A brief introduction to pastorZEN
Here’s a question I get sometimes..
Why do you go by ‘PastorZen’? (bit of an odd mashup.)
To be fair, first idea was melcZedek. A variation of ‘Melchizedek’ — the high priest from Scripture shows up a couple times at the beginning of the story.
My next idea was pastorZed. As in, ‘Z’, the final pastoral iteration. The ultimate archetype, before we hit infinity.
But then this name dropped in my heart one day.
And it clicked, immediately.
I was raised Christian, unfortunately. But not for the reasons you think.
I love Jesus. Ever since I was 11 years old and dunked my noggin in the holy pool at the front of the church, I was set apart. But in truth, I was still unsure. My faith hadn’t yet matured to a place where I felt comfortable proclaiming the truth of the matter. (i.e. Christ is King.)
So in short, I survived the ordeal of being raised in a strict African religious household — but I still had questions.
Practiced Buddhism in college. Read a bunch of books, studied other religions, philosophies, and cultures even. Got my masters degree in International Journalism purely for the intellectual stimulation.
I was, and still am, a seeker. My goal is to see.
Ultimately, I still can’t. Not yet.
And that’s why it’s called faith.
I got to the end of what I thought to be an impressive rolodex of human understanding, and realised it wasn’t enough. I’m can’t be perfect.
Nor will I ever achieve that elusive state of ‘Nirvana’ (whatever that means).
And it seemed to me that most folks who had it figured out were either lying, or too scared to ask the right questions.
Western Christianity had failed me once, and I wasn’t about to let that happen again. And with all due respect, the era of modern Christiandom and its posture of self flagellation just didn’t do it for me.
I needed something realer.
So, ended up making my own religion. (Kind of.)
Let’s call it, “Love”.
Christ is (still) the centrepiece. And His Word is still the directive.
But I can’t submit to human authority, nor can I defer to ‘professional Christian’ opinions over the reasoning faculties God gave me.
My mother is an very religious woman. And so by transitive property, I had the books of the Bible memorised by the time I was 8.
Bible study was a weekly occurrence, and I would often catch her deep in prayer. Studying scripture has always been normal to me.
But as I got older, and began to dabble in the eastern traditions and some of the more ‘new age-y’ ideas that have permeated today, I couldn’t in good faith rid myself of the primacy of Jesus Christ.
I couldn’t pretend that I had all the answers either. So becoming a kind of propagandist for human made systems of didn’t interest me either.
pastorZen to me, represents an experiment in exploration.
A combination of the east, and the west.
An attempt to bring it all together, under the banner of Truth.
And what better medium than hip hop to speak truth to power — in a manner unabashedly and unashamedly forthright.
As a teacher, a student, and a poet. My only goal is to tell the truth.
To translate Reality, restoring broken hearts through shared understanding, and reviving dormant minds by the power of His Word.
To engage honestly with others who seek, in an open discussion rooted in genuine faith in God, and respect for His creation.
Ultimately where this goes is up to Him.
I’m just having fun, writing rhymes in the process.
Hope you enjoy a few.
Love.
Zen.
