Why crowdsource content for the files?
The Chiodu Files is a book that generally focuses on good character: Iwa ti o dara or Ezigbo agwa in Yoruba and Igbo languages respectively. Daraagwa, a hybrid of the two, was coined by a character in the book .
The book encourages people to take their destinies into their hands by working on their character flaws and areas of weakness.
The Omoluwabi philosophy and the Ezigbo Mmadu concept, ideas indigenous to people of Southern Nigeria, are the building blocks for the two pdf files described in the book.
While I have an idea of the things that should be included in the files, I don’t want to be like the tortoise who tried to collect all the world knowledge in a calabash and save it up on a tree. He placed the calabash in front of him while trying to climb the tree and was unsuccessful despite several attempts. Eventually, a passerby advised him to place the calabash on his back if he wanted to successfully climb the tree.
Realizing that there was still some knowledge out there uncaptured, he dashed the calabash to the ground in frustration.
Therefore, I welcome contributions to the two files that will make them representative of progressive cultures, habits and practices of the people of Southern Nigeria devoid of fetish, manipulative, superstitious beliefs and traditions that are retrogressive.
As background information, my Dad is Muslim, my Mom was Anglican, my Great Aunt: who I spent most of my holidays with was Catholic (……so I attended mass regularly while staying with her). In secondary school I was baptized in the Protestant church and was involved with the students’ prayer group. At the University, I attended Pentecostal Christian fellowships.
As an adult, I have practiced faith as a semi-conservative Pentecostal Christian and I still consider myself a Christ-Follower because Jesus is the epitome of an Omoluwabi.
So, my semi-conservative background might influence what I think should be included in The Chiodu Files.
Everyone is welcome to contribute towards the content of the files but as moderator, I reserve the right to remove posts that are nasty. I also reserve the right to reject suggestions that don’t capture the essence of The Chiodu Files.
An interesting read, some adventure, intrigue, great life lessons, some
Cultural heritage descriptions, some encouragement to embrace one’s culture.
Very Christian fiction, encouraging us to read first 4 chapters of the New Testament and all.
And you left me wanting to read Chiodu files! Very tiny clues about what it contains but no excerpts. Is this deliberate? Is there a part 2 that will talk more about it ?
8. Medical Science
God created all knowledge. He gave physicians knowledge on how to heal the sick. He gave pharmacists knowledge on drug development. Embrace medical science.
Whether you have a baby through normal sex or IVF, the baby remains a gift from God.
Concerning how the baby arrives the world, normal delivery or caesarian section, it really doesn’t matter. All that is important is a healthy baby and a healthy mother.
Celebrate with each other. Don’t guilt trip or condemn yourselves. Don’t lie to each other about how God answered your prayers.
Hi Olubukola,
Thanks for taking time out to read the book and for your feedback too.
Actually, the blog is the “part 2”. The blog was created to crowdsource for content for the files. So the files are still “work-in-progress”.
I have put down some ideas on the blog pages labelled File 1 and File 2.
You are welcome to contribute to them. Thanks!
Interesting concept. Though I am tempted to think “are we not trying to reinvent the wheel?”. I hold the view that the Bible strived to migrate from a culture bound old testament to a more generic multi user new testament- in essence, a new culture. So then I struggle with why I have to situate the scripture within my Yoruba culture. I should rather make a choice (which people do when they accept the Lordship of Jesus) to embrace the ‘new culture’ and jettison the old.
Truly, there is much good in the omoluabi philosophy that the Yoruba culture aspires to but the call to faith is to make a choice between 2 cultures, not to mix them.
I think the real challenge is that of interpretation and understanding of what the ‘new culture’ is. Thus the difficulty in distinguishing it from other cultures.
I will watch this space closely. I think there’s much to learn from this kind of experiment.
Kudos!
Thanks.
………one is not trying to reinvent the wheel, but a wheel can be tailored to suit a purpose (e.g bicycles, tricycles, salon cars and trucks have wheels designed specifically for them).
Many people already subconsciously cherry pick which aspects of Faith suit their purpose.
Still on the matter.
Here’s a further perspective.
I believe that the omoluabi principle, just like the Judaism principle/culture have very good and upright content. But they are destined to be done away with because they lack something vital which is contained in the ‘new culture’. On the surface they all look alike and may be mistaken for one another. But the ‘new culture’ has another layer embedded in it which enables the practitioners to perform and live up to its promise. There is a power dimension in the ‘new culture’ that makes you overcome the innate weakness of the flesh. This is not present in any other ‘culture’. This explains why they all break down and fade away with time. They have the appearance of godliness but lack the power thereof. This is why we keep reaching back into the past to reignite the omoluabi principle. It can’t be sustained by mere elucidation and rhetoric. It lacks the power layer.
Now, I can hear you say ,but the same thing seems to be happening to the christian faith. And I answer in the affirmative, yes indeed. But my submission here is that the flaw is not in the ‘new culture’ nor in its ability to live up to its promise. The flaw is often in our flawed interpretation and understanding of it. Which should make your point about questioning our beliefs and assumptions all the time. Herein lies the weakness of current day practice of penticostalism and other dimensions of Christianity that are run by dogma and they have become like their forebears, the Anglican and Catholic faiths.
My submission is summarised aptly by that scripture that says in Yoruba, “e wadi ohun gbogbo daju, ki e si di eyi ti o dara mu shinshin”.
I rest for now.
Thanks sir for this further perspective.
I like your final submission in yoruba which I will translate in to English. ….. “but testing everything that is said. Hold on to what is good”. 1 Thess 5:21 NLT
This supports the view that we shouldn’t swallow everything we are told hook, line and sinker. We should use our common sense.