Let us Pray

I was glad when they said to me, "Let us go to the house of the Lord."

Psalm 122:1

I was just a couple of weeks into my Kano experience when I had a particularly disconcerting experience. I had gone to a supermarket to buy some stuff when I found the door firmly bolted in my face. I turned around wondering what had become of the storekeepers, only to see a gathering of men, in their obligatory flowing robes, all kneeling on their prayer mats for the mid-day Muslim prayers. "Won't you go and join them?", a nearby woman asked. I flashed her a look of righteous indignation, turned on the heel and strutted away, head held high. The whole motion said one thing only: "How dare you think I'm one of you!"

But then as I've become more used to living and dealing with Muslims it's very clear now that their religion is such an integral part of their culture and their everyday life. They certainly don't joke with their prayer times. It's not uncommon to hear them sounding words of invitation to each other, "let's go and pray", "have you prayed", etc. It's taken for granted - if you're a Muslim, you will pray. Even I have become seemingly so caught up in the system that when the time for prayer is approaching I ask my fellow workers, "won't you go and pray?" They've been conditioned to pray and to do so regularly.

Now without a doubt there's a great lesson to learn for us who pray to the Heavenly Father. I'm not for a minute going to suggest that you begin to treat prayer like a thing of religion. That'll just defeat the whole purpose. God designed it as something for fellowship more than just something we do out of a sense of duty. But that we do it at all is a good starting point. The more we spend time in prayer, the more we condition ourselves to love it and live it. As with all things we practice, it becomes less of an onerous task and more enjoyable with each experience.

So, borrow a leaf from my dear Muslim friends. Pray! And while you're at it, invite someone else. You'd be surprised where that simple act could take you. In a few seconds you could be actively changing your world.

With love, Doosuur.

Jesus on the Playground

We don't have a priest who is out of touch with our reality. He's been through weakness and testing, experienced it all - all but the sin. So let's walk right up to him and get what he is so ready to give. Take the mercy, accept the help.

Hebrews 4:15,16

Because God’s children are human beings—made of flesh and blood—Jesus also became flesh and blood by being born in human form... Therefore, it was necessary for Jesus to be in every respect like us, his brothers and sisters, so that he could be our merciful and faithful High Priest before God.

Hebrews 2:14&17

Watching a couple of kids play around this morning made me just a bit nostalgic of childhood. Playing ring-a-ring-a-roses and "catcher" (tag) as school-age kids in Kaduna with my siblings and neighbors was always a blast, really something to look forward to. Yeah, I miss the free-spirited nature of those young years. But I was there and I'm grateful for the experience.

As we celebrate Christ's birth this season, it brings to the fore that Jesus was here. He lived like us, worked like us, played like us. Imagine that - Jesus on the playground! Okay, I know it's kind of hard to picture Jesus singing silly songs and crying when he smudged his knee, particularly since he was teaching professors before he was a teenager, but I believe he did all those things, perhaps just as well as any of us. I'm thinking it's important that our idea of Christ changes from just a middle-aged bearded melancholic to include his childhood and youth. A new perspective can help us see the truth clearly - that Jesus was just like us, but without sin. He laughed, cried, ate, drank, swam, worked and did just about everything expected of a man in his culture. All man, as much as he was God.

Scripture says it was necessary for God to experience manhood so that he could identify with us in our weaknesses and know just at what points we need help. It is this experience that qualifies him to serve as High Priest in all God's house and to represent us before the Just Father. Hebrews 5 says "every high priest selected to represent men and women before God and offer sacrifices for their sins should be able to deal gently with their failings, since he knows what it's like from his own experience."

So as we pause this Christmas to remember the birth and youth of Jesus, thank God that he knows just about everything that we go through, and then some. And that he's gentle in dealing with us.

Have a lovely Christmas.

