Eze's Musing

The ancient, Jewish King, Solomon wrote, "A lazy hunter doesn’t roast his game, but to a diligent person, his wealth is precious." (Proverbs 12:27 CSB). This past year, I had this mental laziness and block that prevented me from fully harnessing my earnings, relationships, knowledge base, and writing inspirations. I had money decisions to make, and I knew what needed to be done but couldn't get myself to do them. I had article ideas but couldn't flesh out my thoughts. So, inflation dealt with my purchase value, my ideas got lost, and I led a basic life. I made valuable connections but couldn't put in the required effort to add value to these connections. I see indeed that the lazy man does not roast his hunt. Yes, he sweated to get the game, but he was too lazy to complete his task. He planned for the hunt and executed the plan but did not conclude the extra effort needed to elevate the value of his hunt. Such a hunter I have been, and I am so aware of it that

 I used to have words, now I don't. My thoughts go flat, there is no bounce. I stare at my status, my handle, and my blog in vain; No words come to mind. How did we go flaccid with no text to show? Our once bubbly minds thud with silent groans The dearth of words like the death of man.

We had come for Sunday School Preparatory Class. With us were members of my childhood church, respected people, and my parents. It appeared we all arrived early so there was time for catching up before the start of the Prep. I, my pastor, and a few others talked about why I have not been coming for the prep, although I had a respectable and juicy position - Assistant Superintendent. I smiled and thought to myself that it didn't matter, the position wasn't anything to make me available for the preps. It was all small talks when there was a sudden flurry of activities: members began to run into the church hall - we were holding the prep outside. I thought it was a sudden rain, others thought so too, but some others saw the strange things. I didn't see what was happening. I wondered why they all were running off without carrying the wooden benches we were using. Ideally, when the rain comes while we were in class, members carried benches -  two Individuals to one bench, each i

We came late. People had waited long and were in a hurry to go. We got in for the negotiations. I am not used to any of such. So, I was really apprehensive. My parents were too, since they didn't know the traditions of our host. So, when the eldest man of the family began to pour out and count the pear seeds, our unease rose to a max. My mum's face went pale, my dad shrunk, and I could feel my hollow tummy. We waited as he counted.  It turned out that the pear seeds was a symbol of money. Each pear was a thousand Naira. And since we were not bargaining for a goat, but a woman, we can't haggle money directly. The culture said we had to go back and forth on it three times. So, we did. When it was done, the elder counted __ seeds and another__ seeds. The deal was done. The tradition says pay the first set now and the second set whenever.  Next, Victor Akpagu whisked me away to get photographed. The next twenty minutes was clinging and snapping with Somto and her girls.We we

In it all, there is this part of us that just wants to sit and observe it all: no speeches, no interests to protect, and no end to meet. Just a proper analysis of all things and wonder at the whys and the bases. That part of me makes a debut quite often. I find that I mostly want to observe, to experiment - to do things just to observe the outcomes. Go to places, hang out with people, try out an idea, do a project, and the list goes on and on. There is this urge to experience, reflect on the experience, and then recount them in speech and writing. And I wish that could be the default mode of life - no real consequences, just an unending sequence of trying, reflecting, and recounting. But life is not just a series of harmless events and choices. There are roads we take and never return; actions come with serious reactions. And even more saddening is societal cum moral expectations. We find that we can't just be passive and objective when some matters are discussed; certain social gr

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

Photos by qimono at pixabay I am getting married!!! Yes, I am. Many people talk about their vision of how they would feel when they are about getting married, but I didn't have any. So, here am I about to get married, but I feel very regular, of course, except for having to spend more  So, who are my marrying? My teenage-time crush!  An all time prayer point!! Some how Providence kept Somto single till I was ready. Come September 11, God willing, I will be married to Somto. I send this as an informal notification and a formal request for support - good will and monetary - mostly monetary really. '"One person does not cook for the community", the Igbos say; signifying that when it comes to catering for a community project, an individual can only do so well, when that same community helps. In these few weeks, I have understood this more as needs and requirements mount. I will be pleased to get support from you as I anticipate September 11, the day Chinedu says 'I do

There are things you don't want to change - the way you treat people kindly, the listening ear you give to friends - you don't want to change them. But you change. You fought the change as it was coming, you gritted your teeth and said no to the change. But you change. Things force you to change. The demands got much, your own needs begin to really hold tight - your projects had increased. You try to balance the competing interests but they are much - 'everybody' is asking, and you see all the needs. Or maybe you realized you were not all that selfless. So, did you change, or a part of you that you never knew surfaced? Well, you just want them all to know that you fought the change, or that you never liked that part of you that you never knew. Picture credit: Andrew Martin from Pixabay

I am scared of getting old. I hate to think that I will ever come down with low energy, low aspiration, low inspiration, and be down and out. Will my urinary system retain integrity? Will my muscles begin to shake? What will my eyes and ears do? I am scared of getting old. Will younger men disdain me?   Will they regard me as dull, feeble, and useless? Will they push me aside in their purposeful frenzy? Will I be too slow to understand what they are saying? Will I be too weak to follow their tracks? I am scared of growing old. Will I have no desire? Will my mind not process solid thoughts? Will I be able to stand erect?   Will it be impossible to sit still or sleep still? Will I toss on the bed and feel no pain?   I hate to think I will grow old. What will happen when I retire? Will my jaw chew aright? Will my throat swallow? How about my stomach, will it churn and turn or grit in pain? Will my bowel move by my will or develop its own mind. Will I then be able to wine and dine?

