WE SAW TWI-“LIGHT”
It was that time of the year when faith was alive in the hearts of men and every family got to spend time together. There was joy, hope, laughter filled the air and every street smelled of home-cooked meals. Everyone’s worry and pain seemed to fizzle away in that season with the hope that everything will be okay.
It was hard to believe that a person could exist in that season and lack hope, but Rita didn’t care what you thought. Her pain was as real as it could be and she never believed a change would come. You can’t possibly understand she said, this challenge seems to be tailored to me. “I try to make it work, I do but it seems to get worse with every step I take”.
I just sat and watched as she paced around the house, flaring up at everything. I felt it was best to be quiet and watch because every word of encouragement seemed to attract a strong stare from her that wasn’t pleasant. I tried to put myself in “her shoes” and although I could “feel” her pain, it just couldn’t be the same. I once heard a friend say that miracles still happen but you need to have a little faith. I believe miracles happen, but in the face of challenges, faith sometimes seems hard.
Rita and I went to school together and meeting her was the best thing that happened to me. She was the life of the school, always wore a smile and music was always around her. She carried this atmosphere of Joy that could make a bad day turn bright. She loved helping people and did a lot of volunteering in orphanages and societies. Rita had a beautiful voice that could pierce anyone through the heart. I remember when we used to sing together as we walked through the garden in the twilight, it was as though the world stood still at that moment and everything seemed to make sense. There was no musical concert we heard of and knew we would enjoy that we did not attend. Music seemed to be a part of our life force and lived in everything we did. We were both members of the church choir and never missed a rehearsal or service for anything. We once had a Christmas carol concert where the choir had to merge with the drama unit for a ministration. The event took place in a large school hall that was beautifully decorated with flowers, drapes and lightening of different colours. I remember the bright lights in the hall go dim which redirected our focus to the brightness of the stage and everywhere was silent. The actors began a play about the birth of Jesus while soft and melodious music played at the background. The actors never spoke a word, but the lyrics of the song explained everything. The song was a duet by a male and female with the rest of the choir softly harmonizing some parts of the song. Rita was that female who sang the duet. I saw tears roll down the eyes of many in the congregation like bright crystals that sparkled with the reflection of light, oh it was so pure. As it came to a close, candles were lighted at different sections of the hall as the music faded. Everyone went home solemn and peaceful that night. That was the best carol I had ever attended and it bonded my friendship with Rita forever.
After school, we all pursued our careers but always remained very close, although we didn’t attend concerts together like we used to, even though we missed it. It was the third year since I last saw Rita, she called one morning and her voice sounded like she had cried all night. Joel is gone she said as she burst into tears, I couldn’t believe my ears. Joel was the youngest in her family and he brought joy to everyone around him, but he suddenly fell ill and now he’s gone. So many things went wrong after Joel’s death. Even in my wildest dream, I could never have imagined anything like this happening to Rita. In less than one year, she had lost two members of her family, her thriving company hit rock bottom and her partners wanted nothing to do with her anymore. Rita was to be married in October that year but she was now broken and decided to let go of her fiancé who rejected her decision. Everything was not going well and sometimes it seemed like a spell was cast.
I had to put in for a transfer at work so I could be with Rita because I knew she needed me the most at this time. Rita had given up and even my faith wasn’t strong enough to carry us both because we were both grieving. While at the hospital, Mama smiled and said, “never lose you joy my children, the devil will want to steal it from you but don’t let him have it”. Those were her last words before she passed. We were back home sad, tired and our eyes were sore from crying not knowing what else to do. Rita was wrapped up in my arms when suddenly she began to sing, I let her be for a while, then joined her to sing. We went on and on for almost an hour, suddenly we decided to pray. After praying, we were peaceful and continued for about a week till our joy was full. Rita spoke with her fiancé and apologized. We then decided to plan our lives and make an impact while fulfilling our purpose.
The event of our lives afterwards was nothing short of a miracle. In a few months, Rita was back on her feet stronger than ever with a faith that could move mountains.
These events got me thinking about the subject of faith, joy, prayer and music. Are they connected?
