"Show me a couple and either as a prologue or an epilogue, I'll give you a tragedy" "Give me a hero and I'll sing you a dirge" I'm no Robin Hood.
I'm just a young man with a lot of experience.
Age is no assurance of maturity but I've been lucky enough to grow as I age.
Experience is the best teacher and also the most painful.
Read about a part of my life and maybe, just maybe, you'll save yourself a whole lot of heartaches and headaches.
Half a word is enough for the wise.
Life has taught me to respect the little people can offer when it comes to advice because they might have gone through hell to get the experience.
This is my story...
What more could a teenager want? I was living the perfect life, taking each day after the next.
I was just 19 years old and I had what most people wanted but never had.
I was an undergraduate in one of the best schools in the state, I had a loving family who would do anything to make me smile, and I had friends who would go to the extreme to make sure I was never homesick.
I had no worries; my life was balanced.
Like any other person, I had dreams.
I just wanted to make my mother proud and be a source of blessing to everyone around me.
I was academically fair and socially OK with great hope of achieving my dreams.
I had a problem though, not really a problem but it was a pain in the neck.
I wasn't the church-type.
I preferred going to church just once in a week, on Sundays.
I never attended mid-week services.
I abstained from sin though.
I never stole, lied, fornicated or fell into any ungodly act but I still couldn't get my SU friends to believe I was almost upright; and I didn't care what anyone believed or not.
I only cared about my relationship with God and I followed the bible strictly, and I had my pastor to explain the unclear parts.
I wouldn't classify myself as upright though as people often said I was proud and self-righteous.
Experience had taught me not to worry about anything.
Even when I missed important tests, I never bothered myself but I always made attempts to correct my mistakes.
School was always divided into phases.
There were times when we had time for social events and there were times when it was 100% academics.
Whatever time of the semester we were, I just made sure I enjoyed what I was doing, be it reading or hardcore gaming.
There were times though when one never did what one loved and I never looked forward to those times.
As hard as those times always seemed though, I never went out of my way to attend classes or please anybody, not even my lecturers.
When things became tough, lecturers had to bend the rules a little bit.
They made us attend early morning classes, spend extra hours in class and fix numerous tutorial group meetings just to make sure we treated all topics in the syllabus.
The prominent church-goers complained, the game-addicts screamed, the party-goers screamed; there never seemed to be enough time for anything.
I was rarely affected though, I went to church only on Sundays, I could easily sacrifice gaming and I went to only necessary parties.
My schedule could easily adjust to any new development.
In my 5th semester on campus though, things were so tight, tighter than they had ever been.
One of my lecturers decided to fix a tutorial class.
There was no big deal about having tutorial classes but I couldn't possibly let that specific one hold! It was on a Sunday morning.
"This group would be having its test on Sunday morning, 9am to 12am", the lecturer said coolly.
There was no complaint from anybody, I was confused.
I wasn't going to offend God and skip being in his presence.
The assembly of believers according to my knowledge of the bible was a time spent in the presence of God with fellow Christians.
My belief was that no work should take the time for worship.
I didn't need any pastor or bible scholar to change my belief.
I was still thinking about the many things involved when I heard the lecturer ask, "Has anyone got any problem with that?" No one moved a muscle and without thinking, I stood up.
He looked at me with a ghost-gaze and I could hear my heart pounding.
I wasn't a public speaker but I had to speak up this one time.
I wasn't even sure if Sunday was really the day for worship but that was my belief and nothing was going to change that except divine intervention.
My girlfriend looked at me the 'we-have-to-talk' way.
All eyes were suddenly on me and I started, "Sir, with all due respect, I ask that that class be rescheduled".
He asked me why and I replied, "I don't intend to sound selfish but I won't be able to come as my belief doesn't permit me to work on Sunday".
He seemed confused so I continued, "I believe that Sundays are to be used in service to God.
" His eyes went red, he suddenly went cold and his skin lost its color.
He barked at me, "Young man, is this a religious school? What is Sunday service? How sure are you that Sunday is really the day for service? This is a different generation!" he went on and on but I just stopped listening at a time and focused on the white board in front of me instead.
When he was done, I spoke up with a newly-gained confidence, "you are right, Sir.
