MR. ADEJOKUN'S BLOG

Our deepest fear is not that we are adequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.
We ask ourselves; who am I to be brilliant; gorgeous,
talented, fabulous?
Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God.
Your playing small does not serve the world.
There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other
people won't feel insecure around you.
We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is
within us.
It is not just in some of us; it is in everyone.
And as we let our light shine, we unconsciously give
other people permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence
automatically liberates others.

- Nelson Mandela

Today upon a bus, I saw a lovely maid
with golden hair;
I envied her- she seemed so gay- and
wish I were as fair.
When suddenly she rose to leave, I saw
her hobble down the aisle;
She had one foot and wore a crutch, but
as she passed, a smile.
Oh, God, forgive me when I whine;
I have two feet - the world is mine!

And when I stopped to buy some sweets
The lad who sold them had
Such charm, I talked with him - he said to me;
'It's nice to talk with folks like you'.
You see, he said, I'm blind!
Oh God, forgive me when I whine;
I have two eyes - the world is mine!

Then walking down the street, I saw a
child with eyes of blue.
He stood and watched the others play;
It seemed he knew not what to do.
I stopped for a moment, then I said:
'Why don't you join the others, dear?'
He looked ahead without a word, and then
I knew he could not hear.
Oh God, forgive me when I whine;
I have two ears - the world is mine!

With feet to take me where I'd go,
With eyes to see the sunset's glow
With ears to hear what I would know,
Oh God, forgive me when I whine;
I'm blessed, indeed! The world is mine!

Anon

Just thought I should share this wonderful poem with my fellow bloggers especially the married. I've kept this for almost ten years saying to myself that later on in life, I would find it useful. And now it is . Would you all pen this down too. I'll be grateful if some blogger out there can tell me the poet who wrote this.

TELL HER SO

Amid the care of married Life,
Inspite of toil and business strife,
If you value your sweet wife,
Tell her so!

There was a time you thought it bliss,
To get the favour of a kiss;
A dozen now won’t come amiss-
Tell her so!

Don’t act as if she’s passed her prime,
As though to please her were a crime-
If e’er you loved her, now’s the time;
Tell her so!

You are hers and hers alone;
Well you know she’s all you own;
Don’t wait to carve it on the stone-
Tell her so!

Never let her heart grow cold
Richer beauties will unfold
She is worth her weight in gold;
Tell her so!

Author Unknown

I love this prison
Sized endless and barred
I pray my term endless be
To the left, to the right I look
Quite glad am I
The lonely king of its space

Daddy begged, Mummy begged
Brothers begged, Sisters begged
Friends begged, relatives begged
Still was I bent in being
And still will I be joyful in being
The king and priest of its shrine

I fought tooth and nail
To keep everyone afar
Till they knew
Till the guards knew
And the warden knew
That the king didn't want out

On and on the time and years
And greater the love for its interiors
One day in my thoughts I asked
'Would this love endless be?'
No doubt I still wanted to be
The king and Lord of its four walls

Till my hair grey they turned
Dead almost everyone I knew were
Near I believe I was to mine
Yet this love held me bound like chained
And yet I pray not loose to be
But to continue to be
The king of the PRISON OF LOVE

Some weeks back, I got a query from one of my line managers about being absent from before and after school duty (week 4) In my response, I gave reasons as to why this was so.

Morning duty was to commence at 7.30am but about 300 metres away, I was caught in what we call in lagos, Nigeria a 'Go-Slow' traffic situation. In response to the query served me the next day, I wrote about having to send an SMS to my Principal at 7.29am and that at 8.ooam I clocked into school and asked her to verify this in the Teachers' log book. I also tendered my apology for having forgotten to report for after school duty due to a very tiresome day's lessons. How else could I have responded?

But one lesson I learnt in all this is that you've got to put things in proper record (black and white) and ofcourse, if you've not been known to have the record of being a diligent person, this would be taken seriously and will raise a lot of dust. I ended up with respect being accorded, far from the axe I thought would come down my neck.

In Life, things must be done right as and when due!

EMPATHISING WITH JOB

The above sermon was one I gave on the 3rd of April, 2004 and the urge is so strong that I see the need to share this with all.

We learn about the travail of Job in the bible who like Abraham lived on the face of the earth as illustrated in the book of
Ezekiel14:14 Even if Noah, Daniel, and Job were living in that nation, their faithfulness would not save anyone but themselves. And
James 5:11 In fact, we praise the ones who endured the most. You remember how patient Job was and how the Lord finally helped him. The Lord did this because he is so merciful and kind.

Job, despite all he went through, was recorded as having not sinned with his mouth
(Job 2:10b In all that happened, Job never once said anything against God).
Today, the question I ask you is just what the Devil asked God

‘‘DO YOU FEAR GOD FOR NOTHING?’’

