Pilgrim’s Walking Stick: The Value of Producing
In 1998, Master Naba Lamoussa Morodenibig, the founder of The Earth Center and former publisher of this publication, asked me if I wanted to produce and write for a cultural publi- cation. I was teaching fifth grade at the time, so my response was somewhat delayed. Before had the chance to reply, he asked, "You are a writer, right?" My response was "Yes". He went on to ask, "Well, how would you like to go into business for yourself and have a vehicle to reach your people by publishing your writings?" Somehow, when he put it that way, there was no need for any heavy contemplation on my part. It was only a few months after his initial question that The Chicago Firefly Magazine was born. But what he purposely did not tell me was how challenging and difficult our task would be.
After quitting my teaching job, which was paying me a steady salary, I became totally dependent on the income provided by our new publication. My approach was a very naïve one, because I imagined that I would make more money with the magazine than I was with the Board of Education. I didn't ask Master Naba at first how much I would be paid because it seemed like it would taint the purpose and importance of producing such a publication as The Chicago Firefly (now The Rising Firefly). I just figured whatever my pay would be, it would at least be equal to or more than the job I had just quit. Besides, I was enjoying working in the company of Master Naba, so in my mind that was worth more than money.
After getting things fairly stable with our new office (which was a 2 bedroom apartment on Chicago's North side) and putting out the first issue, I naturally inquired about my pay. Master Naba very calmly wrote me a check. I was beaming with pride even before knowing how much I was receiving because this was my first pay as an entrepreneur. But when I looked at the check, I was hit with a rude awakening. Needless to say it was very, very far below my expectations. Stunned, I just kept looking at it without saying a word. I remained quiet for the remainder of that day. A million thoughts ran through my mind. It appeared that Master Naba waited for the shock to wear off before speaking to me. But when he did, he asked, "What is in your mind?" This offered me the perfect opportunity to discuss my disappointment, worry and fear regarding being able to meet my living needs and responsibilities. But for some reason, I chose not to take that opportunity. My response was, "Nothing" ... Of course, being a spiritual master, he knew I was not being honest. So he then took the opportunity to address my concerns as if I had mentioned them to him. "You should not be concerned about money", he said. "The money you make will be determined by the hard work that is necessary to do. This journey will be hard. We are paying for this magazine with our own money and giving it away for free. If I had told you how hard it would be, you would not have wanted to start this journey. But this is a chance for you to be a producer and give something to the world. Now, you can depend on yourself instead of waiting for others to feed you. But it takes hard work. Use this moment as motivation". Although I heard what he was saying to me, on the inside I was very distraught. A part of me wanted to walk away from this endeavor just for financial reasons. But another part of me knew that what he was saying was very real, true and honest. Damn! I thought to myself... now I'm trapped! But not really, I only felt that way because nobody had ever said anything to me like that before. I was appreciative and dismayed at the same time. I recall it being a very weird moment for me, a defining moment. The world became a different place for me from that day forward.
But after all of the personal trials and tribulations, after all of the blood, sweat and tears, after the numerous times we were close to stopping production due to lack of funds, after the untimely passing of Master Naba, when all is said and done, over ten years later, The Rising Firefly is still going strong and surviving. And very ironically, although it is sold now, we still don't make a salary from it...and it's perfectly ok because WE PRODUCE IT, and nobody can ever take it away from us. For the pilgrim, this is where the lesson resides.
The modern society has succeeded in educating the masses to become expert consumers of things that the decision makers of the society see no real value in themselves. This is why we pay tens of thousands of dollars to be educated, because this will afford us the means to become master consumers. Unfortunately, generally speaking, consumerism is how we measure our self worth. It also tends to be what we judge others by as well. This phenomenon has become an obsession, especially among our youth. There is something very unnerving in the fact that those of us living in the modern world do not produce even the most basic things that a human needs in order to survive. Which means at any given moment, for any arbitrary reason, all that we consume can be taken away without recourse. What then will guarantee our survival? Oh, I forgot, our faith in God right? To an intelligent person, this will sound absurd. If such an answer does not sound absurd, then maybe we are not as intelligent as we thought we were, so let's stop pretending, shall we?
Our indigenous brothers and sisters serve as living examples of how to survive, even under the most extreme conditions. But when we see them, we see a people who are uncivilized and primitive. We choose to ignore the fact that they grow their own food, they make their own clothes, they educate their own children and they heal their illness- es naturally. This is more than being civilized, it's maintaining a civilization, which is a feat we have yet to accomplish in spite of all the things we have consumed and all the money we have attained.
This is a very serious dilemma that will have detrimental effects on the future of this world for generations to come. The journey through this world as a producer is a much harder road for the pilgrim to travel. Yes. But the benefits are much greater and spiritually rewarding on many levels. Being a producer is probably the closest one can get to experiencing freedom as we understand it. This is something all the money in the world cannot buy. We should at least give ourselves that chance, right? Think about it.
