Urbest

What should I write about? What is that thing that gives me a lot of concern? I walk on the streets with broken heart, seeing lot problems that could have been solved if people would just refuse the temptation of being of greedy for just a day. If men would just look beyond themselves; see through the eyes of compassion.  Why would men cripple the economy for their own personal interest? How can you have a night sleep when men and women have no place to lay their head because of your decisions and indecisions? What makes you think that other doesn’t deserve the bed you roll on every night? Wait a minute, who am talking to? Is it you or myself? Many nights I have cried for the needed and the weak in my world. I have learnt that wealth is a language that must be spoken to the hearing of others. If wealth is not being shared to others, it will like a language at the risk of extinction, existing yet dead to the people around it. How would a tree make a forest?

Do people need free money? No, what they need the wings to fly above lack. In a country like Nigeria where there is no social amenities’ for small businesses to leave the ground, small businesses don’t have what it takes to have loans and financial support from commercial banks. The university system does not encourage creative mind but applauds retentive minds; confidence in the productivity of the human mind is facing so much uncertainty.  Natural resources are being valued more than human resources. What is happening in the Niger delta? Why are people suffering because of the wealth beneath their feet? While their politicians cruise in expensive cars; the people are only infested with the cruelty of the crude gold that burns around them. What am I really talking about? Excuse my minutes of conscious insanity.  So much anger has tilted the scale of my co-ordination. Why should men like my father who fight for their country suffer and die while we sing “the labour of our heroes past shall be in vain”. Why is there bloodshed all around us when we have so much to share and enjoy. What are we really fighting for? Why is the inhumanity to man? Why the killing in Iraq and Darfur? When will Somalia be stable?

If these questions break your heart; what can you do? What can I do to make the world a better place? Have read of people who change their world, how can I change mine? Let me tell you my secret. I feel bad about myself sometimes because I think I have not given back anything for all the things I have enjoyed and am still enjoying. Everything around me was somebody’s dream, when will I give the world my dream to enjoy I ask myself many times? How would I leave the world the way I met it? Can I give a child a reason to live? Can I like Anne Frank make the world to rethink? Where can I start from when I don’t have enough money to give myself an accommodation? How can I accommodate the children in the streets and help the poor around me? My mind is being bombarded with such question, it is about to explode, should I stop? Should I stop asking questions in the face of lack and limited recourses? I think all these questions make me a human. The fact that I am dissatisfied shows that my eyes can see and my ears can hear. Sometimes I wonder if everybody does see, hear, feel the pains around us.

What would it take to change the world? I believe that we need the still voice and unseen muscles of compassion. Compassion moves men to change the world and turn the tides of history.  This force has turn zeros to heroes, keep men in prisons, sent men their early graves and it is in all human and indeed nature. It brought missionaries to Africa and made William Wilberforce to stand for a continent and generations he would never meet. It is a language everything in nature can understand yet only a few do speak it. Compassion made a woman that did not give birth at all become a mother to the people who did ever believe in her religious view.  Time and time I am hit below the belt by the harmless trigger. If am insane to you; please put the blame on it s unrest. When we can truly define wealth, we can define life and we know wealth only be worthwhile in the context compassion.  If a man’s heart stops beating he could still be alive if his compassion is still living. Everyman is dead without compassion. So, what am I writing about?

As graduate of physics, I love quantum mechanics so much. It tells us that matter has dual nature; the particles and wave characteristics. I am fully persuaded that compassion is very important part of our wave characteristics. It makes us transcend through time and space to touch lives and nations across the world. We become invincible to the limitations and prejudice around us when allow this flood to flow through our spirit. Indeed like Martin Luther King we can sing in the silence of our night “we shall overcome” because rays of light in the gloomy sky that seduces our hearts to say “I have a dream”. The romance with compassion quenches lust yet it is characterized by an orgasm that is voids of self gratification and yet causes a conception in our mind and spirit; after opening the door for the flow of an eternal euphoria. Tell me what would you rather be? The wind that can’t be unseen and yet influences our world or the shadow that can only be seen sometimes can hanging around us. When our hearts goes beyond self enriching and gratification we move from being just particles to be realm of waves. We allow ourselves to be touch by the invisible fingers of other people’s pain and our hearts unleash the current that can the quake the very foundation of our civilization, culture and history in an unprecedented scale. Indeed we can change the world, and “yes we can” will re-echo all through history if only we would move to the dance floor with the spirit of compassion.

