A few days ago, I wit­nessed a scene that gladdened my heart and demonstrated how God creat­ed us to behave towards one another.

A small boy of not more than five years, came to buy ‘Koko’ and ‘Koose’ with his little sister who also will not be more than three years old. I had also gone to buy ‘koose’ at the same place on my way back home from my routine of brisk walking early each morning.

When I was waiting to be served, I observed the little boy bend down to pick up his little sister and step over the gutter in front of them and when he had crossed over, set his sister down. I was so moved by this spectacle and it set in motion a train of thoughts going through my mind.

What struck me most was that sense of brotherliness, a natural instinct to extend assistance to another human being who needs help. This is the essence of life but unfor­tunately, the reverse is the case, most of the time. One would have expected that adults should rather demon­strate this kind of behaviour but that is not the case in real life situations.

People in this part of the world have over the years witnessed a gradual decline in the willingness to extend a helping hand to others. There used to be a certain culture of courtesy to old or elderly people on buses and trains, where people eagerly offer their seats to the elderly peo­ple much older than them.

There are still a few bright spots in this current morally depraved world of us, which gives me hope that all is not lost.

About three weeks ago, I went to a bank to make an enquiry and was directed to an office. When I got there, there were a few people seat­ed and it became apparent to me that it was a queue but no seat was available to me so I had to stand and wait. A young lady who was just ahead of me got up and said to me with a smile “Daddy, please sit down”. After a few protestations that I am fine, she was insistent that I should take her seat and so I had to oblige. I then thanked her and sat down and I was glad that the culture of respect for the elderly has not completely vanished from our society.

Selfishness is what is en­trenching this evil tendency of not wanting to extend a helping hand to others.

In our society, especially in our organisations and institu­tions, the desire to climb to the top usually manifest the evil side of man. Some peo­ple deliberately spread lies about, their colleagues at the workplace.

Pastors who are supposed to be our moral compass are not left out, political actors within the same party are damaging their colleagues and it is just a mess. What we fail to realise is that nature has a way of exacting retri­bution and that we reap what we sow.

If a colleague’s promotion was denied him due to your malicious lies, guess what will happen to you in the near fu­ture. Someone you trust, will do the same thing to you.

The Bible teaches that we should do unto others what we want others to for us. When we are young, the practice of this nugget of wisdom, comes to us natural­ly as exhibited by the small boy but when we grow and are supposed to be wiser, we somehow neglect or refuse to practise this.

There are certain princi­ples that exist and are time tested. It does not matter who are or what you believe, it is what it is.

In Genesis 8:22, the Bible makes us to understand that sowing and reaping shall never cease. Therefore, if you plan on gaining promo­tion, help someone to gain promotion. If you want to live in peace, promote peaceful coexistence. Whatsoever you sow that shall you also reap.

The attitude of pull him down, will never benefit us and it is high time we deleted it, to use computer termi­nology from our file of life. That is the only way we can achieve an enduring success in all that we seek to achieve.

Contrary to the perception out there that to climb up you have to step on others, the reality is the exact oppo­site. If we step on others by manipulations and cheating and back-biting etc., we must be ready for the consequenc­es that will surely come our way.

Surely as night follows day, we shall one day receive the fruits of whatever we have sown, whether good or bad.

By Laud Kissi-Mensah