Meanwhile, many years before Odieasem ascended the throne, there was born a man known as Saul. This Saul later attended the institute of high learning in Rome and was introduced to Plato, Aristotle, Descartes, Kant, Hegel, Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, Marx and Socrates. He also learnt the ways of Sulla, Julius Caesar and Marcus Aurelius. Right from the high tower, he took a garment of pure Scottish fabric and, with letters from the bearded philosophers of the land, set off to uphold the virtues of the Universe.

One day, on his way to Okponglomascus, suddenly a voice sounded around him and a light flashed.

The voice called out: “Go ye towards the road to Fanoafa and ye shall be told what to do.”

In Fanoafa lived a disciple of the Brand, a Sammenitan called Hatta. The word came to him: “Go out on the Fanoafa road and ye shall find a young man in Scottish garb, who ye shall take onto thy fold; for he is my chosen instrument to build and sustain the Brand.”

Picking up his rod, the Hatta the Sammeritan went forth by the Way of Avenor and took the long road towards Okponglomascus where he met Saul. Then Hatta, the man of Sammenria, held the hands of Saul and blessed him, saying, “Brother Saul, ye have been found worthy of the Brand and selected by the Voice; the Voice that spoke to you on the Okponglomascus road has directed me to you, so you might be imbued with dumornic fervour to serve the Brand and build it and sustain it, as a standard to all who shall come after thee.”

Immediately, Saul started speaking in slangs and praising the Voice, rejoicing that he had been counted worthy of the working for the Brand. When the power of the Voice had descended on him, the Sammeritan blessed him and said, “Henceforth, you shall be called Paul Grace, for upon this foundation I will build the Brand.”

The Voice was with Paul and worked mighty and great deeds through him. And the Brand grew and many were added to their numbers. Among the deeds wrought through Paul and the servants of the Brand included a one-on-one with Junior Jesus, after his second coming and when he had visited the temple to cast lots. This feat was unprecedented and the fame of the Brand soared and soared. The philosophers of the land saw all that Paul had done and were pleased and honoured with a coat of many colours.

In the church at Fanoafa were many teachers and prophets: Rekced who was also called Sonny, Romud from the house of Oheb, Neerod who was one of the mighty women who had served right from the beginning of the church and Paul. As the Brand grew and grew, one day, as the servants of the Brand were meditating on the Way, the Voice spoke and said, “Set apart for me Paul Grace and Hatta the Sammenitan, for they have more work to do in unearthing and nurturing more disciplines to serve in more churches modeled after Fanoafa.”

So it came to pass that after the disciples had fasted and prayed, they sent them forth as apostles of the Voice. The two of them, sent on their way by the Voice, went down via the Appian Way and turned towards the place called The Blood Is A Crowd and over the Bridge towards the Road of Liberation, proclaiming the Way of The Voice wherever they went, doing good and making disciples of all men.

The first church they planted was at the centre of The City, where Paul found and converted a young man known as Elva, who was full of grace and power. Elva was beloved of Paul.

Sometime later, Paul said to Hatta, “Let’s go back and visit the brethren between Fanoafa and here and see how they are faring.” Paul wanted to take Elva with him, but the older apostle from Sammenria wanted to keep Elva at The City. The two apostles had such a sharp disagreement that they parted company. Elva remained at The City but didn’t lose his relationship with Paul. Paul loved Elva with all his heart. Paul set forth and went through Ganaria and Sankaria, eventually pitching his ministry at Labonicia, from where he continued to speak to the churches, including the church at Manasonia.

And it is at Labonica that Wofa Kapokyikyi met Paul Grace and fell in love with his sermons from the Mount every evening. Wofa wasn’t along: people from far and near would come and drink deep as the Apostle Paul taught and instructed and also brought philosophers to espouse on Plutonian and Aristocratic ideas as well as those for the down-trodden.

With the passage of time, the Brand continued to grow and expand and more where added to their numbers, including a man called Azur, from Manasonia who came wailing and sniffing and looking under the eyes of corpses. In the meantime, there arose in the land a leader of the scribes called Yennom son of Frail. He was learned, both in letters worked for and those acquired.

In the eighth month of the first year of Odekuro Odieasem Nana Tutubrofo Dankwawura, Azur went looking into coffins in the house of Paul of Jos. Some of the coffins had been closed and sealed and locked in the vault. Not only did Azur open these caskets, but he did them in the open, just outside the temple gates. The harmattan winds carried the nunu scent into the corridors of the temple and permeated everywhere.

The ‘shenanigans’ of Azur, with the support of the Brand, didn’t go down well with the retired priests and servants of the temple. And some of the scribes, who began releasing epistles upon epistles cautioning against exorcism. Azur retorted that exorcism wasn’t banned under the Torah.