John 10:10a A thief comes only to rob, kill, and destroy. A man undergoing travail or challenges in life set by the Devil will be in the area of
1. An attack on your character (Job 1:9 "Why shouldn't he respect you?" Satan remarked.)
2. An attack on your means of sustenance/Job (Job 1:9-19)
3. An attack on your family (Job 1:9-19)
4. An attack on your health ((Job 2:3-8)
5. An attack on your relationships (Job 2:9) etc
If the devil (Satan) gets you at any of the above points, what will be your state?

Like three of the four friends of Job, people around you will give you their opinion of your predicament.

You have the
a. Eliphazs who will accuse you of getting rewarded for your past Sins

Job 4:7 - 9 No truly innocent person has ever died young. In my experience, only those who plant seeds of evil harvest trouble, and then they are swept away by the angry breath of God.

b. The Bildads who will ask you to repent for the Sins you have committed

Job 8:5 - 6 So why don't you turn to him and start living right? Then he will decide to rescue and restore you to your place of honour.
And
c. the Zophars who will accuse you of not handling the situation with the wisdom necessary.

In summary, three of Job’s friends who came on a sympathy visit were saying that:

• Suffering is a direct consequence of Sin and wickedness and is always punished
• That material prosperity or sufferings is indicative of whether God shows you favour or not
• God does not visit iniquity on the children to the tenth generation

Job’s fourth friend Elihu, the better of the four appeals to Job to
• Have faith in God rather than demand an explanation
• To change his attitude to one of humility

How did God respond to all these happenings?

This is seen In Chapters 38 and 39

Lessons to draw from God’s address as it applies to us currently are:

 We are not meant to know some things about human sufferings because God cannot explain to us at that time without destroying the purpose for which they are meant.
 God is involved in human affairs
 Job like everyman tried to show his self righteousness, self vindication and self wisdom and this is where he sinned even though he did not sin with his lips

In empathising with Job, we quake and summarise our feelings in the words of Isaiah the prophet

Isaiah 6:5 Then I cried out, "I'm doomed! Everything I say is sinful, and so are the words of everyone around me. Yet I have seen the King, the LORD All-Powerful."

2Co 1:3-4 Praise God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! The Father is a merciful God, who always gives us comfort. He comforts us when we are in trouble, so that we can share that same comfort with others in trouble.

I pray that the Lord will comfort you through your travail in Jesus’ name. Amen!

Been away from blogging for some while now as School has resumed with training. We have been working on a new administrative software 'RENWEB'. Do you have suggestions on this?

I intend making use of this blog more on academic matter as the 2007/2008 session continues. Can anyone interested in teaching give me ideas on CLASSROOM AND BEHAVIOURAL MANAGEMENT as the session gradually creeps in?

Over the past few days, I noticed the trend that a lot of people around me were catching the flu.
Of course I could not but think about the fact that the Viruses Influenza and Para influenza were out jumping from one person to the other but further observation showed that the climatic change which in Nigeria is divided into two seasons : the dry season (Harmattan) and rainy season (wet) had changed.
It is no longer possible to time the seasons. The seasons come haphazardly. We are currently in the rainy days but there is a combination of both seasons at the same time with the cold and windy harmattan season joined to the rainy and wet season.
The outbreak of the flu is no longer a surprise. I have suffered it and it is now receding.
Alas! Thank God it has not caught up with the members of my family.

Today, I sat meditating about the theme of this month which corresponded with that of the national Headquarter Church (The Redeemed Christian Church of God)

The bible says in the gospel according to Saint John chapter 11 verse 35 that JESUS WEPT. This is the shortest verse in the scriptures. Jesus though the son of God could empathise with others around him, grieving that he was overtaken by his emotions, that he wept.

Are you going through any torment, probably you're a wife or husband or lover that has been jilted or you've recently suffered the departure of a loved one, Jesus can feel your pain.

Emmanuel means God with us. That name tells us that He (Jesus) is with you. Jacob on running away from Esau following the advise of his mother (Rebekah) found himself at a lonely town (haran, Genesis 28 verse 10) where he knew no one (quite a lonely place you might say)got a vision with the assurance that even in his flight He (God) was there with him assuring him of His ever dwelling presence and a God who wants the best as seen in verse 13 surprised Jacob that he had to offer a sincere and hearrtfelt sacrifice to him said in verse 16 'Surely the Lord is in this place; and I knew it not.

Whatever you are going through there is this constant assurance that GOD IS WITH YOU. He loves you and will take you through the storm you are faced with.

Why not bow your head in prayer to talk to our wonderful God who yearns to comfort you and weeps when you weep. Remember, When you walk through the flame or through the waters, He is EMMANUEL. He is with YOU.

God bless you. AMEN.

What is your assessment of this Poem

When Upon Life's Billows
Like a Dream I found You
The Eastern Sun Had Set
And Ours Like the Acorn
Shall Grow to the Oak that
Never Fades

Comments are invited