Spirituality & The Spirit Of Africa!


The temple of the most high begins with the human body, which houses our life, essence of our existence. Africans are in bondage today because they approach spirituality through Religion provided by foreign invaders and conquerors. We must stop confusing religion and spirituality. Religion is a set of rules, regulations and rituals created by humans which were supposed to help people grow spiritually.

Due to human imperfection religion has become corrupt, political, divisive and a tool for power struggle. Spirituality is not theology or ideology. It is simply a way of life, pure and original as was given by the Most High. Spirituality is a network linking us to the Most High, the universe and each other. As the essence of our existence it embodies our culture, true identity, nationhood and destiny. A people without a nation they can really call their own is a people without a soul. Africa is our nation and is in spiritual and physical bondage because her leaders are turning to outside forces for solutions to African problems when everything Africa needs is within her. When African righteous people come together, the world will come together. This is our divine destiny.

We have just returned from the Accra meeting of the Heads of African States and governments, where fresh evidence was adduced that the spirit of Africa grows steadily more powerful and all-pervasive, and that Africans shall continue to march together, in unity and oneness, into the promise of the future.

At Accra, resolutions were adopted which are of signal importance to every African country.

We would refer, in particular, to the resolution which pledges each nation on this continent to oppose subversive activities, to refrain from the conduct of any hostile propaganda campaign directed against another African state, and to resort to negotiations for the settlement of disputes between member states.

These undertakings, if they are implemented in good faith, should go far to remove many of the causes of friction which have from time to time impaired intra-African relations in the past, and further strengthen the African Unity Charter. Each must contribute. Let there be no mistake : in modern Ethiopia, each man and woman must contribute.

There is no protection from the demand that a man's worth be assessed by his achievements. Education and learning offer no escape from the obligation of toil, for the good of the nation with little thought of self, to them will much be given, even to the governing of the land.
Nor should anyone today mistakenly believe that only in the cities can he serve his country.

The greater need today is among the people, with those who work the soil, who provide the nourishment and sustenance upon which Ethiopia feeds.

The University National Service Program has pointed the way. Today's younger generation must maintain their ties with the people who are the bulk and the backbone of the nation.

The problem of the many must become the problem of the few, for only in this way can the progress we earn be lasting and real and of benefit to all.

This very institution of Parliament is itself a striking example of the reshaping and moulding of custom and tradition which has at every step marked Ethiopia's development over the years. To serve in these Chambers, a man must possess high ability and demonstrated talents.

Indeed, you Deputies must, in addition, have persuaded your constituents that you dispose of these qualities in abundance, for you owe your claim to sit in this deliberative assembly to their votes, cast in free and open elections.

In the months ahead, much will be asked of you. You will be called upon to consider diverse and complex legislation, proposals prepared by experts after long and painstaking efforts, enactments vital to the life and growth of the nation. Study them carefully and dispassionately ; seek further information when it is necessary ; act not from personal interest or emotional involvement but objectively, as representatives of a united nation and people, with the public welfare your constant concern.