A Familiar Stranger

Better yet, let’s say that at the least, I have dealt with an aspect of you, no matter how big or small. To understand how this is possible, first, we must look at what you and I are both made of. Simply put, we are the products of our exposure. At the beginning stages of the M’TAM initiations within The Earth Center schools, initiates are taught that the human brain does not harness the ability to invent. The basic function of the mind is to copy or imitate, so this makes you and I the result of what our brains have been inspired by.

All the events that we’ve gone through in our lives have added to us, making us who we are in this present moment. For example, even with this paragraph, as you read it, on some level it’s joining with you, changing you from the person you were before you picked up this newspaper. Another example that may help is to equate a single snowflake to a single life experience, can you see the similarity between what makes a snowman and what makes a human being? In other words, when you read this article, you are dealing with me, but who am I...? Dealing with me means that you are also dealing with all that has impacted my life. So, as you read these lines, you are being exposed to aspects of my mother, my father, brothers, sisters, teachers, friends, acquaintances, etc. And each of them is the product of the individuals that influenced their lives, and so on and so on.

An elderly Kemetic woman giving a warm greeting. The depth and emphasis put on the Kemetic greeting is a clue into our ancestor’s understanding of the ties that bind all living entities together.

Now, there still remains the question of how we’ve met. Like I said at the beginning, perhaps our meeting wasn’t face to face, but I am sure that I’ve dealt with you before. Let’s try an experiment. First, I want you to imagine a person that you are close to. Let’s say that you spoke to that person a couple days ago. Perhaps, in that exchange you shared a humorous joke or a funny story, leaving them with laughter and happiness. Now, imagine your friend getting off the phone with you, but still carrying that aspect of you with them into the day, that happiness that they received from that joke. Imagine your friend going through their day, sharing that humorous story with anyone who would listen, affecting each of them on different levels, but all in positive ways. Imagine that at the end of your friend’s day, before going to bed, they end up having a phone conversation with their cousin. Before they end their conversation, your friend decides to tell your hilarious joke one last time. Both your friend and their relative laugh until tears role down their faces, and after they settle down, they say good night, hang up their phones and go to bed.

The next morning, your friend’s cousin wakes up and goes about their day, all the while giggling to them self about the joke that was shared with them the night before, still carrying your positive energy with them. They have the ability to continue to pass that energy onto others, who will then pass it onto others, and so on and so on. That aspect of you has been transferred from one person to another person, to another, etc. That happiness that you placed upon your friend has now affected all those who heard the joke and all the people that they will share it with. Now, let’s say days later I speak to a friend of mine, and they ask me: "Hey Marrwho, you wanna hear a joke I heard today...?" As I’m entertained by your story, it becomes part of me, no matter how large or small the effects are, it has played a part in my life. Can you see how we’ve met? Can you see how I have dealt with an aspect of you? Now think, at the initial stage, what if you would’ve transferred negative energy onto your friend, the results could have been different.

I say all this because we as humans must begin expanding our awareness of how we impact ourselves and others around

us with our actions, our speech, and even our thoughts. It is important that we understand that our daily behaviors affect others, not only in our households and workplaces, but that they have the potential to change people in our neighborhoods, our cities, states, countries, and even the world. No longer can we afford to perform acts while remaining oblivious of their effects on our surroundings.

My spiritual teacher, the late Master Naba Lamoussa Morodenibig once stated that every thought and action echoes out into the Universe. When I think of an echo, I think of an emission traveling outward on a journey and eventually coming back to be received by the same entity that originally expressed itself. But that entity that expressed itself is not the only thing that is affected by that echo. If I am with a group of friends hiking in the hills, and I yell out, "HELLO!", that echo from the hills will be heard by me, but also by everyone in the group that I am hiking with, even people camping miles away can receive that greeting and I would never know.

This example of an echo is really a life principle, perhaps this is what our parents meant when they told us the old cliche saying, "what goes around, comes around". I must say that in the past whenever I heard people make this statement, I would always accept it, but I never truly understood what it meant. I couldn’t grasp the notion of how what leaves me, goes around, to eventually come back to me again. Like a package that has been sent out, arriving back at my doorstep with a stamp saying "RETURN TO SENDER". Only this time, at every step of the way it has been opened by people who have added something to it before sending it back. If I knew that every package that I sent out would always return back to me, for me to open and deal with, I would always make sure that the contents of those packages were of quality. How about you...? This example of a package returning reminds me of another old saying, a saying that I’m sure has become a part of you too, how does it go...? "Treat others in the manner in which you wish to be treated". As I gain more experience over the years, and as I continue within the M’TAM education, the understanding of the link between me and my surroundings is becoming more and more clear.

When I look at the example of how Master Naba lived his life Master Naba’s life, I can see that he was just one man, yet he made such an impact on the lives of so many. Those who carry him in their hearts and minds transfer him and his message to others on a daily basis. His exposure was a result of being raised in a very old culture, the message that he brought had been transferred from generation to generation for thousands of years, similar to the example of the joke being passed from person to person. This is why I hold a special place in myself for the influence that he has brought to my life.

Today, I am passing a piece of him onto you, so that even if you have never met Master Naba, through me and this article you have. You have now been exposed to an aspect of him, as well as all those that influenced his life. Keep this in mind as you go throughout your day. Remember, all that you send out will affect so many, men, women, children, elders, etc. before inevitably coming back to you. We must be aware of such an influence because with it comes a huge responsibility. Just as a brother must protect a brother, we must protect the entire universe by taking care in what we enclose in the packages we send out daily. Well friend, until that day we may meet face to face, remember that we can act as friends with all of those we have yet to see, but already touch... May good things be placed in your path.