This is a rather long but very perceptive read. PLEASE READ TO THE END

Last night as I drifted off to sleep, I meditated on this picture.
It tells a complete story,one that is tragically accurate &applicable to our time.
The Biblical Samson was born with potential &promise. 1/

His parents had been unable to have children so they prayed that God would grant them this miracle.

God obliged their request,but wanted smthng out of the deal.Samson was to bcome a 'Judge' (de facto ruler) of Israel at a time they were enslaved/ colonized by the Philistines 2/

He would be gifted with superhuman strength with which to wage wars and a physique that could inspire followership from the rest of Israel.

However, Samson grew up to choose his own way. Do note that this is not to judge Samson but to draw parallels from his story.....3/

so we can learn to escape the banana peel of youth.

Samson used his abilities for his own personal gain alone and because he was led by his personal pursuits, he fell at the hand of Delilah.

Do not see Delilah as a person but as a system - the World's system 4/

I do not know why Samson had a thing for Philistine women, but I'll hazard a guess.

They were probably seen as exotic and liberal back then, as they were not bound to the set of rules that the Israelite women were.

When Samson wanted a Philistine woman...5/

his father urged him to choose from among the Israelite women (with whom they shared common values) but he insisted on his own way.
Alas! She was used as a lure to eliminate him from God's longterm plans for his country.

The Philistines acknowledged Samson's power 6/

and they stopped at nothing to neutralize his influence.
In case you haven't caught it yet, you are Samson.

We are Samson.

Now look at the attached picture again and look at that fine specimen of a man about to meet an untimely end- full of life, vigour and potential 7/

that would never be actualised.That is you - young, mentally agile, in your prime - ready to take on the world.

First, they sought the secret to his difference.

They didn't get the secret from a babalawo.

They got it from his own mouth. He told it to them. 8/

That is what happens when popular culture pushes you to post on social media without thinking and they call it freedom.
Of course, the freedom to surrender your freedom... is the most popular freedom.

When he told them that the secret to his difference was his hair..9/

they lulled him to sleep and moved to separate him from it.
Lulling you to sleep is what they are doing with Gossip Blogs and TV Shows like BB Naija - selecting the best looking housemates and the ones guaranteed to hold your attention in perpetuity and incentivizing them 10/

toward antics that do not matter to the reason you were http://born.It 's the same with other sewers of the Internet.

People think I call this out due to moral concerns. No, that's a shortsighted interpretation.

It's about a bigger weapon against the 3rd world - The Opportunity Cost of Attention. I wrote about that here: https://facebook.com/groups/smartbcamp/permalink/3110316798981848/
At this point, your power of choice is futile.

Despite your rare strength and promise, you're asleep, misdirected and unaware... for a time. 12/

And now they must move quickly to separate you from your hair before you wake up.

The hair can allegorically be identified as KNOWLEDGE - the last hope of the 3rd world native.

You're separated from the specific knowledge with which you can compete with the world. 13/

Heck, many don't even know what a passport is. Why won't they boo at me when I encourage them to eat the world?

I don't need to go into this in detail. My posts for the last 3 years have explained this further.

The knowledge of how to earn, build influence and.. 14/

achieve your God-given potential will never be televised.
There are so many adults battling with low self esteem, timidity and unable to express their intellectual genius on the World Stage.

There will never be a massive platform to cure this sickness.

... and that is okay.15/

Only a few can rule the world at a time...
.. and Headstart Africa is the platform for that.

Back to the Samsons... the more their attention is trained to digest ratchet behaviour and glorify intellectual barrenness, the less desire they have to acquire wisdom - 16/

from books, mentors and long form educational material.

And as they get separated from the hair on their head - wisdom, knowledge and understanding..their difference leaves

What happens when you then decide to get back on track? 17/

No my dear... this is not a light switch you can play with.

Then she called, “Samson, the Philistines are upon you!”
He awoke from his sleep and thought, “I’ll go out as before and shake myself free.” But he did not know that the Lord had left him. 18/

Then the Philistines seized him, gouged out his eyes & took him down to Gaza. Binding him with bronze shackles, they set him to grinding grain in the prison.

Gouging out of the eyes is symbolic for lost vision -an inability to harness ur powers of hindsight, insight & foresight.

By figuratively removing your eyes, they hijack your ability to reimagine your tomorrow, TODAY -  robbing you of your capacity for longterm planning.
In another interpretation, it can also mean separating you from those who see for you - planting discord between the old...20/

and the young; mentors and mentees; fathers and sons... and you can spin this however.

What happened next is that they set him to grinding grain in the prison. A king became a slave - working for nothing.

This is what happens when you lack specialized knowledge. 21/

You will be stuck chasing attractive hustles until your youth is all gone.
And then after leading you to make the choices that led you into your own captivity, what happens next?

While they were in high spirits, they shouted, “Bring out Samson to entertain us.” 22/

So they called Samson out of the prison, and he performed for them.

They laugh at you.

Your inability to negotiate your destiny becomes their entertainment...as you grope without aim.

Giant of Africa? Giants of nothing.

But wait... even though this story had a tragic end, 23/

hidden in the text is perhaps a clue that hints towards redemption... and maybe a reversal of fortunes.

Samson said to the servant who held his hand, “Put me where I can feel the pillars that support the temple, so that I may lean against them.” 24/

Even though Samson could not see with his own eyes anymore, he asked for direction from someone else who could.

CONCLUSION

Sermons like this hurt me to write...

... because I know you all. We've not met physically but I know your stories. 25/

Some of you are the first in your family to go to the University.

Some of you are an only child... your mother's prayer.

Some of you won the lottery and narrowly escaped an abortion...you're here now.

Some of you have escaped kidnappings, poison, accidents and

more just to arrive at this point in time.
Some of you are the last hope of your family to break generational patterns of poverty and underachievement.

... and this is what you do?

This is it? And so I'm sad because what I say should not be rhema.

It should be common knowledge TO YOU...

... because your own fight is different.

The story of Samson is a cautionary tale to the young - Do not dishonour your destiny.

It is also a source of comfort to the not-so-young - It's not too late to make the rest of your life, the best of your life.

- John Obidi on Facebook.