CONFLICTING REALITIES: - DID I TOUCH AN ANGEL?



I was not thinking of anything special as I strolled along the road to my house. It has been a long tedious day on the road.

It is not easy these days in the labour market to secure job. I could feel a conspiracy against my destiny by the elements of nature. No company is looking for a middle aged man to work for them when young graduates, who are ready to take up any paid job were also roaming the streets.



I turned the corner of the street leading to my house when I saw the old man. It is not the first time I have seen him sitting at the front of this particular building. I have not paid any attention to him. But somehow I noticed him today.

He was sitting on a white plastic chair, leaning back, a long chewing stick protruding from his mouth. He was always in this position observing the road as the people passes by.



He was wearing a brow n worn out long sleeve shirt on top of a black trouser that has seen better days. His hairs were all white covering his head like the peak of a snowy mountain. His faces showing the wrinkles of years of toiling, was well cleaned up. No scattered mustache or beard.

As I drew closer to him, I could see his deep penetrating eyes full of inexplicable warmth and intelligent regarding me. Naturally, I would have just passed along as other times, but I was drawn to him today because of the way he was staring at me as I got closer.



“Good Afternoon Sir,” I bowed my head in greetings

“Aha my son!” he responded, waving at me with his right hand. “Do you have a minute to spare?”

“Sir, I hope all is well?” I answered, walking towards him.

“There is no problem my son,” he flashed his unbelievable white teeth-considering his age-at me by way of a smile. “I have just been sitting alone here for a while and wondering to have a young man’s company.”

Well, at 35, I am not altogether a very young man, but to this octogenarian, I could be as young as his last son. I wished the knot in my stomach goodbye, and walked up to him. I cannot for all the hunger in the world, forsake an old man unsolicited invitation,

“Thank you my son, here, have a seat,” he said, pointing to another plastic chair by the side of the door.

“Sir, it is a privilege to sit with you,’ I said cautiously, not knowing where our talk would begin from.

“Do you know,” he began with a slight quiver in his voice. “I have been sitting here watching the world slipping along, and keep on wondering what I would have done differently if I were a younger man.”

“Do you mean things were different in your days,” I asked, stretching our my legs in front of me, and peered at the old man’s eyes that were regarding me coldly, a little smile playing around the corner of his mouth.

“You see, things look just about the same, that you will not notice the changes, but the changes are there and are rapidly engulfing the old life pattern. The more you look the more you see the same thing differently.”

“I think you are right Sir,” I said lamely.

“I have been sitting here, as I said earlier, and I have been observing the world, I have seen you going out and coming in. I can almost count the number of times you have been out and back. I have done so to almost everybody in this street.

“Oh! Don’t look at me that way, I ‘m as normal as any sane man could be. I have seen the happy faces, and the worried ones. I have seen the sadness and joy in the faces of people. I have seen the sorrows, pains and disappointment in the faces of people.

“I have seen the laughter, happiness and hope of people. I have noticed your own worries and anxiety. But do not worry my son; all of these are the realities of life.”

I knew he would get to me somehow from the look in his eyes. He seems to be reading the very thoughts of one’s mind as I stared back at him.

“Do you mean to tell me that whatever situation I am going through in my life are the best of what life could offer to me?” I asked incredulously.

“They are not the best, neither are they the worst life could offer to you. It still depends on what you would want to take as what has been given to you.

“Do you wish to accept the situation you are as what is real about you? Is it worth the life you accept to live? The choice you make is what is real to you.”

“So, what is the real reality that will be acceptable?” I asked. I am beginning to like the old man and his chain of reasoning.

“And who is asking? The reality depends on who is asking, and who is accepting. Let me give you an old man understanding of what reality means. It means whatsoever that is accepted as truth. The reality of a situation, or condition that is generally viewed by any rational reasoning as truth, and without any variation,” he paused.

I sat up on my chair and seized the moment to explain to him the way I think I understood his analogy. “So, reality in what you are saying is, having an actuality. Something or a situation or condition, that is in conformity, or accordance with its appearance or claim?”

