PhiDims' Muse

My 2022 Father's Day message to you is the story of a man rarely told - a great man that walked this earth and left an indelible mark. It is the multigenerational legacy of Jonathan Edawards.  This piece was first published on July 1, 2017, by Larry Ballard.  Jonathan Edwards Jonathan Edwards was a Puritan Preacher in the 1700s.  He was one of the most respected preachers of his day. He attended Yale at the age of thirteen and later went on to become the president of Princeton college. He married his wife Sara in 1727 and they were blessed with eleven children. Every night when Mr. Edwards was home, he would spend an hour conversing with his family and then praying a blessing over each child. Jonathan and his wife Sarah passed on a great, godly legacy to their eleven children. An American educator, A.E. Winship decided to trace the descendants of Jonathan Edwards almost 150 years after his death.  His findings are remarkable, especially when compared to another man...

The month was December 2019, the new strain of the virus had already taken over the city of Wuhan and breaking out in other parts of China. The World was watching as this health emergency grew, spreading to Europe, the US, Africa, and other parts of the World. Before we knew it, it had become a global health emergency. Alas! It is COIVID-19! In 2020 the World realized it is in for a big fight. By March Nigeria was forced into lockdown alongside other Countries of the World. People were immediately forced to stop work, business, and recreational activity to stay at home. It was a drastic change in lifestyle for the world. Billions of dollars in business and investment were lost in addition to jobs. And the World was locked at home. The first week seemed like a public holiday until reality began to dawn on people.  With an immediate change in routine in a total lockdown, there was little to do around the house; with repetition, boredom began to set in and as time went on, depression ...

Like the men and women of promise who despite having not seen, held on to promise and persisted through faith as they waited for the unfolding & fulfilling of The Promise. So I, waited through thick clouds, whirlwinds and waves...peering daily into His promise. A pivotal lesson I have learned in the past two years is to find His voice amidst tough seasons, confusion and doubt. Our sister, Kari Jobe, heartily expressed that:  "God is so kind as to show us where He is in the midst of trials and tough seasons. Lean in to listen for His voice. I know that His heart and desire is to meet with you right where you're at".  Right here I can testify that He- God, is always with us. Yes, "that scaffold sways the future." And if you look keenly, you'll find that "behind the dim unknown, standeth God within the shadows, keeping watch above his own."  He keeps watching over us whether in the muddiest mud or highest Mountain. Do you believe it? Like a beauti...

 "I kept reaching for my muses, floating on clouds filled with their passions", yet they elude me. The euphoria of a New Year easily blinds the mind from taking stock of the past year & leaping from it. The zest for "new year resolutions" quickly detracts us from the truth of how we did in the old one and we never really get anywhere in our quest for fruitful progressive living. In 2020 I made mistakes, stepped on toes,  failed in certain responsibilities; and yes I won in others. I got many rejection letters and aye, I got some congratulatory letters too. I fell, I rose. I despaired, perspired, fainted, and so on. Yet in all of these, grace outran me.  As we journey in and through faith, we shared the experience of Paul as He lettered, "we are hard-pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed,  but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed...so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body". Indeed, H...

Today was a bit challenging for me. I had some mixed emotions that I can’t even explain! And so, I decided to taste my own medicine- play therapy!!! In my practice, I have 8-10 play techniques that I use to help children with mental health, behavioral, emotional and academic issues. One of them is music.  I listened to a song I loved as a child. A song that defined who I am and what I want to achieve. Listening to it again helped me to let go of the challenges of today and refocus on my goals and gains.  I’m reminded of the number of times I would replay this song and dream about my future. And this gives me more confidence in what I do with children in play therapy.  Lessons from this-  1. What your children listen to is important!  2. Play is stress release! I colored while listening to the song! It made me feel free and calm.  3. I wrote the song because I love to write. I’m thankful for parents that allowed me to be myself and not force me to be like ot...

Wrapped in Light in the midst of the night; Caught In the tides at His feet laid right Herald of glorious adventure; Caught and bought by His blood-venture   Thought in His heart; Wrought by His hand,   In His season he gazes in the eye of His view, Found he the seed in the heat of the dew.   Jeer at me, but know ye- at dawn, the Father makes known.   Lights Might Heights.   That we may know;   MaltiBwe- an eternal blessing that knows no bounds! There is no limit to the gifting of God in you for the Nations.   I celebrate you,   To you and to all that is to come- Feliz cumpleaños, Aurora Borealis!  

For many years I have lived, but not fully I would say.  I have run from the reality of my total person. Yes I have made progress, I have grown in some instance, and yes I have blessed many - yet I did not fully accept my total person.  I find that I'm living but not in the full spectrum of my person. I'm not brought face I face with every facet of my life. I'm currently being brought down, at the foot of the cross. It's at this point that a divine redefinition is birthed deep within for the making of the total man herein.  Brokenness is divine.  It's the making of earthly saints.  Sheer perfection from catastrophic weakness.  Sinners into Saints. Here, the journey begins...

