There was once a boy who was as reckless as the wind, naïve in his thinking like a newly hatched chick yet curious to learn. He was the the darkest of the four boys his parents had, He had an unusual habit of leaving his mouth ajar, while he was lost in thought or in a trance of possibilities, his lips would part like the red sea did before Moses while his concentration remained fixed like a drill. Sometimes, while lost in his imaginations, his mother would tap him on the mouth with a facial expression that implied that he had better shut his mouth before she does. Because of his usual habit of forgetting himself and leaving his mouth ajar, the kids in the neighborhood and his 3 brothers called him “enu riran” meaning the seeing mouth. As he grew up, his interest in everything grew also and he always had his head in first in all manner of mischief, he was always the chief culprit and he had scars to show for it.
While he was but a child, he saw for the very first time a television set, amazed at such a wonder he thought to himself ,“what made these pictures move?”he said, “how is this possible? *he asked himself ”, if anyone had cared to bother about him at that time, looking into the little boy’s eyes, one can see a beautiful and innocent u curiosity and while he was lost in wonder, his lips gave way as usual, his mind was set on a mission and his intention was simple to get closer and see what makes it do what it does, alas he was faced with a giant pressing table, standing between him and the television set and without hesitating, he climbed to the top of the table only to be received by the waiting hot plates of a pressing iron, he took one in the face, the right eye precisely and became scarred for life on the right eye.
He was to be known from then on as the boy with a scar on his face.
The scar on his face was not enough to stop his inquisitiveness, his curiosity drove him to the wonders laid bare on the pages of books, as a young boy he fell in love with books so he read... He read anything he could find from a sticker to an encyclopedia, he was quick to grasp the structure of words that he became the designated reader for his class, by the time he left primary one, he had read through all his books, it was not a strange sight to see him reading with his mouth opened, you could see the words on the page come alive on his face, these books had become an escape, and while reading with his mouth opened he transitioned into the pages. His pattern of life was certainly becoming unusual as the years went by.
Years down the line, the boy had learned alot, he had seen the world and it's mysteries yet he was still growing, one Sunday afternoon while he was out playing with friends, a strange man and woman approached him and his friends asking for a neighbor who had just moved, they all knew the new place the neighbors had moved to but none of them was willing to go that far, the risk of having to cross the road was enough to have them change their minds, everyone shrunk back except for our little boy whom this story is all about, he volunteered and offered to take this strangers to the neighbor’s new place, he was quite versatile with the area, in a short while he had safely done his part, delivering to the former neighbors their guest and then he headed back home. But somewhere along the way back home, he was intercepted by a moving car, he lost sight of the reality and was certain the he was fine, so he stood right from where the encounter had knocked him down but he fell right back, that was when he closed his mouth and opened his eyes, he saw the reality and came out with a fractured leg, even though the leg lived to tell the tale with a scar that told the tale in pictures.
He had learnt that there was two worlds... The one he saw with his eyes and the one he saw with his mouth...
Life from
Life from that moment became a battle, some choices he made were based on what his eyes saw... And others were based on what the mouth saw, like when he was to begin senior high school, his father came home that night and called for him, "now i need you to choose carefully" his father said, "which would you prefer, a public or a private school?" his father enquired, he paused for a while trying to think on it, the private school was a better choice to his eyes, but his mouth didnt agree, the mouth saw the possibilities of friends, the exposure and the opportunities... His eyes only saw the educational decadence, poor facilities, negligent teachers and public humiliation in a public school... But our dear boy was not one known to make judgment based on his eyes sight at this time so he went with what his eyes could not see... he picked the public school.
While he was in the school, he made new friends, he created opportunities, he lived out his imaginations but his eyes foresight also came true... Their was poor facilities, negligent teachers and so on... He was past regrets now and he had to live with his choices.
