Opinions of Thursday, 24 June 2004
Columnist: Albion, Kojo
Heb 9:27 ?And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment,???
Those things that we do not talk about can set like cement and those who may have to deal with them after we are gone will have a very difficult job on hand dealing with our unfinished business. If we talk about them, we will set free those who will have to take care of our business one day. Have you tried to clear cement that has set? Why then do we leave that for others to deal with this? Yes, one day someone will have to take care of your business. It is the law.
In our culture, we believe strongly that ?we can talk things into being? and so it is a taboo to deal with certain topics. Then to ask someone to prepare for ?the unspeakable?? You got to be kidding or you may have evil intentions.
What am I writing about? The lead quote gave away the topic and I guess by now you know what I am going to write about. Please do not shy away from this topic because sooner or later we may have to chip away the set cement of someone or we may have others do it for us.
The inevitable end is guaranteed to ALL. DEATH! No one knows when that will be for him/her but it will happen eventually. Death is the end of every person unless Jesus comes again soon. Egya Wu will come for us all one day. What a thought! Hmmm!
Quite recently we had a major crisis on hand worth sharing so that others may not find themselves in this situation. When the crisis came, we tried to tell the Social Worker that, ?but in our culture the ebusua speak for?..? It did not fly because we were dealing with Westerners who go by the law. Ebusuafo can not speak for the dying person; they want the next of kin.
Egya Kobina, 60, has been in the US for over 20 years but he has not been home since then. At this stage of the journey, we do not know whether he has a ?Green card? or his citizenship. How has he survived all these years in America working various jobs? Your guess is as good as mine because Egya Kobina was not talking. He was in a coma at a hospital and the Social Worker wanted the next of kin. The next of kin and the next of kin only, she demanded.
Someone has to make a decision about the inevitable for Egya Kobina. What are his wishes? Does he have an Individual Retirement account somewhere? Does he have a life insurance? Does he have a will? Where does he want to be buried? Who gets what since he does not have close family around?
Death is guaranteed for all and the sooner we overcome our fears, prepare for it and make our wishes known, the better things will be or else the cement will set and those who have deal with it will speak ill about us. They will be put in a very difficult situation.
Five things that are important to have are these: a. An assurance of our eternal home. b. People who will cry when the inevitable happens. c. A retirement account just in case the inevitable tarries. d. Life insurance e. A will
Health Insurance is not an option either because we do not know tomorrow. Egya Kobina thought that he will go on working till finally he left the USA for home to stay for good and enjoy the fruits of his labor. Then he was in a coma and those who know him do not know what to do for him.
Please talk about ?the taboo? in a healthy way before people around you have to guess what your wishes are. Egya Kobina?s body will be donated to science because those around him can not bear the cost of a decent funeral or where to send his body when he dies. I do not think that ?Africo? will like that but did he make his wishes known? This is an option.
The truth will set us free. We do not live in fear of our death but we face the future with hope and assurance because Jesus lives and ?those who know Him? will live forever with Him. ?And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment,?.? We prepare ourselves before the concrete sets. Everyone will die one day and there is no way around it unless Jesus comes again soon in this age.
Let us live our lives in such a way that when we die others will cry and we will be laughing because we know we are going to a better place. This world is not our home; we are just pilgrims passing through. If there is any good thing that we can do, let us do it so that our living shall not be in vain. In a healthy way, talk about your home-going, write it down and prepare to meet your Maker one day. Make the work of those left behind a whole lot easier. You will not want to deal with cement that is set. Why then do you want others to deal with it?
The truth will set us free and so let us deal with it before it is too late. Thank God, Egya Kobina came out of the coma and now he is talking about the inevitable end and he is working on some papers. It is too late for certain things though. May it not be too late for you and me. Let us talk and write things down. Let us take care of business before the concrete sets. We can do no less.