As a cousin of mine drove home from work, he called to ask if I had something for him to eat. He was famished, he said. I hurriedly made for the kitchen, to prepare something quick, since he was barely 5 minutes’ drive away. He got in almost as soon as I was done preparing the meal. Great timing! He came with a friend though. Good for them that I had made a little extra. As they ate, the showers began. As they waited for the rains to stop, we all began chit-chatting about any and everything from politics to terrorism.
We delved into religion – the different kinds of worship centres and their modes of worship.. Worthy of mention was our discussion on the role of religion in nurturing uprightness and driving positive change.
I must have been carried away because religion is not a subject I particularly like to discuss. I should say that religion and governance are two topics that I would typically avoid talking about simply because of the attending emotions and controversy that comes with them. Anyways, I must have said something that either ticked off my cousin’s friend or at least led him down the “misunderstand me” Lane. It seemed like the more we talked, the more confused he got as to my faith. (I am a believer in God and His word by the way).
Among other things, I told him that as much as I did not want to neglect the gathering of the saints, I had a dire need for my children to want to go to church on their own and not see it as a chore. I desired that they acknowledge and experience God as being truly Omnipresent and not just some Big Guy that only showed up on Sundays. It is important that they appreciate the value of relationships and fellowship. I wanted our home to be a pattern for right living – a place where the concept of love, togetherness, laughter, charity, empathy, failure, second chances, hope, hard work and fulfilment is understood and appreciated. Whatever words I used, his interpretation of my parenting style was that I was bringing up African kids with Western sentiments. “Oh I give up!” I thought to myself.
Well, the rain finally stopped. They said their good-byes, and as I went about tidying up, I could not just take my mind off the discussions we all just had.