It is exciting engaging with you here and I believe we will have a swell time together on this column. I also hope you are keeping safe and observing all necessary safety precautions. This column promised to be exciting and interesting as we will share with you some tips for successful living. Let’s go on the journey together.
I had a lot of challenges in deciding the title of this article so as not to sound insultive. I have juggled many other titles that I felt could convey this message, but to no avail. I finally settled for this; You are Mad! Is it insulting or abusive? Or how do you feel about it? The best you can do for now is to return the saying back to the writer, tell him “You are Mad!” Yes I am! Paul of Tarsus, an Apostle of Jesus Christ of Nazareth in one of his writings to the Corinthians – 1st Corinthians chapter 1 verses 27 -28, says “For God has chosen the foolish (mad) things of the world to (confound) put to shame the things which are mighty, and the base (common) things of the world and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are…” Apostle Paul of Tarsus in 1 Corinthians 1:27-28. This to me connotes that “When uncommon person does uncommon things it is only uncommon people that will comprehend and appreciate.” When you do extraordinary things, it is only extraordinary people that will appreciate you; ordinary people will definitely see you as Mad. Therefore, if you must fly, ordinary people should perceive you and tell you, “You are Mad!”
History is filled with numerous evidences of perceived mad people, either in the Bible time or our contemporary time. Some stories in the Christian Bible caught my attention on this matter. In John chapter 10 verse 20, the extraordinariness of Jesus Christ of Nazareth was perceived as being demonic and Mad. “And many of them said ‘He has a demon and is mad. Why do you listen to Him?”
The account in Acts of Apostle chapter 26 showed the transaction between Paul of Tarsus and Festus the Governor of Judea (AD 59 -61). Paul the Apostle of the Christians, after his defence became so extraordinary and Festus could not comprehend, therefore he (Festus) shouted in a loud voice (verse 24), possibly jumped up from his throne, “Paul you are crazy! Too much learning has driving you mad! Paul’s extraordinariness was perceived as madness.
Do you know? Ordinary people do ordinary things. Extraordinary people do extraordinary things. And Ordinary people cannot comprehend why and how extraordinary people thing, talk and act. They always see them as “These Mad People”. Ordinarily, Man walks and runs! But when man flies he becomes a superman or an extraordinary man. You cannot remain ordinary and you fly. It’s not possible. Being extraordinary begins with your thinking, then to your speaking (confession) and your doing (acting)
Contemporary history bequeaths us with some perceived “Mad Men and Women” and what became of their lives. When Barrack Obama told his friends that he wanted to change his office address to the presidential white house in Washington DC. They all laughed at him and told him “You are Mad! No black man has ever and will ever be there it is called white house.” Today his madness made him a man in history, a Blackman, an African who ruled in America, perhaps the whole world.
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When Mary Slessor an innocent 18-year-old Scottish girl, told her mum that she was going to Africa to stop the slaughter of twins and the eating of human beings her mother screamed loud, “Mary! You are Mad!” Yes indeed she was, and that’s why she is today in currency notes of Scotland.
When St Joan of Arc or the Maid of Orleans(France) told the world that she (less than 18 years old), was hearing “divine voices” telling her to lead French Army to fight the British Colonial masters, everyone told her “You are Mad!” But today the Second Sunday of May every year is a French National festival in her honour. She was also made a Saint on May 16 1920 by the Pope Benedict. This is the fruits of her madness! This is the fruit of following her goals to very end without quitting!
Did you read of Joshua and Caleb in the Christian Bible? They were perceived as “Mad Men” in their generation, when they presented their minority report as against the majority, their madness changed the cliché “Majority wins the vote” They refused to be moved by what they saw and they were celebrated on earth and in heaven.
When David challenged Goliath, his brothers told him “Young boy what do you think want to do? You are Mad! Get back home right now!” Everyone in the battle field also saw him as a “Mad boy”, because popular opinion then was that Goliath was untouchable. But David listened to his spirit (FAITH). And not to his brain (FEAR).
Let me ask you? Have you seen a mad man who follows the crowd? No! They always do things in uncommon ways. Mad men do not follow their senses. No wonder Prophet Hosea in his Book, Hosea 9:7 says “… the prophet is a fool, the spiritual man is mad”.
When Martin Luther King Jnr. predicted that a black man would one day live in the White house, his fellow compatriots jeered at him and said “You are Mad!” But is that not the reality today?
Listen again to what a powerful governor in the then Roman Empire, Festus the governor of Judea, said about the rugged Apostle Paul of Tarsus. “Paul you are crazy! Too much learning has driving you mad! Paul was a man ready to die for his goals rather than quit, and the world called him a mad man. See what they said about Jesus Christ … “He has a demon and is mad!” but today this man they called “mad man” is the GREATEST Authority in universe.
Note! Your future depends on many things but mostly on you. You must never follow the crowd no matter their opinion. You may succeed if no one believes in you, but you will never succeed if you don’t believe in yourself! Therefore go after your goal. Yes! You can YOU CAN FLY! Until you become “mad” concerning your life’s goals, you will remain in the crowd! Being “mad” means refusing to use your brain to consider all the obstacles challenging your goals! A man that pursues his vision against all odds is called a mad man until that vision manifests, and then he becomes a hero!
Do you agree to be called a mad man? When will they define you as never quitting, ready to fly holy living, rugged, victory confessing man/woman boy/ girl. Indeed, only “mad men” rule the world! Till they ask you. Are you Mad? You will not fly, and until you fly, they will no celebrate you! Aspire today to fly! See you at the top.
See you at the Top.
