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When I visited the cemetery…
Yesterday, I had to visit the cemetery in connection with an impending event and as I stood there and looked at the various graves, I involuntarily started to reflect on life in general and it was a humbling experience.
All those people whose mortal remains were in the graves had been alive a few weeks, a few months, a few years ago, just like me and you, full of life and vitality.
There were men and women both young and old and I guess if we were to look into their backgrounds, would find diverse status in terms of financial muscle, academic achievements etc. and it was really disheartening.
One thing that really humbled me was the close proximity that all these people shared with each other, despite the differences that existed between them in terms of tribe, social status or whatever.
At the cemetery, you do not have the power of choice of your resting place, someone makes the choice for you and it was a very sobering moment for me.
I started wondering about what the attitude of these departed souls would have been in terms of how they would have related to people they came into contact with in their daily lives during their existence on this beautiful planet.
I wish it was possible to witness the look on the face of a very snobbish person who after his or her burial realised that she or he has been buried beside a mentally ill person, or a prostitute etc.
I really would have loved to behold such a sight, if it were possible. Just imagine for a moment that death is like falling asleep and this person who thinks she is better than everybody suddenly wakes up after being buried to realise that her permanent neighbour is a person with no qualification together with all the other attributes she despises.
Just use your imagination for a moment and picture her look of frustration, disgust and helplessness in the situation she finds herself.
A thought run through my mind about the value in monetary terms the ideas the people in the graves had that they could not implement. Books that were not written due to procrastination, business ideas that could have helped eased the unemployment situation in the country, a gift that could have transformed someone’s life but was not given, an advice that could have benefited someone but was not given, a life whose full potential could not be realised, souls that could have been won for Christ had the desire to preach the gospel been implemented and the cascading effect it would have had on society.
What I picked from this reflective moment was how much procrastination can cost us as well as the need to be each other’s keeper so we can fulfill our divine purposes.
A few days ago, the balloting for the presidential candidates was done and there were 13 candidates. We woke up to bad news yesterday the 29th of October, 2024 and the candidates have now become 12 because one of them is no more.
If you had a grudge against her, it is of no use. In the same vein, if she also had a grudge against someone, it is also of no use. We need to constantly remind ourselves that somebody created us and that like a manufacturer, he alone knows our expiry date.
Reflecting on how we will end, I believe, would help us live a much more fulfilling and fruitful lives. The selfishness and the greediness will reduce our society would be better managed.
The dependence on foreign aid, I believe would drastically reduce, if selfishness and greediness is reduced through the realisation that we brought nothing into this world and we shall certainly carry nothing out and that our final resting place, shall in most cases be determined by others.
By Laud Kissi-Mensah