Some 6 months back I wrote an essay about the journey back. This second essay
which I shall put in series concludes the previous.
No pain, no gain; no cross, no crown. The journey forth is an attempt at expounding our conquest when we
dare journey back in faith and confidence. It is the residence of mercy, the acquisition
of power.
Life is full of mystery. At the micro level, life seems to
be going back and forth. ‘Atori l’aye’,
life becomes like a yoyo; but when we look at it from an acute macro
perspective, when we see the big picture, life is actually, truthfully,
realistically moving in one direction, and that is forward only; because the
ruler of this world has already been judged, and the more we accustom ourselves
to looking at the big picture, the more positive we become and the more we are
unaffected by the earthly and ephemeral. But we cannot see the big picture
unless we broaden the heart, and we cannot broaden the heart unless we embark
on the journey back.
Life moves forward, it journeys in search of truth and truth
beckons to visit her. The man who journeys in truth knows that all falsehood
shall ultimately be destroyed, and an adept at this journey forth knows that
all falsehood has already been destroyed. When we venture back, we definitely
return with power; we acquire power, so to say.
Now, this definition of power has the tendency of being
viewed from a negative perspective. When we think of power we immediately think
of something akin to greed and personal acquisitions, because, just like love -
and perhaps more than love- power’s definition has been tarnished. In fact, if love
has been wounded in our age, power has been murdered.
Power is the ultimate capacity to influence. When we
sincerely journey back, we acquire power, but because the journey back can be
tasking, a great multitude ‘cut corners’ to acquire power and here lies the
death of power, in my land and in the world in general. We have murdered power
by ignoring its route, thus no man is at peace.
This desire for power, the capacity to influence was the
reason which propelled the Magi in their long search for Christ, it was the
longing of the Queen of Sheba which enhanced her journey to Solomon, and it is
what every single earthly and heavenly ruler craves for, rightly or otherwise. If you cannot influence, of what benefit then
is your power? You can use force of course, but force and coercion deplete the
source of power the more and ultimately dries and kill it off. Herein lies the
death of power: Not keeping to the rules of its path.
Life in fact is full of powerful people who are not aware of
their power, and of powerless lots who in fact think they are powerful. Power in truth was what Christ acquired
through His death and Resurrection, or rather that which He has bequeathed us,
and thus hope is reborn because, even in our age, real power seems though it is
dead, but it lives.
Power comes at a cost, whether you travel in truth or falsely,
the difference is that one is sustainable and the other ultimately crumbles. You
cannot ‘sit down’ and manage power; if you do you shall ultimately be consumed.
Power moves, it moves with the body, heart, mind, intellect, will and memory.
If you really want power sustained, most especially: you've
One person would say, ‘I don’t care for this power thing anyway.
I am contented the way I am, why should I be that ambitious?’ I reply that you either do not understand what
real power consists of or that you are still disillusioned regarding your
reason for living. Your essence is made for power, even simple laws of Physics
point to that fact.
Another person would say, ‘yes I am in charge, I grasp this
concept of power, I am superior.’ I say:
good for you, but you still do not know what this power is, because it has
nothing to do with you. Even if you know what it is, be careful, for you are threading
a very risky ground by deciding to be in charge, you are already in the realm
of great temptations and may not last.
We live in an age where power is directly motivated by the
material, but acquiring true power demands rising above the material. This
rectilinear journey requires an education which is equipped towards enabling
the 21st century man to rise beyond the material, but we don’t seem
to be ready.
For every journey back that we make, we acquire the capacity
to make 7 journeys forth (and I use 7 figuratively to depict perfection), thus
I have decided to divide this essay into 7. This is just one of them and the
forthcoming topics shall equally be as diverse as they are provocative. Stay
tuned…
