The Moment

That Moment!

Dear God,

Can I tell you the story of Esua and Jacob? (Yeah, right! I know you know the story.)

What if it didn’t happen in Canna? What if it happened somewhere in Nigeria, say…Imo State? Hear this…

In the heart of Umuahia, where the harmattan winds whispered tales of old, lived two brothers, Emeka and Ejike, as different as night and day. Emeka, the first born, was a man who lives on his feet. His hands rough and stained from wielding matchets and swinging arrows. His laughter was as loud as the village drums, his spirit as free as the eagles that soared above the Ikwuano hills. Ejike, the younger, was the thinker, his mind as sharp as the machetes his brother wielded. He found solace in tending the animals, and living in the vast wilds of nature, his dreams as vast as the village sky.

Their mother, Ugonwa, would often say, that they are two seeds from the same womb, yet one is the elephant grass, the other the silent iroko.” Their father, Okonkwo, a man of few words and strong principles, favoured Emeka, the heir to his sweat and toil. But Ugonwa’s heart leaned towards Emeka, the underdog, the one who saw beyond the soil and seasons.

One harmattan evening, Emeka returned from the farm, his stomach rumbling like distant thunder. “Omo, I’m famished,” he declared, eyeing the pot of steaming yam porridge Ejike was preparing.

“Patience, brother,” Ejike replied, his eyes twinkling. “Even the snail knows the value of slowness.”

“Slowness?” Emeka scoffed, his impatience as fiery as the setting sun. “I’m so hungry, I could eat a horse!”

“Then perhaps you should have hunted one,” Ejike retorted, a hint of mischief in his voice. “But all I have is this porridge.”

Emeka’s eyes gleamed with greed and hunger. “That porridge smells divine, I should make one but I’m too weak to wait, please give me some porridge brother, I beg thee”

Ejike, always the sharp one, saw his chance. “Hmm, the porridge is good, but not free,” he said, a mischievous glint in his eyes. “How about we strike a deal? Your birthright for my porridge.”

Emeka burst out laughing, “My birthright? For porridge? Bros, are you alright?” “I’d sell my inheritance for a meal. What manner of man do you think I am?”

“A very hungry one, staring at an already made food. Take it or leave it!”, Ejike laughed at him

Emeka tried to leave but his stomach was having none of it, rumbling like a Lagos danfo in traffic. “Alright, alright!” he said, waving his hands in surrender. “Take the stupid birthright. What is the use of a birthright to a dead man. I could die of hunger any moment now!” he retorted, his stomach the master of his decisions.

And so, with a bowl of yam porridge as the prize, Emeka, the first born, traded his future for a fleeting moment of satisfaction. A trade as old as the proverb, “A short cut may give you a temporary advantage, but it can cut your journey short.”

Dad, I am trying to recreate this biblical scene into our current dispensations. I am trying to bring home the “WORD”. That scene is a vivid tableau of human frailty and cunning. Emeka (Esau), the epitome of raw, physical strength, succumbing to his immediate desires, his birthright slipping through his fingers like sand. Ejike (Jacob), on the other hand, embodies the quiet, calculating mind, his eyes gleaming with the satisfaction of a well-played hand.

Dad, see the playout. Emeka has satiated his hunger but would soon realize the gravity of his impulsive decision, because for an instant gratification, he traded his future. And Ejike, clutching the trophy, the birthright, he had so cunningly acquired, would find that his path was not as straightforward as he had imagined.

This story was more than just a trade; it was a shift in destiny, a moment where the wheel of fate turned, setting in motion a series of events that would test their faith, challenge their bond, and ultimately redefine their future.

Dad, this story is a strong lesson in moments for me. There is always “that moment” in everyone’s life. That moment when you said “Yes” when you should have said “NO”. That moment when you “stepped out” when you should have “stayed in”. That moment when you made that decision that changed everything. Twisted everything and plunged you into a hell of a nightmare. That moment when that young girl pulled off her dress and indulged her desires that would lead to her ultimate ruin. That moment when that young boy accepted that drug, that moment when you put that roll in your mouth and dragged the smoke. Or maybe it’s that moment when you entered that yahoo boy’s car ….” just that moment”.

And Dad, there is always a pause before “the moment”. Imagine if we could all turn back the hand of the clock……if we could all go back to “that moment in time”. To that pause before the decision! So, what would be that moment in your life?

The beauty of “that moment” is that is it always there, it will always come. You have another moment right before you. You have another choice to make. Another decision to take…. It’s just a moment, but it can change everything. Remember. They say that “A hungry man is an angry man” but maybe it should be, … “A hungry man makes a bad decision”.

So, Wait! Hold on! Pause!

My mentor would say …. “Heaven will not fall!” Do not mortgage your future for a plate of porridge. Everything you built, everything you are, …. is hanging on “that moment!”

This is your daughter, Lord, I am c

hecking in this moment.