14. SO Lot went and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were pledged to marry his daughters. He said, “Hurry and get out of this place because the Lord is about to destroy the city!” But his sons-in-law thought he was joking.
I was reading the part of the Bible my mother had recommended to me when I heard the door open. It was my father, he looked visibly angry and there was no need telling that he had head my decision to naturalise for Libertain.
Now, Libertain was an online society which was rich and had a very good social system for those who were poor. It was the most populous online nation of over two billion. As the name suggested there were libertarian in the way the way they saw and did their things. Many were those who drew parallels between them and Sodom and Gomorra. That is probably the reason why my mother suggested I read Genesis 19:1 – 31. She was shocked when she saw my online application to change my nationality. My sister had always found me opportunistic and greedy. She said when I was a baby, she was playing with me, holding an old 5 cyrptocurrency note when I held unto it and never wanted to let it go. A renowned prophet in Coastonia called Prophet Seth had prophesised that I’d be very rich but before that I would make shocking decisions. Growing up, everything was always about money, money and money. I didn’t believe in a God who lived up there and dictated the course of events. I didn’t believe in a God who killed innocent people through fires, hurricanes and floods.
What did I hear that you did?” my father fumed.
“Father I want to be a Libertain citizen.” I replied looking down at my phone.
“Have you forgotten Sodom and Gomorrah? Have you forgotten what God did to them? He destroyed the citizens with fire. Do you want to go to hell? Do you? Libertain is an immoral nation where even sisters marry sisters and brothers may brothers. That is even worse than what the people of Sodom and Gomorrah did. Is it about money?” he paused and looked at me.
Then he continued, “Listen and listen very well. I know you are doing this because of money. I won’t allow you to –“
“Father, I am eighteen and I ---“ I interjected but I was shocked halfway.
“Will you shut up and listen to me? Coastania is poor but we serve a mighty God.”
“Father, this is not true. Coastonia is nowhere close to what you are saying. Are pastors and prophets not ruling this nation?” I asked.
“Yes. Exactly the reason why you need to stay here and move your citizenship to Libertain.” He drew near me.
“Father, are we not drenched in corruption? Do pastors not fight with other pastors and do prophets not curse other prophets in public?”
“Mark, you do not understand. There are imperfections and as long as we are Christians, troubles may come but the Lord will see us through.”
“Father, my reason for deciding to naturalise for Libertain are simple. I can’t keep on being a citizen of this hypocritical nation. We wear religion as our banner but destroy each other in ‘Touch not my anointed and do my prophets no harm.’ We fail to criticise our leaders because we see them as Gods. Don’t we? No they aren’t. Second, this nation is no better than Sodom and Gomorrah if we do not stop the hypocrisy, the corruption, the envy and the destruction of our society by our very actions.”
“And you think Libertain is perfect?” my father laughed.
“No but they admit their imperfections and deal with it. We don’t. We are like devils wearing the clothes of angels and pretending to be the latter. Take a look at the cyber nations which claim to be religious. Look at the violence in there, the social delinquencies and the problems they are facing. These problems are inflicted by us yet we say, ‘If we pray to God, He will save us.’ How long haven’t we prayed? Did we change our behaviour? No we didn’t. I’m tired of this hypocrisy. I am tired of prophecies said by lying hypocrites!”
“If you still want to go ahead with your naturalisation then I wish you well.” My father stood up to leave the room.
“Father, can I ask you a question?”
“You can.” He said with his hands folded.
“I was checking your Facebook profile and I saw that you once lived in Nevernia.”
“Yes.”
“And what happened?”
“Son, when you become a citizen of Libertain you get to realise that the most important things in life are faith and an obsession for prosperity based on what you think the future holds. You will get to know that you will cross oceans only to realise that they do not need you there.”
“You are speaking to me in proverbs.” I sounded worried.
“I was young once and I was just like you. I saw Libertain and Nevrnia as two cities where I could get rich quickly. So I naturalise for them. You see, in snaps, Instagram stories and Facebook lives, these societies look perfect but youd go there and realise that the nation you are rushing to naturalise for has problems of its own. On the screen it may look like they need you but you would go there and realise all the fun you see on the screen is nothing but an illusion, a lie, a wondrous trick.” He replied sounding very philosophical.
“Father, what should I do?”
“Mark, I know you. You see the world in terms of money. You are young and when we are young we think our bodies know what it wants. I can’t stop you, in fact, I won’t stop you. Finish with your naturalisation process. Go and live. If you will survive you will and if you don’t, you should remember my story, I came back to the place I call home. You can always come back to this place you say is being run by hypocrites and lying pastors.” He went out of the room.
I opened up my laptop and click on the “CONFIRM” button. This was the last step that really mattered and I hoped I made a good choice.
After not more than an hour, I heard the noise of a car pull up in front of my house. I just knew they were coming for me. I picked up the few things I had and moved out of the house. My sister was looking at me with a very condescending look. In her eyes, it was obvious that she wanted me to be a failure so I could run back so she can engage in pontification about how I loved money too much. The looks of my mother was that of pain, it really hurt her that I was leaving. Her tears betrayed her, she wanted me to stay. But the looks for my father was iconic; it was that look he always has whenever I am going to the boarding house. The look always assured me that whatever happens I’d always come home. This time, I wanted it to be different, I wanted it to have a “goodbye” kind of meaning. I hugged him tightly never wanting to let go.
“Go and survive.” He whispered.
I tried to hug my mother but she run to her room sobbing. My sister………………she didn’t want to touch me, she went straight to her room straight-faced. I sat in the car and continued recording the section of the Bible my mother had recommended.
15. With the coming of the dawn, the angels urged Lot, saying, “Hurry! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away when the city is punished.”
16. When he hesitated, the men grasped his hands and the hands of his wife and of his two daughters and led them safely out of the city, for the Lord was merciful to them. As soon as they had brought them out, one of them said, “Flee for your lives! Don’t look back and don’t stop anywhere in the plain! Flee to the mountains or you will be swept away.”
But unlike Lot, I looked back but did not turn into a pillar of salt. Would I be coming back or not? Only time could tell.
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