One day the source will run dry

the milk had increased and therefore was too much for him alone. So he ran throughout the village, leaving the milk over the fire, calling his relatives to come and share the milk with him.
In the spirit of the village, people gathered at this man’s house anxious to partake of this windfall. To the man’s surprise there was no milk left in the pot when he came back with a whole host of people. He came back to any empty burnt pot and a house smelling of burnt milk.
This story used to make me laugh as I found this man’s stupidity humourous. To me it was just one of those funny stories. I have never really asked my mother the moral of this story maybe because it only came to mind this week when she is miles away.
Now with hindsight, I think this story carried a number of lessons with one of them teaching us to safeguard what we have. This man in his foolishness, seeing the milk foaming and rising thought it would continue to increase in quantity, thinking that there was more where that milk was coming from. What he failed to realise was that he could only get from the pot what he had put in.
I guess this man is not alone in his foolishness. So many of us can identify with this man judging by the way we use what we have.
When there is plenty food we cook more that we need and throw away leftovers believing there is more where it came from. Have you ever considered the way we use water on the day that we get our taps running again. It is as if the source will never run dry.
Have you ever seen how people dish out food at some gatherings? Mountains are left and thrown away. Thank God for those of us who keep pigs or dogs. At least the food can be put to good use.
I want to think that there are cultural factors that influence the quantities of food that we prepare and dish out. I know that if a visitor eats up all the food on the plate it is perceived that they were given far less than they needed.
This can be embarrassing to the host. This means there has to be more than enough on the plate to allow for leftovers. In my view leftovers are actually a measure of how successful an event was. You hear people proudly saying “takadya tikasiya chakadaro” we ate and left plenty of food.
I bleed when I think of my days at one of the prestigious institutions of higher learning in the country. This was in the 1980s and the country was enjoying a “fat” season. The institutions of higher learning were well supported by Government and quality food was plenty. I recall in the girls’ hostel where I resided, some girls using bread to wipe their hands after a meal. If my memory serves me right, bread was served with every meal so imagine how much it was abused.
I remember my friend and I wondering what was on the mind of these people. To them there was more where that came from. I think they never imagined that one day they would be bread shortage in the country.
It never crossed their minds that our offspring would have it tough one day at the same institutions. When I saw colleges struggling to feed students some years ago, I could not help, but feel that our children were paying for our sins.
I think dear reader you appreciate the food shortages that we experienced a few years ago. I think 2008 goes down in memory as one of the worst years of food shortages in our dear country.
Now those challenges are becoming blurred in our minds. How soon we forget when the situation is normal.
It is not surprising that many of us have gone back to our old wasteful ways and belief that there is more where that came from.
I had an opportunity to have an aerial view of a considerable part of our wonderful country. I was shocked and saddened by what I saw, the once big rivers meandering for miles and miles with no water, but silt.
Like in the story of the dry bones in the Bible, I asked the question, will these rivers flow again with water?
Our rivers are heavily silted. This means that even if the rains come most water will just run off. The result is our dams will also get silted cutting off our water sources.
Surprising with this threat right at our doorstep we continue with the old ways that silt our water sources. Also those of who have access to water continue to use it as if there is more where that is coming from.
Yet with the reality of global warming rainfall patterns are changing and the chances of droughts are apparent. In a similar vein there are people who abuse others in relationships. To them love, patience and forgiveness means there is more where that come from. They become abusive. Sad, I think.
We need a rethink of the way we use whatever is entrusted in our care. I believe in the story of creation that says that we were made stewards over God’s creation.
What we need to know is that our sources will not last forever, one day they will run dry to the detriment of you and me.