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This treatise is not an attempt to turn my readers into overnight prayer warriors. But permit me to begin my thoughts this week with a prayer I have always desired to express publicly: a prayer of deliverance for the greedy.
“Lord, I pray that you give the requisite understanding to the greedy in our society so that they know why it is bad to strive to amass wealth by all-means-necessary, and very wise and satisfying to be happy with what you have given them. Lord, also cause them to embrace and celebrate the content of contentment daily.”
What is contentment? Contentment is the grace of God to walk away from an all-you-can-eat buffet table when your belly is full. It is man’s innate human ability to close his eyes to more appendages of possessions he neither needs nor wants. Contentment is a man’s ability to diminish his lust for more things while he fully enjoys the stuff he has in his possession. Contentment is not an achievement; it is being at peace within yourself while you battle with the storm of want swirling and raging in the teacup of your life.
The minds of many people in our society have been bruised so badly that they resolutely believe in amassing wealth through dishonest means. Unfortunately, In the minds of many among us, this is not an abnormality. It is what everybody does. Hence, somebody somewhere desires to do what everybody does. It thus becomes a way of life to live.
Pastors who do not preach to their congregation about how to get rich-quick will end up worshipping God alone in a sanctuary with scanty attendees. But where gold and its glow are preached, and the message of mammon is ministered in bloviating rhetorics, churches are filled to the brim because the man of God blabbers weekly from the altar of God about “how to get rich in 24 hours”.
The mind of an uncontrolled and unbridled human embraces the theory that by every means necessary, money must come. It is why friends behead friends for money rituals. It is why loved ones sacrifice their blood relations in pursuit of mammon. It is why business partners deceive and defraud one another. It is also why politicians steal black and blue, and civil servants become uncivil in a mad rush for filthy lucre.
Our young people have bought into the insanity of big money and vast wealth by-every-means-necessary. Big cars, big houses, and big splashes of cash at events are acts that are endearing to their fragile minds. Thieves coronated chiefs are their mentors, and the aspiration to be like the robber next door is heightened. Anytime you hear the news that a former governor or senator is caught with raw stacks of cash in his or her house while people in his village are dying of poverty and disease, it is because of the sickness of the human mind.
What in the world is one creature of God doing with $100bn and one thousand houses? What is sane about money stacked up to the ceiling, and cash scattered from the kitchen to the bedroom of a former public official while the people perish in penury? A mind programmed to see amassing unholy wealth as a life goal is a sick mind. But a mind trained and tutored toward contentment is a mind at peace.
Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, a career-scientist-turned-politician was the 11th President of India 2002-2007. His charisma and accomplishments earned him the nickname: “The People’s President”. Kalam was a beloved president. When his term was up in 2007, the people pressured him to run for another term. He declined. He left office to become a classroom teacher in various Indian universities. Few politicians anywhere in the world will resist the temptation of the offer of a prolonged hold on power. Kalam spoke the following words that must always ring as a bell of caution in the head of greed freaks: “Where do evils like corruption arise from? It comes from the never-ending greed. The fight for a corruption-free ethical society will have to be fought against this greed and replace it with ‘what can I give’ spirit.”
This echoes what Alexander III King of Macedonia commonly known as Alexander the Great said about wealth accumulation. After many recorded conquests and massive accumulated wealth, he died at the tender age of 32. On his deathbed, he summoned his army generals and told them his three ultimate wishes: He wanted the best doctors to carry his coffin. He wanted the wealth he had accumulated (money, gold, precious stones) to be scattered along the procession to the cemetery. He wanted his hands let loose and let hang outside the coffin for all to see.
One of his generals who was surprised by those unusual requests asked Alexander to explain. Here is what Alexander the Great had to say:
“I want the best doctors to carry my coffin to demonstrate that in the face of death, even the best doctors in the world have no power to heal. I want the road to be covered with my treasure so that everybody sees that material wealth acquired on earth, will stay on earth. And I want my hands to swing in the wind so that people understand that we come to this world empty-handed and we leave this world empty-handed.”
Ultimately, this story is that no billionaire brought a dime into this world, and ultimately; he will leave empty. And whatever God has given to you as a gift, be satisfied with it. If you want a bigger house but cannot get it, remain satisfied with the small one you have today. If you want extra cash in your bank account but do not have it, stay happy with the meagre that you have now. If you desire a position or promotion but it is not coming; still get down on your knees in thanks and reverence to God for the position you have now. If you do not get what you want, enjoy the majesty and goodness of God toward you and do not redefine it. Be grateful to God for what seems not enough today and enjoy every bit of it. Whatever He drops in your basket of life and living, stay content with it even as you hope for more to come at the appropriate time. This is the content of contentment.
X-@FolaOjotweet
