Eze's Musing

I was born and raised in a lower-class family. Or if you will bother with more accuracy, top lower-class, for even among the low, some are lower. Dad did his best to give my siblings and me a fine education. So, since my school days, I have mingled with children from higher social standing. Today, I have become in the eyes of society a middle-income man due to where I work. I do not see myself as a middle-income man, because my network is still rooted in the lower rungs, and I am still within their everyday demands. How do I live a mid-income life amidst the poverty of my network? My inner life is a constant tussle between the realities of the lower class and the expectations of the middle class. So, spending is a headache - every dime spent has to be justified, and every need must be questioned for legitimacy. Every buy is considered in the light of how many families it could feed. It is a constant barrage of what the alternative uses are. Needs are real, expectations are real too, an

I am a Christian, I was born into Christianity. Over the years, I have walked my own spiritual journey in the overall framework of Christianity. So, some micro beliefs that once mattered no longer do. Some, practices are now clearly seen as simple traditions that have nothing to do with right standing with God.   Years of both religious, philosophical, and historical study also lend a particular color to my view of what matters most in the Christian religion. Since I have been an individual who is keen about my internal belief system matching my external actions, it has been a hard battle with living true to the  requirements of the established church - my mind keeps sorting which is essential and which is simply an addendum. Organized Christianity has a strong pull, you can't dissent easily. Plus the sentiments are deeply rooted such that they block off even obvious points from the Holy book. Dissent is negated no matter how Bible-based it is. The norm just have to be maintained,

I remember a story I was told when I was a child. How the Spider got his distinct thorax-abdomen constriction. The spider, it was told had agreed with different people to be in their event (or was it to help them on the farm?). The activities for the different groups fell into the same day and time. So, when it was time they all came to take the spider along. A heated argument arose, each claiming that they informed him first, and so had the right to take him along; and their engagements were all very important. Nobody wanted to listen to anybody, so they each tied a rope on Mr. Spider's waist in an attempt to drag him off from the others. The four parties ended up pulling at four different directions. The result is what we see today. Today, I will call myself that spider. Not that I have agreed to attend a function, but that I have achieved a duality (if not quadruplicity) in my religious and social interactions that has now presented a difficulty in planning my special event. No