Love Is In The Air
Cheslie Kryst’s story is the typical American Dream. The daughter of a beauty queen, she also competed in and won several beauty pageants culminating in her being Miss USA 2019. But she was not all beauty, she was brains as well. This 2019 Miss North Carolina graduated cum laude with a degree in marketing and human resources from Darla Moore School of Business. She went on to get a law degree and practiced as an attorney, handling many welfare cases, pro bono. Cheslie was also an accomplished fashion blogger and show host. She had a few firsts in her kitty – oldest woman to be crowned Miss USA and the longest serving Miss USA, thanks to COVID-19.
On 13th January 2022, she had a riveting interview with Denzel Washington. On 30th January she wrote on her Instagram page
‘May this day bring you rest and peace’. And on this day, she jumped to her death from her apartment on the 29th floor of her 60-story building in Manhattan, leaving a note handing over her possessions to her mother.
On Tuesday 14th December, Olalekan
Odunare, a man in his early twenties, jumped to his death from Berger Bridge, into the lagoon in Epe, Lagos. He held an Ordinary National Diploma certificate in Quantity Surveying from the Lagos State Polytechnic and he worked at Alaro City, a mega estate in his suburb of Lagos. Odunare left behind his parents, at least one sibling, his wife and their 11-month-old daughter.
In both cases, those closest to the deceased (Cheslie’s mother and Olalekan’s wife), said the victims had suffered depression.
Mental health related deaths is a worrisome trend today and many of us know a family in our circle that has suffered this type of painful loss.
Even now, in this season when love is in the air, someone is on the brink. That person may be closer than we think.
LOVE YOUR NEIGHGBOUR (Matthew 22:39) We live in a harsh environment. Times are tough the world over, and none of us is spared; the rich, the poor, the beautiful, the not-sobeautiful, the successful the unsuccessful. Pressure on every side is weighing us down, and many of us are trying very hard to just keep our heads above the waters.
But the hardship seems compounded if you are an average Nigeria; insecurity, anaemic healthcare, poor education, unaffordable housing, inefficient transportation system.
Our streets are swarmed with children who should be in school but are hawking. Our streets are full of youth hustling under painful circumstances, men and women trying to make a living, the odds stacked against them. People are hungry, angry, desperate.
The problems around us are so many that, like me, you can feel overwhelmed. It is better to feel overwhelmed than to feel nothing. But we cannot stop with feeling. What we feel should move us to positive action.
Do you know that with just N40,000 you can help a family get medical insurance for a year? Do you know that with just N150,000 annually you can send an indigent child to school? Do you know that by paying your staff the minimum wage of N30,000 a month you can help put food on their table? And who knows, your little act of love my save someone who is on the brink.
MAKE TIME FOR PEOPLE
We live in a fast-paced world, and we are always on the move. We are sometimes so focused on reaching our goals that we don’t notice people along the way. We seldom pause long enough to hear what they are not saying, to see what they are not showing, to sense what they are not betraying, to pick their cries for help.
Today we are all connected online but we are also lonelier than ever. Beginning in this season of love, can we intentionally create time to listen to and talk to those in our lives?
Beginning in this season of love can we add to our prayers of; ‘Lord bless me, Lord prosper me, Lord promote me’, ‘Lord make me a blessing to someone today. Lord lead me to someone who is about to give up so I can be your voice of hope to them.’ Can we pray ‘Lord make me your hand, your heart to someone today’.
And then can we be sensitive to those around us. Let us not be carried away by people’s beauty, success, fame. They may just be a Cheslie.
Let us not ignore the plight of the poor and disadvantaged around us, they may just be an Olaleye.
Beginning in this season of love can we be intentional about reaching them before they take the plunge?
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COLOURS OF LIFE SHOW
Our Colours of Life show airs on YouTube @ coloursoflifetv, 5pm (WAT) on Sundays. Last week, our guest was 10-year-old Damilola Odulowe, who has the unusual ability to memorise entire books of the bible. Last week, Pastor Tolu Odukoya-Ijogun was on the show to talk about life, death and the big picture as she shared the remarkable story of her parents, Pastors Bimbo and Taiwo Odukoya. Today, to round off season three, we would be discussing ‘Escaping Sexual Bondage’ with Dr Gary Maxey.