Sunday 11th November 2017
Morning Vibes With Dr. Jerry - the First
Hello and welcome to
#MorningVibesWithDrJerryTheFirst-Episode 68
Title: Honesty
Is Still The Best Policy!!
Coming
from a family of 7 children and being the first boy and third born of the
children with a Father who was a subsistent farmer and a mother who was a
complete house wife, entirely dependent on whatever her husband was able to
bring was not a small joke for Itghete. Growing up was a herculean task because
he and his siblings lacked almost everything aside life and good health
(fortunately). They lived in deprivation, they ate once a day, mainly fufu and
soup, in-between meals, they ate whatever fruits they could find available in
that season. They wore new clothes once a year - Christmas day and they ate
rice and stew twice a year - Easter Day and Christmas Day. So life was not easy
for Iteghete and his siblings. Though their Parents were not anywhere close to
being handy enough to cater for them, but they had dignity, integrity and
honesty and those virtues, they drummed into the ears of their children
whenever the opportunity called for it which was every Saturday morning.
Saturday morning conference as Iteghete and his siblings came to name the
meeting with their parents was a routine in the family, during the meeting,
their Father would review his activities for the week, letting them know what
he did wrong and what he did right and then allowing them to also tell him
about how they spent their week. In all, the man would emphasize to his
children the need for them to keep their hands clean and not soil the name of
the family. He reminded them that though he was not rich in cash but he was
rich in character because ever since he was born he had never for once taken
what did not belong to him and though he has been tempted many times over to
sell his conscience, but he has believed God that tomorrow would always be
better than today. He told them that even if his own personal tomorrow did not
turn out to be better as in making him a rich man, but he believed that if his
kids follow the pattern of being honest even in small things, their own
tomorrow would surely be better. Iteghete's Father was an only child, with all
his relatives dead and buried, he decided to have a ton of children in order
for his family name not to be lost; his first two kids turned out to be girls,
and every day he would be in contention with the wife for giving him only girls
who will marry out of the house and allow his family name to die but as if God
heard his prayer, when the third child came, it was a boy and the subsequent
four others were also boys. After completing Primary School, Iteghete could not
continue with his education because there was no one to help with the fees, so
his father apprenticed him to the Famous Carpenter in the town who already had
10 apprentices. On the day he was to resume as the 11th apprentice, his father
reminded him of those virtues he had talked of several times with him and urged
him not to disgrace himself and his family there because the Master Carpenter
was a crafty man who always found reason to sack apprentices just as they are
about to "graduate" so that he won't settle them. From day 1, Iteghete
decided to be "man alone" in the Shop. He refused to follow the
"multitude" to do evil, whenever any of his fellow apprentices came
to him to talk bad about their Master, Iteghete would remind him that they were
there to learn a handwork and not to examine the lives of others, whenever any
customer came and he was the one that received him, he would hand over the work
to the Master and when he eventually became adept at carrying out certain
repairs, he made sure that he handed over the money from such repairs to his
Master, with time the Customers started asking for him whenever they came to
the Shop and he was not there. After one year, the Master Carpenter appointed
him the Head Apprentice over and above those who came before him and despite
all the conniving acts of his fellow apprentices to bring him down, Iteghete
simply refused to come to their level, he kept his hands clean and his head
high. He was honest to a fault to the point that even when people brought jobs
for him to do at his spare time in his
house, he would take such jobs to the workshop, do them there, collect the
money and render the account to his Master. When it was time for his
"graduation" surprisingly and which he had never done for any
apprentice, the Master Carpenter organized a feast in honour of Iteghete. When
it was time for the graduation proper and for the Master to bless his
apprentice and wish him well, the Master Carpenter while extolling the virtues
of Iteghete said that he had been defeated by one of his apprentices because
prior to now, he used to set traps for his apprentices and most of them used to
be caught in those traps but that Iteghete disappointed him because he
carefully evaded all his traps and was not caught in any. He advised him that
if he kept to his honesty, dedication and hard work, he would go places. To the
shock of Iteghete and his family, the Master Carpenter rented a shop near his
own and gave Iteghete his first set of tools and implement to start life as a
Carpenter. Iteghete learnt from his Father that honesty is the best policy and
he implemented it while being an apprentice and it paid off for him. How about
you? In what ways have you exhibited character? In what ways have you been
honest? Are you a good caretaker? If you are given meat to keep, are you able
to look away from it and not hunger after it? These surely are personal
questions and do give answers to them.
Until I come your way
again, this is #MorningVibesWithDrJerryTheFirst
Keep it coming!!!
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