonder the adult begins to envy the child. They begin to wish if they could go back into childhood to escape the numerous problems presented by adulthood. But, it is just not possible. Probably, it sounds like one of the impossibilities that man’s advancement in knowledge and technology cannot overcome.

Next time you meet a child, kindly contribute to his/her happiness for it won’t last. It won’t take long for him to grow into adulthood to grapple and struggle with many woes. Give him food if he is hungry. Take him to hospital if he is sick. Play with him if he is sad. Next time you meet a child whisper into his ears “Enjoy your Paradise. Enjoy it to the full for it won’t last”

Yes, childhood is indeed a paradise, relatively. Adulthood is hell, certainly. 

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The Joys of Childhood, The Sorrows of Adulthood (II)

...children are sometimes inclined to place undue emphasis on the independence and authority exercised by parents on themselves (the parents) and their offspring. Children begin to feel at some point in time that they would be happier if they were as independent as their parents.

Thus, yearning for independence begins to take root in their heart. Children who fail to address this unhealthy crave for independence end up becoming rebellious. Their end becomes lesser than their beginning. They encounter one problem after the other and sadly lack the experience to solve the mess they have created.

Yes, that is what happens when children fail to take the whole picture of life into consideration. By focusing on only the seemingly freedom that comes with independence that our parents enjoy, the child’s vision becomes unfortunately blurred to see the enormous responsibilities that come with independence from authority. Before one can think of exercising authority over his or her own self, then he or she should bear in mind the responsibilities of providing for one’s own self, making very weighty decisions that can even affect one’s unborn children, capable of accessing and ensuring good healthcare, just to mention a few.

As an adult, one fully becomes independent and exercises justifiable authority over the self. Rights come with responsibilities. The right to live independently implies that you have come of age and can now face your responsibilities squarely. As I gradually mature into adulthood, I have realized the implicit shame of still depending on parents for survival. Gone really are the days when you can boldly hightail/dash to your parents and demand your money for the day. As a grown up, you can only do that with lowered shoulders and a bowed head.

The need to work to meet responsibilities cannot be any greater as we grow older. Consciously or unconsciously, you feel it is what is expected of you as you come of age. This realization marks the beginning of the sorrows of adulthood.

 For the sorrows of the adult, the burning and instinctive desire to fend for oneself pales into utter insignificance compared with dealing with the troubles of the world. After childhood where the world appears to be a one big vacation venue, the exciting world quickly disappears into a mysteriously chaotic,...

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The Joys of Childhood, The Sorrows of Adulthood (I)

  "Every age has its pleasures, its style of wit, and its own ways".
        Nicholas Boileau-Despreaux

Childhood is the time when almost everyday is a holiday. The worries of life are never the concerns of the child. What concerns him or her is eating and playing. The child looks forward to receiving proper food, clothing and shelter from the parents without taking just a second to think of where the father or mother gets the money from. In fact, it is not the child’s business. Childhood is always filled with joy no matter what. There is nothing like problems in the mind of the child unless he is hungry.

To be fair though, childhood has its challenges. The main one and probably the well-known is the apparent lack of independence. Children depend on their parents for the basic necessities of life namely food, clothing, shelter and medical care. Hence, the child’s happiness depends on the parents to a far extent. It appears there is a positive correlation between the joy of the child and the ability of the parent to meet his/her demands. When parents easily provide their children’s needs and wants, they are no doubt happy. Mum or Dad may not be happy with Life. However, children may be too young to understand life and the woes of their parents, be it financial, health, or marital.

I remember the joys of my own childhood. School was always fun. After school, all I could think of and do was play, play and play. My books could wait till a week to exams. Nevertheless, I always performed excellently in school to the satisfaction of my parents. My stomach was almost always filled. I might have experienced occasional hunger. But that is normal even with children of affluent backgrounds.

 My Mother, a shop-keeper and Father who was a teacher, enthusiastically cooperated to provide my daily needs. At that time, we didn’t understand the troubles parents go through to put food on the table. When mother makes an attempt to lecture us on the economic problems and how hard it is to make ends meet in the prevailing Ghanaian economic conditions at the time, we get lost and confused like reading the Book of Revelation – not any better than understanding Rocket Science. 

The love, support and constant material provision and care of good parents interestingly place children under the illusion that adulthood is the best. With clouded vision,....

                                      

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What If Judas Had Not Betrayed Jesus....

DID THE MESSIAH REALLY NEED SOMEONE TO BETRAY HIM?

