The Science Of Our Love. “Africa – no other nation will help free us but ourselves”
By Katherine Dabo
“For many of us, the great obstacle to charity lies not in our luxurious living or desire for more money, but in our fear- fear of insecurity.” – C.S. Lewis
Reflecting on these words brought out my true feelings on the matter of brotherly and sisterly love. I found myself asking, “Why, are we the most disconnected people on the planet” and “Why has God not saved us from harm and danger?”, “Why are we going through all this turmoil?”
I suppose something within me felt like we endure all of these because we are a different people. Whenever I think back, seeking to fully understand our problems of social living, it becomes clearer that love embraces all children of the land and all things are ruled and sustained by it. My love for Africa helps me to boldly point out the fact that no other nation will ever care for Africa like the African man and woman. There’s no better friend for us than our brothers and sisters, and no other nation will help free us but ourselves.
Our freedom begins with us making a conscious choice to love one another and letting that love transform our lives. This is why leaders who have stood up for us were given to us for a season and sometimes even for a lifetime – to be mirrors, to help us face ourselves and to shine light into our world.
In this article I focus on the understanding that the breadth, length, depth, and height of our being comprehends all that is above, all that is below, all that is past, and all that is to come, and that there is no variation nor is there alteration; and it is altogether free, arising from our inner-man and not from any motives and conditions in men. I call it The Science Of Our Love.
It is the science of our love that empowers and emboldens us, and holds us together as a nation. We are called to each fulfill our part with all faithfulness, and honor the commitment to the ancestors who laid the path and paid heavy prices. So when we try to find solutions to our problems and express a desire to fix them, it is an awareness of this that should exalt and encourage us.
Love is a weapon we, the African people possess but have never used to save ourselves. The height and depth, breadth and length of love strengthens the spirit of the inner man, strengthens the soul, strengthens our faith and hopes, and allows us to serve one another as is our duty as children of the land of Africa.
In this way, I believe with all of us being a unit, we will better be able to gain an understanding of how our love affects our living together socially with one another.
Most of my writings have been based on the leadership of African countries and the wars that surround us. I also sometimes I bring to our remembrance in a historic manner the reasons why we find ourselves trapped in a vicious psychological whirlwind. However, today I bring to attention that we all sometimes must examine ourselves and understand the way we must go to bring balance to our world and peace to our people.
The Science Of Our Love
History without science is like a bird that has no wings. Scientifically and spiritually we African people ought to re-learn the science/spirituality of flight, in order to fly again.
The first step is in the development of love. Love is fundamental. It has always played an intricate role in the development of human civilizations, affecting the way we live, think and behave.
Based on this principle there is an order in which we must evolve in right knowledge, right wisdom and right understanding of our way forward.
First we must construct on the principle of equity, because where there is no equity there is no benevolence. There are several sources that speak of the ancient worlds and human beings being destroyed that were not created righteous. I believe this to be the wrong approach; that here is where we make the mistake today. Let’s remember that we are not only the body, we are divine minds in the body and every one of us is important. Therefore a radical revolution and transformation is needed to reconstruct what has been torn down. A new people must be born and nothing should intervene in this process. The least of us is important. None of us is more valuable than the other.
We have made leaps in infrastructure and technology, but what have we done for our social welfare? The disdain that progress shows for humanity which I believe has resulted in the loss of many souls is reflected throughout Africa. Looking from the outside in, we appear to not fully comprehend the need for humanity or it seems that our progress has no need for the human race, therefore, we make no effort to relate to our condition as a people. We hesitate to feel the pain of the next brother or sister.
In light of this, let’s learn to fully comprehended and acknowledge the breadth, length, depth and height of love that passes through us to our brothers and sisters. The breadth shows the extent of our nations and their ranks; the length, that it continues from everlasting to everlasting; the depth, is saving those who are sunk into the depths of misery; the height, is raising them up to self-reliance and self-sufficiency.
The breadth of love, it’s scope, range, reach, compass and span are not only beyond man’s natural capacity, but beyond the ordinary force of his spiritual capacity. The thing to be grasped needs a special strength of heart and soul; the heart needs to be enlarged, the mental “hands of the arms” need to be made strong.
One of the reasons why Africa continues to be “poor” and war torn, in my opinion is because we have thus far failed to grasp and connect with the dimensions of love. We must begin to come together and like everything that comes together, this is going to amaze the world and show what we can do as a Nation. Although we have no conception of a great plan or the scope, nor have all the precise answers, once we begin to look ahead and envisage the final result of our love for one another, we shall be astounded by the picture of progress, privileged to be a mighty people once again.
Length. Let us look at the length of our love for one another. Length is synonymous with “distance”. How long something takes, the time something lasts from beginning to end. I am convinced that our ancestors operated within these timeless measurements in order to encourage us to work this out in our minds. This is a love that began in eternity, it was always here. Our love did not suddenly come into being, it was there from the beginning of our history as a people with our ancestors as we have read in many ancient accounts left written in stone throughout the world and it will continue through time.
The love of mother Africa herself is a love that never gives us up or let’s us go. It is a love that never despairs us, in spite of what we have or are experiencing. The deep seated love that lives in us may have seemed wasted on the gaudy and tawdry pleasures of other nations who have plundered the land, and we continue to ask “why us?”. But the fault is also in us – that we have failed to love each other, we have not protected the land … we still have not grasped the power of our ancestors’ strength and love, but it will manifest itself in time because this love is unbroken.
Depth. Now let us look at the depth. Depth is the most wonderful of all, it is the most crucial. It means that there is no bottom to the love in us. In considering the depth, we can do nothing better than to look at the ancestors and what they did – they passed us knowledge and this is a fact. Secondly, they gave us an understanding of ourselves, though we have learned through time to hate ourselves and each other, it is not too late to grasp on to what we need to overcome our malice and spite.
Height. The height of our love – the highest point or the greatest degree – for one another will reach new boundaries as time allows. It challenges us to become conscious of who we are. Our ancestors left us with an intellect, and observation is its food, reason is its process of digestion, and truth is the circulating fluid. Without these, the soul dies. Truth makes the mind strong. Knowledge is not only power it is strength, it can change situations.
What is most essential is to “know the love of the ancestors” and understand the depth and height of their goodness which will raise us from the lowest depression to the greatest heights. Love conquers all. We have tried everything else, but we have never tried to love one another. We have even tried to love our enemies, but never ourselves. There is a day coming, and it cannot be far from us, in which we shall sit under one sun and have a feast.
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Also by Katherine Dabo
- War in the Heart of Africa: Congo on its knees as Women & Children continue to pay the highest Price
Katherine Dabo is one of the main organizers of DUNIA Magazine event ‘A Million Strong For The African Woman‘. LIKE on Facebook to follow updates
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