Here is an expression, each part of it carries a distinct meaning that ranges from mere idle talk to either serious emerging conditions of fear, failure or expression of faith or of joy. At times it is not expressly said but the non verbal action that could be observed tells the story. The above topic is the title of a poem in ValuPlus Poem: Focus on Behavioral Tendencies” copyright August 2008. It presented many situations one differing from the other. For instance, if a student happened to fail his test, It is either he did not prepare well or did not recall enough of all he had learnt. It, expresses failure. Like the student, if a traveller misses his flight , in exasperation you hear “Oh! My God!” It is either he failed to heed  the stipulated departure time that waits for no man or would have to blame it on unexpected traffic jam on his way to the airport.

Gehazi, Prophet Elisha’s apprentice could have burst into this regretful expression were he to be in our contemporary age, because his greed and dishonesty, even as Elisha’s student prophet-in-training earned him life-long leprosy rather than becoming a celebrated prophet like his spiritual master. 2 King 5: 20-26 (KJV). Judas Iscariot was in a position of uttering “Oh! My God!” when he de-robed himself from being an apostle of Christ the day he mortgaged the life of his master and “Rabbi”. Some people have argued that he served a purpose. By the same token, it is right or proper to enhance the counter argument, should he be the particular person who would not allow all the teaching of his master to have impact on him. “Oh! My God!” would have been the sound of regret from the precocious Peter after he had denied Jesus three times before the cock crowed during Jesus Christ’s trial before the High Priest Luke 22: 54-62 (KJV) Thomas knew that Jesus had died but found it difficult to accept the resurrection story. He quickly cleared his doubt on seeing the scar of the nail on his palm and feet. He was objective and scientific in approach. “Oh! My God!”, he would have said, “My Rabbi is truly not an ordinary mortal” John 20: 24-29 (KJV) Conversely, Zaccheus would have jumped for joy when “The Son of Man” , the expected King of Israel chose to pay him a visit and even dine in his house in spite of his being a Publican a decidely one of those the Jewish tradition regarded as sinners . To Zaccheus it should have been a pleasant surprise Luke 19: 1-10 (KJV)

The day Senator Barak Obama won the Presidential election there we heard the two versions of “Oh! My God!”. To many it was regrettable that he won against their expectation while to others it was a pleasant surprise. They joyfully exclaimed “Oh! My God!”. We saw a national figure shedding tears of joy, because it happened in his life time. (To be continued)