The word religion means different things to different people from different culture at different times. History is awash with stories of religious violence and benevolence. Time cannot wash away the stories that still cause our hearts to skip. We would not have been here if not for the men whose religious conviction caused them to risk their lives and all for the world, we so often take for granted. How can we talk about the European economy, education, religion and politics without talking about Martin Luther? He fought without sword for the Europe we have today with a tenacity that sent shockwave all through history. There is almost no historical character that had no religious drive and motivation. Religion indeed has painted our cultural past and future. The colour and texture of our present came from the artisan of religion; be it in science, government and commerce we would see the fingers of religion.

However, religion has not offered us a garden of roses alone; it has given pictures and memories of blood sucked fields. Unspeakable violence of religion has caused blood to flow down history. From the time when men could not write to now that millions of information are passing through the air we breathe at a rate unimaginable only a decade ago; we have seen, read and heard of how religion has become a vehicle of pervasion and destruction. Men are killing more lives in the name of God, who cares about the sparrow that worth nothing in comparison to the human life. The man he made in his image and likeness has become the victim of those who kill in his name. How would the giver of life and existence receive such favour that plunders the very thing that makes him known?  The deeds are done with such impunity that questions the very existence of humanity and his essence. How could man be so degraded that even animals and nature cannot help but wonder? Could religion that unites men from all language, nations, culture and race become the threat to our very existence? We can continue to ask questions and get few answers.  From Middle East to Western Europe, from North American to South African and Australia the fear of religion instigated terrorism is as real as the microwave that carries out messages and voices around the world.

Wait a minute, shouldn’t we stop ask ourselves why? Why? Why the killing, raping and destruction in Darfur? Why the killing of Christians and Muslims in Northern Nigeria and many other parts of the world? Are we killing for God or ourselves? Is it not our lust for power puts us the position that even dinosaurs dread? The extinction of ethnic groups on the baseless grounds is the tale of Rwanda, the holocaust and the genocides that have cracked the record of history. It is therefore disturbing that more Christians have been killed by the swords of Christians than any other religion.  Doesn’t it break your heart that Muslims are blowing themselves up in Iraq and Afghanistan to kill the people they observe the moon with?  Which deity in his right mind would bring immeasurable destruction to his people? Whereas every religion preaches peace, worshipers are shredded like papers in the name of religion. Who is the enemy, the termite or the bees? The bond that connects the human race is much stronger than religion, race, culture, and anything you can think of; it is our humanity, history and divinity. The compassion that made some of us cry when we watched how hurricane Katrina washed New Orleans off the map; the force that made me weep, as I saw a documentary on Darfur and  the love for children, all flow from our innermost being with an outburst that stronger than religion.

As we come to this time in history, we must look inward and act outward to the wickedness perpetuated in the name of religion. We must question our judgement and Government through the spectacles of simple logic and reasoning.  What happened to the human beings we were when we were kids? I have seen children who speak differently languages communicate and work together. Is being a grow cause or blessing? Children practice religion with such love and sincerity that makes it worthwhile. Jesus said that it takes a childlike heart to know God. Of a truth this is the time for humanity to break away from the deception of religious tyrants who groom children and youths to express the individuality ideology. Let’s face the fact, we are all humans, we will always be human, nothing more and nothing less. We all the same basic needs and desires; fears and concern, troubles and question; religion should not be used to destroy or divide us. In deed we are in wonderful world, that is filled with some much wonders for us to ponder, we should we plunder humanity when we can defy the gravity of destruction that natural hazards and disease bring to us. Men have killed more nature has in the past but it is time to give hope and life to our world. Listen to the whispering of our conscience that flows from the essence of our existence. We can take responsible, we can raise a generation that will not see the blood stained sword of religion, if we teach the children of our tomorrow the values life, beauty of hope and the power of love.

