As Kenyans grapple with the religious madness of the many 'Mackenzies', let it be known that spirituality and destiny are a personal pact with God, or whomever you perceive to be your 'spiritual father', the supreme being to whom your soul is connected, and from whom you get spiritual nourishment, absent of any 'holy ghost fire threats'.
Kindly, unkindly note that by spiritual father, I don't mean your pastor, prophet, prophetess, bishop, priest, 'mum', 'dad' or whatever name is given to your religious leader.
As a society, we are perishing in the name of 'serving God' because we don't know or understand the difference between spirituality and religiosity. Every human being is spiritual because spirituality is the software that makes us human, conscious of it or otherwise. Spirituality is what gives us hope and faith in whatever we aspire for in life; and the belief that "it is possible".
Religiosity is a very divisive and confusing phenomenon; and it's the cause of all the chaos in our 'holy world' today. Religiosity has led to the commercialisation of spiritualism where self-anointed 'men of God' selectively and radically utilise specific verses of the Bible to leech on the vulnerably ignorant, 'broken', 'empty' and/or desperate people in society.
Religiosity has led to the cut-throat competition of 'spiritual seriousness' where some 'believers' consider other believers as not being serious enough, and some churches are considered as 'not having enough godliness', whatever that means. Whoever developed the scales for measuring one's 'spiritual seriousness', I don't know.
Furthermore, there is a concoction of the scriptures by some elements within the religious spaces with the sole intention of driving people into worshipping the 'owner of the church'; who has captured the vulnerable minds of their followers to the point of making them believe in fraudulent miracles, as well as believing that they are the only path for them to enter heaven.
Spirituality, worshipping God and 'going to heaven' are a personal 'business' between every human being and 'their God', to the extent that everyone is supposed to create their own connection with God and find their own way of 'living in heaven', not just waiting to die before they 'go to heaven'.
Or isn't that what the universal Lord's Prayer says, and I quote "Let it be on Earth as it is in Heaven"! Or isn't it our job to create a heaven-like environment of peace, abundance, equity and fulfilment; so that we don't live under the illusion of going to Heaven because we are already in Heaven.
I have always held that as human beings, we are blessed differently, and we were born or created for different purposes based on our different abilities. The most important thing in life is for everyone to understand their purpose in life and their distinct God-given currencies; so that they can mine those currencies in realisation of their destined purposes in life.
The failure by people to understand this basic concept of humanity is the main cause of the rat race to 'be like so and so', have what 'so and so has', live like 'so and so', marry or get married, have this number of children, etc.
This has created a society of 'willing victims' who are preyed on by the fraudsters masquerading as 'men of God' that have 'receipt books and passwords to Heaven', have 'womb openers' for women who can't conceive or carry a pregnancy to full term, can restore 'stolen stars', etc. Or who hasn't anyone heard about people's "stars being stolen or closed"? Or about the magic salt, water and/or handkerchiefs?
With all said but not done, let it be known that come rain come sunshine, we will never be the same in any aspect of life. That's why when you give two broke people Sh1 million each, and even tell them to invest in the same venture, the returns will be different; just like different billionaires have different levels of satisfaction from their unlimited wealth and ambition; their 'worldly equal' status notwithstanding.
Be satisfied with how you were created, be contented with who you are; but uniquely aspire to be the best version of yourself, not to be like anyone else. Never aspire to be someone whose journey you haven't walked.
The one thing that you must not forget while being yourself is that the world doesn't revolve around you, the purpose of humanity is to socialise, and that being alive to your limits as a person, and the realities in your environment, is the first step to success and fulfilment in life.
In summary, if only we knew that not everyone was born to be a husband, wife, father or mother. If only we knew that not everyone was born to be a billionaire and millionaire. If only we knew that not everyone was born to be 'holy' and a 'good person to you'. If only we knew that people have a right not to help you, even if you think that they are able or should.
If only we learnt to let people be who they think they should be or want to be, as long as it doesn't stop us from being what we want to be; and if what they are doesn't fit our desires, we accept and walk away peacefully, to patiently search for that what fits our desires...The world would be a very peaceful and fulfilled place for EVERYONE.
Mental health advocate and community development enthusiast. [email protected]
