The English word infinity derives from Latin infinitas, which can be translated as "unboundedness",
itself calqued from the Greek word apeiros,
meaning "endless."
(www.wikepedia.org)
Earlier in my career, I was an FAO consultant conducting participatory research to evaluate the impact of
the Land Reform Proclamation of 1975 in remote villages of Ethiopia. We were in the southern Zone of Gamo Gofa
in what was then known as Gofa Woreda (a tiny district) as remote as one could
imagine without any kind of modern amenities. At the district we found a guide who spoke the native language as
my team and I moved deeper into the hinterland to study the culture and
production system of the natives.
It
was still dark when we set out from our base on mule backs in the wee hours of the morning. After a few hours of a slow and agonizing journey through the thick tropical forest and mountainous
range, we reached a tiny village whose name now escapes me. There was an
eerie silence, the few households were all shut; not even a single person could we find to ask where everyone else had gone. No children
outside, not even stray dogs on the dirt road. One of our team
members said that our guide suspected there may be some kind of epidemic.
Apparently he had heard rumors at the district there was a cholera epidemic in some villages. While our guide went knocking door to door, I took refuge near an old tree. As I leaned against the tree searching for a place to
sit, something truly awesome caught my eye.
In a space of less
than three feet there were countless variety of ants. Prior to this time, my
experience of the ant variety was limited to two. The big black ants that came
into the house or we found on a wet path during the rainy season; often people threw
hot coal or put eucalyptus leaves on their path to get rid of them. The other
variety I knew were called “Tinkusht,” tiny little brown ants whose bite would
burn and sting for a very long time. I was introduced to what seemed like
an infinite variety as I saw ants in red, brown, green, orange colors, some had very
big heads, some had stripes and long bodies; their varieties was unimaginable. They worked in harmony moving up and down in lines; some carried
pebbles, others dirt or straw, some worked in groups, some alone. Ants thrive in most
ecosystems and may form 15–25% of the terrestrial animal biomass.[6] Their success in so many environments
has been attributed to their social organization and their ability to modify
habitats, tap resources, and defend themselves. Their long co-evolution with other species has led to mimetic, commensal, parasitic, and mutualistic relationships.[7](www.wikepedia.org)
That moment of discovery was one of the clues that Spirit gave me and it has
served me as a lighthouse whenever I lost my way in the sea of weariness from
thinking of my limitations. As for the village, cholera epidemic had indeed wiped
out the entire village, only one survivor, an old man gaunt and fragile looking
came out of his home to tell us that only a few are left, they too were dying and he urged us to flee. We
could not report the epidemic to the government as we were beyond the range of
telephone or radio communication so we moved on. There was a reason I was at that spot at that
time.The lesson was not about our helplessness and our limitations and inability to save that village. On the contrary, that experience was for me to bear witness to the limitless abundance of a life force. It was an experience that enabled me to internalize the idea of infinity in a span of few minutes.
So here area few questions for you to ponder; should you choose to engage me in
the conversation, you could post a comment within the blogspot or write on my FB wall or send me email hunleashed57@gmail.com.
- Do you believe infinity applies to you and daily life?
- Do you focus on limitations (I don't have time, money, energy, patience, wisdom, courage, strength, opportunities, luck, so on and so on)? If you answer yes, you might be blocking the abundant flow of opportunities, resources, and power of a Universal life force.
- Have you connected to your Spirit’s invitation to the infinite possibilities within you and for you? Please share your story, it may give us a different perspective.
“If the doors of
perception were cleansed everything would appear to man as it is, Infinite. For
man, has closed himself up till he sees all things thro' narrow chinks of his
cavern.”
William Blake, The Marriage of Heaven and Hell
William Blake, The Marriage of Heaven and Hell