With love, Doosuur

A Bowl of Garri

I thank you High God - you're breathtaking! Body and soul, I am marvelously made! I worship in adoration - what a creation! You know me inside and out, you know every bone in my body; You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit…

Psalm 139:14,15

For a bachelor serving in rural Northern Nigeria, food is at a premium. It's so difficult to get a decent meal (and my mother wonders why I'm so thin!).

Well, the other day, I and a few fellow corpers, Shola, Udeme and Wumi, gathered our broke selves in one of our rooms to drown our sorrows in a bowl of garri. Shola had some lovely Ife garri (she claims it's better than Ijebu) so we all pitched in to make a feast of it. One person brought the milk, another the milo, while I brought the sugar. Water, of course, was plentiful. As we each took our bowl and began concocting our respective cocktails, one thing became obvious. We all liked garri our way. What I mean is this: I take garri with lots of sugar and enough water but not milk, if the garri is sour. Shola thinks sugar in garri is spoiling the taste. But then she uses milk. Wumi likes his with milo and sugar. Udeme combines everything. And we all thought we were having garri the best way possible!

I think it's just like that with so many things in life. Each of us has his own way of doing things that works just for us. It may not please others, sometimes it's downright offensive, but it works for us. For example I like Indomie well enough (though I've had much too much this year), but then at the same time I'm not exactly a fan of spaghetti. Another person eats only fish, no meat. Others can't stand bread! But we're all the same species. Doesn't it just make you wonder?

Several things I learn from all this, but I think the most wondrous of all is to marvel at the immense diversity that God has put in us, the crème of His creation. He's made all of us with a strong streak of individuality, so that each human is his own person, without a duplicate. What a wonder! Why do siblings, even twins have their own likes and dislikes when they were brought up in the same environment, with the same exposures and influences? It's just God's way; and that's what makes His creation such a masterpiece.

It's also God's way of telling me I'm special; set apart from anyone else. So, yes, I have no qualms about liking what I like and disliking what I dislike. That's just me, the way God made me. And I still think my garri tastes best.

With love, Doosuur.

Harmattan in Ibadan?

Yet true religion with contentment is great wealth. After all, we didn't bring anything with us when we came into the world, and we certainly cannot carry anything with us when we die.

1 Timothy 6:6&7

No one needs to tell you that's it's been cold in Jos. I mean, when is it not cold? But Kano has been having it's share of subnormal temperatures since the onset of the harmattan. The harsh north-easterlies come bearing their dust and chill and one must cover up to sleep at night.

I'm billed to write an examination here in Lagos tomorrow and, coming from the North, I was dreading the heat of the West. We stopped over for the night in Ibadan and this morning, as we took off, the weather was reasonably mild. As we got onto the Lagos-Ibadan expressway one of the ubiquitous police checkpoints stopped our commercial car. A passenger remarked about the policeman, "Why is he sweating in this harmattan?" You call this Harmattan? I wondered. It was all I could do to keep myself from laughing. Granted, it was not boiling hot but it was certainly not cool enough to warrant such a designation. Needless to say, a couple of hours later I was in Lagos and sweating like a pig.

But then it occurred to me. This man was appreciating the weather for it's coolness and dryness, as opposed to the heat and humidity of Lagos. I on the other hand appreciated it for it's warmth and moistness, compared to the harsh and cold conditions of Jos and Kano. We had widely differing perspectives of the same conditions and because of this we both appreciated it.

You see, I think an important function of harsh conditions that we face in our lives is to help us to better appreciate the good things. How would we appreciate a safe journey if we'd never had an accident? How would we know to say thank you for a meal if we've never been hungry? How could we be grateful for a breath of fresh air if we'd never experienced the common cold? Yes, adversity increases our awareness of God's benevolence in our lives. It teaches us contentment with what we have.

So thank you Lord for the cool of Jos and the heat of Lagos. It makes harmattan in Ibadan that much more enjoyable.

With love, Doosuur.

