In the late hours of 14th April, 1912, at about 11:40 pm, the world famous British passenger liner operated by the White Star Line which was on her maiden voyage from Southampton to New York City struck the iceberg and by the early hours of 15th April, 1912 it witnessed a great sink, the most iconic shipwreck in history, renowned in modern movie circle as TITANIC. It was not just a maritime disaster but a disaster of human creativity at a time when technovation was advancing. It was not just the greatest disaster of the Edwardian era but a disaster of the pre-first world war.
Today, our world is experiencing another strike on the iceberg. Strike in the sense that it is not just a pathological disaster but a disaster born out of human creativity in the laboratory. It is not just one of the disasters of the contemporary era but a disaster which in every sense of the word qualifies as the silent third world war, which is inevitably giving rise to a new world order.
The Corona Virus, the pandemic presently ravaging the world, is the result of this great strike. A strike between powers, of powers and for power. According to the World Health Organization, “it is an infectious disease caused by a newly discovered coronavirus…….”
In science and technology, discoveries made are accounted for by giving a laudable identity of the inventor(s). However, in the case of the corona virus discovery, there is no public acclaimed or global definition of the inventor(s) of the virus. What we have on the table is a story of the Lieber Conspiracy. We do not know the veracity of the whole story. The world has not gaveled the identity behind the discovery and we have to be content only with what one may call ‘the side-story’. This is so because, as lawyers would postulate, you don’t pronounce one guilty of a crime until he has been prosecuted and found guilty of the crime by a court properly constituted to try the person. To this end, the global science and legal institutions owe the world a better explanation on the discovery of such a virus. And the world is waiting.
From being a laboratory specimen to being the world’s most singular non-combat cause of death of millions of people, the corona virus pandemic has inflicted the magnitude of pain and injury on the human person as never witnessed before. The pains and losses occasioned by the virus, code-named COVID 19 are legion and undeniable are the pains the COVID 19 has caused humanity. Churches are closed up, schools are locked down, markets are regulated, and all services are suspended except essential services. Borders are closed or barricaded and cities are turned into cemeteries because of the lock down. Man is restricted only to the space of his home. It is as if man was convicted for a crime and made inmate of one’s self made safety-prison which is his house. What an obsoletion!!
For some, man has lost touch with the essence of his existence and for others; man keeps coming to terms with the essence of his existence. This scourge has stirred lots and lots of thoughts. The rich are in their prison (home) though with their store filled up. The poor, many of who have no homes, are those more embittered and distressed in this great scourge. It appears as if the globe is in a trial version of an app developed in our clinical laboratories. Because of this, the poor artisan finds it hard to eat, the laborer has nothing to put on the table for the family.
Because of the hunger which has bedeviled our homes especially among the poor, while the corona virus pushes him in, hunger hits him out. The only remedy for him is to look for ways to alleviate this hunger menace while combating the virus. One of the ways is to seek solace in the charity programmes which institutions, foundations and individuals run to put smiles on the faces of those whose smiles are stolen by the rampaging virus. Charity becomes the order of the day.
Right from when I was a baby, I have always loved people being charitable to me and to others. Charity has been something I have loved, preached and lived. Waking up every day during this pandemic, I pray for help, advocate for help, and influence help for those in dire needs. As often as I tune on my TV set, I see foundations and institutions coming to the aid of those in need. If I log into my social media handles, I see same thing going on. Seeing and listening to such gives me this nostalgia of a sense of belonging to the less privileged ones. It is indeed charity lived out. Charity when lived out is love defined. At this point in time, in this pandemic, Love can only be defined or made concrete in charity.
On a second thought, my thoughts on charity doesn’t seem to rhyme with that of others on charity. This is bound to be so because of divergence of thoughts and independence of opinions in human nature.
In this regard, charity is both an ‘act’ and an ‘art’. As an ‘Act’, it is a virtue (human) which can be willed. It is both a ‘human virtue’ and a ‘human act’. As an ‘Art’ it is to be lived, to be expressed. It is an ‘act in art’ and an ‘art of act’. That is to say that both the ‘act’ and ‘art’ go together. When one is missing, it no longer becomes charity. If one puts up the ‘art’ (living it out) without the act (virtue: as human virtue, there is no expectation) or if one believes in the ‘act’ but cannot put it in ‘art’, charity cannot be said to be administered. The two must go pari passu.
Following from the foregoing, charity for me, has always been, provision without expectation, kindness without recompense, helping without asking, giving without holding. It is not a play of the ‘2Gs’ (I give you, you give me) but a play of ‘1G’ (I give you). Practiced this way, there is only one gain in charity; not for the giver but for the recipient. When all these are put in place, it becomes true charity.
On the contrary, when there are gains (economic, social, political etc.) of whatever nature- either to buy votes, win popularity and fame, or to enhance one’s social status it ceases to be CHARITY. It then becomes what is termed; CHE-LARITY – when charity is administered to gain CHEAP- POPULARITY. It is a word from two words; cheap (CHE) and popularity (LARITY). It makes charity selfish, exploitative and sometimes manipulative.
When the giver loses focus of/on the intention of giving or believes in the ‘art’ without considering the ‘act’, Chelarity is put to birth.
A friend of mine Pius Okwuanya noted that:
“…….everybody is doing giveaway and charity, even the politician that has privatized commonwealth as an extension of his wallet. The usurious trader that increased the price of his goods by over 300% without any provocation also wants to do giveaway. The musician that consistently turns his nose up at poor people and constantly ridicules them can with some bags of rice and some cartons of tomatoes transmogrify into a messiah who we should be counting on for world peace.”
Of what need is this charity (Chelarity) when it is exploitative, manipulative, selfish and ego framed? Where was this charity when things were normal (before the corona)? Were our people not poor and in dilemma before the pandemic? Does the poverty emanate from the virus? If those wealth were used judiciously by both the government/public and private sectors before the outbreak of the virus, the hunger rate at this period would not be much. What happens after the outbreak? Will the charity continue? If our politicians had used those funds in human capital development and in building a stronger and formidable economy with proficient health facilities, the panic wouldn’t have been to the high extent it gone so far.
I am not against giving alms to those in need most especially in this critical moment. I pray we get more givers of alms. However, the intentions for giving out this alms should be put in the direct and better perspective. When CHARITY loses focus, it becomes CHELARITY. Do not make it a trend after this great strike of the CORONA VIRUS.
Fr. Emmanuel Tochukwu Onunkwo
(THIS ARTICLE WAS WRITTEN AND DRAFTED ON THE 18TH OF APRIL, 2020 DURING THE TOTAL LOCK DOWN)
YOUTHS SQUARE 