My first day in class came with its share of disapproving pointers that I wasn’t in the right place… It was the second semester, and I had resumed to take over from a lecturer who had taken a sick leave in order to attend to his failing health. As I moved close to the lecture room, I heard a young man talking…. “ You should have seen the way my father opened his arms so wide in a big embrace …I tell you, He is the kind of father that celebrates the return of his wayward children. So guy have you been doing drugs? or lady have you been sleeping around to make ends meet… and right now you feel God cannot forgive you… You are doing yourself so much injustice because all God wants is for you to come back to your right senses and return to HIM…” the young man was saying… “But why would God forgive a man who has killed so many people ?” A young lady asked “ That shows the Kind of God, our father is… No sin is too big for him to forgive!” “ It is easy for you to say that since you have not committed a lot of sins… God can’t forgive guys like us …” I peeped to see a rugged looking student say… “ I don’t think it can be as bad as what I have done…” the young preacher said “ I see you have found the class” I heard from behind me. The HOD said as he asked me to come with him to the class… As we stepped in, the students took their positions, but the young preacher greeted the HOD respectfully… “ Preacher boy!, You are here “ the HOD said… “ Just thought I could make someone smile today!” Said the young preacher… He walked out of the lecture room waving at the students. I wished I could have heard all the terrible things he might have done. The HOD introduced me to the class and I gave my first lecture, but I still could not get my mind off the young preacher… As I ended my lecture, I couldn’t help but ask… “ The young preacher I saw in the class earlier, Is he a student?” I asked “ Yes, He is a 300 level Fine Art student. His name is Gbenle and he is blind…”a female student replied me… I was shocked at the fact that he was blind, because he did not come across to me as that. He had walked out of the room by himself… “ Blind?” I asked confused “ Yes… but he moves around freely like he isn’t… He knows his way around the school, and most importantly sir, you should see his drawings…they are divine…..” the female student added The word “ Divine” was like an arrow at my chest. I didn’t want to have anything to do with divinity… “ Ok… good for him” I said as I walked out of the lecture room… On getting to my office, I crashed into my seat. I knew the words from the blind preacher was for me. Just like Mercy had said about God gushing over us when we return to Him, the young preacher had said, God celebrates when we return to Him. I reflected on the story of the prodigal son. I remembered reading that his father celebrated His return. I wanted to know the story of the blind young preacher… I stood up and asked around, I was directed to go under a tree. I was told that was where he drew his paintings… I drove towards the place and as I was approaching him, I was surprised to see quite a number of art students painting while some ladies were worshiping God in songs….. I got down and couldn’t believe what I saw next…. I saw about 10 young students painting, the blind preacher sat at the extreme end. The ladies sang deeply in the Holy Ghost that I could feel His awesome presence… I had goosebumps all over my body… I stayed glued to the spot as I looked at the paintings… The blind preacher drew a man who had been imprisoned and fear gripped my heart as I looked closely at the image…. it looked like the cell of the SPERM COLLECTION AGENCY… I kept watching his paintings, I kept telling myself , this painting was not about me, but the more he painted, the more real it was becoming…. I looked at the one who sat beside him, he had the drawing of a lady stripping off the garment of a young man….. I began to move carefully to see the next painting…. the next painting was a young man interlocking his hands with a red haired woman, who was kissing him, but the painting revealed that the woman was pouring red flame into his mouth as he was kissing her. At this point, I was shaking and sweating, I could see God playing out my life to me through paintings done by students who didn’t know me, but were under the influence of the HolySpirit…. The next image cut my heart into a million pieces… It was a female student that was painting… She drew a man who was emitting fire from his mouth on little children….. At that point, I walked away from under the tree without turning … I forgot my car and was rushing away from the Presence of God… I could feel God was under that tree and I was naked…. To be continued
