Time to Wake from Slumber

I used to enjoy it every Friday. I looked forward to it. It felt like I was experiencing it for the first time, even though it was always part of the Friday school parade. I don’t remember the day because it was long ago; what I do remember is that one student would make this Friday a special one. The school band started playing the national anthem and we all stood at attention and uniformly went silent. After the national anthem, the fun would begin and we were treated to an entertaining mix of the latest songs played by our band.

The band members were not the only ones on the big stage; one student who was notorious for being a comic had taken it upon himself to be their drum major. And he led them well as he swung his body; most of his strength concentrated around his hips. In unusual harmony, the students and teachers were all consumed in laughter. Our principal who would rarely smile had cracked one open and I was convinced that this would have a happy ending for everyone. The student was later summoned to the principal’s office to receive his praise and flowers for leading the band. He left the office, not with flowers but a suspension letter.

The drum major instinct

A drum major is one who leads a marching band, directing them on what to play, when to play it and what order they should keep. Martin Luther King Jr. preached about “The Drum Major Instinct”; speaking about the innate desire for attention, a desire to be upfront, to lead the parade. Two of Jesus’ disciples approached him with a request… “Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory.” James and John were not interested in staying the course with Jesus and receiving their reward when the time comes, all they wanted was favouritism.

We might look at James and John and wonder how can they be that selfish? How can they not see the rift their actions would bring among the other 10 disciples? We forget that we all want to feel important and achieve distinction. Everyone has this basic impulse and basic drive to receive praise. So should we suppress it?

Martin Luther King Jr. urges us not to suppress it but to channel that feeling for good; to want to be the first in love, the first in generosity and the first in doing good.

“…but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared.”

Jesus answer to James and John was not to rebuke their urge to lead the parade but advice on how to be great. Greatness doesn’t come from favouritism but fitness!

Our society

On 4 February 1968, Martin Luther King, Jr., preached “The Drum Major Instinct” and I feel it is still relevant 53 years later. We have become selfish which has distorted our idea of what greatness is. We seek attention from our neighbours by having a particular type of car, taking our kids to certain schools or living in certain estates. Is it wrong to want the best for yourself and your family? Absolutely not, but that’s not the case here. It’s not about the wellbeing of our family, but an urge to be superior.

And we feed this urge by all means necessary. Lately, headlines about people dying from a web of deceit because of money laundering, fake currency and fake gold scams are on the increase. The Capital Markets Authority (CMA) stated that Kenyans have lost Sh1 billion in Ponzi schemes. Corruption in both the private sector and public sector is on the increase. Like James and John, we have sought greatness in the wrong manner at the expense of others in society.

Time to wake from slumber

Ezekiel 22:30

30 “I looked for someone among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found no one.

Is there anyone who sees the need to wake from the deep slumber that we are in? Does anyone feel the need to disrupt the system of selfishness, blind ambition and self-interest? What needs to be done is a shift of mindset where we now seek to be first in doing good and changing our society. Move from only thinking about family and tribe to thinking about society. It doesn’t have to be grand to change society, reaching out to one person at your workplace is a good start.

A study conducted by the University of Munich that looked into the voting patterns in Rhineland-Palatinate and Baden-Württemberg had interesting results. The two German states had areas that voted for the Nazi party in 1933, vote similarly for the AFD party in the 2017 parliamentary elections. 84 years later the two states are still voting for a pro-nationalist and right-wing party.

I bring these two states to our attention to show that changing how we operate and think will not come by chance. Eroding decades of learned behaviour entrenched in our society will need a lot of effort. We all want to be important, we all want to be great and we all want to be significant. Let us be important by lifting others up, let us be great in love and let us be significant in service.