The Last Eclipse
Strange things never cease to happen. These things themselves make the world go round. Consider this: Many years ago, a solar eclipse happened in one primitive part of the earth. You know what it means—day changed to night. And the ignorant villagers, who didn't know what had just happened, thought that the world has come to an end. See farmers racing down to their village huts! Behold mothers frantically searching for their weeping babies in the village playground! Watch birds and domestic animals hastily making to their hiding places! Chaos!!
But I am not going to talk of those who committed suicide either by drinking poison or drowning in the village river before the end comes. Neither am I going to say of the village priest who immediately made a sacrifice to appease the gods, who he thought had gone mad. No, I am not going to talk of those.
My concern is the richest man in the village who made a feast for the villagers. He had all his livestock slaughtered, tore his yam barns and invited all the villagers for the last supper. But as they were eating under the moonlight, watching the stars and waiting for the world to end, night changed to day. And the surprised villagers turned the last supper to a happy celebration, eating up all the rich man's possessions. The man could not stop them because he had asked them to feast. So he became known as the most foolish man of the year. But that's a different matter.
When Gavrillo Princip fired an "innocent" shot in Sarajevo killing Archduke Ferdinand, never did he know that the events that would follow it would eventually lead to the death of innocence in 1914. Before that first world war began, British then foreign minister, Neil Chamberlain leaned over a window, and said: "The lights are going out all over Europe. We shall never see it lit again in our life time." The report did not state that he shook his head. Maybe he did. And it did not say that he dropped a tear. Perhaps, he did. The rest is history now. Millions dead!
But man, "the most wicked of God's creations", according to one source, has refused to learn from history. And soon, he will trigger up events that will lead, not to a third world war, but to the last eclipse. How will that happen? you may ask.
Now, look closely to the Middle East and consider this scenario. America defies world opinion, and declares war on an Arab country suspected of having "weapons of mass destruction" Thousands of Muslims perish. Some Osama rallies the Muslim world, and declares a jihad against the U. S. Then America backed by NATO hits back. Under pressure, the jihadists crack a dirty nuke. And America drops the real one. Lights out!
This may sound hypothetical. But remember how the First World War started. Just a lone bullet. In fact, all fratricidal wars have begun by just one shot. So, the bottomline is that wars do not solve problems. Instead, they compound it. We are not here talking of the problem of refugees, or of hunger and the spread of diseases. Neither are we saying of the violence that will follow—something like pieces of peace.
Man has forgotten the past; and in the words of George Santayana he is "condemned to repeat it." What a pity! Yet, some biologists call him Homo Sapien—man, the wise. Show me your wisdom.
So, when you see man, do not call him "the most wicked of God's creations." For he does not even know that he cannot run away from the "last eclipse." Neither is he going to celebrate it. The earth is a closed place. And NASA does not even have a space ship right now to fly us out of here (suppose there is another home in outer space). Rather, call man "the most foolish of God`s creations". Or isn't he?
ARTHUR ZULU, The Most Controversial Writer in the World, is the author of the best-selling book HOW TO WRITE A BEST-SELLER. For your copy and FREE excerpt, click on:
http://www.1stbooks.com/bookview/10975 .
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About the Author
ARTHUR ZULU, The Most Controversial Writer in the World, is the author of the best-selling book HOW TO WRITE A BEST-SELLER.