I Remember!
By:
Manycoloured Manley Nowaseb Copyright © 2016
I
remember when my fiance told me she was expecting a child. I was just twenty
five. It was hard for me to accept the good news. She made it sound like she had
cheated on me and here I was planning for our wedding, and trying to find a
proper place for us to settle after our wedding.
There
was a lot on my mind, I still wasn’t stable financially to care for her and the
baby. I come from very a poor family, despite the fact that I was told one of my great
grandfather was so wealthy, they called him ‘The King.’
I
told my mom about the good news and how devastated I was about thinking that it was not my child. She told me that
sometimes God would work in a way to make things look tough, while at the end
they would actually be easy and for our good. She told me to hang in and ask
God to give me courage and wisdom, and we prayed together that day.
Couple
of months later, I got married, we kind of fast forward everything with a very
small reception to be within the budget. Amazingly, I fell in love with my wife
and with our baby every day since I prayed with my moms, I guess God just
brought peace within me and made me understand the baby was going to be a
blessing for me.
We traveled to a nearby town and because rent was so high we only manage to
settle in a backyard of an old woman who said she remembered my mom. The place
was not the best, but at least it had a roof on and we didn’t have a choice.
While
we were there we got a little boy that people believed was so special. Almost
everybody told us that he was cute and they keep giving him gifts and wanted to
hold him.
I
got a call about a carpenter job opening some four hours’ drive west of the
little town we had settled, so I took my wife and my son and we traveled there.
I got the job and we lived there for about three and a half years, until my contract
end, and so we moved back to the capital city, the birth place of my wife.
I
was paid well so I bought some tools and material and took along with us
because I decided to start my own joinery business. I called it JJ’s Wood-works, after me and my son. He helped me a lot, he had a sharp mind and was
very flexible and accurate and so the business became popular and grew very
fast.
When
my boy got thirty years old, I had a bad argument with him. I was growing old and I wanted
him to start caring for the business but he was just out in the streets, or I thought
so. He was busy with some kind of church lobbying and I thought he was wasting
time. We argued and he worked out and I let it go. I decided to hire some men to help me run the business.
I
didn’t know for some reason my wife loved him very much and even though I
wanted him to think like a man and start take responsibility in life, she
supported him to keep on with the church thing.
To be honest, I
listened to him a few times and I knew that it was his gift, to care for people
and give them hope. He could have made a lot of money, because he was good at
healing people. I remember when he was still a boy, he would tell me some
strange questions about a life after death. He had abilities more than that of our time
of prophets.
One
morning I woke up and I just kind of feel sadness overwhelming me, I knew
something was wrong because I had never felt that way before. I made a cup of
coffee and was sitting on the porch.
A
friend of mine came in a rush and told me, “…you boy is arrested, they claim
that he was stirring up a uprising against the government and is blamed for
threatening to distract government property.” That didn’t sound like my boy, so
a put on some sandals and went off to court. They postpone the case pending
further investigations.
I
met my wife there and she told me the entire truth; that someone has framed him
because his followers was growing rapidly and this guy made up a story that my
boy plans a treason against the government. Listening to the charges against
him they were crafted so heavy, I could only help by praying for my boy.
I
still remember how bruised he was from all the beating by the police officers
who arrested him, even though everyone said he did not refuse arrest.
I
long to touch him, hold him and tell him I love him, but they did not allow us,
my wife only saw him in the next trial.
On
the trial date my wife prepared herself early and went to the court room hoping
he would be brought in early for her to give him something to eat.
I
went to pick up a payment for seven beds that I had sold on credit, in case they
charge him a fine. I doubted it though anyway. I was delayed getting that payment, and
by the time I got to the court house, they said the trial was over.
Someone
told me my boy got a death sentence! I was devastated. I was sad. I realized
there was nothing left I or anyone could do for him any longer. I rested to
trust that the God he worshiped, the One he said is his Father in heaven, could
just carry him through what I could not do as a father on earth.
I
knew the place where the next executions where to be. It was up on a hill a
mile away. I went straight up there and while I was still a little distance
off, I could hear the cry and mourning of my wife.
I
knew it was over…
By
the time I got a clear view of the cross. There he was. With two others next to
him, one on the left and one on the right.
And
as much as I wanted to do anything to help or to have the situation changed, I
remained hopeless, even hopeless to comfort my own wife. It was difficult. It
was over. My boy Jesus had died on the
cross!
I
remember him as a child. I held him in my arms when he was just a baby. I
remember his voice when he woke me up at night, asking for a glass of water.
I
gave him the name Jesus on instructions of the Voice of God.
How
could I have not feel anything? I felt heavy tears stuck in my eyes, but they
say men don’t cry, still I am mourning every day for him. He was my son!
My
name is Joseph, the Carpenter. I am the father of Jesus, the man whom I have
raised, and I remember the Cross and now I understand what my son... God son, has
done for the world.
Manycoloured
Manley Nowaseb
Evangelist for the Gospel of Jesus Christ
Blog: Wisdom of God Church online
And SmartPost Daily
The story is the narrative version of
the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and is the Joseph perspective of the cross, staged
through the contemporary costumes of our generation.
No comments:
Post a Comment