Points:
Time spent:
IP address:
Canary word: Present
Possible AI signals:
Original Text:
Are you sure you want to delete this comment? This cannot be undone.
Mark this comment as a review? Points will be awarded to the poster.
Your comment was posted, but it wasn’t long enough to count as a review. Reviews need about four complete sentences (at least 250 characters). Try writing another review that explains your thoughts in more detail — the author will appreciate it, and you’ll earn points for it.
140,068 Literary Works • 672,978 Reviews
Christians in Nigeria have been persecuted for many, many years. Recently, the genocide against believers has been rampant on my news feed. Hundreds of Christians are being burnt and slaughtered, and many people in America aren’t even aware of it. As a Christian, this breaks my heart to see. I mourn for these believers and their families, they are my brothers and sisters in Christ. What’s so inspiring is their relentless faith despite it; they continue to preach, to praise, and pray to God. They are not shackled by fear but they are bold in their faith. I am thankful to live in a country that allows me to worship Christ freely, but not everyone in the world has that privilege. Please be praying for the Christians in Nigeria, and if you (or anyone you know) would like to contribute to some sort of fundraiser, visit Global Christian Relief for ways to give and more information. Spreading awareness is also extremely vital, as again, many people aren’t aware of what’s going on. This is just the tip of the iceberg, it’s devastating.
1 Corinthians 12:12-14
Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.
John 15:18-19
“If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.”
Proverbs 11:21
Be assured, an evil person will not go unpunished, but the offspring of the righteous will be delivered.
May all things be for His glory, even if we do not understand.
Hey there, cher! I'm Alex, here for a review. I saw this in the Green room the other day and thought it'd been incredibly long since I last read a poetry of yours. And while I was at it, best to let you know my thoughts on it!
But before that, I must warn you that I'm no religious man, much less a Christian. I do like to consider myself spiritual, but that's a tale for another day. Returning to the poem, I do not posses knowledge of the Bible or Christianity in general that might be needed to understand this thoroughly, but I shall try my best nevertheless. In situations of doubt, I'll bring out the verse that I think lacked clarity and leave it to your better judgement. I'll present my opinions on the poem's ability to cater a wider audience in general, as I believe any poem should be. That's all I have to say for now, let's get started ~
I'm a little confused by the use of the phrase 'for the sake of' in a sense that the idea has been discontinued mid verse. I know it to mean 'as a personal favor to someone', and I don't find that meaning to be successfully conveyed here. What is the poetess asking the subject to do for the sake of Jesus of Nazareth? Ideally, something direct like 'stop the bloodspill in the paths of Nigeria' would've gone along with it. But it seems like the plea faded with the line, and we see no request being made in direct terms. Could be a poetic choice, but I thought it'd be best to point it out.
The imagery woven here is so real and horrifying! The scene is raw and descriptive in a way that brings to life and connects with the reader immediately. It isn't a pretense to be made amiable, but a confession and announcement of something in it's truest form. A job well done, cherie.
This I think to be a reference of all children of the Christ being one and the same, how we're all connected like different parts of a singular body; separated by borders and several specifics, but united in faith and humanity. Such a beautiful ideology! <3
If only more people adopted such thoughts, we'd have no wars as man would realise that it's only our brothers and sisters that bear the harm at the end. I know it's irreverent to the theme of the poem, still reminded me of it.
Shattering!! The determined hope that dominates this line distinguishes itself from the grave happenings being described in the poem so boldly, yet beautifully. Despite everything, the faith of the poetess stands strong. You capture the power of believing so well!
And the pursuit for karma continues. There's even a saying in my homeland- bhagwan ke ghar der hai, andher nahi- meaning in the home of the Lord, there may be delay but never darkness. I'm sure order and peace will establish itself in Nigeria some day, and soon <3
Resilience in the face of oppression is always most inspiring! Some of the most difficult circumstances have given the world these gem of people- determined to keep their beliefs in the threat of death. Such is the power of the human faith, unshakable.
I tried to do some research of my own, but everything looks muddled up. It appears that anyone who refuses to submit to murderous ideologies is being persecuted, Christians being a primary target. And obviously, the religious warfare leads to them being more vulnerable in the region. Christian or not, genocide under any grounds is inexcusable. Segregation and murder of people based on religion, nationality, caste and gender have been and will always be the biggest crime against humanity. I pray that the soul of the deceased find peace and the people of Nigeria be safe. Your work did a wonderful job being the voice of the victims, portraying their struggles so well. The writing caters perfectly to a layman with its simple language and ideas. The pulling tone was a nice touch to it, that makes the narrative compelling and creates a lasting impact for the theme it speaks on. Commendable work, really! That's all I have for now, please keep writing for pen really is mightier than the sword.
Love, Alex
That is a deep story and I hope that it gets to the world.Christians should not be persecuted
Thank you, I hope that the people who do stumble upon this poem can learn more about the injustice Christians face around the world! I appreciate your comment <3
Hia cherie! Ohh more religious mentions… Ah I am so not good with those… But I’ll try my best!
This feels like a very raw poem, raw emotion and a kind of despair at what’s happening over there is coming through. And while you ultimately come to the conclusion that god has not abandoned the people there, I find the image of “for the sake of [the christian religion], there is blood, burnt and spilled” very interesting. I am not familiar with what is happening in Nigeria (for all I heard is, when it comes to religion over there, is that Evangelists from the US went there to convert the people? Also something about Islam becoming very popular too?). So for my ignorance, I at first thought this was also a poem kind of condemning christians for trying to get involved into a conflict that is not theirs, making it worse? Because that first line makes it sound as if the blood would not have been spilt etc were it not for Jesus.
But as mentioned, you do bring it around in a fashion that makes it clear that we are supposed to be sad about the lives lost and that it wasn’t technically the religion that is at fault for god’s love is indeed never ceasing.
….
Okay maybe I should have read the stickied comment before trying to add my own thoughts. That does give a bit of context—tho I still had to read up on it myself. Ah why can’t people just leave each other alone ☹
And it does help me understand the poem better. For it is the unwavering faith of those persecuted that is meant in the first line. That despite all this, they still stand strong.
Thank you for sharing and for educating me about something that I did not know about.
Join the fight! Write more reviews!
Thank you Tika for your review!! I’m glad the information I provided was educational and helped in the understanding of the poem itself! I know this isn’t the usual type of thing I post, but it was important to me to spread awareness and since my poetry comes from so heavily from my emotions, I wrote a poem about the events yet the unwavering faith of those in Nigeria. <3