Youth of our homeland,
You are indeed our nation's future.
Do not scorn the staircase of the mentee,
The Savings Account of potential;
Be proud, but without the sin of pride.
Pride, the predecessor of the prostrate,
Resists guidance and nurturing,
Challenges authority, ridicules sound counsel,
Pursues and pollutes promise;
That gem embedded in every human,
Which in you, resides in abundance.
Pride promotes and presents the pompous,
For painful punctures in life's pursuits.
Patience and prudence nurture perseverance,
The haughty-mighty reap demotion,
The lowly attracts promotion.
Humility authors success in due time,
Through the lonely staircase of discipline.
Be proud of yourself;
Quit the wagon of assumption.
Pride perverts fulfillment of nature's potential,
Diverts your path away from your destiny,
Into the cauldron of serial regrets,
Where you become completely filled
With total emptiness and torment,
The crowning glory of pride and rebellion.
Be proud, without the sin of pride.
Fathers and mothers, will you be parents.
The calling of your productivity
With the duty to train up a nation,
In families and homes?
Then lay out the paths to humility,
The fear of God and community,
Where empathy breeds cohesion,
Rooted in the values of family and home.
Let not the pride of life undo
The foundation of institutions,
Founded on the power of prayer.
Lead the nation from your homes,
To faith and Godly reverence,
So that pride will not be the undoing
Of the architects of our future.
By PAPA RAY
Copyright © Politico Online (20/09/21)