The Sense of Smell

Noah built an altar to GOD. He selected clean animals … and offered them… God smelled the sweet fragrance and thought to himself, "I'll never again curse the ground because of people."

Genesis 8:20&21

What's your favorite smell? I caught a whiff off some heady wood-smoke while waiting for some balongo and it sent me to seventh heaven. What cuts it for you? For some it's the aroma of fresh home-baked bread. Ummm! Or maybe it's Chanel No.5 (yeah, I'm old school). For a few, even the smell of gasoline gets them high. But it just got me thinking about the sense of smell. You know, most of the other senses - sight, touch and hearing are meant for self-preservation. They help us survive. But the senses of smell and taste, so far as we humans are concerned, are intended for something perhaps less noble. They're intended for pleasure. Imagine that! The thought brings a smile to my face. It's one of those nice gifts God has packaged for us to help us enjoy life. Just wake up and smell the roses and you're alright.

Now if you take a walk through God's regulations for the Israelites in the early days, you see that a lot of them had to do with burning sacrifices and incense. God was telling them that when he smelled their gift, He would appreciate it. In essence, He was teaching that young generation of believers that their principal responsibility was to seek His pleasure. He's spoken to us in much clearer terms in the New Covenant saying, quite clearly, "find out what pleases the Lord."

Now imagine that. God blessed us with the gift of pleasure for one reason more than simply our own enjoyment. He did it so that we could understand just how much He Himself desires enjoyment. And what does he want to enjoy? Us. You and Me. Is it any surprise that the Revelations 5 & 8 speaks about the prayers of the saints as bowls filled with incense? God's pleasure is in communion with me.

And that's what I learnt. So, next time you smell something great, don't keep it to yourself. Share the pleasure with your God.

With love, Doosuur.

NCCF Family Song

Under his direction, the whole body is fitted together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.

Ephesians 4:16

Those of you who've served and were active with the Nigerian Christian Corpers' Fellowship will probably have a sense of nostalgia when hearing or singing the Family Song. I simply love the song for it's sense of camaraderie and fellowship, both in the words and in the way it's sung. It's one of the things I'm going to miss most about NYSC. In a few lines it speaks about brotherly love, serving together and fellowship. One gets a sense of true koinonia (communion) in these words. Let me walk you through.

It's usually sung at the end of a meeting. Everyone stands in a circle, if it's a small enough group, and holds hands, as the song leader intones, "Do you love this Family?" We respond,

I love this Family of God.

So closely knitted into one.

They have taken me into their arms

And I'm so glad to be

A part of this great Family.

The warm welcome that this verse refers to is something anyone would love to be a part of. Even as a newcomer to God's house you're not just a guest. You're part of the family. Now that's something to be glad about.

Then there's a call and response verse with each line repeated:

Hand in hand together we will go (repeat)

Don't you know you mean so much to me (repeat)

I need you to build this Family (repeat)

This verse underscores the fact that the work of the House of God requires everyone to work together, for the common good. We're all important and have a role to play.

And then we sort of "break it down" reggae style:

NCCF is a big family, "Oh Yes!"

NCCF is a big family, "Oh Yes!"

I love the way you walk,

I love the way you talk,

I love the way you smile,

I love the way you sing, etc.

Now, only in heaven will I possibly like everything about you. But this looks forward with great positivity. I can love you fully by God's grace.

Then we all lift our hands as we sing,

Higher and higher we will go, (repeat)

Don't you know you mean so much to me, (repeat)

I need you to build this Family. (repeat)

And then the energetic coda to round it all up is the famous song "We are heirs".

We are heirs of the Father,

We are joint-heirs with the Son,

We are children of the Kingdom,

We are Family, we are One.

What a great way to end it. I sing this song with all the energy I've got.

I hope I've got some of you to sing it with me. The irony of it all is that my favorite part of all NCCF programs is the very end.

Yes! I love this Family of God!

With love, Doosuur.