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The More You See
Hadiza Wada, DBA ...May 29, 2010
There are many perspectives with which one can view a situation or event. Some things appear on the surface to be useless, while in actual fact they are of great value, more than one can simply comprehend. While some others have all the glitter and seem to attract everyone with eyes on the glitters of life, while in actual fact the real value may not be up to par with what you can readily see. Recall the time when the Children of Israel were in the desert and they asked of their Leader Musa (Moses) on him be peace (AS) to pray to his Lord to make available to them variety of foods, especially those they were used to while in bondage. They mentioned some of them such as lentils, onions and others they asked. What did Musa (AS) said to them? Would you exchange the good for the bad? Those endowed with spiritual enlightenment, in nearness to the One True God value things that others ordinarily do not.
There is credit in simplicity, and honorable spiritual upliftment in patience and endurance. Those close to their Lord God, and in genuine service to him know better. People tend to put less value on what they already own. Only those who hurry through life without really tasting the good in it, chase and worship the glitters. They worry when their funds do not add up, seeking to find out where one thousand out of their million disappeared. They spend the night trying to add it up. Aha! They may say, we have discovered a leak in our money making machine. They see it as another opportunity to further squeeze the little guy. They lack the pleasure of a good night rest.
Africa the cradle of mankind, where the first humanoid walked the earth is a blessed continent. It truly is a garden which used to replenish itself. Ask most Africans South of the Sahara about how they used to just walk through the wild and pick fruits of all taste and colors. You do not have to plant and slave for them. Every season of the year, the forests produce some kind of fruit. People know which season produces which kind of fruits. When children go out into the woods to play or camp, they do not have to take a picnic basket, because the forests feed them.
It was not that long ago too. It used to be that way long before my generation were born. When we came along, we found our forests still taking care of its own. When we were about to graduate elementary school, we would for example decide to go to the suburbs for a walk with a group of friends and neighbors in the immediate surroundings of our city. Sometimes we choose to slide down the dry smooth rocks while sitting on some thick cardboard like material, something akin to skiing using the skating board. We climb the trees and pluck fruits when we need to eat. We spend the day enjoying nature, usually a few convenient hours when the sun is not burning hot.
I was reminding a colleague of mine about those days. I believed we kept taking from the bounties of nature without returning the favor, i.e. care for that which was feeding us as a friend and ally. We even began to cut those trees down forgetting to replace what we cut down for the generation coming after us. We even cut them down just to use as firewood to cook. Soon the forests started to recede and die down.
“But you have forgotten that what matters is the rate at which it was done, replied my colleague. It was okay up until our time because the rate of depletion was not catastrophic. But when the continent attracted market oriented people from Europe, they came with a culture that does not respect those natural resources” he added. The timbers started falling to nourish the demand for furniture. Forests started clearing for bigger mechanized farms that uses cheap labor to grow export crops. Others were cleared to make room for building structures.
But he agreed with me in principle. We were on the same side more or less. “You know what other thing makes your thought more credible?” He reminded me that the Sahara desert is also unique in some respect, as it is the only desert known for containing large oases that support life, where people desperate from thirst can get relief. Wherever you see a thicket of those palm trees, you are assured of finding water. It could not be that deep away from the surface. Big and famous oases include the Kharga and Dakhla of Libya, as well as others such as Wadi-al-Jadid (New Valley) of Egypt are good examples. In Libya for example, most rural populations live in coastal oases. But in most countries that we consider blessed today, their deserts are a death trap, not that blessed.
It was then that I said to him, you know what? Most probably when we stand before our Lord on Judgment day and start to complain that we were deprived, Allah may ask us in what way were you deprived? You just fail to recognize my favors while you were there. You were too lazy to maintain it. You misused it, allow everyone to take away from what I gave you without either you or them standing up for what is right, guarding the fauna and flora that nourishes you.
Up to at least early eighties while growing up in Nigeria, I could remember that during mango season for example in Kaduna, one does not have to buy any. Houses, streets and even suburban areas of the forests have bunches of the fruit ripening. Most are wild trees in public places, meaning the fruits are free. There was so much of them that some fall off the trees without anyone caring to pick and use them. You cannot sell them because everyone has them in abundance. The same is true about other fruits in some other areas. In some towns and villages of the middle belt areas for example, there are so much oranges and other wild fruits in its seasons that you cannot sell it locally because everyone has too much of it, to care to buy it off anyone.
To appreciate the bounties in Africa, you have to observe other nations with harsh less arable land, who just appear to be more determined to make the most use of it. Their wild or forests hardly provide fruit bearing trees. So they plan their land use to maximize its capacity to support themselves. Japan and even the United States may be cited as such nations. The plain states such as Kansas are especially known for wheat cultivation, Idaho for potatoes, while Florida and California for Oranges. They just cultivate such products enmass then trade it across state borders to other parts of the country that do not grow any significant amounts. Other fruits that are not native to the nation such as bananas, they import from neighboring countries.
So before one counts his misfortunes, he aught to look closer and see whether he or she is blessed.
(c) The Optimist Voice. All Rights Reserved.
