The Change we need

“Everyone wants change, but not everyone wants to change”. This might not seem very familiar, you know why? It’s not a very cool statement. It is a statement that commands a bit of discomfort in a person. It commands that we need to be a part of the change we want to see. If we want to see more trees, we must be willing to step out into the woods, get seeds, and plant them.

A familiar tale in a certain tradition goes like this:

Once upon a time in Inomo village, there was a great famine.
Wild life became the only source of food for survival, from birds, to animals.
Oloro, one of the community members, took upon himself to take care of his family.
He made many weapons, from slings, to catapult, to spears, and many others.
Oloro went to the Bush with these weapons.
He saw a bird, “it’s a dove!”, Oloro said, while drawing out his catapult.
Oloro realised that the bird wasn’t yet about to fly, and stretched his hand to catch it instead.

“Thank goodness!”, Oloro exclaimed, “today we will have something for a meal”.
The dove looking at him, asked, “Why are you so sure Of a meal?”
“because I have you”, Oloro said with a sigh of excitement.
“Before you get expectant, I have 3 things I desperately need to tell you”, the bird said.
Oloro didn’t know what to expect from this bird, but for some reason, he paid attention.
“first, keep well what you have”, the bird started.
“second, don’t think so much of what you don’t have, lest what you have slips whilst you are busy looking for what you don’t have”.
Oloro didn’t seem so relaxed with these two nuggets, but those were not all, it was time to hear the third nugget.
“please, set me on that stone ahead”, the bird demanded. This didn’t seem so cool with Oloro.
“I’m not that stupid”, Oloro said, “I know you want to run away”.
The canning bird couldn’t just let Oloro that easily, so it needed more words to convince him.
“Relax you hungry man!”, the bird said, “I saw you coming, I didn’t run, because I knew you’d not harm me, should I run away just now?”
Oloro convinced, accepted because he desperately wanted to hear the third nugget.
He placed the bird on the stone just ahead of him and stood to listen to the nugget.
“tell me the first two nuggets I told you”, the dove asked.
“I should keep well what I have, and that I should not think so much of what I don’t have, lest what I have slips whilst I’m busy looking for what I don’t have”.
“Good listener!”, the bird told him while giving a disappointing head signature.
“The third is that fools don’t change, gold is in me”, the bird said, and phewwww!, it flew away, and Oloro lost his meal again.

This tale might not happen in real life, but many times, people behave exactly like Oloro. They read everything, listen to everything, but still don’t want to put into action what they’ve learned. They quote the wisdom got from hearing, reading, and perhaps watching, in their speeches, writings, and other things, but they find it hard to apply in real life.

What is the point in learning anything if it can’t be applied? Is the problem what is learned, or the person learning? Can’t one realize that our knowledge is what testifies against us on judgement. For first, our own conscience haunt us for the right things we didn’t do. Our teachers, whether people, books, sites, or sounds of any sort will also act against us on judgement.

Sadly, this same things happen in things more important for life, like spirituality. People read religious books, but don’t learn to apply it. People even stand on the pulpit to preach, but choose to live otherwise. They put themselves at the edge of the sword by learning much things that they may not have any excuse at all.

You have the power to change, by making the choices that start with you.

Further Reading: Mark 4:24