Life is like a scale. Many times we are outweighed by the things on the other side of the scale. We were born with on the disadvantaged side of the scale. Our efforts seem to be in futility many times. From many the losses of Abraham Lincoln to the many failed attempts of Thomas Edison, history has shown that persistence and perseverance is often opposed by walls of resistance. Men have dug endless for treasures and have fought tirelessly for change. The other side of the scale is the obstacle that is chasm between us and our miracles. We all have our own. Even if two people face the same problem they do not have exactly the same problem because of the internal factors. Shakespeare calls it the enemy within that is greater than the one without.

We can all identify with a situation or situations that put us in the wrong side of the scale. It is like we are on a seesaw of life; lifted so high that our feet cannot touch the ground. Humanity has always meets this complexity in his pursuit for stability. Our educational and political system does not prepare us for the wrong side of the equation because it is built on the look good paradigm rather than on being good. We have fought to win the battle around yet we are shattered within. Everyman and woman must conquer the unseen battle that goes within ring of their mind.

Persistence and consistence shapes our consciousness for the victory that sure. The process is the victory the event is the celebration. Great men make history in their obscurity. The world we live in has celebrities who bypassed the making and baking to the dinner table. Glamour that comes from only our clamor, labor and favor will soon loose its savor. It is like building a ten storey building with a bungalow's foundation. The world still needs heroes who burnt the night candles from their cradles long before they had their place on the world's breakfast table. We are used to quick fix, so how can we build enough character to tilt the scale? How can we bring about the tilting point?

Tilting point is the point that the story change and his made. It the time a black man becomes the president of United States. The day a Nigerian girl becomes Miss World. The moment Nancy Pelosi becomes the speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives and children from the suburb of Mumbai dance to the rhythm of the soundtrack SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE on the stage of the Oscars. Hope comes alive. An opportunity and chance may make us stars but character and consistency will keep us as stars. The scale is tilting in the direction of the applied force of endless and ceaseless preparation. Your feet find their way to the ground as your head pushes up and feels the weight of the crown. This crown called success has made clowns out of many in the world. We must not get lost in the crowd in our conquest for stardom. The scale we tilt could crush us into the powder of insignificance.

Victory is a defeat if we leak our unseen wounds and blow out trumpets. For Thomas Edison tilting point was when he made the filament bulb. He was adding the grain of hope against the ropes of mediocrity by holding on to his integrity. The scale of black oppression tilted the day Rosa Park refused to give up her seat. She did not know that her refusal will be the last of grain that was needed. Eureka! Archimedes shouted when buoyancy shed its light on his mind. Newton's head felt the weigh of an apple and the mystery of gravity tilt forever. Some scales tilt to change history forever and some tilt to break the circle of poverty of many generations. For the protestant, Martin Luther it was his understand of grace but for the world it was his defiance of the Roman Catholic authority. A man’s private victory brought out a change to the world.

I have never like routine till recently. I discovered the universe is built on the routine. The sun does its routine job that is why are still here. Our heart does its routine which is to give rhythm to our existence. The waves, the plants and indeed the universe have their routine. Routine is the bedrock of all things. I read once that success is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration. Off course, we could be trap in the routine. Man has the unique ability to escape from the prison of routine because he can reason. Birds have not built more advanced next after thousands of years. Inventions and conventions have to worked together to give man all of his creations. This is because we do not fail if we do not stop pushing and pressing down our side of the scale. Every great man has a great routine. They could be simple but they are the structure build the human character. Tradition should a trademark and not landmark

A Chinese proverb says that it may take a grain of rice to tilting the scale. The scale of our economy and political situation has to be tilted. The trouble in Darfur is plaguing the mind and conscience of the world. The Rwandan genocide is still very fresh in our mind. Yugoslavian war that produced children who are reminders of their mother tormentor. The Iraqi and Afghanistan wars are still very complex and confusion. The Pakistani authority is signing treaties with the Taliban in their frustration. What will change the tide and help make us a giant stride in the direction of change? Men from every part of the world have look beyond their own nation and have help to save generations from physical and psychological extinction. We can tilting the scale of history and bring hope and help to humanity. The gun and bombs do not just the kill people; they also destroy the indices of their conscience and their sense of dignity.

