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Waking waters
The kitchen was filled with sounds of the firewood as it chipped off the fire, sending sparks everywhere.
Chidera stared at it then frowned, the fire wood was staring to die down.
Chidera hissed.
She didn’t want to have a late lunch, especially not in this rainy season.
She didn’t want to have to work in the outdoor kitchen when the rain comes and surely from noon the rain will definitely fall, it had gone like that for days.
She then decided to reach out for some more firewood and as she did so, her mother spoke.
“Chi Chi, don’t add more heat to the fire. That should about settle it.” Mama cajols, filling the outdoor kitchen with her soft voice.
Chidera was bewildered and a bit annoyed.
“Mama.” she started, trying really hard to hide her irritation.
“It’s almost noon, we need to hurry up. Besides we have enough fire wood, let’s just use them up.”
“Hmm” Mama chuckled as she plucked up some Uziza leaves from their stems then placed them on a wooden tray nearby.
“How do you know that we won’t be through by noon?”
“Mama…” Chidera started to reply, before Mama cut her short.
“Let the waking waters rise Chidera, they’ll only sail you at float.”
Chidera rolled her eyes at the self invented adage of Mama.
“Well Mama, not everything can go as we plan it or hope it to be. What if the waking waters drown you?”
Mama chuckled, now lifting up the wooden tray unto her lap then began to shred the Uziza leaves.
“With God at the center of everything,” she said, “you can never drown, but float.”
Chidera bit her cheek as she resisted the urge to argue with her mother. She knew how such arguments always ended.
So she did as Mama instructed and regardless of all her facts, the food was ready before noon, just like her mother said. As expected, she was wrong.
How she was always wrong despite the blaring facts was what Chidera never understood.
Now ten years had passed and Chidera still didn’t understand her mother’s proverb of the waking waters.
Even on Mama’s deathbed, with a greif stricken Chidera beside her, crying her eyes out. Mama still kept whispering the same adage, a gentle smile on her face,
“Let waking waters rise Chidera…”
No! Chidera didn’t want waters to rise. She didn’t want to be in the middle of a storm and float, no. She wanted to walk away from a storm and be at peace.
‘Peace’
Peace?
a really strange word, so vague yet real.
Did it really have anything to do with the waking waters? Maybe that’s why Chidera never experienced it.
‘Peace’ was just as alien to her as the waking waters mama often spoke of was. She often wondered what ‘peace’ felt like and why she never really experienced it. Mama usually told her that her persistent worrying was because she didn’t have peace, Chidera didn’t see a war and responded once to her mother,
“how can I be looking for peace when I’m not fighting?”
Mama shook her head with tenderness in her eyes as she touched Chidinma’s face that day,”No dear, it’s not that kind of peace I speak of.”
Again Chidera was lost, but didn’t want to prode more. Mama would always speak in parables she didn’t understand.
“Ask God for this ‘peace'”. Mama once told her, but as usual she shrugged of Mama’s words and didn’t listen.
Now, for the first time in her life, all alone, she decided to truly pray and ask God for this ‘peace’ that surpasses all her understanding. So she did and to her greatest surprise, she heard a voice
“Take my hand child, let me lead you in the storm.” the voice whispered from within.
Suddenly the walls around Chidera started to spin, she fell to the ground on her knees, choking on her own tears as she sobbed.
The storm was within her, the Lord finally made her understand.
So from that day on, Chidera decided to let waking waters rise, she decided not to worry about the storm within or even around her, because she knew that with the Lord by her side, she will definitely float and not sink.
© Erinma
#Christianity #Christ #mentalhealth
Chidera stared at it then frowned, the fire wood was staring to die down.
Chidera hissed.
She didn’t want to have a late lunch, especially not in this rainy season.
She didn’t want to have to work in the outdoor kitchen when the rain comes and surely from noon the rain will definitely fall, it had gone like that for days.
She then decided to reach out for some more firewood and as she did so, her mother spoke.
“Chi Chi, don’t add more heat to the fire. That should about settle it.” Mama cajols, filling the outdoor kitchen with her soft voice.
Chidera was bewildered and a bit annoyed.
“Mama.” she started, trying really hard to hide her irritation.
“It’s almost noon, we need to hurry up. Besides we have enough fire wood, let’s just use them up.”
“Hmm” Mama chuckled as she plucked up some Uziza leaves from their stems then placed them on a wooden tray nearby.
“How do you know that we won’t be through by noon?”
“Mama…” Chidera started to reply, before Mama cut her short.
“Let the waking waters rise Chidera, they’ll only sail you at float.”
Chidera rolled her eyes at the self invented adage of Mama.
“Well Mama, not everything can go as we plan it or hope it to be. What if the waking waters drown you?”
Mama chuckled, now lifting up the wooden tray unto her lap then began to shred the Uziza leaves.
“With God at the center of everything,” she said, “you can never drown, but float.”
Chidera bit her cheek as she resisted the urge to argue with her mother. She knew how such arguments always ended.
So she did as Mama instructed and regardless of all her facts, the food was ready before noon, just like her mother said. As expected, she was wrong.
How she was always wrong despite the blaring facts was what Chidera never understood.
Now ten years had passed and Chidera still didn’t understand her mother’s proverb of the waking waters.
Even on Mama’s deathbed, with a greif stricken Chidera beside her, crying her eyes out. Mama still kept whispering the same adage, a gentle smile on her face,
“Let waking waters rise Chidera…”
No! Chidera didn’t want waters to rise. She didn’t want to be in the middle of a storm and float, no. She wanted to walk away from a storm and be at peace.
‘Peace’
Peace?
a really strange word, so vague yet real.
Did it really have anything to do with the waking waters? Maybe that’s why Chidera never experienced it.
‘Peace’ was just as alien to her as the waking waters mama often spoke of was. She often wondered what ‘peace’ felt like and why she never really experienced it. Mama usually told her that her persistent worrying was because she didn’t have peace, Chidera didn’t see a war and responded once to her mother,
“how can I be looking for peace when I’m not fighting?”
Mama shook her head with tenderness in her eyes as she touched Chidinma’s face that day,”No dear, it’s not that kind of peace I speak of.”
Again Chidera was lost, but didn’t want to prode more. Mama would always speak in parables she didn’t understand.
“Ask God for this ‘peace'”. Mama once told her, but as usual she shrugged of Mama’s words and didn’t listen.
Now, for the first time in her life, all alone, she decided to truly pray and ask God for this ‘peace’ that surpasses all her understanding. So she did and to her greatest surprise, she heard a voice
“Take my hand child, let me lead you in the storm.” the voice whispered from within.
Suddenly the walls around Chidera started to spin, she fell to the ground on her knees, choking on her own tears as she sobbed.
The storm was within her, the Lord finally made her understand.
So from that day on, Chidera decided to let waking waters rise, she decided not to worry about the storm within or even around her, because she knew that with the Lord by her side, she will definitely float and not sink.
© Erinma
#Christianity #Christ #mentalhealth