So, I visited Ope, a Christian brother from my national service days. His bathroom shower works! If you have lived in some mid and low-cost areas of Enugu, the coal city, you will know that's a big deal. I have lived in houses where we did the bucket method. And it is my birthday today, and I want to make the day special, but I never know how to. I know however that I must write. So, I write - The Gift Of A Body. I got that in Ope's shower! Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said: "Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a BODY you prepared for me; with burnt offerings and sin offerings you were not pleased. Then I said, 'Here I am--it is written about me in the scroll-- I have come to do your will, O God.' "   - Hebrews 10: 5 - 7, New International Version. The writer of Hebrews was obviously quoting Psalms 40: 6 - 8, with some slight modifications. Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but my ears you have pierced; burnt offerings an

    But someone will say, "How are the dead raised? And with what kind of body do they come?" You fool! That which you sow does not come to life unless it dies; and that which you sow, you do not sow the body which is to be, but a bare grain, perhaps of wheat or of something else. But God gives it a body just as He wished, and to each of the seeds a body of its own. All flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one flesh of men, and another flesh of beasts, and another flesh of birds, and another of fish. There are also heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is one, and the glory of the earthly is another. There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory. So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown a perishable body, it is raised an imperishable body;   it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raise

September 2019, My Odyssey At Entrepreneurs' Time-out Akungba I woke up on Sunday first September, thinking about the next day, Monday second. Well, I had to own my present. So, I focused my attention instead on spending an hour with God. I kept my attention on the congregational worship throughout church time. But once I was home, I began to plan and prepare for Monday. I washed clothes, spread them; telephoned the team leader and other individuals who would be needful during the stay, and visited my MSc colleague. By 9:00pm, all was set! I will be in Ibadan for the next five days. One mission! Work with a team in selecting brilliant indigent girls. Saturday 7 th September, I was face to face with my younger brother who had arrived while I was away in Ibadan. We still didn’t hug! My family never hugs. It was a handshake with a pat on the back. But I was delighted to have Chimaobi around. I had longed to see him for six months. And so began his exciting stay with

We walked a senior colleague to the bus stop in order to get him on his journey. It was 4:00pm in the Sunshine State and it was Sunny. I passed a comment about the heat - my contribution to the small talk we were making. And sure it was hot, Akure Sun blazes till 4:30pm! Then temperature begins to decline gradually. I sat in the living room while a group of three did their weekly study of the Bible.  I was welcome to join but I was disinclined to turn through  the book or to engage with discussions. So  I sat on the dinning while they studied and discussed in the sitting area. A lot of thoughts sought for space in my mind - The letter that required that I travel back to the town I just left three days before, unfinished online class quiz and newsletters,  the issues from the leadership conference and lots more. Then I left to the Training Flat and it began to rain. I changed my shirt, took of my trousers and off I went into the rain. I ran in it,  washed my body, enjoyed the spla

Human Anatomy is only more important than Plant Anatomy as much as the eyes are more important than the tongue. You can see all you can, but you can taste nor swallow nothing. The very first lesson in creating and offering value is the lesson on contentment. One needs to find a sense of rest in what one has become. We should never be unsettled by what we are not. We mustn't get the recognition and get the accolades. We don't need to be the guy that fixed it.... We just have to have a contribution - a worth, a proposition.  We simply need to have done the best within the limits of our personalities, dispositions, skills and experiences provide. No matter how good the tongue is, it will not see the road block. The Sun is radiant but it won't take the Moon's place. The butterfly is cool but it can never be the honey bee. The piano produces good sound but it will not become a sax. As a nation, we need to respect people for who they are and the little value they b

I am glad I spent four years in the Department of Botany. My stay gave me a robust understanding of the systems and functions of plants. More gratefully, my love for plants is burgeoning daily. I am set for postgraduate work in Plant Taxonomy (Systematics) and Anatomy. Thankfully, in this article, I do not intend to talk about my post graduate forays. I intend to play around a comment attributed to Jesus in the New Testament Gospel of John. Jesus was quoted to say " ...Unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies,  it remains alone; but if it dies,  it produces much grain". 1 In this statement, Jesus explains the sacrifice His disciples must make in order to follow Him and much more, the sacrifice He was predestined to make in order to buy them back. The core of the Christian message is that by the suffering and death of a single man (Jesus)  all men can now have access to God. Seed Biology Seeds contain the fertilized egg, zygote, of plants. A seed is th