Hello folks, welcome
to another time with yours truly. I want to write how grateful I am that you
found the time of day to read my works. I am so grateful. Please take the time
to check out the previous articles and let me know what you think at the
comment section below.
The topic I want to
write on today looks like the title of an 80’s Rhythm and Blues song but today,
I want to talk about something that is starting to become a foreign concept in
our society today. That is, “unconditional attachments”. If you go through the
previous links in this blog, you will find that I have written similar topics
to this but I just want to reiterate on this subject matter. As usual, I like to be balanced in all my write ups but I want to talk about how the
balance of unconditional attachments has affected our society negatively.
What I mean by
unconditional, is when someone wants something, cherishes something and wants
to do something without any ‘buts’ attached to the services rendered. We live
in a society where the catch phrase “nothing goes for nothing” is the saying
for the day. No one is willing to take the leap of faith to love, serve and
help unconditionally without asking for something in return.
Let us take a look at
certain scenarios. A helpless woman who has lost everything to everything you
can imagine, and she meets her in-laws for help. One of her married brother
in-laws decides to “help” this woman by renting an apartment for her, finding a
job, and basically helping her to start over. Then one beautiful Saturday
morning, the brother in-law comes into the house he pays for with his money for
a visit and starts asking if there was anything else he could do and the woman
modestly tells him that everything is ok and she is getting back on her feet.
Then the woman starts appreciating him by saying “how can I ever repay you?”
All of a sudden, the brother in-law sees it as a window to “collect his
harvest” by proposing that the woman should be his mistress. This woman tries
to reason with him by telling him that he is married, but he does not listen;
she tells him that she has never looked at him that way and he starts to recite
the lyrics of a 90s ballad to her ears all in attempts to woo her. And finally
she tells him that she is seeing someone else and that is when the man reveals
his true self by telling her that he only helped her because he wanted her for
a mistress for so long, even when she was married and if she will not agree she
will be thrown back to the same condition she was before he lent a helping
hand.
Let’s take a look at
another scenario. A child is stubborn and refuses to read his books and study
for his exams. The parents tell him, if you take the first or fifth position in
class, I will make sure you go to any theme park of your choosing during the
holidays. Then the child with that promise in mind, reads so hard and crams all
he can about every subject his is been taught in school then with all that hard
work he takes the third position in the class room and the parents honour their
promise by taking the child to the theme park that he has chosen.
For the final scenario
in this piece is one of favourites which is the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on
the cross of Calvary for our sakes (YAY!); if you are an avid bible reader you
will find several examples of unconditional love like the famous Acid Test that
God made for Abraham (Genesis 22), Solomon’s Selfless Offering (1Kings 3:1-4)
and so on. In all of these examples, there is none that I love more than the
sacrificial death of Jesus on the cross of Calvary for our sakes. The death of
Jesus on the cross could have been avoided if he had just kept his head in the
sand and asked for monetary remunerations for the salvation he was expected to
give to the world. He suffered persecutions from the people that he wanted to
save and he came to the Gentiles (you and me) and freely gave us this free gift
of salvation which is available to all who are willing and ready to accept it.
To buttress my point, Jesus told a parable about a feast he was preparing and
he invited well known guests but they did not come, so he told his servants to
go to the highways and the hedges and compel people of all races to come and
celebrate with him since the chosen ones were too busy for him (Luke 14:23). At the end he was betrayed by the people he
came to save but because of the love he had for them, he begged that the sin
should not be counted against them (Luke 23:34) even though they said with
their own lips “let his blood be on our heads and on our descendants” (Matthew
27:25). His sacrifice is the reason I can call myself a Christian.
By now I am sure you
are saying, “These are nice stories, so what is the moral to this story?” well,
from what you can see in the scenarios I painted, you can see that unconditional
attachments are both good and bad; it all depends on the context that they are
used. In the first scenario, the brother in-law wanted a sex mate to keep him
busy while his wife was waiting for him at home that is why he wanted to help
his sister in-law which in my opinion is the sickest thing a man (married or
unmarried) can do to a woman who needs help. The second scenario painted the
use of incentives to make the child more corporative. Although I don’t support
the use of this method to train children but once in a while, you should
request for reasonable conditions to get what your desired results. The third
scenario on the other hand involves human lives. Jesus saw financial
remunerations as fickle and useless when it comes to the fate of mankind. Some
people would sell their conscience for a million dollars if the price is right.
Because they feel that with a million dollars, they are set for life. Let me
ask you something, how long do you think that money will last? Are you going to
kill yourself before it finishes or are you going to keep selling your
conscience before you get yourself killed meaninglessly? Abraham and Solomon
loved God and their people unconditionally and they were rewarded adequately
with something that was more than money and that is a good name to be
remembered through time.
In conclusion, I would
like to write that unconditional attachments to anything you are doing in life
will take you far than conditional attachments because you cannot put a price
on a good name.
I
look forward to reading your comments.
E-Mail:
johnnyogah2000@gmail.com
So
everyone, LIVE LONG AND EXCEL.
This is highly motivating and greatly inspirational. Whenever I feel the need to ask for favours, people are quick to say "what's in it for me" Not sad, but i feel sorry for them because it just goes to show how little they know about the joy, fulfillment and human perfection that comes with every kind gesture. Thank you for helping me re-affirm my resolve to do good with "unconditional attachments."
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for the comment. I am grateful from the bottom of my heart
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