Soon he was done with high school and had to decide what career to go into... He went straight with his mouth... His mouth saw in him a medical doctor, "helping the poor and sick" he would usually brag, he could finally be a real life hero he had thought to himself, so he didnt question it, instead he went all in... But in the same usual manner life had dealt with him... The realities were in extreme contrast with what he saw with his mouth, and so he spent 3yrs at home waiting and believing in what he saw with his mouth... On the fourth year he was disappointed and frustrated, he was forced to look with his eyes, to finally see the realities and this time he gave in to this reality, He humbly bowed to the leading of his eyes he settled for a lowly agric course and suddenly things turned around and he was back on his way... At that moment he decided to see only with his eyes, and who could blame him? After so much trouble... But he was never one to stop believing, few years in school, he met people just like him who saw with their mouth and ignored what they saw with their eyes... And gradually he started seeing with his mouth again. And with his mouth he saw the best girl, he saw the best friends and he saw how special he was.
Year in year out, the little boy never seem to be out of one trouble or the other, he took chances and took risks when no one would, he grew up in that same manner and took chances at life, he made pepper soup from the pepper life threw at him, he made lemonade from life’s lemons, our little boy was no longer a boy, years had passed and things were no longer the same.
Now this little boy pondered and wondered if things would have turned out better for him if he saw more with his eyes than with his mouth, “I would have seen the pressing iron, I would have seen the car coming, I would have seen it all” he thought to himself while he pondered, but the real battle was in which of the two needed to be shut down, the eyes or the seeing mouth.
With his mouth opened he saw possibilities, he saw something new, something nobody else had seen, he saw the stars align and a choir of angels singing the most beautiful chorus, he saw the humor in the most heart breaking tragedies, he saw the missing link, he saw the best in everybody, he saw the desire of man to be loved and to love, he saw the complex simplicity of nature, he saw courage in all it’s glory, he saw faith in the economy, he saw beauty in the most unpleasant scenes, he saw laughter in tears, he saw hope for a better life, he saw the tiny chances of truth, he saw the inconsequential element of trust, he saw how things worked, he saw the answers and solutions, with his mouth opened he saw another world.
But if he were to have closed his mouth and opened his eyes, well...
He would not have these scars, he would live a careful life, he would see the imminent dangers, he would see the time speed by, he would see the pressing iron, he would see the car coming, he would definitely see the despicable state of the economy, he would see the impossibilities in high definition, he would behold fear in it’s true form, he would see the rate of exchange, he would see the balance in his account and spend less even give lesser, he would see the worst in everybody, he would look at the best things in life and see their flaw, he would see right through the lies, through the deceitful nature of man, he would see only himself, he would see things as they really are.
His dilemma was unique, he had to decide if he wanted to see the reality or live in a dream, if he was to close his eyes to all the distractions and open his mouth in amazement to the things his eyes couldn’t see, he was at a cross road and he had to make a choice.
It had been 27 years since the birth of this boy, he was gradually becoming a man and he must now choose what path he would take, confused and baffled, he took a long walk to a destination his mind refused to unveil. While he walked, he thought about his life, the choices he made, how he shut his mouth to decide what university he would go to and how all through the five years he spent in school he had his mouth opened because of the family he had made for himself, the friends now turned brothers and sisters, how he shut his eyes on love and took a leap of faith into the unknown intentions God had for him and as always it was mouth opening amazing. His life had been a rough journey full of scars and hurts, he had met hot pressing irons at various peaks of various mountains in his life, but even though he had scars, he had moved closer to the stars, it was a little price to pay for such a wonder.
Suddenly, a smile formed from his very core surfaced on his face, he was certain, he looked like a man on a mission, he ran back home as fast as he could with his eyes shut and his mouth wide open.
“FOR WE WALK BY FAITH NOT BY SIGHT.” IICor. 5:7
In other words (amplified):For we walk by faith [we regulate our lives and conduct ourselves by our conviction or belief respecting man’s relationship to God and divine things, with trust and holy fervor; thus we walk] not by sight or appearance.
I am theDANIEL
Eat, Pray, Love, Laugh, Learn, Share and Grow.
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