Coming back to the issue of Judas, did he have to involve himself with the imminent and unavoidable demise of the son of God? The answer is a blunt NO.

Even though his involvement made it extremely easier for the priests to hastily arrest Jesus, unjustly prosecute him through false charges at an eerie time of the night and ultimately see to his unfortunate execution, it was totally unnecessary for the man to betray the Christ. The Priests would still have carried on their already hatched diabolic plans to kill him since they were being incessantly tormented by the teachings of Jesus that simply exposed them as hypocritical and wicked sons of their father, the devil. They were just looking for a convenient time to implement their wicked intentions since they feared the crowd who held Jesus as a prophet.

Thus, Judas’ betrayal couldn’t have come at a better time. That was an opportunity they were looking for. It was an icing on the cake. It just made things simpler for these hateful religious leaders who capitalized on Judas betrayal to locate and seize the Christ at a convenient time without having to deal with the agitations and resistance of the crowd.

In fact, Judas was NOT destined to betray Jesus. Indeed, no one is predestined by God. God just has the ability to see the future and the consequences of human actions.

Judas’ actions were totally uncalled for in the whole equation. 

To illustrate, it is like a man who has been sentenced to face the death penalty in the court of law. On his way out of the court obviously escorted by law enforcers, then he was shot by an angry and disgruntled man in the court room. What do you think would happen to his shooter? Would the Judge pardon him because the man he killed was already sentenced to death? Obviously NO. Natural Justice would dictate that the shooter be immediately arrested, later tried and sentenced for murder.

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Why Judas Betrayed Jesus

Those favouring the unusual stance that Judas was a hero try to soften the harsh betrayal of Judas by explaining his actions completely away from the Bible’s simple view that his weakness (love for money) allowed Satan to enter him. They therefore advance various reasons to make their case.

 These people assert that it was Judas's political expectations that were his downfall. He, like many Jews of that era, expected the coming Messiah to re-establish a literal kingdom that would remove the hated Roman yolk. Under Roman occupation at the time where the Jewish people were under oppression and hardship and were being murdered including children by the Romans without trial or mercy, the Jewish people believed that the Messiah will come and lead the Jewish people to a great victory by being a great military leader. *

Therefore, when there was so much tension under Roman occupation and Jesus was preaching forgiveness, it's not hard to understand that Judas was disillusioned with Jesus practicing the opposite to what the Jewish people expected him to be doing.# With sayings like "Forgive them all", “and the lion will lie down for the lamb" and "Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar"#, Jesus appeared to be a direct opposite to the messiah the Jews were expecting. They had very high and wrong expectations of the Messiah at that moment.

Despite all that Jesus said to tell them how wrong they were (consider the parable of the mustard seed as an example - inauspicious and almost unseen beginnings of the kingdom), the disciples were slow to understand that Jesus' kingdom was not of this world*, and importantly, it was not yet time for the kingdom of the world to be restored to the Messiah and to the Israelites.

Consequently, it might seem Judas was trying to force Jesus' hand - to get him to present himself as the Messiah in a political way.* He might have thought Jesus would employ his miraculous powers to resist the oppression of the Roman authority and to some extent the hypocritical religious leaders of the day if he is forced to do so.

Others also reason that Judas believed in his cause and would probably have thought like most Jews do today that Jesus was not the messiah. But he was not the only one to lose his faith either.  The other disciples as well as Judas himself might not fathom how the Messiah could die the death of a common criminal? Only on Jesus' resurrection did they believe again. But then, Judas had already taken his life. #

 So, would Judas be forgiven?

Jesus could have forgiven him. He was certainly sorry for what he had done. The man committed suicide in his grief. And Jesus forgave the men who drove the spikes into Him, didn't He? **

Peter denied Christ but repented later and "wept bitterly".  Peter had the faith that Jesus would forgive him for his lack of confidence. Judas did repent. But instead of putting his faith in Jesus' mercy and His power to forgive, he passed his own judgment on himself by hanging.*  

However the gravity of the offence committed in these two sharply different scenarios remains in serious dispute though they all involve an unquestionable act of betrayal.

Judas could have asked for forgiveness instead of dooming himself by hanging. It was his betrayal that was condemned not his life. Jesus understands and would still want him saved since people, nay, sinners like Judas was one of the reasons He came down. But instead, he hanged himself and that made him twice the betrayer he already was. Not very heroic.#

What If Judas Had Not Betrayed Jesus.....

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What if Judas Had Not Betrayed Jesus….

