Wisdom from my Wounds: The Valley of Bakkah
Years ago, a friend who I can equally call my sister once said that I am “a seed that thrives in the midst of thorns” . What she left out was that the prickly of the thorns comes with bruises that turn to wounds that would sometimes not heal. Nonetheless, this wound leaves gems of wisdom. Vice President Kamala Harris said in her book The Truth We Hold “when you break through the glass ceiling, you get cut”. I have been more marred, scarred and scared this year than I have ever been my entire life. The year has left a wound that only will be healed on resurrection morning when I meet with a woman, friend, confidant that truly loved me Florence Ajokeade Johnson-Solomon But in the meantime I am reminded to “get out of my feeling” like my PoP would say. Even as I remember how sister-mum burst into praise when we came out of that wreck. Your voice echoes in my ear and your image looms large in my vision as you started singing and dancing “ese aye ope yo” when that nurse “stitched” the cut on your arm.
What you did days before your exit just like everything I knew about you and that you always told me is that our love for God and gratitude to God should not be in whether we live or die (away with all the people who will thank God at the end of this year that many are dead and they are live) or in the blessing of life that the God gives. Philippian 1:21 “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain”. You taught me and live it that our gratitude should be as gigantic in his bruises as they are in his numerous blessings. More so, I am learning to remind myself that the victory of Christ is not just in his resurrection as wonderful as that is, it is in his wounds. This probably explains why one of his marks of victories that he showed to one of his disciples (Thomas) after his resurrection was his pierced hands, feet and ribs. The wounds were healed but the scars remain even after resurrection. PoP had once said that these scars are not just stars in the constellation of the stories of our life, he said, they are brands (signature) and the band (accessories) that we wear.
Aunty mi, sister-mum and my sister like I call you, I hope it will gladden your heart as you watch me from the gallery of heaven that today I choose gratitude over grief. Happy Thanksgiving!
“As they pass through the Valley of Baka, they make it a place of springs; the autumn rains also cover it with pools” Psalm 84:6
Posted on Facebook on November 21, 2021
I do not own the copyright to this image. Kindly email oyin2010@gmail.com for credit.
