Building The New from The Old

In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old. Amos:9:11
And I said unto the king, If it please the king, and if thy servant have found favour in thy sight, that thou wouldest send me unto Judah, unto the city of my fathers' sepulchres, that I may build it. Nehemiah:2:5


This year I've had the privilege of being offered a front row seat to observe the blueprints of how the new Jacobu rises out of the old. On the first of January 2011, the Odotobri Rural Bank invited me to host their groundbreaking ceremony leading to the building of a community center for the good people of Jacobu. I responded to the call with haste.

My going was not so much because of my natural affinity with public speaking but for the love of my city which runs through my veins. I wanted to be in the known from the beginning to the end so that I shall not miss recounting the day to my children yet born. I want them to hear the story from their own father's mouth; and I needed to know it than be told.

In the night, I sneaked out to a place I'd not be disturbed so I could soak into the coming day when my old city shall have been turned into the blue-road I saw the night I met God. In that pensive undisturbed dimension, I revisited the talk I had with The Presence and what I heard in the Cosmic Council.

I remember seeing the crumbling of the old walls that separate our people into clans, congregations, parties, factions and fads; in place of it all, behold there was a rising of a new undivided wall which is free of dust. I remember hearing a Council member utter with a loud voice:

"By the time this wall is completed, your people shall be one again! Tarry not, go in haste and lead them to this Hearing. In so doing, let you be known as the one who served from the heart just as your Master the Lord has taught you." 

And I still remember the procession as our people marched happily in unison to the top of the hill to offer praises to God almighty for raising a new city on top of this mountain even after the devastations of the war.

Joy filled my heart. My eyes could see even farther than they can look. And believe me I could hear the heartbeat of the sleeping ant. Then, in the stillness, I saw, again, what the prophets of ancient days saw of the world that cometh.

In the new world there's a perfect home for every family. The evening skies light up our ebony skin; our rivers run like golden brooks; laughter from the lips of the child exudes healing and the morning dew refreshes the evergreen foliage. Our king is respected by all and rules with the sword of David; our queen invokes the courage of Zenobia of ancient Syria. Our daughters wait with sweet anticipation the day the dowry shall be paid by the young man from the other family. The statesmen shall have the trust of the people they once led astray. For forgiveness has come to stay and we all start anew. So the butterfly comes to play with the baby; the dog runs with the teens and the cat caresses the laps of the elderly.

Now that the new market is underway, our merchants shall travel the world with confidence knowing when they return home, there shall be a happy gathering waiting at the community centre. Children from the learning house shall mount the center stage with a beautiful new package of songs, poetry, music and dance. The old folks shall sit by the fireside to listen to the debate on board as the philosophers usher us into the Utopian world in the heart of the  mind.

I shall perhaps be of grey hair in those days but I shall be around to say I saw it all before the day the ground was broken. And I shall be happy because my people are happy too.