Is Judas a villain for betraying Jesus or a hero for helping Jesus fulfill the Messianic Prophecy?

There is absolutely no doubt this is one of the most intriguing questions that have bothered many a people. Salvation is based on the faith exercised in the shed blood of Jesus. Thus, there is a general consensus on the importance and benefits of Jesus' death and sacrifice. So “if there is some good in the death of Jesus”, people argue, “Why don’t we celebrate people like Judas Iscariot who triggered and facilitated the death of the saviour?” Understandably, it is speculated there is a movement in the RC church who are campaigning for him to be declared a saint, as difficult and strange this seems. #

Had Jesus not died, would salvation based on faith have been possible? Would Gentiles like you and I have gotten the opportunity to be guiltless and approach the throne of the Most High with such unprecedented ease? Would gentiles have had the privilege of being called children of God? True, there is no doubt that the death of Jesus has opened an immense privilege to mankind.

A HERO?

“Then, why demonize Judas Iscariot?” well-meaning people might argue. The man made it possible and remarkably easier for humankind in general to obtain salvation through faith and be at one with God through Christ. Yes, Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus. But for positive benefits to the successive human generation, some argue. Those favouring this position also try to soften the harsh betrayal of Judas by explaining his actions completely away from the Bible’s simple view that his weakness (love for money) allowed Satan to enter him.

See: Why Judas Betrayed Jesus

To this group of people, Judas has been harshly and unjustly judged for his seemingly indispensable role as a man who likewise sacrificed himself to facilitate the death of the Messiah for the benefit of the entire human race.

A VILLAIN?

But is Judas Iscariot without fault for betraying the son of man? Up to this point, it is crystal clear and pretty obvious that the death of Jesus can never be discounted as it opens a free way to salvation for many. So, the real question is, would Jesus have still been killed without the helping hand of Mr. Judas?

Now, the emphasis is on the word “killed” or “murdered” for obvious reasons. First, Jesus might not have died a natural death because he was a perfect and sinless man who was in no way subject to the penalty of death sentenced by Adamic sin. Sin and death had no authority over that perfect man. Thus, he could have lived on and on or probably fathered a perfect generation.

Second, and most importantly, death through other cause be it accident or otherwise on the part of Jesus might not be enough to atone for our sins. For our sins to be forgiven and declared righteous in God’s sight, a perfect man had to sacrifice his perfect life in order to cover or pay off inherited Adamic sin and redeem for us the perfect and everlasting life that our first ancestors lost. This means therefore that, it was imperative for Jesus Christ to be deliberately and unjustly killed just as an innocent lamb was unjustly slaughtered to atone for the sins of the Israelites under the law code.

Yes, Jesus was sent to die unjustly as an innocent lamb so that his death could be used as a sacrifice to atone for our sins. Moreover, by being unjustly killed, and having committed no sin deserving death, it was nothing but pure and reasonable justice for him to have his life back.  

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42 Life Lessons, Written By A 90 Year Old

1. Life isn’t fair, but it’s still good.
2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.
3. Life is too short not to enjoy it.
4. Your job won’t take care of you when you are sick. Your friends and family will.
5. Don’t buy stuff you don’t need.
6. You don’t have to win every argument. Stay true to yourself.
7. Cry with someone. It’s more healing than crying alone.
8. Life isn’t tied with a bow, but it’s still a gift.
9. Save for things that matter.
10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.
11. Make peace with your past so it won’t screw up the present.

12. It’s OK to let your children see you cry.
13. Don’t compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn’t be in it.
15. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
16. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.
17. Get rid of anything that isn’t useful.  Clutter weighs you down in many ways.
18. Whatever doesn’t kill you really does make you stronger.
19. It’s never too late to be happy.  But it’s all up to you and no one else.
20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don’t take no for an answer.
21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don’t save it for a special occasion. Today is special.
22. Overprepare, then go with the flow.
23. Be eccentric now. Don’t wait for old age to wear purple.
24. The most important sex organ is the brain.
25. No one is in charge of your happiness but you.
26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words, ‘In five years, will this matter?’
27. Always choose Life.
28. Forgive but don’t forget.
29. What other people think of you is none of your business.
30. Time heals almost everything. Give Time time.
31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
32. Don’t take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
33. Believe in miracles.
34. Yield.
35. Don’t audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.
36. Growing old beats the alternative — dying young.
37. Your children get only one childhood.
38. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.
39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.
40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else’s, we’d
grab ours back.
41. Envy is a waste of time. Accept what you already have, not what you think you need.
42. The best is yet to come…


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