Uncle Akin: My Essence for His Glory

Anointed for His Generation

It’s one of those periodic seasons of reflection. I guess, it makes sense and quite appropriate, as I look forward to my 50th. On the other hand, it's simply what I get to do from time to time. I get to check, and be sure, how far am I from the center – the vision and calling upon my life – my goals, dreams, vision, and aspirations. Am I on track? Have I been deviating or drifting? Am I about my own, or someone else’s business? Am I bewitched? Or, am I still seeing clearly?

"The unexamined life is not worth living." (Socrates)

"If the essence of my being has caused a smile to have appeared upon your face or a touch of joy within your heart, then in living, I have made my mark." (Thomas L. Odem Jr.)

Having to be here, on Social Media, every day, has its own challenges and trappings. It's very easy to get into a rut, "a grave with both ends knocked out." And, simply become mechanical, or be lost in a make-belief, fantasy world. I’ll sooner stop than be stuck with such. It is not in me. It is not in my nature to be caught in a drag. I hate being mechanical. I hate doing things that are not tangible. I hate doing things just because I HAVE TO DO THEM. There's got to be more to life and living. And, that is all I am for. I want it.

"There is not one blade of grass, there is no color in this world that is not intended to make us rejoice." (John Calvin)

I love engagements, interactions, and making a difference for good. That is the fuel that keeps me kicking. I love being in the flow. I love being an agent of change. I love making people uncomfortable with mediocrity - anything less than all God has for them. I love rocking the boat. The status quo is NEVER good enough. Things can ALWAYS be done better. Why not?

"If all Christians acted like Christ, the whole world would be Christian." (Mahatma Gandhi)

I hate religion. I hate the following of practice, without one’s heart and soul in the very essence. I hate that in which the soul (heart) is not at home. In this do I find common ground with Karl Marx. Indeed "Die Religion... ist das Opium des Volkes." (German) That is, "Religion…is the opium of the people." The easiest way to control the mind of people is to give them a religion. They suddenly go dead - "kaput." They stop thinking. They become "dead men walking" - zombies.

"Gandhi felt fascinated at knowing Christ. He met Christians and felt let down." (Mother Teresa)

"There are many who preach Christ, but not so many who live Christ. My great aim will be to live Christ." (R. C. Chapman)

That is not the intent of religion. Hirelings who use it for their own selfish ends have hijacked it. They peddle religion as a means of creating their own little kingdom and empire. That which was meant for us has been turned against us. We have inundated with examples all around, people who have made enmity with “thinking,” all in the name of religion. That which was meant for good has been turned around for evil.

"What is Christianity? Christianity is that which brings a man or woman to a knowledge of God. Take our Lord’s own definition of eternal life: “This is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.” That is Christianity—knowing God, not just believing a few things about God and living a nice little life. That is not Christianity. That is often nothing but morality or mere religion. The essence of this is entering into this realm into which you begin to know and have communion with the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit." (Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones)

Religion calls for a life to be lived out of an understanding of the truth it makes manifest. It is not a thing to be addicted to. It is a life to be lived out of a conscious and willing adherence. Life sure is much more than religion. If your religion is not giving you life, there sure is something amiss. If your religion is not enabling you to fulfill and actualize your purpose, then the hirelings have got you hooked. Someone has sold you baloney, and you have bought into it, "hook, line, and sinker." You have been hooked! You have been trapped. You are in bondage. Deliver yourself! O thou son of man. Deliver yourself. We are here to fulfill purpose not do religion. Religion is an enabler. It is an enabler to fulfill a purpose. It is here for us, not the reverse.

"The rich life is living, not just winning. And living requires fulfillment, not simply achievement." (Tony Robbins)

"The most important thing in the life of the church is the awareness, the realization of the presence, and the glory of God." (Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones)

"A musician must make music, an artist must paint, a poet must write if he is to be ultimately at peace with himself. What a man can be, he must be." (Abraham Maslow)

Life is not meant to control us. Religion is not meant to control us. They are meant for us, not the reverse. We are to use them in fulfilling purpose. We are to use them in becoming all we were created to be. We are to use them in actualizing potentials. The locus of control must always stay with us. Otherwise, it becomes an addiction. Otherwise, it becomes an idol in and of itself. Otherwise, it becomes an abuse of its original intent. Otherwise, that which was meant to give us life begins to work the death process.