This is a different generation and I'm not sure if Sunday is the real day for worship but even though many reports and denominations think it's a thing of the past and that Saturday is the day for worship, this is my belief.
He toured the class and after a few minutes he said, "class, there'll be no exam this semester for this course, your test on Sunday would be graded 100%, miss it and you have automatically failed this course and I'm sure you all know the implication of that".
I sat down and avoided the lecturer's furious face and my course mates'.
"It's a core course, you can't afford to fail it".
"You probably think God would do a miracle and make the test not to hold".
"Sometimes, you've gotta use your intelligence".
"This is insane, you can go to church later in the day and hold a special service or just forget church anyway".
Friends, and even foes, offered pieces of advice.
I wasn't confused, I had said my prayers and I had made up my mind.
I wasn't going to make God a 2nd option.
My girlfriend wouldn't speak with me at all and friends saw me as unintelligent, even the 'Holy Ones' wouldn't look at me with respect as they used to.
I didn't really care.
News of my unreasonable act got home.
Dad wouldn't say anything about it, the reaction a father gives a prodigal son.
Mum, as expected, begged me initially but when she knew I wouldn't change my mind, she resorted to harsh words.
My world was crumbling right before me and there was nothing I could do about it.
I would rather fail an exam than give up on my belief.
It wasn't pride, it was something stronger.
I had found a cause, a belief.
And on Sunday, 11 September, 2033, I went to church around 8:30 and had a routine service, no angel fell, the dead didn't rise, no surprises.
I left church by 12:32 pm.
I didn't care what had happened.
I just set my mind on the wise words the pastor had said.
Tuesday, 13 September, 2033.
Yesterday is gone, tomorrow is God's; today is a gift and that's why it's called Present.
Peace of mind is God's miracle to me for which I am grateful.
I still don't know if that test held.
I don't know if Sunday is the Beginning of the End of my life, my dreams.
I don't know if I'll be as popular as Barrack Obama, or make my mother happy like Tayo Faniran makes his mum happy or have a successful blog site like http://www.
illuminaija.
com but one thing I know is that, come what may, I'll always be happy.
I wouldn't have died or been physically injured had I gone for that test; you may tag me a fool or attention-seeker but all I did, I did In Defence of My Faith...
I'm just a young man with a lot of experience.
Age is no assurance of maturity but I've been lucky enough to grow as I age.
Experience is the best teacher and also the most painful.
Read about a part of my life and maybe, just maybe, you'll save yourself a whole lot of heartaches and headaches.
Half a word is enough for the wise.
Life has taught me to respect the little people can offer when it comes to advice because they might have gone through hell to get the experience.
This is my story...
What more could a teenager want? I was living the perfect life, taking each day after the next.
I was just 19 years old and I had what most people wanted but never had.
I was an undergraduate in one of the best schools in the state, I had a loving family who would do anything to make me smile, and I had friends who would go to the extreme to make sure I was never homesick.
I had no worries; my life was balanced.
Like any other person, I had dreams.
I just wanted to make my mother proud and be a source of blessing to everyone around me.
I was academically fair and socially OK with great hope of achieving my dreams.
I had a problem though, not really a problem but it was a pain in the neck.
I wasn't the church-type.
I preferred going to church just once in a week, on Sundays.
I never attended mid-week services.
I abstained from sin though.
I never stole, lied, fornicated or fell into any ungodly act but I still couldn't get my SU friends to believe I was almost upright; and I didn't care what anyone believed or not.
I only cared about my relationship with God and I followed the bible strictly, and I had my pastor to explain the unclear parts.
I wouldn't classify myself as upright though as people often said I was proud and self-righteous.
Experience had taught me not to worry about anything.
Even when I missed important tests, I never bothered myself but I always made attempts to correct my mistakes.
School was always divided into phases.
There were times when we had time for social events and there were times when it was 100% academics.
Whatever time of the semester we were, I just made sure I enjoyed what I was doing, be it reading or hardcore gaming.
There were times though when one never did what one loved and I never looked forward to those times.
As hard as those times always seemed though, I never went out of my way to attend classes or please anybody, not even my lecturers.
When things became tough, lecturers had to bend the rules a little bit.
They made us attend early morning classes, spend extra hours in class and fix numerous tutorial group meetings just to make sure we treated all topics in the syllabus.
