Letters To Lovelyn (Vol. 1): A Beautiful Vat of Potential

My Dear Lovelyn,

The deft fingers of God produce such splendiferous creatures exuding fragrant beauty, distinctive grace, and enthralling charm in illimitable proportions; and in such a verifiable and refined class of individuals, you may take your reserved seat at its apogee.

The psalmist agrees and asseverates: “I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.”[1]

I am in a state of efflorescent excitement and exuberant felicity as I plop myself into a gambit of what would crank the shaft for some deep thoughts to skip out of my brain into yours. In fact, such has been the convulsion of ideas in the grey matter of my brain; and I am pleasantly impatient to allow its beautiful lava to crystallise through this medium of letter writing—an old-fashioned but much-loved practice boasting practical value and valuable effect.

White Crows Flying Low

It has been said time in and time out that there is no such thing as a white crow; and any such must be albinic. Should we agree with this view? Should we give up our search for such rare finds—that are not defective—and join the band serenading their non-existence? Nonetheless, I believe without a fleck of chimerical whimsicality that there are such rare creatures; I do believe there are: there must be many such.

Now, before you start searching for such, I have even more intriguing news for you: there is a certain creature I have searched through seven billion likes only to discover there is but only one that exists. My acquired consternation made me scowl in perpetuity and on occasion snarled, as I expected to find more than just one. In a state of unbearable lassitude I gave up the search and resigned myself to the truth that there is only one. Trust me, I did not want to believe that there is just that one; after all, I had clasped a titanic hope and sturdy expectation that there perhaps had to be one more—I genuinely believed there must be; and yet to my interminable chagrin, I found none other.

You may be wondering what at all I seem to be travelling in a circuitous, sinuous, and serpentine manner trying to describe. My deliberate desultory and discursive manner is a result of a frantic search that yielded no fruits. I must try to convey how much of a roundabout manner I have travelled seeking for this priceless hoard which has only proven a solitary jewel in such a vast universe.

You see, I know you may be inclined to go searching, but if you will permit me to save you some time and effort: you need not go searching! You may still struggle with the inclination to search, but you must put such a desire to bed. Like a flicker that can cause a conflagration, you need to extinguish it anon! Why? It would be a fruitless search and a wanton dissipation of resources; and this scarce time and effort once spent is irreplaceable. So don't go searching.

Are you getting a trifle confused why I am writing in such a manner? Are your eager-beaver tints poring through your sense of composure? Are you losing your stockpiles of sangfroid? Should I not just say what I seem to be going on about? But how much frolicsome value and rollicking joy can you get from a rollercoaster, if it only travels like the London tubes?

Now, back to my analogy of the white crow. There are creatures rarer than this, but not sure what they truly are. Trust me on this: these creatures are flying so low they can be seen, touched and felt. Perhaps, you are scoping through the same telescope as I am. You have figured out what I must be referring to. I know you are a smart girl—yes, you are, and I have known it since our paths first tantalisingly crossed as an act of divine providence.

My Dear Lovelyn, you see, as a person, you are so rare; there is no other person like you. Yes, there is only one Lovelyn and that is you! Don't be quick to tell me there are other people called Lovelyn. Shouldn't I know this? Forget those people and believe me when I say there is only one Lovelyn and that Lovelyn is you. If the other people wearing a blinding tag or having a covering of gossamers with Lovelyn written over it will be up in searing arms; let them go on a demonstration—who cares? I am adamantine in my entrenched position that there is still one Lovelyn and that is you. Other people can also belt out their own stentorian tunes, but that will not change this truth that there is one Lovelyn and that is you—a spotlessly pure white crow living at present in Accra, but vigorously and passionately pluming her wings for a huge plunge, exquisite flight, and artistic display in the vastitude of a horizon called world stage. And the clocks will soon strike six for you.

Identity, Complexity, and Individuality

A squeezing pack of confused souls are sauntering the surface of the earth. In fact, there will be several other flaccid packs embarking on such infinitesimal processions as the world moves through this timeless proscenium called time. But, why such a situation? Identity problems!

I postulate with emphatic conviction and resolute confidence that the number one problem that we have is not even sin—it is identity. In fact, sin is a product of a misplaced, misunderstood, misconstrued identity! Pause and think about that for a moment. Such is the acute nature of the issue that it has snowballed and suppurated with expansive degeneracy and ubiquitous disrepair into a fully-fledged identity crisis of epic proportions. A careful reading of the text in Genesis reveals that Eve was the first person to suffer from this problem, and as “she was the mother of all living”[2] she has passed this undesirable trait to all her offspring.

