Greatness has lost its greatness.It is not a word I want to use any longer.

Back in the days, greatness used to mean something.

Back in the days, greatness was not used so loosely.

No one was called great unless they did something that the World could not ignore.

No one was called great until they left something the World could explore.  

To be great meant you had influence.

You were great because you had presence.

Alexander the Great; Jesus Christ of Nazareth; The Prophet Mohammed; These are men whose influence the World felt long after they were gone. Their lives helped shape the World as we have come to know it.

History tells of many other great people whose influence and acts amongst other men could not be ignored. They may not have been perfect men and women but they stood to be counted.

Martin Luther King Jnr, El Hajj Malik El Shabbazz, Kwame Nkrumah,  Gani Fawehinmi but to mention a few etc

And we really do not have to look into the past to recognise greatness. We are fortunate to still have living amongst us today some great men and women whose lives generations unborn will celebrate.

These great people, whether living or dead, earned the right to be called great by the kind of lives they lived.

Some laid down their lives so that many might live; others laid down many lives so their ideologies and beliefs could live.

This is why I cannot understand why this generation has so belittled such a …great word

We seem accursed with a need to outdo one another in adjectives.

We no longer speak English; we converse in superlatives.

Now I do not know what words like ‘amazing’, ‘fantastic’ really mean anymore. 

Words like awesome which, when I heard for the first time, was used to describe how great GOD is, is now used to describe how yummy a hotdog feels

The other day, a friend of mine said she met this ‘great’ guy and she couldn’t stop talking about how he had a great smile, spoke in a great way, walked like a King, and how he did so many ‘mundane’ things, well, great . A few days after, this ‘great’ guy had become a ‘great jerk’. She realised that everything she called ‘great’ about him was all part of a routine aimed at tapping her ‘great ass’.

To hear the word great attached to words such as ass, breasts and sometimes even to a beautiful word such as smile, is an abuse of the word.

Greatness is what everyone should aspire to even if not everyone will achieve. Sometimes, greatness even lies in trying, I have come to see.

Greatness, I have also come to realize, is often about sacrifice; placing others needs before yours and making their lives better.

Mother Theresa and Mama Ekundayo, these women did not lead any troupe to battle, but they battled and won the fight for human dignity and with that touched generations yet unborn.

So excuse me if I do not bellow with excitement when you point out those ‘great legs’ or if I am mellow when you talk about ‘what a great party’ you had’, I am only mourning the death of greatness and several other words that used to mean something

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I will not hate

I will not break

I will not suffocate

I will make lemonade!

I will meditate

I will create

I will participate

I will be great!

So keep throwing those lemons

And I will keep making lemonade

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 I had a visit from an August visitor on the 1^st day of September

God came to visit.

No, he didn’t come in a flash of blinding white light.

I woke up in the middle of the night and knew immediately He had come to hang out.

I said, it’s been a while. He said, I never left you.

And so began what would turn out to be long night.

He said, let’s take a walk. Not knowing how that was going to be possible as I was still lying on my bed.

Obeyed I did, nonetheless.

Our walk started from the Garden of the Beginning and took us through the Mountains of the Prophets and the Kings until we got to a place called Revelation. 

As we began to reminisce about the beginning or when I thought everything started, he began to tell me how much he missed those times. I said I missed them too.

I wanted to start apologizing for the way I have been the past couple of years but He said He’s already forgiven me.

As we continued on our walk, the consciousness of His presence and greatness enveloped me and I asked,

Who am I that you are mindful of me? Who am I that you visit me?

He said, I love you my son. I have loved you with an everlasting love.

We walked on, hand in hand, God’s fingers intertwined with mine like a closed zipper.

 I felt whole again.

Then he began to remind of those words he spoke to me back in the days.

He reminded me of his promises. He said, ‘if it were not so, I would have told you’.

As I heard that, I felt something leap inside of me. The same way I used to feel back in the days whenever His word was being preached. I was coming alive; the entrance of His every word impacted life and lit up my being.

As we neared the place of the Revelation, I asked that he tells me my favorite story in his WORD. He started to smile as He began to narrate the story of the prodigal son.

When he came to my favorite portion of the story, the part when the father saw his son from afar off and started to run towards him, tears had welled up in my eyes and by the time He was through with the story, tear drops laid clinging kisses on my cheeks and all I felt was His arms around me and his voice telling me ‘He never stopped loving me’.

I woke up this morning with a strong sense of His presence and I am starting the day empowered by His grace.

I am so glad he visited.

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Have you ever wondered about the urge some people have to deface toilet doors? Most public toilets I have been in, be it offices, malls, schools or stadiums all have the strangest messages and writings on their doors. Why do people suddenly become creative and expressive in the loo?

Is it because they know they can do so without being caught? Or is it because they think such thoughts can only be expressed in a toilet?

Some might say it is because people get ‘creative’ when they are in the toilet but how come you only find this creativity expressed in public toilets? Are people not creative when they are in their homes or other people’s homes?

To be honest though, some of these toilet artists, poets and advertisers have cracked me up a few times.

Came across one hilarious line recently:

Some come here to sit and wonder; I came here to shit like thunder

Who writes such thoughts? Some thoughts, even when they cross one’s mind should never be ‘documented’.

Some job seekers think the toilet is the best place to submit their resume. They go like:

My name is Adamu Opeyemi Okoro, I am a graduate of XYZ University. I have been looking for a job for a loooooooooooooong time. Please help me. Call me on 08000000000.

This approach might have worked for someone in the past, although I doubt it, but I know companies and head hunters look in other places for prospects.

Some messages advertise the sexual prowess and endowments of their creators.

One guy [I am assuming it was a guy] actually wrote something like this:

If you want sweet loving and fancy a shag from someone who has the right tool and skill, please call this number 0800000000.

Can you imagine?

Some even go to the extent of doing a bit of social crusading; I have seen messages on the perils of HIV, some others warning people about the health hazards of smoking etc. So, not all of the messages are bad just that I wonder why they have to be on toilet doors! I mean, if you have something to say, start a blog, join facebook, tweet and share your thoughts on myspace or something. Why deface a public property? Why share a platform with people who do not value other people’s property?

Read two messages on a toilet door recently. The first, obviously by a ‘social crusader’ read:

DON’T DRINK AND DRIVE

The second, placed beside the first but much bigger, written by someone whose ‘eyes don doti’, read;

DRINK, THEN DRIVE

How does that help the message of our ‘social crusader’?

The message that really irked me and possibly inspired this post is one I saw right after reading a mail from my client in which he politely told me why he couldn’t approve a proposal my company had been pushing for a while.

It read; TOUGH TIMES NEVER LAST BUT TOUGH PEOPLE DO.  Apt yes, but not what I wanted to read at that point in time.

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