I did mention the practice of packaged marriage which is still a feature of marriages in our land up till this day. It is a marriage in which a young couple is relieved of responsibilities. A feature of “packaged marriage” is that the parents of the couple throw caution to the wind in the amount they spend.

An advertisement currently running on television says it all, with the mother of the bride boasting of a huge crowd of the dignitaries that is being invited. She goes on to say that 14 different kinds of soup are being planned for the feast. A modest budget for the marriage ceremony is N25million, aside from about N150, 000 which goes into “writing in celebration, and engagement.”

On the D-Day, expensive cars are presented to the couple as gifts. In some cases, the young couple is given a house. All these are besides gifts the friends and associates of the parents give to them.
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The profligate life of Nigerians manifests not only in marriage ceremonies, but in burial rites and religious festivals. We are familiar with the thoughtlessness; there is, therefore, no need for elaboration on the subject. What should bother us and which is the subject of this piece are the consequences of prodigality.

Waste not, want not is an age-long admonition in many societies. He who wastes will want. Many a wealthy man may cast a glance at his account and assets and smiling, find that his account ever green and his assets inexhaustibly vast.

Then he says to himself that the age-long axiom does not apply to him. That may be so, but only on the surface. The saying is not just an axiom, but the observed outworking effect of an immutable Law of Nature which requires that in all activities of a man, he must maintain balance.

It is the Law of Balance which ensures harmony in the world. He who takes more than he has put in will have the debit presented to him some day to settle account—sooner or later. Fola Adeola and Jim Ovia are wont to say it is an overdraft which must be paid back.

A rich man is one who has been permitted the endowments through his past goodness which fetched him a relatively higher level of maturity.

In this maturity are abilities to move closer to the Table of the Lord, the Creator of all the worlds. He takes in accordance with his ability which is unfolding, ability which accounts for the varied levels of richness itself among people.

The table is open to all. With less burden a man is able to tap ideas flowing through Creation. It is the unfolding consistent with the polish of his spirit which dictates the level of the inner maturity. Those with fewer burdens must then have the greater capacity for the Grace of the Creator brought about by the unfolding and warmth of their refined inner state. There is no injustice in it.

A rich man thus takes from the Table of the Creator in trust. What he takes is to be used for the well-being and the upliftment of the world. He is expected to put it to noble use, such as providing employment opportunities so that those who may be permitted to cross his path can through work know joy and satisfy their material yearnings.

With the material needs settled, they can devote their lives in thanksgiving to God and devote their lives to the spiritual which is the purpose of their existence as every human being is a spirit.

When a man out of ignorance does not know that his wealth is to ennoble, wastes his vast blessings, he burdens himself with guilt. With every act of guilt, his inner radiance dims and he loses connection with the Throne of Grace. With this we can find validity in the scriptural warning that we cannot live in sin and expect Grace to abound.
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Drawing from this infallible truism, Chief Awolowo, while launching his presidential campaign in 1982 at Tafawa Balewa Square in December 1982, said: “A nation whose leadership is corrupt can never receive the touch of Grace.”

In the higher knowledge available on earth today, we are permitted to know that, with every guilt a person burdens himself the lesser his connection with help becomes. At the end of the day, he will have succeeded in dragging himself down, thus distancing himself from the ever-richly laden Table.

It is the gap between us and that Table that manifests in what we call poverty, even of ideas. If the fall is not apparent now it does not mean its consequences will not manifest in later life, in another earth life. When a man dies he does not cease to exist, and as they say, his works follow him. The threads he has woven for himself do not cease connection with him simply because he has died physically.

The foregoing explains why seemingly good people experience one tribulation or the other. His neighbours are perplexed because they only see today, they are unable to see his yesterday. They have no way of surveying his entire existence. Is it not instructive that many a man works day in, day out, but his material condition is that of abject poverty? It is said at every moment, we stand in the reactions of our past activities and at every moment we give cause to fateful consequences in the future!

He who wastes today will be in want tomorrow. Philanthropy for self aggrandizement and public acknowledgement does not hold water. A man, who uses his wealth to oppress others and drag the value of life down, will himself be the servant of those he once ill-treated.

The Laws are perfect and just, unchangeable and unswerving, and they do not take account of public opinions. They are driven by the Power of God and they manifest His Will.

Waste not, want not.
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