It is fitting to shed more light on the claims I am making above. And for that, I shall reproduce the account in the Garden of Eden below from Genesis 3:1-7 [note my emphasis (v. 5)]:

1 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? 2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: 3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. 4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: 5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. 6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. 7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.

This is a fascinating account that has been rehearsed in the ears of every believer ad infinitum; but I need to still repeat it to support my argumentation. Some people will erroneously conclude that by eating the fruit of the tree and their eyes being opened for them to see that they were naked, there must be nothing amiss with this. But that is a grave error such people will make, if they adopt such a position. Some may even go as far as suggesting that for them to know good and evil as suggested by the serpent meant that they did not already know evil from good. But that argument cannot stand the test of critical scrutiny. It falls flat on the face when one remembers who is talking—the devil, the father of lies (John 8:44)—and also that God had given man a clear command not to violate, with stated consequences (Genesis 2:17). Was the man so asinine and nescient he could not discern a “do” from a “don't”? You see, there are more issues that we can argue about here, but so as not to digress from our objective, let's return to the identity issue.

Adam and Eve had been made in the image of God: “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.”[3]

If God created Adam and Eve in His image, then they were fundamentally endowed with the nature of gods. Psalm 82:6 supports this view, saying, “I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High.” To suggest—by the devil—that they were not gods was in itself deceptive as was his proposition that they would know evil and good. As part of Eve falling for this ruse was that she saw the tree as one “to be desired to make one wise.” This in itself is an issue of confusion. Is she suggesting that God had made her unwise, if we are to temper our critique with a suspicion of empathy?

Why would a person pay a huge price to become what he or she already is? Today, in this workaday world of ours, there are many who have not yet discovered their real identity and like Eve are taking steps with stinging repercussions awaiting. Men, women, boys, girls, the whole gamut of people one is likely to come across are struggling with identity issues. In sum, they do not know who they are neither what they are here for.

Such identity crisis shows itself in the level of complexity that we see in our world today. Just think of the length that people would go to become what they are not or trying to become. Life for many such people is as complex as a tangled skein and knotty rope that refuses to be straightened or untied. You see, Lovelyn, until a person solves their identity problems, they can only attract complexity in their lives even when they want to assert their individuality. It is a difficult issue to raise but one very true when carefully considered.

We as believers should not find ourselves in such a situation, although there are many who have set up camp there. You see, we were lost without hope and God sent Christ to restore our true identity. Based upon His work, we can boldly believe that in spite of where we have been, who we have been, and what we have done; when we come to Christ, we have our identity restored. And once we fully embrace this (and what He generously offers), we jump out of the cauldron of baffling confusion and complexity that many find themselves in. Paul encourages us, saying, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”[4]

Pristine Personality In Soiled Nature

In truth, the puzzling situation we find ourselves in is that we have a new man living in an old body. That by design will result in nothing but conflict. It is like mixing the cleanest and freshest oil with the dirtiest and filthiest oil; yes, they are both oils but one is in its best state and the other, in a deteriorated state; and mixing them will definitely spring up a few issues.

While we are saved, we still live in bodies which on several grounds, are flawed in every sense of the word. Likewise, there is almost infinite potential in you, but you live in a finite body. Paul writes, reminding us of such truth when he observes: “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.”[5]

The above Scripture should shine the truth on the situation that we cannot amount to much without God. Lovelyn, remember that the excellency of the power will be of God and not of you.

You see, many believers attempt to go solo in their quest to develop their talents without realising that they cannot do it outside of God. “But some do,” someone may quip! My riposte: Where do such people usually end up?

So never forget that while your strengths are limited, the dreams that God has currently given you and will continue to give will be nothing short of infinite in look, feel, and appearance.

Fit For A Divine Purpose

Seven billion souls are out there, and yet you are fit for the purpose for which God created you. Indeed, I have charted your course from being barely out of your teens to blossoming into a nubile person. Yes, I have seen the first fine caress of flushing love coursing through your veins. Moreover, I have espied you establishing yourself as a virtuous wife of a good man. Your progress in my view has been nothing but impressive. And from where I am descrying the events of your life, you are growing in leaps and bounds with great things ahead of you.

