Forever Today
Mayowa Ojo
6/10/20264 min read
One of the first things I noticed when I arrived here is how significantly insignificant time is. There’s simply no need for it and mostly no talk of it. It’s like night or darkness here – a rather strange phenomenon here.
Seeing as every day is just one day, it would suffice to say I arrived here a while ago… today. Although it’s been a short while it also feels like a long time ago. Since I arrived quite a number of persons have also arrived from all walks of life. It’s astonishing to say the least. Unfortunately, I’m told that only a fraction of people who make it out to the other side of humanity actually make it here.
Another interesting thing about this place is that there’s a knowing. You meet someone and you just know all there is to know about them – no envy, no jealousy, no condemnation. Just joy. There’s a joy that fills us all up and it is contagious.
If there was a device for measuring joy, I’d say there was a spike when I saw Samuel. He used to be my husband on earth. There’s no marriage or need for one here but something beamed from within me when I laid my eyes on him. without saying anything we knew everything. We hugged each other for what felt like forever.
Sapheera, the angel who welcomed me when I arrived here, stood afar off, beaming from ear to ear. She did not fully comprehend why Samuel and I hugged because angels just don’t but she knew enough to understand the significance.
As we walked, I saw some amazing edifices that words cannot describe. I quickly remembered some of my trips on earth to major cities around the world and how their architecture and civil engineering design would pale in comparison. Sapheera told me those were houses of God’s generals.
“Do I have a mansion? When do I get to see my mansion?” I asked, giddy with excitement.
“Soon,” she said. “But there’s still so much you need to see and do.”
And so our tour continued.
The tour went on for a while before we came to a place where we were peering down at happenings on earth. More specifically, the service of songs held in my honour on earth. I could see all my children in white attires looking radiant. I turned to my left and saw Samuel. He was beaming with joy as he placed a hand on my shoulder.
“Well done. You did a good job with them,” he said. The smile on his lips mirrored by the glint in his eyes.
My eyes welled up with tears of joy. Who else but him would understand the fears and worries I had after he transitioned here thirteen years earlier? Who else would understand the peculiarities of upholding our family name and virtues?
I turned my gaze and listened as the preacher, a childhood friend of Samuel’s, talked about the importance of living right. I watched as people arrived; some I never even knew when I was on earth. I could see their hearts – heavy and conceited alike.
The wake went well. The music was good with some of my favourite hymns sung and a few tributes that were genuinely heart-felt. I cried a bit when all my grandchildren stepped forward to give a short rendition.
I looked around the place and saw a host of angels on guard. On the one hand it was like a spec on the earth awash with bright light. On the other hand, I did not understand why so many and why so guarded.
Sapheera explained to me that it had nothing to do with me dying in the Lord but because my children were in the Lord collectively. She also explained that the prayers Sam and I prayed over their lives while we were on earth had ensured a measure of safety at all times that only they could break by walking far away from the light.
As for the armour the angels had on, I noticed a few specs of black as Sapheera explained that not everyone who was there meant well or had God’s Spirit. She assured me that nothing would go wrong because the unclean spirits, though rightfully with their hosts, knew better than to make a wrong move.
The entire ceremony did not seem to last very long. It felt like I blinked and it was over even though the host had said they would be there for only two hours and he kept to time.
After the ceremony, pleasantries were shared and people talked with some music playing in the background. My heart went out to my family as I could see them smiling to guests but really aching inside. And then from nowhere, the atmosphere changed. Not enough to alter the angelic domination but I just sensed that something was off.
Anger. Another thing that’s not very common here.
I could not be angry. The DJ had switched from gospel music to one that was not. In retrospect, it was laughable though. Just a short while earlier I was spoken of as a person devout to God and lived a godly life; a woman of prayer; a giver to God’s work/house etc. But there at my own wake keep was a song that was anything but a reflection of who they said I was.
Forever young, I want to be forever young… do you really want to live forever… he sang.
I laughed. I laughed very hard. Not because the singer had an idea what he was truly singing about. He did not. I laughed because I had to get to heaven to learn about an artiste so popular on earth that wasn’t even Christian.
“I hope the funeral goes better than this,” I said to Sapheera.
She laughed.
“You’re Nigerian aren’t you?”
“What does that have to do with anything?” I asked.
“”You’ll see! Come now. The King awaits you.”
I left the spot, immediately consumed by the thought of finally meeting the King. The wake or funeral, albeit important, was more for my family than for me.
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This Piece is dedicated to Mrs. Janet F. Gbeja who passed a short while ago. She wasn't just a mother to a friend or a mother to me but a mother to many. We miss you mama. Say hello to Daddy for us all.