Monday 12 December 2011

Yes! We Too Can Fly




Back in the years when I was just a little boy living with my grandmum, I once observed a bird hovering so up in the sky. I thought to myself "what makes these creatures fly up so high?" with this question lingering on my mind, I ran to grandmum and asked "can humans ever learn to fly this (pointing to the bird in the sky) high?" With a mixture of amazement and humour in her eyes, she answered "no, humans are not made for flight. Birds can cos nature made them to fly, humans can't ever fly cos nature gave us no wings to sustain us up there."

This is the greatest lie my grandmum ever told me. Yes! we too can fly. Even without wings, we too can fly up to the heavens and touch the very sole of the almighty. What happens often is that, we place limitations on everything we can do as humans thereby ignoring the magic placed in our heart to move mountains and to order the oceans to calmly settle on it's track. Unconsciously, we've placed our will and zeal to achieve greater life in a cage and conforming to the confinement of our psychological cage. No bird can ever soar beyond the ceiling of its cage, unless it can struggle and break free from its shackles. What do we see when we close our eyes, the stars or the mud?

Our problems and challenges as humans are endless. We had problems yesterday so we'll have them today too. All we can do is to believe in the power of our minds. "our problems" said president J.F.Kennedy, "are man-made, therefore, they can be solved by man. And man can be as big as he wants. No problem of human destiny is beyond the reach of human beings. Man's reason and spirit have often resolved the seemingly unsolvable." We don't have to rest on our limitations, we have to believe in the power of self and strife to become whatever our mind could imaging.

Once a bird's egg got mixed up with the eggs of a chicken. Somedays later, the eggs got hatched. The bird mingled with the chickens as if it was also a chicken. One day, the mother chick called the bird and said; "look up there, that's where u belong. You don't belong with us, you're a bird so learn to be one." you can imaging the amazement in the eyes of the young bird when it heard that. Days later, it started to learn how to fly. Several days later, all it could do is to fly some inches up and fall flat on the ground. It turn to the mother chick with a failed heart and said "is it possible?" the mum replied; "yes it is, those who reach for the skies might not land on the moon but their feet at least gets off the ground." the desire of the young bird was spurred on with this speech. Season after season it practiced to fly. One day, all it took was just a flap of its wings and the young bird was up there in the sky. You could imaging it's joy that very moment.

So are our lives too. We too can fly and compete with the eagles if only we can give it a go. If only risk will mean an opportunity to us, we will make the heavens our domain and the earth, our playing grounds. "our life" said Lord Morley, "is a great and noble calling, not a mean and grovelling thing to be shuffled through anyhow; it is lofty and exalted destiny." Come on dear friend, just spread your wings and fly away, for up there in the heavens is suppose to be our abode. We belong right there...

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Sunday 11 December 2011

The Hallowed Spot of the Mountain Top




On the 3rd April, 1968, in Mason Temple, Memphis, Tennessee, Martin Luther King Jr. delivered a speech which would later be the last speech of his life; "I've been to the Mountain Top" was the title of his speech that day. Anytime I listen to this speech, I ask myself "is there going to be a time where a Ghanaian leader would have the chance to stand on this mountain top, to observe a panoramic view of human political history?" the answer that keeps echoing in my head is "yes, they would stand on the mountain top but they would close their eyes to all the beauty and richness of human history and return with lies and acrimony towards their political opponent."

 This is a country where our leaders are well endowed with academic prowess, yet anytime they speak, their mouth runs on the path of lies, treachery and venom for their opponent. As if that's not enough trouble, there are other people who have made it their job to defend whatever thrash our leaders throw around. They make lies look like a scripture quotation. Fellow Ghanaians, we live in a very difficult times, times where the wheels of fortunes and prosperity have been steered to oblivion by our political leaders and as citizens, we've been left to struggle for the little remains that fall from the dinning tables of our political 'oppressors'. Ghana needs open minded people especially the youth, to rally against such leaders. It's not about our political tags. It's about the future of our nation. The future God has entrusted into our hands. Every nation has it's own problems, and the ability to solve such problems rightly is salvation.

We need salvation now! Forget about where you tow on the political line and let's come together to build and to sustain our nation. Like Dr. King said in his speech "when it is dark enough can you see the stars". Let's be the shinning galaxy of stars in this dark moment of our political history, so in the end, like all fairytales end, our ever after would be as happy and glorious as we intend it to be. Ghana should win, and it would only win when we have youth who have clean political conscience and are ready to stand for something, something bigger than one's self. I hope somebody is listening because I've been to the hallowed spot of the mountain top, and "have seen the glory of the cometh of the lord"


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