Natalia Oloo-Columnist 

In the deep roots of the Zulu, a story is told of a certain monkey and its love for shiny objects. To capture it, one day the residents put pieces of gold and diamond in a pot that had a very small mouth piece.

When the monkey was doing its daily rounds for that day, he could not resist retrieving the jewels from the pot. He grabbed them in his hand but upon trying to pull his hand out of the pot, his full fist became trapped. All he had to do was let go of the gold and diamond and he would be free to leave: A compromise the monkey was clearly not about to make.

That evening, the villagers returned and the monkey was captured.

This is what we have currently reduced ourselves to. We cling on to our perspective of security which happens to be worldly possessions as if we are to dwell on this earth for the rest of our existence. When Christ approaches us and offers us a better way through salvation, our first instinct is to reply, “No thank you, I have my jewels, wealth, parents, friends, spouse, insurance and all sorts of laughable false securities.”

It’s about time we step away from our miniature ideology of wisdom.

In the current day and age, there are numerous ‘advanced’ changes. Hypocrisy is currently at its peak and the list could go on forever. However, the most important thing is to remember that everyone is given their fair share of the choice element and how we use that is what always differs from one person to the next.

Perhaps  if  the  concept  of  mass judgment  was vanquished  from  our  misconstrued perception of truth, then there  might  be  a  slight  change  in  the  turn  of  events. Judgment is individual. In  Ecclesiastes 11:9, we  are  encouraged  to  enjoy  our  youth  to  the  fullest  because  we  don’t  ever  get  to  live  twice.

A current concept our generation has justified their indecency with is the term YOLO, meaning you only live once. However, Ecclesiastes also  reminds  us  that judgment  will  still  prevail  if  indeed  we  lived  in  accordance  to  the  scriptures.

Dear comrades and other relevant parties, may this desist from being termed as anything else other than a mere food for thought and in the wise words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., it is quite fundamental to remember that “the ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.”