The prominent church-goers complained, the game-addicts screamed, the party-goers screamed; there never seemed to be enough time for anything.
I was rarely affected though, I went to church only on Sundays, I could easily sacrifice gaming and I went to only necessary parties.
My schedule could easily adjust to any new development.
In my 5th semester on campus though, things were so tight, tighter than they had ever been.
One of my lecturers decided to fix a tutorial class.
There was no big deal about having tutorial classes but I couldn't possibly let that specific one hold! It was on a Sunday morning.
"This group would be having its test on Sunday morning, 9am to 12am", the lecturer said coolly.
There was no complaint from anybody, I was confused.
I wasn't going to offend God and skip being in his presence.
The assembly of believers according to my knowledge of the bible was a time spent in the presence of God with fellow Christians.
My belief was that no work should take the time for worship.
I didn't need any pastor or bible scholar to change my belief.
I was still thinking about the many things involved when I heard the lecturer ask, "Has anyone got any problem with that?" No one moved a muscle and without thinking, I stood up.
He looked at me with a ghost-gaze and I could hear my heart pounding.
I wasn't a public speaker but I had to speak up this one time.
I wasn't even sure if Sunday was really the day for worship but that was my belief and nothing was going to change that except divine intervention.
My girlfriend looked at me the 'we-have-to-talk' way.
All eyes were suddenly on me and I started, "Sir, with all due respect, I ask that that class be rescheduled".
He asked me why and I replied, "I don't intend to sound selfish but I won't be able to come as my belief doesn't permit me to work on Sunday".
He seemed confused so I continued, "I believe that Sundays are to be used in service to God.
" His eyes went red, he suddenly went cold and his skin lost its color.
He barked at me, "Young man, is this a religious school? What is Sunday service? How sure are you that Sunday is really the day for service? This is a different generation!" he went on and on but I just stopped listening at a time and focused on the white board in front of me instead.
When he was done, I spoke up with a newly-gained confidence, "you are right, Sir.
This is a different generation and I'm not sure if Sunday is the real day for worship but even though many reports and denominations think it's a thing of the past and that Saturday is the day for worship, this is my belief.
He toured the class and after a few minutes he said, "class, there'll be no exam this semester for this course, your test on Sunday would be graded 100%, miss it and you have automatically failed this course and I'm sure you all know the implication of that".
I sat down and avoided the lecturer's furious face and my course mates'.
"It's a core course, you can't afford to fail it".
"You probably think God would do a miracle and make the test not to hold".
"Sometimes, you've gotta use your intelligence".
"This is insane, you can go to church later in the day and hold a special service or just forget church anyway".
Friends, and even foes, offered pieces of advice.
I wasn't confused, I had said my prayers and I had made up my mind.
I wasn't going to make God a 2nd option.
My girlfriend wouldn't speak with me at all and friends saw me as unintelligent, even the 'Holy Ones' wouldn't look at me with respect as they used to.
I didn't really care.
News of my unreasonable act got home.
Dad wouldn't say anything about it, the reaction a father gives a prodigal son.
Mum, as expected, begged me initially but when she knew I wouldn't change my mind, she resorted to harsh words.
My world was crumbling right before me and there was nothing I could do about it.
I would rather fail an exam than give up on my belief.
It wasn't pride, it was something stronger.
I had found a cause, a belief.
And on Sunday, 11 September, 2033, I went to church around 8:30 and had a routine service, no angel fell, the dead didn't rise, no surprises.
I left church by 12:32 pm.
I didn't care what had happened.
I just set my mind on the wise words the pastor had said.
Tuesday, 13 September, 2033.
Yesterday is gone, tomorrow is God's; today is a gift and that's why it's called Present.
Peace of mind is God's miracle to me for which I am grateful.
I still don't know if that test held.
I don't know if Sunday is the Beginning of the End of my life, my dreams.
I don't know if I'll be as popular as Barrack Obama, or make my mother happy like Tayo Faniran makes his mum happy or have a successful blog site like http://www.
illuminaija.
com but one thing I know is that, come what may, I'll always be happy.
I wouldn't have died or been physically injured had I gone for that test; you may tag me a fool or attention-seeker but all I did, I did In Defence of My Faith...
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