The start of my journey emerges from a dark and painful past a path that leads me to a five letter word JESUS. I have seen this word before and have heard it so many times. I stem from a matriarch of believers. Neatly ironed and starched church uniforms each crease carefully ironed to perfection as if it was meant to perfect whoever put it on. Meticulously hung on Saturdays in preparation for the Sunday service. Hymns sung by my mother and my aunts, with such convictions they reverberated throughout the whole house as if shaking its very own foundations, songs which I have always trivialised and perceived to be a façade, an act escapism from their current reality.
This word rummaged through my mind seeking answers of divinity, in search of a deity. A force that is so powerful and yet filled with a love that supersedes, mere human comprehension. A force field which reached inside of me and draws out a part of itself. What is this thing that I am experiencing? The turmoil seems to have dissipated and replaced with…JESUS! I always thought that JESUS was a person. I cannot wait for Sunday. I am plagued with unanswered questions.
My curiosity sets me on a journey, I am compelled from within to seek answers. I am suddenly hit by an instant thought as if to put me out of my mystery, the Bible might have the answers that I seek. I run to my mother’s bedroom, “MOM!!“.“What?” African mothers and their sense of endearment! She hands me the bible and reminds me to bring it back.
Where do I start!! The book of Genesis relating the origin of it all. The creation of the entire cosmos coming from a spoken word. How was that possible that something that was spoken millions of years ago can find relevance in this current reality through perpetual expression over infinite years! The uttered words ‘let there be light’ sprung out of the page. That light, what was it?
As I read on each word, with such intense meaning, instantly absorbed into my spirit to form building blocks of something far greater than myself!
Lorraine Moremi
Soweto Sunrise News
