So often we are defined by our external factors. People have a habit of determining who you are just (and only) by what they see. You are most times criticized, or branded sometimes, by how you dress, what vehicle you drive, sometimes by where you went to school, or by where you work and the home you live in.
It is not unusual to assume that if you are poor this qualifies you to be unruly and if you are rich this makes you honest. When you have aged you are described as “old fashioned” and because you are young, one assumes you are trendy. In fact, depending on what you drink, who and where you hang out, tells a story about who you are.
There are also those who give false impressions, what we term as “wolf in sheep clothing” and in the same way there are educated fools.
There are those who preach one thing and practice another — and plenty people with “skeletons in their closets”. If your clothes are dirty you are described as being poor or underprivileged; if you dress smart you are seen as respectable; and if you are a priest, lawyer, politician or policeman you are deemed to be “honourable”.
We all have skeletons in our closets: some have horrid and horrible secrets, some have violent intent and some have a passion for stealing or cheating.
This is the make-up of the human being and hence the reason why you cannot always judge a book by its cover. The people that you sometimes think are the most honest usually turn-out to be more dishonest and in most cases the simple and ordinary turn out to be humble, law-abiding, as well as more honest.
The problem we face is the inside of Man or Woman is invisible and we can be fooled or deceived by their external portrayal. Today, very few people can be trusted, everybody have their agendas and the drama of appearance, looks or behavior can be the costume that is used for deceit.
The young can and do take negative actions, the old or aged sometimes could be the source of knowledge, as well as experience, but usually sidelined or not taken seriously because most people think that they are “old fashion”.
But wisdom does not always come from the same sources and schooling is not the only source of education. The past can sometimes help you shape the future — and whiles being technologically savvy, is an asset in today’s world that does not mean that being acquainted with modern-day gadgets will make you any wiser.
The smartness of the present generation is in some cases why criminality is so widespread and the absence of following positive past trends is one reason why harmony and Godliness have disappeared.
We believe in the Power of Man, we give-up on the thought that God is the route to salvation and that Poverty is Not a Crime. We judge on what we see, not on what we know. We believe in hearsay, the media and trends to be objective.
We have lost the means for critical thinking, or to be able to be objective by being analytical. We follow The Party or The Crowd and listen to blatant lies without searching-out the truth. We have become puppets in a continual world of deceit, so my true advice and suggestion for the future is simply stop judging a person by appearance, but to examine the horns before you determine what type of beast you are dealing with.
All that said, I nonetheless know that not all who behave that way know any better. But to them and all others, including friends or foes I don’t know, I however hope you had the best Christmas and New year holiday weekends you could have in the circumstances, observing the protocol restrictions whether you like them or not, to ensure that we start 2022 on a better footing than how we will be ending it.
For what it’s worth in 2021, here’s hoping you had a Merry Christmas – and let’s work and pray for a Happy New Year.