Manuscript Found in Accra

We always listen to the Unwanted Visitor. And we change everything because he scares us; we change village, habits, shoes, food, behavior. We can’t convince the Unwanted Visitor to allow us to stay as we are. There is no discussion.

We also listen to the Angel of Good Fortune, but we ask him: “Where will this lead?”

“To a new life,” comes the answer.

And we think: “We have a few problems in our life, but nothing that can’t be solved in time. We must serve as an example to our parents, our teachers, our children, and keep to the correct path. Our neighbors expect us to teach everyone the virtue of perseverance, to struggle against adversity and overcome obstacles.”

And we feel proud of ourselves. And we are praised because we refuse to change, continuing instead in the direction Fate has chosen for us.

Wrong.

Because the correct path is the path of nature, which is constantly changing, like the dunes in the desert.

Those who think that the mountains don’t change are wrong; they are born out of earthquakes, are eroded by wind and rain, and each day are slightly different even though we do not notice.

The mountains change an

d are pleased: “It’s good not to be the same all the time,” they say to one another.

Those who think the trees don’t change are wrong. They have to accept that they will be bare in winter and clothed in summer. And they reach beyond the place where they were planted because the birds and the wind scatter their seeds.

The trees are glad. “I thought I was just one tree and now I see that I am many,” they say to their children springing up around them.

Nature is telling us: “Change!”

And those who do not fear the Angel of Good Fortune understand that they must go forward despite their fear. Despite their doubts. Despite recriminations. Despite threats.

They confront their values and prejudices. They hear the advice of their loved ones, who say: “Why do that? You have everything you need: the love of your parents, wife, and children; the job it took you so long to get. Don’t run the risk of becoming a stranger in a strange land.”

Nevertheless, they risk taking a first step—sometimes out of curiosity, sometimes out of ambition, but generally because they feel an uncontrollable longing for adventure.

At each bend in the road, they feel more and more afraid, and yet, at the same time, they surprise themselves; they are stronger and happier.

Joy. That is one of the main blessings of the All Powerful. If we are happy, we are on the right road.

Fear gradually ebbs away, because it wasn’t given what it felt was its due importance.

One question persists as we take our first steps along the path: “Will my decision to change make other people suffer?”

But if you love someone, then you want your beloved to be happy. You might feel frightened for him initially, but that feeling soon gives way to pride at seeing him doing what he wants to do, and going where he always dreamed of going.

Later, we might begin to experience a sense of abandonment and helplessness.

But travelers meet other people on the road who are feeling just the same. As they talk, they realize that they are not alone; they become traveling companions and share their solutions to various obstacles. And they all feel wiser and more alive than they thought they were.

When they are lying in their tents, unable to sleep and overwhelmed by sadness and regret, they say to themselves: “Tomorrow, and only tomorrow, will I take another step. Besides, I can always turn back because I know the road. But one more step won’t make much difference.”

Until one day, without warning, the road stops testing the traveler and begins to treat him generously. The traveler’s troubled spirit takes pleasure in the beauties and the challenges of the new landscape.

And each step, which had until then been merely automatic, becomes instead a conscious step.

Rather than speaking to him of the solace of security, it teaches him the joy of facing new challenges.

The traveler continues his journey. He doesn’t complain of boredom now; he complains, rather, that he is tired. But at that point he rests, enjoys the landscape, and then carries on.

Instead of spending his whole life destroying the roads he was afraid of following, he begins to love the road he is on.

Even if his final destination remains a mystery, even if, at some point, he makes a wrong decision, God sees his courage and sends him the necessary inspiration to put matters right.