Day: January 29, 2019

WhatsApp Groups

~ osasuoviawe ~ 1 Comment

If there is anything WhatsApp groups have taught me, it is this – most people stay because they think people care if they leave.

It is the ultimate guilt tripping.

They do not contribute or take anything away from chats, but they stay.
The group chats become a distraction, draining their batteries and data, but they stay.
They are indifferent, but they stay.

Those that finally leave, either no longer care what the crowd thinks or they want the crowd to know they’ve had enough.

Interestingly, after you leave, you realise, most people in the group didn’t really care after all. Most people in the group are like you, they want to leave too, but they think people care.

Same thing applies in a lot of relationships. Most people stay because they think people care if they leave.

They are emotionally and mentally absent, but they stay physically present.

Some of my best decisions have been leaving WhatsApp groups early. Just immediately after I was added. It saves me and many others, headspace.

Same applies to my relationships.

Early exits from relationships I did not choose, save me and others more, than waiting to see how it turns out.

– Osasu Oviawe

God’s work

~ osasuoviawe

Mark 3:31-35
And his mother and his brothers came; and standing outside they sent to him and called him. 
And a crowd was sitting about him; and they said to him, “Your mother and your brothers are outside, asking for you.” 
And he replied, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” 
And looking around on those who sat about him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! 
Whoever does the will of God is my brother, and sister, and mother.”

Homily:
To understand the above passage, you need to read the entire Mark chapter 3 for context.

A previous meditation – Keep going, can also offer insight.

The admonition that Jesus Christ gives, is not an undermining of familial commitments, but a reinforcement of what is most important – God’s work.

The usual hindrance to God’s work includes the familiar, the comfort zone and past commitments.

The work which God has given us must be so all-consuming, that it breaks us free from convenient limitations.

What is the work God has given to us?

Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” – Matthew 22:37-40

Your neighbour is who is presently around you, not who you wish was around you or who you wish they could turn into.

Your neighbour is your mother, father, brother and sister. It is God’s will that they are with you. Nurture them.