A Voice from the Shrine
By Ebeagbor Ehis-kerry

This article calls for contemplation and careful imagination because there must be a solution to this syndrome that is in our blood which I term corruption.
How do you know good people is a question that has been disturbing me in this nation and now I have been given the opportunity to say this without tension in this edition. Regardless of our diverse religions, which cause confusion in the eyes of this our young generation, ‘we all know that there is God and his true born’ in every generation. So why are we myopic and straight-jacketed in this nation and thereby enforcing what the great Ola Rotimi termed as ‘Man’s inhumanity to man’. Remember that there is always a ‘staff of office’ and it is for every one of us. When you carry the staff of office, it doesn’t matter the ‘course’ because there is always ‘cause’ and blessing to every staff of office. With this, I connote the way majority recommends good people; it is strictly by how they look. My people, is this supposed to be so? Even when the gospel said “I will come as a thief in the night {knight}, how do you expect a thief?
People, whatever your connotations, denotations and notions are about this question, please try to reason with me as you read through this write-up.
Blessed are the ‘meek’ and not the ‘gentle’, the Almighty said, who shall inherit the earth. There is a big difference between being meek, which is premised on humility and being gentle which is based on physical gentility. Being meek is of the spirit, I mean the inner person, while being gentle is of the physical by pretense and deceit which is exactly how we are seeing things and living in our society today. They pretend to be good by how they look but devilish in how they do. Wondering who the writer may be or why he is sounding like this? It is because our society is due for change and those who are supposed to create the change have taken advantage to destroy, corrupt and confuse us in what is summed in the gospel. We know that there is a gospel of  God which has been guiding people from generation to generation, but my question is why would our generation, especially our nation refuse to follow suit and accept change which has been the only root or route right from the beginning of creation. There is supposed to be an interpretation of the gospel of God to suit our nation rather than putting all of us in a state of confusion and illusion, thereby favouring some set of people which leads to a case of the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer.
It is against this backdrop that I will buttress and express myself on ‘self confidence’ which is for everyone to assess his/herself in any situation or condition because, ‘he that allows the past to dictate his pressing needs of the present, pays the price of being without a vision’.
A genius is one whom God has given the brain to reign and they are always in this struggle of change. Most persons who are without vision misinterpret them thereby creating a vacuum which may put one in a point of dilemma because the Almighty said that ‘the words of the spirit are canal to man’.
People, there can never be only one way to the river, market or any public place because these places are of the public, therefore everybody has to trace his or her route from where his or her way leads. Therefore, there is no one way to know good people. Just open your mind and heart to trust and accept people whichever way they look or do, since everything is acceptable in the eyes of God except of course evil. And then what is evil; since another man’s food is my poison?
Self confidence is that which everyone derives from every gospel one originates from, believing that there is always an indestructible, invisible and illusory force that governs you. My people, it is no longer ‘seeing is believing’, it is now ‘feeling is believing’ because in this nation if you want to see, it might be the end of it, I mean no story.
Aristotle in his Poetics visualized how man reacted to natural phenomenon and natural spirits around him, because man from beginning believed that there are external, superior and spiritual forces that co-exist or lives in him. There is always a gulf between the living, the dead, the unborn, psychology, the body and soul. It is always better and possible to look into the past {history} which is very necessary, represent the present and thereby forecast the future which is dimmed fit as the best way of living.
Aristotle in his honest sense visualized how the soul of a man exists after death, also how the body, soul and psychology works in accord to imitate actions that appeases nature and represent the future. More so, ‘if a man advances confidently in the direction of his dreams’, says the American thinker, Thoreau Henry David, ‘he will definitely experience success unknown in common times. Quoting Robert Nesta Marley, ‘don’t bury your dreams, put your vision to reality’. With this I say, ‘to invent is more than to discover because these inventions are really the discovery and rediscovery.
Self confidence is the foundation of all great success and achievement. So why don’t we put on our helmet, armlet and anklets as elements towards positive achievement and accomplishments to any creative vision we dream of in this citadel of existence? Average people have wishes and hopes while the confident ones have objectives, plans and goals.
Friends, ask yourself, ‘what one great thing would I dare to dream? Listen, it is not the lack of ability or opportunity that holds us back, it is only a lack of confidence. In this jungle, there is no friend, in the struggle there is no end. This is what I can’t comprehend-one can live to see today but does not know the end. There are no limits to what we can accomplish except the limits we place in our own thinking. Confidence is a habit that can be developed by acting as if you already had the confidence you desire to have. Regardless of the government, imagine no limitations, what would you do with your life if you had all the education, experience and resources that you require? How would you change your life if you won a million dollar cash today? Whatever your answer is, start today to take those actions. Dream big dreams, only big dreams have the power to move your mind and spirit.
The key to self-confidence is for you to decide on what you want to do and then act as if it were impossible to fail. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. There is God regardless of you religion, because ‘gentility in the eyes of humanity is vanity, gentility in the eyes of spirituality which is humility is reality and an individual’s intellectual ability is his/her priority. So why wont they live, exist and be what they want to be amidst humanity?
Conclusively, don’t conclude about people by the way they look. I thank God for the gift of friendship where I can be myself and be accepted as I am and for finding a HOME in the hearts of mankind.
Lastly, it is imperative to note that ‘I am given the inspiration from the FATHER of creation to tell this generation, especially this my nation and anyone that comes across this article regardless of you religion, tribe, background and the likes, all I cry for without fear or favour is maintain PEACE, JUSTICE and LOVE so that our days might be long in this citadel of living.