Saturday 25 October 2014

My provoking neighbour

                            
                          Where I live I always try to get along well with my neighbours. I am always of the belief that its always good to have friends. Whenever I am going out and I see them on the road, I always try to be mannerly and give them the utmost respect by telling them good morning or good evening as the case may be. There are even times like on weekends when I go to buy my newspapers that I would pass by some of them to see if they would want a newspaper too. So its safe to say that I have a good relationship with them. There is a particular elderly neighbour though who I have known since I was a child. Although I respect him a lot like I do all my other neighbours, lately he is getting on my nerves. You see my neighbor Mr. C belongs to a certain religious faith. The church I attend is just opposite his apartment. I have been attending that church for four years and I am quite happy to go there. But in recent times Mr. C has taken it upon himself to "teach me the truth." There was this incident back in August when, after I purchased a newspaper for Mr. C, he proceeded to ask me questions about where do good people go to when they die.

                             I knew exactly where he was coming from with this and felt the urge to tell him that I was not interested in having a religious discussion, still, I fell for the bait and answered, "Heaven." He then proceeded to tell me to read a particular verse from the bible when I go home which apparently debunks that belief.  I didn't take him on. "Why should I?" I said to myself. "Do I tell him or any of his family when and how to read the bible?" I went home with the belief that he would have probably forgotten about it and I left it as that. Boy was I wrong. For the next couple of weeks whenever he saw me on the road he would consistently ask me if I had read the verse. I would promptly reply, "No." What got me pissed off one day was when he told me that I was "playing with my salvation." I thought to myself to tell him off right there and then.
 
                             It then dawned on me, "Is this the way Christians should behave?" "Arguing over who can "better interpret" the Bible?" Although I really felt tempted to give him a good piece of my mind. But then again don't we ask God so often in the ever popular "Our Father" prayer to "lead us not into temptation?" There was another time when his tone towards me became quite aggressive. He saw me in the streets and began to shout at me in a loud, provoking tone if I had finally read the particular Bible verse. I kindly responded once more with a "No." He again responded with his sarcastic "play with my salvation" comment. "Okay," was my sarcastic response. Now a lot of you may be saying that my response wasn't all that appropriate either, but try walking the streets minding your own business and your neighbor who is much older than you and whom you would think is mature, keeps on harassing you. I have to admit that I was tempted to tell him that God was punishing him for being so provoking because he has severe problems with his knees and moves with the aid of a walking-stick.

                              Then when I thought about it, it would have really been futile. After all, doesn't the Bible say in Proverbs 15:1 that,"A soft answer turneth away wrath, but grievous words stir up anger?"So if I were to lower my standards to insult him, it really won't make me any better than him would it? It would be rather immature of me.  So I have made up my mind from now that I would just continue to keep my calm and respond appropriately to Mr. C according to what is said in Proverbs. Either that or I would just not respond at all. If he gets insulting and sarcastic, I'll just smile and walk away.  For although he is older than me and physically bigger, I can DEFINITELY be bigger than him when the time arises. What Mr. C fails to realize is that although he may be more biblically versed than I am, the God we both serve is bigger than us and we'll both have to answer to him one day. Like it or not.
                    

Monday 13 October 2014

What to write about?

                           I have the funny feeling that I may be suffering from writer's block. For weeks now I haven't been able to produce any new work. I honestly don't know what on earth seems to be the problem. I read a lot of newspapers and books. I watch my fair share of TV. I surf the internet regularly. Yet somehow I don't know what's wrong. Is it that I am not cut out for writing? Do I lack inspiration or motivation? Am I too confined? I really don't know. To some people writing comes naturally. They can just sit by their PC and come up with an interesting story right off the bat. Be it fact or fiction. Not me though. I am not so fortunate. Or is it blessed? I need to take my time to put my thoughts together. I need to think about what to write. Lets face it, I'll never be John Grisham, Michael Crichton  or William Shakespeare. I can only be me. One of the problems that I seem to have is that I don't travel much. My life seems to be an endless cycle of going to work and coming home, going to church on Sundays and coming home. Do I need to travel abroad in order to get the relative experience in order to further enhance my writing?

                            Somehow I tend to get that impression. Even right now as I am typing this, the appropriate words seem to be hard to find. I know there is a saying that 'nothing in life comes easy' and that only hard work can bring success. But try telling that to the university student who studied hard for four years, sacrificing nights of precious sleep in some instances and still failed his final year exams. Would that be of any consolation? Not that I am saying that I am going to be a failure or anything. But the sad thing is that in life nothing is ever certain. Except death. Sure I'd love to be a successful writer one day. Sure I'd love to leave my current job and do something as relaxing as writing. I love to just sit back with my thoughts flowing like a busted water main in front my PC and just start writing like there is no tomorrow focusing on a wide range of topics. Should I write about current events? Like the war taking place in the Middle East right now or the dreaded Ebola epidemic? Should I write about sports? Or the latest movies now playing in the local theatres? Everything is all out there isn't it? Its just to find the right topic that sparks my interest.

                               I remember as a kid in school whenever my English teacher gave us imaginative essays to write I would always eager to get it done. To me it was a great joy to write those types of essays. You can always make up something. To me it came naturally. It didn't matter the topic. Now I have to find a topic and write on it. I have to hope that people actually read it and like it. No easy task is it? I have to be careful in selecting my words and know which one to use in which context. I have to make sure that my work makes sense and that there is a good flow to it. I have to ensure that it is of sufficient length so it doesn't appear as if I have a limited vocabulary or knowledge. The problem I have right now is that I don't travel much. In addition to which, I seemed to be bogged down by my current job which seems to be like a  life sentence. Now don't get me wrong, I am very much grateful for my job. Even though it may not be my dream job and I am not very fond of it. Still it pays the bills and puts food on the table. That said, it would still be wonderful to put pen to paper and come up with a brilliant story on a regular basis. It would be one which captivates the reader and brings a smile to their face.

                                 Is that so hard for me to do? Do I need someone to help me? Do I need divine intervention? I am at a loss right now. How is it that some people who are aspiring writers just seem to have a knack for coming up with brilliant work almost like nothing and there are others who just can't seem to get it right no matter how hard they try? Is that fair? What is it that establishes a great writer from a not-so-good -writer? Frankly speaking, not even I know the answer to that question. I guess I just need to keep on trying and trying to perfect the art of writing until someday, somehow, by divine intervention or otherwise, I finally become the writer that I am striving to be. It may be in the distant future or near future, but someday, I have the feeling, I'll finally reach my true potential. Fingers crossed.