By Ezekiel Nabieu
Some of us may have been wondering why modern life has become so complicated. Alternatively we may be wondering if there are ways and means of making life simple.
Accordingly this article is the launch of a series on the above mentioned topic. Though accented on Christianity it is intended to be kind of therapeutic for all sorts of people including Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, Animists and atheists alike. It is not going to be a panacea but it is expected that it would provide some food for thought for the common run of mankind who may be finding life unbearable only because of their mindsets.
The unanswered question again is: why should life be so complicated if it can be simple? The reason is simple – “Keeping up with the Joneses.” It’s not all that easy not to be seen to be above others. Superiority complex is most natural.
Taking a step away from the nitty-gritty of politics is a requirement for simple living because politics is mainly about living the complex life.
One requirement in living the simple life is to inculcate CONTENTMENT if one does not have it already. In this regard let me quote the Bible in Philippians 4:11 where St. Paul said: “Not that I complain of want; for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content”. People possess their possessions and they want to possess others’ possessions. Theft or envy? Shakespeare said in Othello “poor and content is rich and rich enough”.
On envy the Hebrew proverb states: “All kinds of enmity are curable save that which flows out of envy”. The dog with the bone is always in danger.
Our God is not a God of equality. Otherwise life would have been drab and uninteresting. Therefore he created people with unequal talents by which one person lives a complicated life owing to his or her talents and the other cannot live above a simple life. One person luxuriates in a 4x4 jeep and is elegant however while the other can only afford his or her 4 for 4 existence in a panbody and gari as staple food. This is reality. In 1 Corinthians 7:7 it is written: “But each has his own special gift from God, one of one kind and one of another”.
The Christian teaching of the simple life is by nature dialectical. And this matter of dialectics is going to be with us all the way, so let us get it well in hand right here at the beginning . Thinking becomes “dialectical” when it finds itself being pulled two ways at once, finds it necessary to give weight and attention to two different and apparently opposed poles of thoughts.
If someone were to claim that the simple life is that life which wants to go all the way with inner relationship to God and so deny the need for appropriate outward expression that would be proof enough that the inner relationship may be true. There is no alternative but to keep both elements in view simultaneously. At every step our consideration of the simple life must dance back and forth between the inner relationship to God and the outward relationship to “things,” each move toward one pole calling for a corrective move towards the other. Ambivalence.
The dialectic of the simple life leaves itself wide open for misuse by those who want credit for living it but who are in no way inclined to change their style of life.
The dialectic of the simple life also leaves itself wide open for misuse by the sort of legalism and works available. So compliance is always possible, it's got to be one way or the other. You say which, and we can go along. But you’ve got to make up your minds. If the simple life is an inner attitude, we shall play if that way. If it is a visible and concrete mode of life, we shall operate accordingly. But come on, you have got to say which. If we come down too strongly on the simple life as inner relationship, we say something false. This subject is not going to be easy, so I beg the reader to be as helpful as he can.
Along the road we are going to come across Hedonism, Asceticism Dissociation from Society and Ecology etc. To be continued
STATE HOUSE COMMUNICATIONS IN SHAMBLES
One would have imagined that the battery of media practitioners at State House and its extension would have translated into competence and efficiency but this has sadly not been the case. The fact of the matter is that the pitch-forked journalists have simply been falling over one another with a bid to attract the attention of De Pa. What a hotchpotch of a unit! It is a question of too many cooks spoiling the broth.
It is well-known that there is no smoke without fire. Recently President Koroma called leaders of political parties to State House for a lecture session at lunch ostensibly to bring peace about or to throw his weight about. After the meeting it was widely rumoured and reported that the President had doled out the sum of $20,000 to ten political parties "for transport". This obviously caused a furore within the parties that were represented. There were accusations of graft hurled at the representatives, rightly or wrongly. Several days later we learnt through denial of participants that in fact no monies changed hands between the President and the participants.
A communication unit worth its salt and its satellite units would have straightaway after the meeting issued a press release stating what transpired. It was not to be. The proceeds of that meeting became an enigma wrapped up in a mystery. How can the public just think of a figure and its distribution without any iota of evidence? There can be no smoke without fire. Up until now I don’t know of any attempt to smother the smoke.
The fact of the matter is that the press corps at State House since 2007 has been much too unwieldy. What is all this propaganda about that cannot be done by a handful of efficient journalists? What is our panoply-loving President up to? Is the number of journalists milling around State House proportional to the effectiveness of propaganda?
In Pre-Ernest Koroma days there used to be no more than five media personnel at State House at any given time. One each representing the Government Information Services, SLBS as well as a cameraman and provision for Public Address equipment. Information about the country is not only about the activities of the President but on several other aspects that listeners, viewers and readers want to know about. The Ministry of Information and what else are being rendered partially redundant by reducing their activities to fibre optic and sporadic news items from the lame SLENA. Some State House staff should be excised and deployed elsewhere to prevent sinecures.
WAYS IN WHICH HIS EXCELLENCY THE PRESIDENT CAN BRING SPIRIT OF PATRIOTISM BACK TO LIFE
This is the grandiose title of an essay contest that initially had 20th November as its closing date. Suspicious of conning were aroused as the sponsors extended the closing date of November 20, 2013 without explanation. The date for the prize announcement of January 6 has passed without a word. Is this not a criminal act to be investigated by the C.I.D?
(C) Politico 11/02/14
