The promises of our forebears, too many to call to mind, could they be realised in any lifetime, and in anybody’s life span?
In any case, who cares to dream these days when dreams, at the best of time, remain nothing but dreams, pipe dreams, to be sure.
But what can modernity say about dreams? The ancient world has always been prone to dreaming.
Dreaming of a new, and better world – the ideal world of perfection – such as it was as described by ancient writers.
Can we, for ourselves, imagine the exotic beauty that dwelt in the minds of the ancient writers. The beautiful and pristine Garden of Eden – a representation of a perfect world.
Right at the beginning of the world of God’s creation, if you are a creationist. But modern humans are inclined to the notion of evolution.
Ancient thinking has its place. Its value is to widen our horizon and perspectives. We might ask: what time? But the question serves as a distraction. We can never know, and we will never know.
The complication and complexity of human life often tend to be beyond human understanding. If you think of the story of the ancient exodus, which is the story of seeking to escape oppression, then you begin to understand the complex nature of dreams – dreams of a new and undefiled world.
Those fellows, led by the ancient leader by the name of Moses, dreamt of a promised land. In a figure of speech, we are told their journey lasted 40 years, but the dream of a perfect, egalitarian world remained elusive.
Many died. Even the leader died. The land of justice, honey and milk remained elusive.
Yet whatever our thinking might turn out to be – now and in the future – the quest for a better life remains intact despite how complex things might turn out to be.
But the unknown world of our dreams we explore with inextinguishable hope. Humanity in its nature, hates oppression; it revolts against it.
This is because injustice and oppression are contrary to goodness. And this is because when the ancient explorers of justice, after travelling all in vain for 40 years, could not find it, they thought it better to return to the land of the suffering – the land of the Pharaoh.
The spirit of a better life is never quenched.
Despite the odds in the way towards human perfection, the quest for goodness is never diminished. We end this discourse by turning to the words of hope from the great Africanist, Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe.
“Africa will not retreat. Africa will not compromise. Africa will not relent. Africa will not equivocate. And she will be heard. Remember Africa.”
Dreams of a beautiful world beyond human imagination. Hope to inhabit our El Dorado – a land of abundance and peace. Could that be a poet’s dream? This is what we hope for our land.
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