CHANGE!

THE ESSENCE OF CHANGE

Not too long ago, Ghana celebrated its 53^rd independence anniversary; I can recall some of the many social debates that were heard throughout the country on the various channels of media communication over whether or not we had achieved anything during that period to merit a celebration. The reason for this celebration, in my opinion, was to remember the change that revolutionized the African spirit of independence. Some even went as far as to embark on demonstrations, while others bastardized the very nature of our political system, calling its practitioners immature, greedy and egoistic. Our neigbours, Nigeria, also celebrated their 50^th independence anniversary recently and what we heard through international news agencies was quite repulsive. Two bombs exploding at different times and injuring some people. This is how some people choose to echo their aggravations about how there has been NO CHANGE in many years. These are just a few of the many occurrences of such situations in our beloved continent. We are always crying for CHANGE!

In the Concise Oxford Dictionary, change is defined in its verb form as “to make or become different; to become new.” If I am to probe further into what others -- scholars and philosophers-- have said there shall be no end to what the word change is not, and is. Nonetheless, I have always enjoyed this statement I heard in my philosophy class when I was an undergraduate student: “You can never step in the same river twice.”

When we study the history of our beloved nation one thing is clear we have not enjoyed sustained steady growth in a long while. For if we had, we would be experiencing what economist have termed economic development. This is development characterized by major infrastructural change. This is the kind of change that will increase the per capita income of the people, provide better healthcare delivery system(s), make available excellent educational facilities to all citizens and reduce drastically, if not obliterate totally, the level of poverty in the country. This is the kind of change that the people of Ghana, Africa and the world as whole would like to see.

How then can we bring about this change which results in the creation of a ‘state of utopia’? This is the question that many scholars, philosophers, politicians, corporate CEOs and the general populace have been contemplating about for centuries. One school of thought argues that this change has been experienced in Western countries while Africa and other third world countries are lagging behind. If this is true, could we say then that the explanation for all the horrific things that have been perpetuated by some African heads of state and military governments are because Africa and other continents characterized by these features so desperately need change? Should we associate the brutalities accompanying such atrocious acts as worthy sacrifices for change to materialize in the continent, or should we say that it is just an expression of frustration on the part of these leaders for not realizing the change that we so much wish for? How do we experience change that does not result in a blood bath?

The answer to this question is simple: be the change you want to see. Day in and day out we hear people complaining about the many defects surrounding them, we also observe these very people who continually fuss about such issues do nothing about it. If it bothers you that much, instead of picking up placards and walking on these same streets in the name of freedom of demonstration, let us rather use our strength in organizing the very people marching on the streets to fix the problem. It is the rational thing to do. I am not here to downplay the importance of being able to exercise one’s frustrations in the streets. However, most of the times, the time we spend holding placards could have been used to fix a problem in our homes, communities and country for that matter.

When you are sitting in the church and everyone is clapping for the choir about the song they sung, and you have realized they have been consistently singing off-key, and that annoys you, instead of telling your friends about how the choir or the person who conducts it knows nothing about music, why don’t you volunteer and offer-up your musical knowledge to better the choir. If you are part of those who always complain that there is no job in the system, instead of thinking about who will employ your, start thinking about how to establish your own business so that you can also employ people in this manner, you help to reduce the level of unemployment in the economy.

When I listen to radio programmes, I hear those on the panel and those who call-in accuse politicians of being corrupt. The question that these people often fail to ask themselves is how upright they themselves are. Jesus asked the Pharisees to let those without sin be the first to throw the stone at the woman. How many of us will refuse the ‘gift’ that is suppose to motivate us to carry out a duty briskly. How many of us ask customers, clients, or prospective clients and customers to give us something supposedly for the ‘boss’ or behave rudely to them because they fail to ‘recognize our efforts’?

Upon careful thought I propose these to be the essence of the change we so badly seek:

CHANGE SHOULD BE A CONSCIOUS ACT. In deciding to do what is right, we are consciously saying that we are going to be a part of the process, because inherently, we are part of the problem.

CHANGE SHOULD BE BY CHOICE, NOT BY MASS PROTEST. In the spirit of decision making, let us all come together and agree on what is right, to make our homes, communities and country the place we want it to be.

CHANGE SHOULD BE A DISCIPLINE. Biblical scripture informs us that the heart is deceitful above all things. This tells me how unstable we are as human beings. The Apostle Paul agrees, that is why he said he beat his body into submission when he wrote to the Christians in Rome. There is the need to be disciplined in order to experience real change.

CHANGE IS LIFE NOT A LIFESTYLE. So many people see many things which are necessities in life to be a lifestyle. Life and lifestyle are two different concepts. In order to experience real change we need to acknowledge that Change is life not a lifestyle. Heraclitus said, “you cannot step into the same river twice.”

CONCLUSION

Changing is one of the most difficult things for some of us, but we should decide -- make a choice, a conscious one for that matter -- to remain disciplined and live a life of change. If we, (humans) are created in the likeness of God, and one major characteristic of God is that he keeps surprising, then we should make it a point to surprise ourselves. We should change!