What is poverty? For some time I have been musing on this question. Through a vision, it came so clear to me that, at the fundamental level, poverty is when an individual is not in control of their soul. For, one that does not control their soul cannot control their heart; and one that does not control their heart can never control their mind – in the end; they are not in control of their own trinity i.e., their soul, their heart and their mind. So what controls this being? It is the exogenous forces; it is voices and sounds from outside of their soul, it is the ``beautiful” visions from the outside world.
When an individual is in control of their soul, they know what is good and bad for them; they know what to say YES to, and what to say NO to. They know what they need in (and from) this world, they are confident of what they want in (and from) this world, they are confident of the future, no matter the present circumstances. From having full control of their soul, they drive a rare form of confidence in the day of tomorrow. Their soul nourishes this world with hope. The human soul feeds on nothing but hope and this hope waters the tree of faith.
When an individual is not in control of their, soul, they have no say in this world but the world has a say on their inevitable fate. One in control not of their soul is driven by their carnal desires; they have no power over the shinny apple. When the shinny apple is presented to them, they have but no choice but to eat of it, for what matters most to them is nothing but carnal gratification. They find themselves doing things not for self, but to the pleasure of the world outside of their soul. This is poverty! There is nothing more to it; poverty is when we have lost the power to live according to the dictates of our sacrosanct soul’s true convictions and passions.
One needs not be a billionaire to be rich, for there are many billionaires in this world that are so poor. They are poor because they control not their soul. They are driven by carnal gratification in their day to day endeavors, they have no say in this world but their money has – they use it to control the souls of others while their own soul wanders somewhere in the thin interstices of space-time. In the presence of material abundance, the heart can overpower the soul and mind and rule of these, leading to poverty where one goes on a relent soul-less pursuit for the world and things of the world. This is one form of poverty that makes the soul so sad.
To address poverty, requires not that an individual be flowered with material, but be given the fullest control of their soul. Human beings need to learn to love and trust one another, no matter how evil a person can be; for if they are loved and trusted, this would clandestinely force them in a gentle manner, to gain or regain control of their soul.
I have had time and again that Africa is the poorest continent on Earth. Many at times I have rejected this notion letting it to fall flat on its face. I have rejected it because the world understands poverty as that state where one has little material to nourish their carnal desires. To have little material is not poverty but one of the effects and consequences of poverty. If this is an effect and a consequence, what is the cause thereof?
I am told and I read somewhere in the history books that sometime time not in the so distant past, during one of human history’s sad epic, trans-Atlantic human cargo from the material rich Africa was ferried to build the empire state. It is a moment that humanity must not place blame on a discrete part of herself, but on the entirety of her whole; for the astute perpetrator needed an agile accomplice. At this moment, I hold that Africa began the downward-spiral into the deepest trenches of material-less poverty, while on the other hand the aggressors to Africa began peddling into a material rich poverty where one goes on an unremitting soul-less pursuit for the earth. Africa traded her soul for less than thirty pieces of silver and aggressors trade theirs for more than thirty pieces of silver. To put a finite material prize on one’s soul is an insult to He that maketh the soul. In the midst of material wealth, Africa gave away control of her soul and the aggressor trade theirs for some finite material prize. Today, she [Africa] is stumbling trying to get herself back on her feet while the aggressor pedals on.
What makes me sad is that, some believe Africa needs food aid; some believe Africa needs handouts from the so-called industrialized world. It makes me so sad, it brings to my soul a void that cannot be filled to hear a fully fledge human being say this. Amid her abundance in material, this will only help to make Africa the material poorest continent on Earth – what an irony. The so-called world needs to let go off Africa, leave Africa to regain control of her soul. No one and absolutely no one in this world can make an individual that has lost control of their soul to regain it except that very person. Africa need to stop looking to west, east or wherever for salvation, but deep inside of herself so as to regain control of her long-lost-soul!
I believe s/he that fights poverty is the one that seeks to control their own-soul. As they seek to control their soul they must afford other individuals the same opportunity by showing them trust and showering them with love. If the so-called industrialized world truly believe they want to help Africa fight poverty, they must trust Africa i.e., truly believe that God has given unto Africa that which Africa need to lift herself from the current quagmire and climb up to reach for the most distant stars of the heavens. For the so-called first world to continue to talk down on Africa, only works to their material benefit for they know [i.e. if they are in control of their own-soul] that this way, it would be difficult for Africa to regain control of her soul; for this voice talking down onto Africa is an impediment to this dream of soul-control.
If the so-called first world truly believe it must supervise Africa, then, my advice to Africa and all that live in it is that, dare to believe that: If and if at all an individual where to dream that somewhere amongst the brightest stars of the heavens is where their destiny lies, then, for that dream to ever come true, there must exist a point in their evolution as an individual being, that they dare to claim their God given right, to say, I am the master of my own destiny. That, God created us equal, endowed us with an intellect that we must never forego, that what God has endowed us with, no man can take away from us. That no man must rule outside of his jurisdiction, for there is but one God. We have suffered as a people and as a Nation. If democracy is the way to heaven, that democracy will only come if and only if a people drive this dream from within. To bring in exogenous forces to champion this, is but an ill-fated endeavor. God is not happy with this because he knows that he has gracefully endowed us with the ability to drive anything we wish, from within our-self. To entrust that another man to bring forth what God knows he has given us the ability to make come true only makes God sad, for God is a jealousy God. By entrusting another we are forsaking Him.
