By Fr Pat Amobi Chukwuma
Learning is a continuous process. We learn new things every day until we enter the grave. The last degree we shall acquire is R.I.P. Both literates and illiterates acquire it post mortem. However, it can be rest in peace for some or rest in pieces for others. As you make your bed, so you lie on it.
If you want to rest in peace, then you have to make haste on earth while the sun shines. On the other hand, if you want to rest in pieces, then you relax in iniquity. Saint Augustine says that God created us without our cooperation, but He cannot save us without our cooperation.
I teach and learn at the same time. A traveller learns a lot. In other words, travelling is expedient. The he-goat says that travelling is beneficial and that is why it travelled to its mother’s kindred and learnt how to protrude its lips upwards. He who never travels, remains in a myopic world. Few days ago I embarked on a pastoral mission to Ijebu Ode in Ogun State by a commercial vehicle. I was quite awake during the tough journey.
At Benin, we encountered very bad roads. It was gully in some places. Along the ‘jagajaga’ express road, our driver overtook a fully loaded goods lorry with this bold inscription at the rear: OVER TO GOD. I read it prayerfully and reflected on it. The fully loaded lorry was meandering through the bad road.
The middle-aged driver was sweating like a fowl in hot water and was turning the revolting steering left and right. I could read his moving lips chorusing, “Over to God! Over to God!!” I asked myself if God should come down from his heavenly throne and repair the broken road for commuters. It is quite clear that God will work with us and not for us. After the creation of humanity, God gave this command: “Be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth and subdue it” (Gen. 1:28).
Our politicians and leaders here in Nigeria seem to subdue our country negatively. That is why the dividends of democracy elude us since after sixty-four years of Independence. Bad roads, electricity outage, insecurity, hardship and hunger stare us daily at the face. Because our leaders and politicians travel by air, they care less of the roads used by the poor masses.
The dividends of democracy elude us due to corruption in the system of governance. Minus corruption our country Nigeria would have been counted among the Comity of Nations. Our electoral system is characterized by rigging, ballot box snatching, electoral violence, buying and selling of votes. In fact our votes rarely count. Many election results are written and computerized before the actual voting.
That is why the present Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has refused to transmit election results electronically. Election is done just to fulfill all righteousness and thereby waste billions of tax payers’ money. The moral law states that the means justifies the end. Unfortunately in Nigeria, the end justifies the means.
This is why we are still far away from the Promised Land. God is not responsible for our woes. How then can we hand over our problems to God, when we have not rightly played our own roles well? A student should not blame God for failure in an examination, when he or she did not study hard. A person who goes to hell should not blame God for his eternal woes because he or she did not live well while on earth.
As we were heading towards Ijebu Ode, I saw a commercial bus which somersaulted into a bush. It was a fatal accident. An eyewitness told me that the driver and some passengers died at the spot. The driver of the ill-fated bus was said to be drunk and he slept off while speeding.
On both sides of the crashed bus was written “God never sleeps.” If God is always awake, then we must cooperate with Him by staying awake while driving. Thus, while God was awake, the drunk and reckless driver slept off. Is God to be blamed? A passer-by was crying and asking, “O God, why did you allow this fatal accident to happen?” What is your answer to this emotional question?
The frequent carnage on our roads is caused by human errors. One of the road safety rules says, “If you drink, do not drive. If you drive, do not drink.” Another states: “Drive with care. Someone needs you at home.” Sometimes those waiting for their dear ones on transit receive sad news of their death through regrettable accidents.
Somewhere on the road, the Road Safety men searched a suspicious driver and found a bottle of dry Gin in his pocket. He drinks it with straw while on the steering. If something happens we blame God. While we hand over our journey to God, we should cooperate with God by doing the needful.
We are advised to beware of the Ember months. In reality the Ember months are not different from other months. They are prone to accidents because of human recklessness. Greed and carelessness are the major causes of accidents in the Ember months. Some drivers drive recklessly and over speed in order to go and return quickly for more money. In so doing, they risk their lives and those of their passengers. Do dead bodies enjoy the intended money?
Still on transit, I beheld a mini bus loaded with passengers heading to Lagos. On the rear of the bus was boldly written: “No hurry in Life” The driver was calm and was speeding moderately. He was quite awake with God who never sleeps. His passengers were beaming with smiles and were eager to meet their lovely ones waiting for them at home. Indeed we should not entertain unnecessary hurry in this life.
The Road Safety rule tells us that speed kills. It is not just speeding, but over speeding. Many lives have been lost on the highway due to excessive speeding. It is the responsibility of passengers to call reckless and over speeding drivers to order before it is too late. It is better to be late than the late. Human life has no duplicate. On their own part, drivers in general, should drive with sense and not out of sense.
As you are driving, you drive in collaboration with others on the road because there are many mad drivers behind the wheels. There was the case of two drivers who had face to face vehicle collision. By God’s grace no lives were lost. The two reckless drivers jumped down from their vehicles and started quarreling. One of them asked the other, “Old boy, are you mad?” The other retorted, “Bush man, are you insane?” Is there any difference between madness and insanity? The two reckless drivers pointed accusing fingers at each other. The altercation ended up in a roadside fight.
As some of the passengers and passersby were separating the two fighting, a packet of Indian hemp fell down from the pocket of one of the two fighters. Everyone shouted, “No wonder!” The passengers in the vehicle of the addicted smoker abandoned him and boarded another vehicle. It is better to forfeit their transport fares than to forfeit their precious lives because the worst would have happened.
As the old year 2024 is about to end, the New Year 2025, which is a Jubilee Year, is at the doorstep. Let us keep watch and pray that God may give us life to enjoy the blessings of the Jubilee Year.
The Church’s Liturgical Year ended with the Solemnity of Christ the King. The New Liturgical Year has begun with the season of Advent, which is a four-week preparation for Christmas and for the Parousia. Jesus Christ is coming soon. How prepared are you to welcome him? Do your best and hand over the rest to God!
