Going Down to Go Up By Agoso Arnobius Huladeino Bamaiyi Saint Augustine of Hippo (354 – 430 A. D.), one of the most important Church Fathers, influenced the development of Western Christian Theology and Western philosophy probably more than any other person in history. His books, especially The City of God, Confessions of Saint Augustine and On Christian Doctrine, are still widely read today, not only in seminaries and Christian circles but, even in secular circles and institutions. Born in Thagaste, Numidia (present day Souk Ahras, Algeria), Blessed Augustine is universally respected for his deep thoughts and pragmatic philosophies. In one of his many discourses, he emphasized the benefits of humility to the human being. He showed how, if one really wants to go up, one needs to go down first. He said, and I quote: “Do you wish to rise? Begin by descending. You plan a tower that will pierce the clouds? Lay first the foundation of humility.” – Saint Augustine. True observation! The strength of a building is the foundation. No matter the beauty or splendor of a building if the foundation is not deep and strong enough, it will come crashing down, jeopardizing the lives of its occupants, during a major test. Architects and engineers know this truth and that is why they spend so much time and resources on the foundation. If the foundation is secure then the building is largely secure. The deeper and wider a tree can send down its roots, the more vertical strength it gets and the more nourishment it can gather. Plants with shallow roots tend to be seasonal, dying out at the whiff of adversity. Plants with deep roots endure more and last longer. The value of an idea is determined by the strength and depth of the thought that underpin it. My question to you today is how deep are your roots? How strong is your foundation? How much time and work have you put into building a strong foundation for your life and career? You see, the amount and quality of time and work you put into building your foundation, in to going down, will determine how high you go in life and how long your influence and effect will last. Saint Augustine observed further: “Do you wish to be great? Then begin by being. Do you desire to construct a vast and lofty fabric? Think first about the foundations of humility. The higher your structure is to be, the deeper must be its foundation,” – Saint Augustine. The attitude of true humility is necessary in building a solid foundation for a great life. I write and speak now and my writing and speaking blesses lives around the world. I get mails and messages from people around the world testifying to how they have been blessed and their lives changed by my writings and messages. Such attestations are the highest validation and reward for my work. They mean more to me than monetary rewards. But I was not a likely candidate for such validations and rewards, at least not at the early stages. There was nothing about me or around me, except a deep-seated desire and urge, that I will someday be someone that will be such a blessing. I was a very bad, below average student. (I have shared how I overcame that elsewhere and so I will not go into it here). I attended a technical school, more from peer pressure than technical abilities, and not an arts school where you will expect to study subjects relevant to writing and public speaking, which were things I felt I would do in life. After enduring (I had an ever-present nagging feeling, that later developed into a distraction, that I was in the wrong place pursuing the wrong course) and graduating from technical college, I took the unusual decision to return to secondary school and take art courses so I could lay the foundation for a successful life in writing and public ministry. It was literally a decision to go down so I could go up. It was not easy, but I did it. It was one of the greatest tests of my humility and I thank God I endured to the end. After my mind was made up and I was sure of what I wanted to do, I went to my former English teacher and shared with him my plan. You see, he had recognized and encouraged my abilities in written and spoken language. So, I thought he would be happy that I had decided to do what was necessary to build up and sharpen those abilities. I was mistaken. He was not happy. He thought it was foolish to go down so as to go up, and he told me so. I pushed on with my plan anyway. My second shock came when I actually secured admission and was ushered into a classroom to join the students in form four. The teacher in the class the time I arrived happens to be a distant relation who did not like much. He took the opportunity to gloat at my expense. The Principal’s messenger introduced me as a new student assigned to that class and then left. The teacher welcomed me, with a sinister smile on his face, and asked me to take a seat. As I moved in to seat down he began the attack. ”Class, this is why we tell you all the time to study hard. You think we just want to punish you when we push you hard. No! We push you hard so you can avoid this type of embarrassment; the embarrassment of failing your WASC/GCE and having to return and seat among your juniors to rewrite your papers!” He said, with noticeable joy in his voice and face. He was enjoying himself by tearing me into pieces! He went on and on, mocking me with gleeful relish. It was very embarrassing. I was humiliated. I was tempted to fight back and defend myself, but I controlled my wounded pride and kept my cool. I sat down quietly and listened to him rap on with his misguided lecture. I did not want to lose this opportunity to dig my roots deep into what I really loved to do. I knew that if I fought him, I will lose this opportunity as I would certainly be thrown out of the school by the principal. His diatribe was hard to endure but I endured it. It was the more difficult to bear because his conclusions were wrong. I did not fail my papers. As a matter of fact, I had the best result in the entire school the year that I graduated. I had no need whatsoever to rewrite my papers. I was in this school, not to rewrite my papers, but to study arts and literature and write the necessary exams to get certification in those courses so as to prepare myself relevantly for the dream of my life. I was tempted to storm out, get my result sheet and paste it on his face! But I did not do it. I realized that this was a major test of my humility. So I kept my cool and allowed the storm to pass over instead of fighting it. Some battles are won by self-control and not by a display of self-righteous anger. This was one of those battles. Well, the tirade eventually ended and I settled down to some purposeful studies. But the tests did not end there. I came under mocking attacks from some friends and acquaintances. Lots of uncharitable things were said about me. It was not easy but I simply ignored it all and went on with my studies. I worked hard, day and night. The following year, I wrote WASC/GCE and graduated with flying colors. From there I went on with my life and the results have vindicated the wisdom of my unusual decision. Those who made fun of me have had the unpleasant task of eating their words. By first going down, I have come up and am still rising. This is all in line with the promise of scripture: “Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time” – 2 Peter 5: 6. For some of you reading this piece, all you need to do to change your life and move on to better things is to take the unusual decision of going down, going back to retrace your steps, to restructure your foundation so it can handle greater things; rewrite an exam, return to school, relocate to a place you left earlier or a new place entirely, change a job or an employer, work harder on a course or project you consider unpleasant, submit to someone or a group of people you do not like but you have to if you want to go forward and fulfill your potential, etc. do whatever needs to be done, no matter how low down or humbling, to move your life forward and upward. Do not allow your pride and the unwillingness to do the ordinary stop you from achieving the extraordinary. Dig your roots deep into the grounds of your dream. Do the hard, “undignified”, out of sight work that needs to be done to secure a solid foundation for a great life. Humble yourself so you can be lifted up. Be small so you can grow big. Go down so you can go up. See you at the top. I love you.
Posted on: Mon, 17 Mar 2014 17:02:39 +0000
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