We are travelling strenuously and almost to the end of the Gregorian calendar. Yes, it is of faith which is confidently voicing these words out, although only our one leg has entered, the other leg is boldly lifted and imminently awaiting the eve of 2019, I know our God is able.

Most of us have already forgotten the amount of water and food we consumed, or clothes that we adorned to keep a constant glow while on this journey. And verily, the tussle we went through because of the power of being alive; we have obliterated all these strands, believing that, as far as we have life, tomorrow is hopeful! There are indelible factors which have cogently played a vital role in rather sustaining us because we breathed from the fountain of benevolence.

We were very lenient, coordinated well with our family at home, the mutual love espoused to the benefit of our neighbourly brothers, aiding only good initiatives from our leaders and dissenting their retrogressive views and strictly avoiding any capricious attempt to step on the foot of those who may have been truculent to us! We shall, on a good note, be grouped among those who on the day of resurrection would receive the reward of the deeds they have done on their right hand, but only the footing that these Key Performance Indicators [KPI] shall follow us to the New Year and everlastingly!

Appallingly, we have some miscreants among us whose thoughts are that the earthly beings they have ascribed to God held them through this journey of 365 days! A staunch and righteous believer, who hears this would only say proverbially that a lion never loses a sleep over the opinions of sheep! Did not we start the journey with people who are influential and more powerful everywhere but are buried in the sand today? And have we not heard severally that there are people who are spiritually purported to be behind the death of men but they themselves, today, are no more as we speak? More God-fearing people have been shoved into the grave by the angel of death, but we are still alive!

Those that we are more arrogant than, yet God has taken them away! Others who look more energetic unlike how we look so fragile, yet the wind has blown them to the land of no returns! Some concentrated on amassing wealth; their wealth accrued and accumulated to the figures of infinite, yet they were buried with absolutely nothing, while those of us with nothing absolutely to be talked about are still breathing! The year 2018 did not smile with them as compared to how advantageous God Almighty has posited our affairs.

In few hours time, we shall be joyous in welcoming the new year, 2019! I, without mincing words, believe wholeheartedly that God is really our Cherisher and Sustainer. Our Creator, from all these, man ought to know that He is worthy of all worship, not as we do to be seen by men as if we do Him a favour by worshiping Him! He requires not our praises before he would be Great or become God! He is the Greatest and the Supreme, heaven and earth bear witness of that!

We must most certainly mark the end of this year not only by merry making and with pleasantries which are cheap to be gotten. Especially, ‘copied’ wishes not coming from the sender's heart, food, gifts, and pretending to be each other's keeper! Aftermath of all the eventful days in December [2018], we shall re-clothed ourselves with hatred, selfishness and family centred at the expense of the tax payers’ money and irrelevant and irreligious thoughts that one's stature, intellect, positions in the economy, bank account and earthly beings are those that keep him going! Whatever we may do, we must genuinely be Christ-like, and I repeat, Christ like and Marry-focused but not ‘Judacious’ like Judas in this life of ours! This is the whole duty of man which was crystalized by the life of Jesus [as] to over shadow all the whispers from the obstinate one!

It is so pleasurable for a man of godliness not to be oblivious that it is a great courtesy to serve the Lord!

May the Mercy of God locate us continuously in whatever we may do.
Amen.

By: Abdur Rahman Odoi Anum Pobee

[rahmanislam5000@gmail.com]