WORDS CAN REMIND US OF OUR HUMANITY
THERE is a human agency that is common to all creatures on earth. It is free and holds the desired option of choice. It is called communication.
By communication I do not mean the scientific pursuit of research or investigation. I mean the day-to-day acts of information – or opinion-sharing that is the pulmonary system of being alive and aware.
It includes formal and informal education and the fourth estate (the news in all its formats).
But mostly, I am talking about communication between all living creatures – humans, animals and plants.
In plants, we have the wordless trigger that announces the first day of spring. It is “... the force that through the green fuse drives the flower...” according to Dylan Thomas.
In animals, it isn’t words, but other agencies that communicate the urge to breed, fight or flee.
The communication doesn’t include hate, envy or embarrassment. Man, according to Mark Twain, is the only animal that blushes – or needs to. Communication among fauna and flora are geared solely towards survival of the species through peaceful co-existence.
And here lies the rub. Among humans, this agency for survival, peace and love has been corrupted into other uglier usages. We use it to slander, injure, deceive and cause unnecessary havoc.
Simple messages of affirmation are strong links in the survival chain. We do not need politicians who promise the nigh-impossible, like the eradication of poverty, gangsterism, unemployment, illiteracy, gender-abuse, corruption, NHI. The list is as endless as it is debilitating.
Simple acts of communication include eye contact, the willingness to listen, the quiet word of encouragement. Do not replace goodwill with pre-packed WhatsApp messages. This has its place. But personal contact, knowing when to sit quietly and listen, sharing an orange, asking “how are you?” and really waiting for an answer – these are the seminal acts of communication that restore our humanity.
Simple gestures are more powerful than party political loyalty. Re-establishing or reinforcing family values can dislodge mountain ranges.
It starts in the home, around the table where we eat. It permeates towards the neighbours and down the street. It mushrooms until it covers the community in a benevolence that can heal and restore national pride.
Do not dismiss this with a disconsolate shrug. This is not pie in the sky. These are the buildingblocks from which mighty cities can be erected. The bricks are called love, work, care, hope, heal – tiny four-letter words. But mighty oaks from tiny acorns grow.
There are longer words, like encourage, validate, acknowledge, recognise.
From there we gravitate, however fast or slowly, towards dreams, aspirations, collective efforts, healthy hegemony and a willingness to live and let live.
Better still, to let go and let God do the rest. It will work if you have the will to make it.