“That is what reality is all about,” he beamed with understanding. “However, in the world, we have two types of reality. One is about the reality in the real world where things are seen naturally and physically with their attendance consequences; either positive or on the contrary.”

“What is the meaning of that?” I asked him.

“Well, let us say you have a decision to take when I invited you to come and sit by me. You could politely refuse to come; reason is that we are not acquainted. You do not owe me if you had refused to come.

“To any rational thinking, your refusal to accept my invitation is justifiable. What would you want to sit down with an old unkempt fellow like me for, after an exhaustive disappointing day? That is acceptable reality based on rational thinking. You however, made a choice to sit with me.

“On the other hand, the outcome of sitting down to talk with me could prove vital or not; that is, either being positive or on the contrary,” he cocked his eyes at me.

“That is true,” I agreed.

“That is reality. The second reality is somehow on a grey line. It is the Spiritual reality about the truth of certain Spiritual dogma. Do you believe that God is real? Now, if you accept that God is real, that in Him there is no variable. That He is genuine, and not merely imagined, or conjured.

“So, walking on this reality of God, if one strictly obeys and applies the Divine principle on any issue, there would be a manifestation of the intended outcome; either positive or on the contrary.

“In both instances, the outcome is real to the extent that a rational reasoning would accept the outcome as such – that is real.”

As I looked at the old man speaking, his face seemed to shine with a glow that I could not imagined that he was the same old man that I have always seen sitting and observing the road.

“But Sir, what you have said so far could not be equated to the reality of my own situation,” I said reasonably. “I have a family. I have responsibilities to carter as a man, yet I do not have a job to carry those major tasks of life. It is painful, depressing and emotionally wrecking,” I concluded stubbornly.

“And what solution do you have after you’ve hyped yourself up into a state of hysterics over your itemized worries?” he asked, seemingly insulated from the aura of my fears and worries.

“The normal thing is to go out, apply for job, and submit your CV and application. You can meet friends and old colleagues to assist you. You have done all these, and the result is still disappointingly the same.

“Naturally, you will get worried, and filled with dismay. And if the situation persists, you may surrender yourself to whatever the imagination may crop up as a necessary action to take. This is very natural and an acceptable reality,” he concluded.

“Sir, you are painting a very gory image of that reality,” I pointed out.

“It is the natural thing to think that way,” he shifted on his seat to look closely at me. “However, the reality is that, there is a conflict between both realities. When I say conflict, you understand what I am talking about.

“There is a struggle between both ideas. There is a contrary opinion on both realities, all of which are acceptable.”

“So, how can One accept which of the realities as acceptable, as in my situation,” I asked.

“I will tell you some old stories that have existed from the foundation of the world. The first one is about a certain old man called Noah.

“But let me give you details of issues that we confront daily in our lives. There is the question of making Decisions. When we are confronted with the perplexity and storm of life, what decision do we make? Others are what decision we make when we are faced with danger of death, in hunger, in sickness and in lack.

“These are few of the issues that confront us daily in life which compel us to make decisions,” he paused and looked at the sun. It was at a ninety degree angle. I checked the time on my wrist-watch. It was just after 3 PM.

“I hope I’m not keeping you from going somewhere?” he looked at me inquiringly.

“Sir, I have got to where I am going. So, what about the old man Noah?” I prompted him.

“Well,” he continued pleasantly.”Noah heard a voice in his head one day. That God was going to wipe out mankind from the earth with flood, and he Noah should construct a huge boat to be called the Ark, that can take a pair of every living creature that will survive the flood with which God plans to wipe the earth.”

“From where was God talking to Noah,” I asked perplexed.

“That is the beauty about the Spiritual reality. Noah was a man that believed so much about the reality of God,” the old man explained to me patiently. “He was obedient and strictly applies Divine principle in life. It was therefore possible to hear the voice of God among the multitude of thoughts cascading in his heart. He knows and recognized the voice of God.”

He adjusted himself on the chair and continued. “Expectedly, men and women who could not understand the Divine principle, and have no knowledge of God mocked and despised him. The old Noah was focused on the instruction he had heard from God and built the largest boat, the Ark.

