Thomas Merton wrote that faith is not something you grasp. It is a state to grow into. I have kept that line close for years, first as a boy in Nigeria, later as a pastor and a chaplain in Texas. It is the best description I know of what this blog is for.
I grew up in a place where faith, family, and community were one fabric. You did not go to church. You belonged to one. Neighbors fed each other’s children. Elders spoke, and the young listened, and then the young asked questions anyway. Then I moved, and I learned how much of that fabric I carried with me and how much I had to rebuild by hand.
Most of my days now are spent with people in the middle of something. A family in a hospital room waiting on a scan. A single mother in a food pantry line who needs groceries and also needs someone to remember her name. A congregation trying to decide what love of neighbor costs this year. My research at the University of Cape Town asks the same questions in a different register: how do religious leaders respond to inequality and suffering, and when does theology help or fail the people who live under it?
What you will find here
Musing of an African Child is my personal space to think out loud about faith, community, and culture through the heart and soul of the African experience. I will write about Scripture and prayer. I will write about the church and the neighborhood. I will write about Nigeria and Texas and the long road between them. Some posts will be essays. Some will be a few paragraphs from a hard week. All of them will be honest.
I am especially interested in young people. The young have energy, imagination, and a low tolerance for hypocrisy, and the church needs all three. If you are young and wondering whether faith has anything to say to your actual life, this blog is for you.
How to walk with me
Read. Leave a comment. Disagree with me when you need to. Share a post with someone who is carrying a question. If you want new reflections in your inbox, sign up here. I read every message, and I answer as many as I am able.
Thank you for being part of this journey. Let us grow into it together.
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