Our God is Great

"For this reason, You are great, O Lord GOD; for there is none like You, and there is no God besides You, according to all that we have heard with our ears." (New American Standard Bible)

Reading the most recent post and the news item , I am struck by the fact that many of the mentioned deities are new names to me. I remember Tigare, Akonedi and Katakumbe used to strike fear into people's hearts, but not these names. It is interesting that years ago, the big names in that part of the country were the deities named after the rivers- Densu, Ankobra, Pra, Ayensu were all very fearful spirits. People who swore by Densu meant business. Since the droughts and silt problems converted all these huge rivers to seasonal streams, their popularity as spirits and deities has waned. Some might even say that it is because the spirits left them that those rivers dried up

I remember when I was a kid there was a huge silk cotton onyinaa tree in Kaneshie, which many revered as the habitat of a god. They poured libation there every year and it was indeed an awesome tree, which defied many attempts to bulldoze it down with all sorts of equipment. Then one day some contractors managed to root it out and the Kaneshie Sports Complex was built there. Suddenly, gone were the rumors of the spirit that inhabited the tree. Just like that. Here one day, gone the next. The same thing has happened to many of these deities as happened to the oracle at Delphi. At one time, that oracle advised kings and queens. I am Sir Oracle, and when I open my lips let no dog bark.

My point is that all these things come and go. Only God's Word lives for ever.

Another think struck me about these so-called deities. They are all so limited that they need some additional identification by geography; this-and-that deity of so-and-so location. You often have to travel to them to gain their help. There is absolutely no comparison, but I'm glad that our God is eternal and everywhere as well.

Back in the day, I remember Mrs. Selassie Williams used to tell a story about being on a bus one day, when a man suddenly started screaming, panicky and terrified. Why? He had misplaced his god! All his spiritual hope was invested in a talisman that he kept on a string around his neck and it had snapped and dropped somewhere a couple of stops earlier. Or maybe someone had stolen it. Can you imagine how panicked that man must have been? Not only did he no longer have his god, but also, anyone who found it would now become the protectorate of that god.

Our God reigns indeed. - Calorius