Things came to a head when the major Scribe, Yennom bar-Frail, released his epistle, directed towards no-one but targeted towards the discerning.

There was uproar in the land, from both Jews and Gentiles and from the Sadducees and Pharisees. Counter epistles were written and posted on the city gates and on the walls of the land. One epistle was jointly written by the Watchmen. One of the signatories was a Nyarkonite, who was a retired opener of caskets.

That is when Paul gave his seminal ecclesiastical paulogue to Azur, reminding him of the tenets of the Brand and admonishing him not to dilute the Way of the Voice, keeping it holy and sacrosanct. The Sermon covered over forty scrolls, according to the scribes whose duty it is to record the annals of the land. The Sermon chronicled the history of the church of the Brand and the canons of the Way. Paul spoke with spiritual vehemence, saying “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death.”

And being in anguish, he spoke more earnestly and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.

After the Sermon, there was uproar in the land, with the Watchmen saying perhaps the apostle had been affected by his association with the house of Jos. And when the Nyarkonite, who was used as an example of how not to behave in the Way, came to affirm the methods of Azur the Manasonian, the people of the land looked up to the heavens, for a word from the Voice.
In the meantime, the people reached out for their favourite book in such moments: the book of Nahum. Even Wofa Kapokyikyi, who is not usually bereft of words, is reading Nahum.

Hmmm…

As for Yennom bar-Frail, he won’t be forgetting his epistle in a hurry, as we await the casting of lots soon. Will it be the one epistle that determines how he gets to manage the letters after his name, either procured or awarded?

Till I come your way another day with another sebitical, I remain:

Sebitically yours,
Kapokyikyiwofaase
–

By: Nana Awere Damoah (Writer/Author / Technical Services Consultant)
Co-Founder, DAkpabli & Associates (Publishers)

The post Sebiticals: An Ecclesiastical Paulogue to the Manasonians appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Baitie is expected to feature along the regular stars Nana Awere Damoah and Kofi Akpabli in their first readathon of this second quarter. A medical laboratory director as well as mother of three children, she lives in Accra with her husband Rami. Awards she has won for her novels includes the Macmillan Writer’s Prize for Africa and the Burt Award for African Literature.

The guest reader is expected to thrill the university audience with readings from her works such as A Saint in Brown Sandals, The Twelfth Heart, The Dorm Challenge and Rattling in the Closet.

Ahead of the event, students and lecturers alike are excited to catch the National Readathon train in their own backyard.

“We are going to be there in our numbers,” said Dr. Mawuli Adjei, a Senior Lecturer at the English department. “A year ago, I was among the participants at their public reading at East Legon and it was an evening of laughter and learning.”

According to Marie-Franz Nyameke Fordjoe, a Level 400 Political Science student and hostess of the literary program Read A Book on Radio Univers, the event on Legon campus has been long overdue. “I cannot believe that the DAkpabli Readathon passed us by and visited KNUST last September. I also cannot wait to see their new guest reader, Elizabeth-Irene”.

The DAkpabli Readathon promotes book reading for pleasure as well as local authorship. Besides holding public reading events within Accra, the team has also gone to Kumasi, Ho and Tema. The Readathon campaign by the two authors has received local and international press coverage with ChinAfrican magazine doing a special feature on them in their January edition for 2017.

Between them, the two Ghanaian authors have published 12 books. Nana Damoah has recently been voted ‘Author of the Month’ by KWEE, a Liberian Literary magazine, while Kofi Akpabli’s latest work ‘Made In Nima’ has won a place in an African anthology featuring writers from 14 countries which was published by the Commonwealth in London.

In their readings so far, the two have received sponsorship from THREADEX, Aky3de3, MTN, Unicorn Rentals, WearGhana, Norte Sobolo, Lincar, Sasa Clothing, Fali’s Fruit Bay and AJ’s Housekeeping Services.

Elizabeth-Irene Baitie becomes the third guest reader in the row, having taken over from Dr. Ruby Goka, a celebrated author and dentist. The first DAkpabli guest was Alba Sumprim, author and film producer.

During her guest reader tenure, Elizabeth-Irene Baitie is expected to star at all DAkpabli Readathon events. “Getting that phone call to come on board was such a thrill. It’s a fine opportunity, joining a laudable initiative to bring reading and writing closer to our people. I just can’t wait to start working with the team.’’

“Tickling Legon with Nsempisms” kicks off at 5:30 pm prompt.

–

By: citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Dakpabli readathon outdoors Elizabeth-Irene Baitie appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.