“He did as he was instructed, and led by the Spirit of God, and saved a pair of every species of living things when the flood came and destroyed the earth.”

He raised his fore finger and shook it in the air, “But, do you know that the people that mocked and despised Noah did so in good faith and in truth, believing that it was not realistic for anyone to hear a voice in his head and to act upon it. It was a reality that conflicted with the reality of what God can do.”

“I do not blame them for trying to stop Noah from doing what he did,” I reasoned. “How could they have known that the instructions he was working on were not influenced by Satan?”

“There is nothing mysterious about knowing the instructions that are of God, if anyone be His follower,” the old man assured me and continued. “I see that there is so much you will need to know about these realities as it is applicable to you. Let me tell you about another old man.”

“This man moved from their ancestral country to another country with his father. His name is Abraham – this was not his initial name though. He also heard a voice talking in his head, that he should leave his family, father, mother, brothers and everything he has gathered, and go into the wilderness. That He (God) will show him where to possess, and also made some fantastic promises to him.

“Do you know that Abraham obeyed Him? He parked up everything he can carry, with his wife and servants, cattle; everything they could carry and went into the wilderness.”

“Now tell me my son, is there anything more irrational than that? But that was what Abraham did. His family he left behind would regarded him as a man that was destined for ruin. Their fears and reasoning were real to the extent that is acceptable in the real world. Abraham’s decision is also real, having understanding of whom God is. That is a conflict in reality.”

“Did God fulfill the promises he made to this Abraham?” I asked

“My son, God is faithful to all the people that believe in Him, and strictly applying the Divine principle in life,” he smiled at me.

I looked at the people that were passing on the road and wondered what they would be thinking about us.

“….I see that your heart is open and you want to hear more of what I have told you,’ his voice cut through to me in my momentary distraction.” But I also see that you are thinking about your situation. You are thinking that, can this God also have solution to my problems?

“Let me tell you this beautiful story about a widow. There was a certain widow in a place called Zarephath. There was also a certain prophet of God called Elijah. One day, Elijah heard a voice in his head asking him to go and meet this widow in a period of extreme famine. There was no food anywhere for anybody to eat.



“That the widow will sustain him till the famine would be over. On getting to the widow, she complained that that she did not have any more food left in their home; that there is only one time meal remaining which she intent to take with her son, and then wait upon death to claim their lives.

“For any rational reasoning, Elijah would just allow the widow alone, and tries to inquire from the voice he had heard, if this is the exact widow he was referring him to, or he need to look further for another.

“But not Elijah, he ‘selfishly’ demanded that the widow should fist prepare for him to eat, and if any crump is left she can manage with the son.”

“Em, what about the widow?” I asked the old man.”Did she agree?”

“Most surprisingly, she agreed. She has an understanding about what God can do. She must have reasoned that the man here may not be an ordinary man, but must be a man of God, so she gave him to eat. But the interesting irony was that the container of the food never runs dry till the end of the famine.

“In ordinary situation, the people might want to pelt stone at Elijah for intimidating the widow; that to all intent and purpose would have being acceptable. But that also would have conflicted with the reality of God.”



"That is really an extra ordinarily interesting story!” I exclaimed, jumped up, and shot my fist into the air.

The old man was looking at me quietly. I sat down and looked into his eyes. I don’t know what I hoped to see, but his face has the radiant of celestial glory. I have never seen anyone looked like this before. He stretched out his hands and took mine.



I was like someone in a trance. When he spoke, his voice was like the sound of a thousand bells. “My son, I know you want to know more about the reality of God. We will talk some other time. But I am giving you this assurance. What He did in the life of the old people we are talking about, He is still doing it today.

“He will take your worries upon himself and replace them with peace, love, joy, and……..”



I do not know how long I sat there alone, but when I realized myself, I was sitting alone. The white chair beside me was empty. I do not feel any fear or panic. I only felt in inner glow within me. A sort of peaceful disposition swept through me. The question I cannot get an answer to is still a conflicting reality, did I touch an Angel?