You ooze refreshing confidence, not the one that makes people turn up their noses. Your kind of confidence is good and needed. There are other attributes that we both are aware you have which you need for the road—they are necessary additions in the toolbox of life. That said, you have something that trumps the others all day: your willingness to believe God and your hunger for more of Him. These last two will send you very far in life. With prescient exactitude and resounding assurance, I can vaticinate you will rise to aerie pedestals, dizzy heights, and coveted pinnacles of life.

Wake up every morning, my dear, with bustling confidence and indomitable determination and look in the mirror and say to yourself:

Never forget Romans 8:31: “What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?”

Discover & Document Your Assignment

As an essential task, kindly go on a total discovery of your full assignment. Here are five questions you should ask yourself. Please endeavour to write a minimum of one page each for each question below:

1. Who am I? - Identity & Personality
2. Where am I from? - Origin & Heritage
3. Why am I here? - Purpose & Assignment
4. What can I do? - Potential & Gifting
5. Where am I going? - Hope & Destiny

Please do yourself a favour by writing out your answers. It would prove beneficial to you in every respect. Resist the temptation of only thinking in your head without transcribing your discoveries. You must believe, cherish, and document your discoveries.

If you are struggling with any of the answers above, please do well to ask God for help. He is only a prayer away. Know that some of the answers to the questions above may not be straightforward; yet you must answer them.

Define Your Assignment

Question Three above is of substratal importance and imperative thrust and as such it is worth elucidating. Once you have discovered your purpose and assignment, you need to define it in workable and sizeable terms. Yes, you need to break it down into minuscule parts you can relate to.

For example, I will tell you mine, when we get the chance to speak. I have broken mine down into three words. These are the three most important words in my world. No other words move me more than these three—that is my life in three words!

The culmination of your definition is for you to narrow down your assignment to the point you can summarise it in one statement. You should be able to tell me your life in just one sentence—that is the vertex of intense discovery!

You see, for laughs, I could mention a word like: Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis.

This is listed as the longest word in most dictionaries, longer than “floccinaucinihilipilification” which is the Oxford Dictionary's longest word; this sesquipedalian and hilarious word is a combination of words which give the meaning as “a lung disease caused by the inhalation of silica dust.”

Now to more serious matters, what I am driving at is that you should acquaint yourself so much with what your assignment is that you can even reduce it to a couple of words.

Spend requisite time and define your assignment to its finest details—it is a valuable exercise you must undertake.

Develop Yourself

It has been said that when all is said and done, more is said than done. Haven't most people become talking shops prating on and on with nothing meaningful to show? You must not be caught in such a useless swirl or boondoggle maelstrom.

Ultimately, you must work and develop your assignment; but I cannot stress how important it is for you to develop yourself. I am a puissant exponent in asking people to develop themselves. Mediocrity is my best enemy: I covet practical perfection. Someday, I'll let you know why I say practical perfection and not just perfection. But please invest significant effort in developing yourself. You must commit to such a peregrination with all the powers you can marshal. Fix yourself on a self-development bent.

Guess what, I am cheering you on to be the best you could ever be. I am already taken in by the progress you have made. I can't wait for what the next phase has in store for you. But please devote your entire effort and last strength to a life of improving yourself so you can ascend vital ladders to arrive at the acmatic position a certain voice calls you to come up to. That voice is in your ears.

I hope you will enjoy this letter as much as I have, digging into a certain internal brook lying deep down within my soul and churning forth the words above. I pray you will find my words a real blessing.

God offers you the support you need to get through life; however, do not refrain from giving me a shout out, if I can be of assistance to you in any way. I am at your service as God's servant.

Lovelyn, remember there is a beautiful vat of potential situated within you; it is yours, it is right within you and you owe yourself and the God who placed such in you to take full ownership, prime yourself, and aim your best efforts to achieve something of significant effect and substantial renown. I know you will!

Love always,

Dr. F. R. Silverson

Notes – All Scriptures are from the King James Version

[1] Psalm 139:14
[2] Genesis 3:20
[3] Genesis 1:26-27
[4] 2 Corinthians 5:17
[5] 2 Corinthians 4:7

You can email me at [email protected] or read my blog at http://franksilverson.blogspot.co.uk/