By Debbie Olujobi

That man is a creation of the divine is generally accepted by those who believe in a higher power. The Bible sheds light on a chronological work of creation of the earth, its features and all its creatures culminating in the creation of man. The bigger picture is often lost on most people and who can blame them? The Bible doesn’t dwell on the details that celebrate the mastery and genius that is creation. Like most people I don’t quite connect to the creation of Adam and Eve, that’s more legend than real to me.  I however remain forever intrigued by the miraculous journey that a woman takes for 9 months that produces a baby. That is creation I can relate to and it’s a walk that only the divine can take credit for. The process of giving birth is often unpredictable and can take life as well as bring it. All the work that goes into the creation of a new baby can at best be monitored by doctors, no one knows for certain how it will end or even turn out; for all the advances of technology; we can’t form even a finger nail.  It’s mind boggling that when it matters the most what a man becomes, he is helpless, a non-participant, a little helpless foetus, suspended in water, completely dependent on his mother the host and the grace of God for life.

The work of creation is celebrated as perfect when a baby is born but from then on, its re-creation begins; as if to tell God, thank you but we can take it from here. An innocent baby is indoctrinated into a world of fear, and starts to learn the survival skills it never needed when it was wholly dependent on God for survival in its mother’s womb. Fear and not money is actually the root of all evil. Fear is the life blood of insecurity; it feeds hate, breeds ignorance and is the solid foundation for the ego. As babies we learn to fear the unknown, the untested, and the unexplored. We learn to fear water till we learn how to swim; we somehow forget we lived in water (the amniotic sac) for the first few months of life. As we grow our world becomes smaller and smaller till the urge to survive completely snuffs out the urge to explore, to conquer and experience the world around us.

It has become something of an urban legend that George W Bush a two time president of the United States never stepped out of his country till he became president (probably not true). Money wouldn’t have been an issue, but the point being made is that a person who stays in a little part of the world has a small world view and as such unsuited for power or greatness.

There is a only so much we can blame on a child’s upbringing but the real and full re-creation of man is completed by that man himself. It starts with a budding ego, which becomes the master of his chariot as a young adult. The ego creates an indelible impression that we are what we have, we are what we do and we are what people say or think of us. That mind-set may fuel and drive our ambition in the morning of our life but by the noon of life it is revealed as shallow, unfulfilling and totally unsatisfactory. It takes the coming of age to acquire the wisdom to dismantle the tripod deception of the ego.  Firstly we are definitely not what we have; if that were so, it would mean that we are nothing if we lose our wealth and possessions. Secondly we can’t just be what we do, otherwise what happens when we retire and can no longer do whatever it is? Thirdly the greatest lie of the ego is that we are our reputation; that all we are is what people think of us. If that were the case; should we cease to exist when we think we’ve lost people’s respect? Most people will scoff at the third one but truth be told most of us have made life changing decisions influenced by other people, either consciously or even unconsciously. It’s sad that our lives are half spent before we come into the realisation of our conscious and authentic selves as divine creations of a divine creator.

I was listening to an audio tape of Dr Wayne Dyer and he expressed very similar views. Replacing God with our ego is the beginning of the end for man and I can only pray that we go back to the innocence and freedom we enjoyed when we were being formed. I was once fiercely ambitious and it took a while to realise that acquisition upon acquisition of stuff brought no joy, no fulfilment and certainly no peace. When we ally ourselves with wisdom, our consciousness changes from ambition to personal growth. We learn to forgive our limitations and explore our possibilities; we give God the place that’s rightfully His and surrender to whatever may come.

Truth is whether we do or not; we control or influence nothing.  Our attempts at re-creation of ourselves and others are a failure; proof is in the news and all the horrors unfolding daily.  At this stage, in what is my afternoon of life; I am unlearning fear and dismantling my ego; trying really hard to be the perfect prototype that came out of my mother’s womb.