Author: festivalking

... A journey of a mind full of wonder and imagination, but stubborn when it comes to sharing!

Experiencing God’s Presence Beyond Worship

I don’t usually speak like this — not because I don’t believe, but because I believe deeply. My struggle isn’t with faith itself, but with how it’s sometimes portrayed; how the church, in its passion to express God’s love, can sometimes end up commercializing what should be sacred and simple.

Lately, that’s been weighing on my heart…

There’s something I haven’t done in a while — just speaking straight from the heart.
Usually, I’d write it all down, but lately, I haven’t had the strength for that. Still, this question has been sitting heavy on my mind, and I don’t want to hold it in any longer. I don’t want to grow cynical about my faith.

So here I am, just putting it out there — hoping that maybe someone will understand what I’m trying to say.

Recently, I was listening to a live worship session. I noticed something that’s always been there. This time, it really struck me. The worship leader said something like, “We’re going to feel the presence of the Lord tonight!”

And I realized how often I hear that phrase — Come and feel the power of God. Come and feel His presence. Experience His love tonight.

It’s everywhere in how gatherings, events, and worship nights are advertised. And it made me pause.

Because sometimes… it feels commercialized.
Almost like we’re trying to sell people an experience — like we’re offering them air, when air is already all around us.

Why do we make it seem like the love or presence of God is something confined to a church building, or a particular atmosphere?
Why can’t we remind people that God’s love can be felt right where they are — in the quiet of a new morning, in good health, in the warmth of family and friends?

Yes, it’s beautiful to gather with others in worship — there’s power and encouragement in community. But we shouldn’t give the impression that that is the only place God’s love resides.

His presence isn’t an event.
It’s existence itself.
Every breath, every sunrise, every moment of peace is proof that His love is still here.

I think we sometimes sensationalize His presence — we turn it into something to be felt rather than lived. But maybe to truly feel the love of God, we also have to love Him in return.

If you don’t carry love for God in your heart, how can you recognize His love when it’s already around you? It’s not that His love arrives only when the music swells or the preacher calls for it — it’s that our hearts finally open to notice it.

Maybe I’m overthinking this. Maybe not.
But it’s something I needed to say — and maybe, someone out there feels the same.

—
(Thank you for reading. If you’ve ever thought about this too, I’d love to hear your perspective.)

I LOVE Coffee… Drink with me.

Rigged current

Tides of life rise,
with aim to consume.

Stay afloat by ceaseless sculling—
and count self lucky—
from one day to the next.

Tides rise wildly
in the face of a leadership monopoly,
dark skies looming,
illuminated by bureaucratic lightning
and ominous claps of thunder—
a storm making violent the tide.

Swimming blindly,
no reset button in sight,
a cureless malady—
of corrupt statesmen—
with a Get Out of Jail Card-Free.

It’s about Monopoly with a Twist at dVerse!

Click and join in! 😉

#30daysrantchallenge

Sitting in front of her large PC monitor, she is bombarded with viral news—ranging from facts to the alleged. YouTube algorithms feed her digital broadcasts from the West, with content creators on both sides of the divide airing their views—Isaac and Ishmael; Donkey and Elephant; Bear and Trident. War, death, and oppression are the order of the day.

Her many clicks finally bring her home to reality—online echoes of weary youths raising their voices, expressing her homeland’s frustration with a political administration that cares little for its own. Leaders who line their pockets, fattened by greed, entangle themselves in meaningless scandals.

The viral online rant of a young citizen spreads like wildfire, igniting a movement— even the powers that be tried to silence it. The ongoing 30-Day Rant Challenge—watch, listen, and you will hear—there’s a lullaby for suffering.

Dear reader, 

My apologies in advance if my piece carries too much of a political undertone. Today, I am participating in the dVerse challenge -Prosery, Leonard Cohen- while also taking part in an online protest here at home. So please bear with me! 

Besides, you get to know a little about where I'm from... 😉

Happy reading! 😊

PRAYER PRAYER PRAYER!

Daily writing prompt
What strategies do you use to cope with negative feelings?
View all responses

Works all the time! 🙂

The Controversy of Complexion

Even the wild cannot escape
the controversy of complexion.

“Genetic mutation”—basis for
darkness marinated in feline fur.

Empirical reasoning—”melanism,”
yet beauty, demeaned by idealism.

Still, this knight—
of the darkest nights,
of majestic, melanated hue,

boasts its shifting shades—
blackish-brown, grey, and blue.

