September 3, 2007

Ejo akum-se-kum ubok idueghe inua (as dark as it may be, the hand does not miss the mouth).

Proverb Supplied by Dr. Michael Eshiett (United Kingdom)
Reflection: Dr. Ezekiel Ette (United States)

In Annang land, darkness could be intense at certain times of the year when the night is cloudy with no moon or stars to illumine the way. Despite the intensity of the darkness, the poor after a long day’s labor must feed the family. Children would often gather around the smoldering fire and mothers would remind the children as they eat the last meal of the day that darkness does not prevent eating a late night meal. There are certain activities among us humans that have become our second nature because of repeated use. Beyond this mundane understanding, the Annang believed that no matter the situation that humans may find themselves, the capacity to rise beyond certain conditions are limited by our imagination and our believe for as the psalmist expressed it, we are wonderfully made.
There was a time when we thought that all things were possible. There was a time when we believed in our physical ability to move the world. Our concerns then were for ourselves alone and we moved with very little care. The world was a place to explore and enjoy. That was yesterday before the care of age like a beacon called us. It was a time before age had its toil in the words of the immortal William Shakespeare. Today we look back sometimes and wonder where the time has gone. We recall our secondary school days and with fondness look at them as the age of innocence. Yet we still are who we were ten, twenty, thirty, forty and fifty years ago. Time might have changed, but we are still the same.
It is very normal to remember the times that are no more and to regret some of the decisions that we have made. The problem comes when we dwell on these regrets. It is normal to wonder why we pursued a certain course of action in the past and not another, but the problem comes when we believe that it is too late to change our path. It is not too late to return to school, for example, and it is not too late to right a wrong. Grade Poulard once remarked that “The measure of a man is not determined by his show of outward strength, or the volume of his voice, or the thunder of his action…(but) in the strength of his inner self…and his willingness to continue growing up.” Your voice may not be as strong as it used to be, your strength may be diminishing, perhaps your health may not be what it used to be, whatever you may be going through God has not finished with you yet and you still have some growing up to do. You are still you! Times may change; conditions may be different but as our people say darkness does not prevent the hand from reaching the mouth. Go and live today and be strengthened by these words.

 

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