In our previous issue, we established that people are already living with the intense fear of tomorrow in addition to the unanswered and unresolved existential questions – about why we are here and the purpose of life. This mindset of inadequacy or purposelessness facilitates an endless circle of worry and anxiety in people, families and even communities. It is true that we now live in what is known as the “ age of anxiety”.   And the very first step to this great anxiety is fear. Our world today, not just Nigeria, has become a frightening place to live. Many of us live with a sense of underlying dread about things and uncertainties around us. In wind up of the year 2019, we experienced the emergence of Coronavirus which is often called Covid-19 (coronavirus disease 2019). The World Health Organization has warned that the  coronavirus pandemic  is a "defining global health crisis of our time", as it urged countries to test all suspected cases. The United Stat...

In the break of the New Year, everyone is hopeful about the future, about goals to achieve and objectives to check as done. Everyone sets out as optimistic as they can be from December and prepare to strive to live through January. It is in this pursuit that Nigerians experienced the heightened wrath of the re-wake of the Boko Haram attack. From one attack to the other; to the killing of Michika Local Government Area of Adamawa state CAN Chairman, Reverend Lawan Andimi and Ropvil Dalyep, a student of the University of Maiduguri in addition to the abduction of Lilian Daniel Gyang and several others.  I am not concerned with recounting the ordeals we have been faced with since the inception of Boko Haram in Nigeria, but I want us to see something we all have been missing as a people and as a Nation.  Over the years and especially in recent times, this terrorism has been given a louder voice through social media. We have to realize that one of the strong tools now emp...

There are times I find that our journey is strange. The walk is like unto a wilderness. Like a dry desert walk. And we must admit for other times, quite flourishing and refreshing. But for the desert walk we find that: No road signs. No traffic lights & traffic wardens. No stops. No eateries. No rest rooms. No ATMS. Nothing. Just long quiet walks. No whispers. Just you and you, not even your shadow. Strain. Pain. Drain, no gain. Nothing. Good news is that in those moments we are never left without a map and compass. You know, some device that tells us what direction we're heading and another with details of where we ought to be and how to get there. I find that His word is the Map with every little detail. Not only of how we ought to live or how important our journey in life is or even what He has called us to be , also as "trivial" the fact that He cares for every little thing that concerns us. As simple as how perhaps we use Facebook or maybe how Facebook uses u...

The resistance and possible aggression you get when you raise certain issues or faults of social media/networks amazes me. The arguments which usually leads to verbal attacks from young people is actually something to pay attention to. The whole ball revolves around the fact that we speak of the social networks as though they do not have any good that they have brought to the table from inception. But is this the point we are making when we caution the heart of the young as regards this issue? No! Permit me to state a bit of my particulars, not to claim the position of an authority in these matters, i.e. of social media and Christian youths, but to propose that I have a valid say from my experience interacting with the young people online. I have been an active internet user for 16 years now; and have explored the nooks and crannies of the internet, including ‘uncharted territories’, places to ‘sacred’ for young saints; I have suffered the hits of being such an internet user, I...

Undoubtedly, technology and the media has served an “improving” role in the lives of people generally. This age has witnessed sophisticated advancement and amazing technological inventions that has served to make life easy for us. To this we are ever thankful, but alongside these technological developments have come many setbacks that the human race is struggling with. It is both amazing and worrisome how the Internet and social media has become so available to us that it has become so integrated into our lives and in turn has become a source of problem. For the past decade, the American Psychological Association’s Stress in America ™ survey has examined how stress affects American adults’ health and well-being (1). In 2017, the survey took a closer look at how technology and the media is affecting the lives of people in America and the findings are quite interesting and disturbing at the same time. Now, even though this research was carried out in the United States of America,...

"The worse fear is not death, but the discovery that we have never really lived when the time comes for us to die". Paul T. Wong, PhD. Death is the reality of every passing day. Every passing moment I live, I actually die. Every day given is actually one taken. The sooner I realize and accept this truth, the better for me; for the reality that one day, I shall depart this World is one which I have often avoided. Over the past few weeks, especially as I approached my birthday which I celebrated January 4th, the reality of death dawned on me with a whole new light. Death now seemed different. I was now pondering the matter...the always dreaded DEATH.  Death is more real than this life I thought, because it is as it unfolds that life is unraveled. It was through death even, that we had our lives back. In the past few days, I followed the activity of some of my friends, on Facebook, who shared the losses of either their friends or family members. I focused on two thin...

I have been compelled to write about this because of number of accounts that have been reportedly (which I have also confirmed) hacked and overridden, this month alone. This wave of hacking is different in that the hackers take over you Facebook Account, change your username, profile picture (and upload some of theirs), password, email, log you out on all devices and delete you photo album. Interestingly, they still maintain your friend list. Why? I do not fully understand. For some reasons, the profile pics and names they use indicated they MIGHT be Americans or Brits…this is only a postulation though. MY ADVICE TO YOU Step up your Facebook Security. A. Go to your SETTINGS menu Select SECURITY and LOGIN 1. Then change your password. Make it secured by using a combination of uppercases, lowercases, numbers, and symbols. This is usually difficult for the cracking robots to hack. Dont use your birthdays, special dates/events, etc. 2. After changing ...