The approach we will take in this essay is to ask ourselves how we are expected to live in ordinary times, and then know from there how we are expected to live in the challenging times of today.
When the times are not challenging, how should we live? When the times are challenging, as now, how should we live?
Purpose of Life
From the knowledge that we have freely available on earth today, the purpose of life is different from how we have been living life for sometime now. What we call modern civilization has led us down the wrong path. For a long time already. We are now used to doing the wrong things. Proof of this lies in the disaster confronting mankind in all fronts: wars, scarcity, illnesses, unspeakable crimes in all climes, and finally now, natural disasters.
We have gone the wrong way
What we are expected to do is to treat this earth as a temporary place of abode, where we will prepare for our permanent home, away from this earth. Not as now, to treat this physical world as if it is the be-all and end-all of every thing, of all existence.
“The world is a market, Heaven is home”
We have a saying, which we like to quote, that “the world is a market, Heaven is home”.
“Aye loja , Orun ni Ile.“ This statement is so self evident to the Yoruba people that they saw no reason to argue or quibble over it. In all simplicity, it is obeyed. It is a declaration. It captures exactly, what our planet earth is all about, and should be about. The people of old simply adapted their daily life, daily attitude, to this statement which is borne out of experience. It is not a dictation of the king or any other coercive force. Simply a fact of life.
This is a concept that accurately captures what our planet and its purpose is. As far as we know, this saying in Yorubaland predated the advent of Christianity or Islam. This Truth was not taught to us by the two Abrahamic religions. It is something that arose out of our own experiences. Through this, people became absolutely convinced of its truth, and have since lived it as part of their lives.
How does a visitor behave? Or somebody on a journey? How do we behave? How is a trader who left her home to go to a market supposed to behave?
A wise visitor behaves in a way that shows in his behavior that he does NOT regard his place of abode, the visitor’s lodge, as a permanent place. He behaves in a way that shows constant awareness that he is merely there for a short time. Everything he does is temporary. He starts preparation for home immediately he settles down on his journey.
This settling down on his journey can be likened to the age of adolescence for a human being. At adolescence, a human being should realise that he is on a trip outside his own home, has now settled down, and must begin preparations in earnest for his home. Relationships are built or should be built, based on preparation for the home from where the visit was undertaken. In this case, Heaven.
This is The time the visitor should begin inquiries about his reason For The Trip, ask about and understand his true home, and begin earnest preparations for when it would be time to return home.
Seen like this, and that is how life should be seen, it becomes obvious how life should be lived: everything in this world is temporary. What is far more important is how we prepare for the permanent home in Heaven.
How do we live in ordinary times is what we should find out, and then from that, know how we should live when the times are challenging, like now.
How do we prepare for our home?
If we understand that the world is a mere market, then we must prepare for our home. If we must prepare for home, how do we prepare?
This means our viewpoint, our activities, our decisions should be based on seeing this world as temporary, not permanent. In fact, the earth can be likened to a school, where we go to learn how to live life. If this earth is a school, then our home is elsewhere, in Heaven.
We came from the Spiritual part of Creation, and we are expected to return there. All the things we do from the time we leave the Spiritual part, our home, crossing various parts of Creation to here, is a process of gathering information about our home, learning the lessons therefrom, and using that knowledge to return home as fully knowledgeable, mature spirits.
‘Challenging times’
These challenging times are a warning to us that time has now run out. It is now a case of either-or. It has already become urgent to learn about the true Laws of God, live accordingly, and get out of the market and return home by the fastest means possible from the world of matter where we presently live, onto lighter parts of Creation. The lighter areas of Creation are not subject to change or disintegration. In fact, as our true home, they are truly permanent.
So how do we prepare to go back to our home?
Not just urgent; now an emergency for you and me!
If we have not done so before, or we have been doing it half-heartedly, this is the time to stop all pretence, time wasting or prevarication. It has already become not just urgent, but an emergency! What we call challenging times are signs for us that the market is beginning to dismiss. Many traders have gone home, others are preparing to go, while the market keepers have shown up, with tools to close down the market for this market day while preparing it for another market day.
Anyone still within the market (material creation) then has to make haste, conclude his or her business, and set out for home.
That is the state we are now in the world. We must now prepare to return back to our home in the lighter regions. Or be trapped here.
The world we are in now, is nearing the end of a Cycle. When a cycle ends, what happens is that all what is available so far are ended and a new world starts afresh.
The way to prepare is to sit up, ignore everything else, and find out what is the true Will of God, not what we are told, but the true Will, of God. Then fulfill It.
So we have our answer. We should live in such a way as to find out what God wants for us, and act accordingly.
What is the Will of God?
How do we know the Will of God? How do we live accordingly? How do we live according to the dictates of the Will? What are the things that will help us?
The rational thing to do is to find out the truth about life. With the knowledge available in the world today, we know that Creation is upheld by some basic fundamental laws. These include, as the principal ones, The Law of Reciprocal Action, also called the Law of Sowing and Reaping. Physics has the same Law as Law of Action and Reaction. They state that for every action, there must be an equal and opposite reaction.
There is also the Law of Spiritual Gravity. Which states that all entities find themselves at the height or at the depth where they belong in accordance with their Spiritual weight. Dark things are heavy, weighing us down, while good deeds, thoughts and actions are light. The law manifests physically as the law of gravity known to us, identified by Isaac Newton.
The third basic law is the Law of Attraction of Homogeneous Species. That is, like attracts like. Birds of a feather flock together. Like father, like son.
These three laws hold the universe. Our activities are driven by them. All questions are answered within them. Questions within families, countries and races. As well as in all human institutions: governments and companies included.
We simply need to calm down and become more observant and we will see the operation of these laws everywhere. It is not, as they say, rocket science. It is easy enough for a child to understand. The foregoing fact eliminates any excuse of whatever type, that can be used to justify indolence at any time. But more so at this time of a Cosmic State of Emergency.
ALL peoples were told what is the Will of God. We choose indolence. Indolence in the sense that we allow ourselves to be told what is impossible, AND WE ACCEPT! That is the guilt we bear, which we must bear. This must change if we are to survive these times. We must find out the Will of God and fulfill It.
So, we have our answer to the question posed by the topic of this essay; how should we live in these challenging times?
We should find out the true Will of God, and conform our daily lives to It. If we do that, we shall be able to navigate successfully, the journey on the high seas of life.
In doing this, it is not right to depend on anybody’s opinion. We must find out the true Will by ourselves, for ourselves, and follow It with every effort we can muster.
And it is not as difficult as we may think. A nice and simple way to start, is to adhere to the admonition to love our God with all our heart, and love our neighbours as ourselves. Or, we can choose to also adhere sincerely to the injunction to submit totally to the Will of Almighty God. Easier still is to follow the injunction to keep our thoughts pure, which comes with the promise of Peace and Happiness.
May all sincere efforts at change be richly rewarded. Amen.
