The best form of greeting I can offer anybody is “Peace Be Upon You”; just the same way that the very best form of greeting anyone can offer me is “Peace Be Upon You”. This statement, as simple as it sounds, encompasses a lot of prayers. Peace is the most important thing any creature wants at any point in time, having peace means all the basics that ensure ones survival has been assured. Food, drink, good health as standard for all creatures, shelter, clothing and the extras for humans, all these make for what gives peace of mind. For some one to wish you the luxury of peace means you are being wished all the good things of life, so if you are greeted with these words of prayer, what better way to reply than “May the peace and blessings of the Almighty God be upon you too”.
Peace, now I think more deeply about it, I think of my immediate surroundings and my condition and I know that God has been merciful to me. I think of people in war torn countries and I wonder what to think of their relationship with God. Is it that God is angry with them and that is why He evades them peace? Is it that God is so busy ensuring people like me have peace that He forgot about them? I think of the way I lead my life and I know I am no where near being a model in piety, some clips of different videos I have seen on television and the internet flash through my mind, videos of people in areas of natural disasters, wars, terror and the likes, I know definitely there are people in this places and who go through this experiences that are more godly than any average young man like me in our relatively peaceful Nigeria.
So what could be the criterion through which God allows some of us that are not so good and even those that are out rightly bad, to enjoy peace while many that are so close to living the godly way and even some that could be called saints, are denied any form of peace. Are you thinking along these lines too? Do you really deserve the peace you enjoy today if you were to be judged by your acts or thoughts?
I guess that is why He is God, The Omnipotent, The Merciful, The All Knowing, The Benevolent, The Greatest, The Lord of lords, The King of kings. I think of His magnanimity to me and I am humbled, I think of the mysteries of this life and I know there is a God, somewhere.
Have you been in an aircraft before and look out the windows into the clouds, the sheer ambience and purity way up there leaves you wondering, if there is indeed an hereafter as so described in the Holy Books, could it be more beautiful than the view up here. You must have been to the beach at some time or the other if not having sailed across the seas with the wide expanse of water that seem to have no end. The tides rise and a fear grips you, is it going to suck me in and take me under? How far is it under these waters anyway before one reaches the bottom? What kinds of creatures live down there? All these are questions that go through any discerning mind at the realisation of the mystical powers that surrounds us. And still you can not compare with any, the feeling of peace that you get when the sea is calm, if you are a drifter like me, your soul will leave your body and you will see things that will make you bow to Him.
“Peace for the people who have gone, Yeepa for the ones not yet born”, I remember this lines from the soul singer Asa’s song of the title “Peace”. Peace for the people who have gone, really, it is the dead that have true peace, when we are gone and no more only can we know peaceful peace, no more hustle for survival, no more struggle to shine, we return to the nothingness that we came from, no more worries. Yeepa for the ones not yet born because whether you are born on the day of hurricane Katrina with no shelter over your head or you are born into the home of a multi billionaire oil mogul, you are born into this world that will always spring up its surprises on you, this world where the rich also cry. We shall continue to seek the things that we think will give us peace all the days of our lives, whether we get them or if these things will give us the peace we desire, is up to Him, The One and Only God. I preach contentment to you though; it is the closest to peace you can have at any point in time, be content and from the little or much you have give, give to the needy. Put a smile on someone’s face and just like magic, you’ll find a reason to smile too from the inner most part of your heart.
My brother, my sister, my friend, as I drift away from here now, I say unto thee…
Peace Be Upon You.
