By Mohau Khupa
What’s the point of this life if you’re not living? Perhaps not living this life is a greatest sin. So glad you’re reading this.
I have read and studied the bible, well not all of it, but I think just enough to get the idea – the bible is a spiritually-formative book, holistically. I do not study the bible for physical development because I have not, in any bible story, read about King David or any great man, controlling an erection or picking up girls in their formative years. Not because they did not do any of those but because that’s beside the point of the bible.
For a healthy and sexual man, a physical being on this earth, being indifferent to sex would be a lot like being asleep when the party is only getting lit. For me and everybody else who do not want to miss out on a lot, that’s not the point of this life. I can be audacious and still know not to defile this temple of God. The point of this life, for me, is to live and just be…
For me, living is laughing hard at the pastor’s sermon because I find it hysterical. Or enjoying a peach and its peels. Earlier in my teen age, I identified with Christianity because my parents did, though I wasn’t actually a Christian. I say that because I would find pleasure doing the same things Christ condemned to sin. Or maybe I was a Christian but simple found solace in knowing I would ask God to pardon my transgressions.
I found pleasure in sneaking a lump of chilli-beef-stock-cube in my school bag, knowing I would enjoy some really flavoured samp for lunch on Thursdays. I found pleasure in calling my sister with a fake number, threatening her whole livelihood with lies and shallow threats. Listening to my early childhood stories always brings me closer to myself. My mum tells me that sometimes I would be around the household when my great mother’s friends came over to our house looking almost unconcerned, only to mimic them on their next visits, much to their agitation. Now whether it was sneaking out my mother’s most trusted ingredient or pranking on my sister, I was just living.
The story of Jesus in the wilderness reflects the co-existence of good and evil. According to St. Matthew, 4:3, the devil tempted Christ after forty days of fasting. It seems to me that, that was the perfect time for the devil to test him, for two reasons. One, he was spiritually fortified and more connected with his God, and two, physically weak – probably famished and dehydrated. As in in many other trials, the devil fulfills his purpose. He’ll test, try and tempt. He does it best, and quite frankly, I think God wouldn’t have it any other way.
Good and evil can co-exist. God is good right? Maybe He can be evil too, as in 1 Samuel 16:13, where an evil spirit from the Lord went and troubled Saul. The point I’m making is, it’s okay to go on a retreat for some time, you know, maybe for a couple of weeks be celibate for spiritual purposes, but not be a 30-year old virgin, or a no parties or entertainment of some sort fanatic. That would be boring if you ask me. Plus, that would be missing out on a lot, or better yet, lost in a trance – withdrawn from all the fun.