Threat of HIV and AID is still real and malaria is wasting many children in Africa. African leaders need to stand to this challenge. However, the television and the internet have become the host and vector for a more contagious disease that is attacking balance of many minds. Pornography is polluting the minds of the young and old. Sex is becoming centre of human expression. Things are not beautiful anymore, they are sexy. Porn spreads the idea of intercourse and not intimacy. Principles of marriage and family are being contradicted even in the lives of religious leaders. Secular relativism is destroying the crust of the tenets of our conscience. This scale is not that is not that easy to tilt. We depend on the internet and television has become a very important of our social life. Yet violence and bad languages are invading our minds through these media. This scale also needs to be tilted. Man has to win, not what he watches, listen to or read. We have to rule our world. This could be our tilting point.

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I was born into a family that believes in every member. My father was in the Nigerian army for twenty-five years of his youthful life, so transfers took him to many parts of Nigeria he till landed in Kaduna state were I was born some thirty years, and after me my younger brother and sister.  When he left the military twenty-two years we moved down to Port Harcourt, Rivers State. We drove all the way in a van to the community best described as a ghetto. There was no sewage system so we defecate in the river. We stayed in two rooms’ apartment with one window in the inner room and a door in the outer room. No kitchen, so we cook out the outer room. We played outside because there no space to play inside the house. It was a compound with about ten of such apartments on the both sides facing each other. Adults walked outside the compound to take our bath in an open roof zinc building called bathroom and the children like me took their bathroom outside. Quarrels between members of the same family and one or more families invaded the compound like storm. My parent gave me listening ears as I grew up in such a place and that is what I call value, the room for expression. We did not have much yet we had love for ourselves. We could relate with our parents very well. Some say military men are hostile but not my dad.

The concept called I call “value theory” became a fire in my soul when I lost my very good friend eleven years ago. He was the most must lovely guy I ever met. We sang together many times on the street.  He was cute, outspoken and intelligent, someone you would love to see again and again. However, when he died nobody would want have his dead body in the house, as in the case of all the dead beauty queens and intellectuals. This experience though seems so normal and common brought to light the theory that changed my life forever. Our essence is person people relate with and experience that makes who we are.

The entire world of trade is based on the exchange of values but value is what we are, what we are have to give. The riches man in the world and the poorest have relatively the same implicit value, which I can call untapped potentials.  However, the language and expression of our individual value may differ. They exactly have the same value translator and transporter I call imagination and time. Different philosophy and ideology of what life and wealth is all about is the factor  that changes the equation.  This book focuses on the value man is, has and could translate in order to change his world. The fact is our value would not come to light until we change our values. The preposition of value theory says that what we value determines who we value and how we are valued in the eyes of people at the long run. Those who value virtue will value people for their virtue and will be valued by other for their virtues. You will see in this book how much you truly worth and how you can increase your explicit worth by transporting the gold in the mine within to the market without. This requires the combination and collaboration of objectivity and creativity in the of  posterity and prosperity that is sustained sensivity and integrity.

I am confident that the way you carry yourself will change because you will fall in love with someone you have known all your life and that person is you. We fall in love with everybody else except ourselves. You will learn to look inwardly to tap the treasure of your individuality as you beginning to develop your personality. Your relationships will appreciate as you begin to create your world of love and gratitude. Your temperament will be modified as your values begin to change in the light of your true value. Your view of what life is may be reviewed. Importance is more of what we create than what we purchase from the market.  We have always looked for importance around us this has lead us to frustration in the face of so many possessions. Read this book with an open mind and the world will soon be reading you.