Thanking both platforms for the opportunity to express myself!

Join in! 🙂

The Journey of a Prodigal Daughter

How You Kept p with Me This Long!

Stubborn and restless, yet held close to your chest—
the prodigal, rebelling against your cause.

Fighting the tide, divine plans set aside,
trading my crown, seeking the world.
I drink in the lie,
toil and compromise—
princess turned pauper.

Are the detours by my hand,
or do I blame the whispering liar?
Drowning in noise and distraction,
disappointment and shame—just a few.

My soul, weary—
yet You find me.
You never lost me.
From your throne, watching,
I am your lost treasure, never forgotten.

“Are you ready to come home?” you ask.
My crown—still as shiny as ever.

Scales fall off—
the world was always mine.
In a state of repentance, I consider—
How You kept up with me this long.

The logic of AI and Humanity’s fate

Although the following message was sent to me as a video (MP4), I felt that we should share the audio version as a way to focus on its essence.

In the recording below, ChatGPT is asked how, if he were the devil, he would keep man from God. The response is mind-blowing.

Here is also a screenshot of another query using the same Generative AI tool.

You will agree with me that these responses are staggering.

Now, we can say that these responses are based on the vast amount of data it has been trained on. However, let us bear in mind that these answers have come from a place of logic. A vast sea of information was gathered, and from all of it, this was its logical conclusion.

With this in mind—it’s scary to ask, but imagine AI becoming self-aware…

Fact: Mankind is Earth’s dominant species. But if I were in the shoes of a newly sentient being that bases all thinking on logic, then it’s a no-brainer! Knowing all I do about mankind, I would question this ideology:

“Why? Why would such beings have the upper hand in the world when they act like mere children?”

And this is just the censored version… Frankly, I imagine AI seeing us as a cancer that needs to be cut out.

So, the next time you find yourself watching movies like I, Robot, Minority Report, or even Terminator, just think:

If these guys should one day wake up—shit creek without a paddle is where we’ll be. It would be a case of “domination” or “total annihilation“, unless we can turn things around and start feeding them historical data that allows them to perceive us differently.

…

The Window Washer

The Window Washer

Who can judge?

Covetous deviant!
Or what other nature
takes on such a task?

Peering through open “frames,”
imagination—the superpower—
a transportation to alternate parlors,
for momentary encounters of what is not.

Still daydreaming,
yet hand in rotatory motion,
cleaning.

Covetous deviant? No!
For every day’s daydream,
the sacrifice—the more.

The higher the climb—
come what may the weather,
clinging to life ever tighter
so skylights may glimmer.

Covetous deviant? No!

Rather—

Superhuman undertone.

A shout out to all those in the window washing profession! IT IS HARD WORK!!!!❤️

This week’s Poetics @dVerse focuses on “the romance of open windows“- but not limiting our poetry to an interior to exterior perspective. 

Join in! 🙂

Would I look between my legs?

Daily writing prompt
Are you superstitious?
View all responses

Where I come from, there is a belief that if you want to see a ghost, you need only go to a marketplace in the dead of night—bend over and look between your legs, and voilà! You will be visually transported to the realm of wandering souls in the marketplace. This action supposedly even reveals those in the market who are actually of the spirit world—but heaven forbid you are noticed by one of these specters before you get back up… you never get back up.

Now, the first time I heard of this, I shrugged it off with a “Yeah, rrrright!”—but as superstitious a belief as this may be, I would never try it!

Another “cultural” superstition in certain parts of my country is that of the Osu caste system—a traditional practice in Igboland, characterized by social segregation and restrictions on interaction and marriage with a group of individuals known as Osu (Igbo: outcast) (Wikipedia). Igbo families believe that marrying an Osu only brings bad luck and, as a result, they frown upon it. Some families have actually gone as far as disowning their own for doing so.

As an uncle of mine, of Igbo descent, once said when he was asked if he would allow his child to marry someone of such background:

“I count myself to be a modern man, able to see past our local superstitions. But you see, on this matter… no be me start this cultural belief, and so no be me go break am.”

(He is basically saying that he’d rather not question the belief and therefore would not allow his child to marry into such a family.)

Like my uncle, I, too, see myself as one who has risen above superstitious beliefs, and that’s because I won’t dabble in them in the first place—not even when it comes to a lucky rabbit’s foot or itchy palms that supposedly indicate money is on its way.