WHAT ARE YOU SOWING?

Hurrying out of the lounge, I heard my name called by a distinctly familiar voice belonging to an old friend I hadn’t seen in a while. As we bantered and caught up with each other’s travails in the recent past, he told of a conversation he’d had a few days earlier. Upon informing the caller he was in London, he was asked if he had gone to inspect and secure his shop there. Confused and unsure of what was going on, especially as he was not in the market for any shops, he didn’t know what response to give and so his caller went on to elaborate.

“Have you not been to Edgware Rd and seen all the shops and cafes there?” he asked. “They are owned by Lebanese, Syrians and Iraqis immigrants. All former millionaires and billionaires who lost their fortune because of troubles in their homelands. An ailing economy, persecution, civil strife and wars drove them all out to become shop owners in London.” he said. “You had better secure a shop quickly as very soon we will have erstwhile Nigerian millionaires and billionaires selling suya in London” he concluded. The joke was on me and after a hearty laugh, we went our separate ways.

The Almighty is a God of order who set in place a law of harvest which invariably brings to bear a reaping in multiple folds of whatsoever is sown. Later on, as we settled into our cruising altitude, that conversation played back in my head as I reflected upon the underlying truth inherent in not learning from the experience of others. Truly nations who have not made peace with her citizens and have permitted the destruction of their social, moral and economic fabric are paying a steep price for it. The inordinate celebration of the travails of its citizens, rich or poor, in any society invariably leads to a reaping of hardship for all. The time is now to sow the seeds of peace to reap its fruits of righteousness and prosperity in our land. Are you a peacemaker? May God gives us the grace to love one another.