Tradition as enemy of progress

YOU will accomplish more through others than you will ever achieve alone. And that is possible if you opt for change rather than follow tradition. But you will do this if you are able to give clear directives. The dream of a better future needs an architect who will show others how to make it a reality. You must be that architect. You must identify the dream, unrestrained by traditional beliefs. You must be able to draw your dream, not only for your benefit, but also for the benefit of others. If you create a fuzzy picture, people will follow you in fuzzy ways.

Lack of clarity hinders initiative, inhibits persistence and undermines decisiveness. People don’t give their best to an objective they don’t understand. People cannot persevere for something they cannot see. Nobody is motivated by a dream he does not believe in. ‘‘Let all things be done decently and in order,” Cor. 14:40. Jehovah is a God of order, and He honours our efforts when they are carried out clearly and orderly. God instructed Habakkuk, ‘‘Write the vision and make it plain on tablets, that he may run who reads it.” If you are not clear as to your vision, seek Allah’s guidance, write down what the Almighty tells you and communicate it to those you need to tell, in a clear, step by step, orderly manner.

There are many elements to a motivational campaign; leadership and clarity of purpose are everything. By the pauperization of Nigerians, the wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness of the elite who suppress the truth by their wickedness. Thus, only those who dare to fail greatly, can ever achieve greatly. Worse still, our leaders abuse their own greatness when they disjoin remorse from power. Goodluck Jonathan ought to apologise to Nigerians for bringing poverty upon us.

One day, according to the scriptures, the Amalekites swept down King David’s hometown, burning down houses and taking families captive. Seeing the devastation, David and his men lifted up their voices and wept until they had no more power to weep. Thus, God will let you grieve your losses, but He would not allow you to stay there too long. Then, God said to David, ‘‘Pursue, for you shall surely overtake them and unfailingly recover all,” Samuel 30:8. And David and cohorts got back even more than their losses. This happened because God isn’t a God of restoration alone; He is a God of abundance. Don’t be ashamed of previous failures. Jehovah who created time can give you more of it.

‘‘I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten. You will eat in plenty and be satisfied and praise the Name of the Lord your God, who has dealt wondrously with you, and my people shall never be put to shame,” Joel 2: 25-26. Note the word ‘‘plenty,” when Allah blessed you, it will not come from an eyedropper. No, you will sing praises for your abundance. For out of His infinite riches, Jehovah giveth and giveth again. Ever since Adam blew it in the Garden of Eden, God’s desire and plan has been to restore to us, all that we have lost. To emerge triumphant like Muhammadu Buhari who struggled for 16 years to become President of Nigeria, you have to try again and again, eschewing tradition, adopting new strategies and new alliances. So, review your plans to gain your heart’s desires.

Our champion this week is Arthur Lovejoy, the American philosopher best known for his work on the history of ideas and theory of knowledge. Born in Berlin, Germany in October 1873, Arthur Lovejoy is the son of a Boston pastor and his German wife. He graduated from the University of California at Berkeley in 1895 and did postgraduate studies at Harvard and Sorbonne.

After teaching at Stanford University, Washington University and the University of Missouri, he joined Johns Hopkins University where he died as emeritus professor of Philosophy in December 1962. Lovejoy founded the Journal of History of Ideas and was cofounder of the American Association of University Professors. Lovejoy’s most famous work: The Great Chain of Being was published in 1936. It was an expansion of lectures he had delivered at Harvard in 1933. The book traced the history of the principle of plenitude. Essays in the History of Ideas (1948) which treated ideas such as Romanticism, naturalism and primitivism further stamped Lovejoy as America’s chief historian of ideas. His major philosophical work: The Revolt Against Dualism (1930) defended epistemological dualism against 20th century monism. His last works dealt with Romanticism. He died in Baltimore, Maryland, United States in December, 1962.