"The fear of death is only the result of an unfulfilled life." (Franz Kafka)

"Internal locus of control has been linked with academic success, higher self-motivation and social maturity; lower incidences of stress and depression, and longer life span." (2012 Journal of Problems and Perspectives in Management)

I believe in God. I believe in walking with divinity with my whole being. For, He deserves and wants it all. He wants my body – my strength, my dexterity, etc. He wants my soul – my will, my intellect, and my emotions. He wants my heart – the very core of me, where my soul and spirit are so vitally bond together. He wants me. And, who am I to give Him any less?

"Don’t fear death, fear a life unlived. You don’t have to forever. You just have to live." (Unknown)

Call me whatever you want, “I LOVE LIFE. AND, I WANT IT ALL.” If God says, I can have it, who am I to live any less? Who are you to live any less? I want all God has for me, no less, and no more. (I can never outdo God - The Alpha and the Omega, The Beginning and the End of all things) My intent is “to live life fully, and die empty.” I have no intention of enriching the grave. And, I am in no hurry to leave either. I want it all. Don't you?

"Happiness is a direction, not a place." (Sydney J. Harris)

"Happiness is not the absence of problems, it’s the ability to deal with them." (Steve Maraboli)

"Happiness cannot be traveled to, owned, earned, worn, or consumed. Happiness is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace, and gratitude." (Denis Waitley)

Two years ago, as I reflected on my pilgrimage, I noted “the craving for certainty,” as one of my shortfalls. It is only natural to desire certainty. Isn't it? That is the way we all are wired, at our base. The challenge is when it begins to control us. In the last two years, I have made a lot of mileage stepping out of the boat, trusting God more, taking more risks, and being comfortable with it. I still got ways to go, but I am not where I used to be. I am getting more and more acquainted and comfortable with uncertainty.

"The quality of your life is directly related to how much uncertainty you can comfortably handle." (Tony Robbins)

I am getting to kill that seeming salient desire or yearning for a magical God. God is no fairy godmother, as the hirelings seem to portray. They depict Him as a "make a wish God." They have turned Him into a "lottery" God. They tell people what they want to hear so they can rob them of their goods and obtain their lifelong servitude. History has done them no good. That which was written as an example they have simply turned a blind eye to. All because of the "filthy lucre" they crave, and the sheer laziness of mind of the people.

"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." (Aldous Huxley)

The Israelites came out of Egypt (bondage) looking for a magical God. Where did it land them? How many entered the promised land? Why did God take them through the wilderness? What are we learning from their experience? What are we learning from their sojourn? How come we are promising people a life with no wilderness experience? Where did we learn this? Are we learning anything at all from history? Or, are we simply doomed, even in the midst of so much help to guide and to guard us?

"On this battlefield, man has no better weapon than his intelligence, no other force but his heart." (Jose Razel)

"History is for human self-knowledge ... the only clue to what man can do is what man has done. The value of history, then, is that it teaches us what man has done and thus what man is." (R. G. Collingwood)

God is God. He is all He says He is, and no other. I am learning, He does not always take the trouble away, nor has He promised to. He promised to always be there. And, that is all I truly, really need - His presence. His presence makes it alright. He is teaching my hands to war. He is fashioning me into the fullness of the stature of the person of Jesus. He is making me whole. He is making me complete. He is restoring me. He is strengthening me. Through the fire, through the flood, in the presence (not absence) of those routing for and against me (both with their concurrence and outright rejection) He is doing His work in my life. And, He wants to do it in yours also.

"Too many of us are not living our dreams because we are living our fears." (Les Brown)

"Awakening is possible only for those who seek it and want it, for those who are ready to struggle with themselves and work on themselves for a very long time and very persistently in order to attain it." (G.I. Gurdjieff)

He does not have to do it all for me. Nor, does He want me to do it all on my own. Rather, hand in hand, in true and intimate fellowship, He is leading, working, and walking with me. I am pushing to the next level of my life. I don't know what it all entails. I am simply holding on to the everlasting, stable, sure hands. I am taking hold of Him who has taken a hold of me. It's time to live!

© 2017 Akin Akinbodunse