A great number of people do not
seem to understand life. Some are in
this world without specific agenda.
Some feel that life is enjoyment, doing
what one likes at the expense of the
spiritual. In an age of consumerism
like Nigeria, we define ourselves by
what we have the position of author-
ity we occupy, the committees we
chaired, the social class we belong to,
the number of people we command
in our area and the sophisticated cars
we have in our garage. When we are
retired and we feel we are nothing.
The society we belong to can resusci-
tate us but still we feel we are always
at the receiving end.
We are no longer a society cen-
tered on people, i.e. we are no longer
people-oriented but we are people
centered around things. We are now
in in a society in which greed for
money, fame and power has become
the dominating factor of life. What
you wear has become a symbol of
your personal achievement. Young
people demonstrate this in our today’s
society, at their meetings and different
social functions. All these are recog-
nized by the society’s criteria. It seems
that the society is saying, “We are
what we are because of what we have
and because of what we consume”.
What a crazy society that departs
from the normal norms! Some who
had before and are no longer in the
pool of joy and pleasure are now
questioning their life destiny.
They feel life is by-passing them.
They do not feel they belong to this
world of equal opportunities. When
they remember the good old days, they
feel cheated by the present.
For them, life is turning upside
down. Their future is threatened by the
inability to hang on to God. This leads
to frustration and hopelessness and
lack of contentment. They feel they
have had enough. But the best thing is
still life in spite of the changes we go
through in life. In spite of the hardship,
in spite of losing our cherished wealth
and our position of authority or being
made to feel that we don’t matter any-
more. We can rise up again, if we cling
to our faith. Life is living the reality
Jesus brought to the world.
Christianity has been telling us
all these. Life is living, creating and
recreating, examining and re-exam-
ining. Life is projecting into our life,
throwing away what is not good in us.
Life is renewing ourselves, embracing
what is good to add to what is there
in us.
Life is adding new dimensions to
what we have originally. Real life is
outgrowing what the modern man
calls life. Life is more than riches. Life
is full of struggles, which might lead
to success for those that are optimis-
tic. Life is not making just one place a
permanent abode. Everywhere should
be an abode because it is one that can
make it an abode. One doesn’t need
to move one’s belongings to anywhere
one goes to create an abode. Like
Saint Monica who saw life in the right
perspective advised that one should
not be bothered much about things
of the world but should find rest any-
where one goes as long as one imparts
on people and has peace with God.
Life is where destiny points to us.
For others, it tumbles upside like a
shipwreck. When we live a life of
truth and faith we begin to under-
stand why we should be strong in our
struggles in life. Life should be lived
practically in truth and faith. Chris-
tians will be judged by whether they
live the truth of Jesus and verify their
faith practically not by losing hope
when the material goods of this world
are not within their reach anymore.
We must always bear in mind that
none of our material things accompa-
nies us to eternal life with God.
