I stood outside my compound admiring the ‘yellow’ Ixora flower and ‘red’ hibiscus flower that stood pretty just a few steps away. It was early on a Sunday, a day Christians all over the world observe as their holy day of worship. I took a closer step relinquishing what beautiful plants it were, and then I thought of how beautiful our world would be if really we have prioritized people before principles, empathy over ideology, compassion above creed, humanity above religion and a kindness that transcends faith.

Regurgitating on my thoughts I deduced that virtually everyone practices a religion, not because they were divinely inspired to it; but because we were born into it and we remained in it or found peace elsewhere as we grew in life. Say for instance if you found yourself in a Muslim, or a Christian, or even a Buddhist home, you automatically become a member of that religion until you grew to an age you make a decision on whether or not to remain.

Then you ask yourself why would a certain sect of one these religions wake up one morning and label others unfaithful or call them sinners and beings that deserve not to live or to exist among others. It calls for questions, it calls for introspection. What if you were born in the circle of the people you labeled unfaithful how would you reconcile that? How would you feel when another stamps on you and calls for you to abandon your believes for theirs forcefully?

Each of these religions is like inheriting either of your Parent’s houses, you may not have chosen it, but it becomes inadvertently yours until you decide to make a change. And that’s perfectly fine. But what is not justifiable is looking at your neighbor’s and says “My house is the only true abode worth living hence I will have to destroy yours.

The world is diverse and so are its beliefs. While we may not always understand or agree with other peoples faiths, kindness is the universal language that connects us all. If a Hindu, a Muslim, a Christian and an Atheist were all stranded on an island, I doubt that their first argument would be on doctrines. No, it’d be about who is climbing the tree to get the coconuts. Because in the end, survival and humanity matters more than whose prayer nook has the most pages.

Religions in its purest forms teaches Love, respect, compassion, but sometimes we get caught up in proving that our faith is the ‘right’ one that we forget to be decent humans. Take for instance you walked past someone who fell in the ditch, but instead of helping, you lecture them about why their beliefs led them there. Doesn’t make much sense, does it?

If we all practiced a little more kindness, and a little less judgment, the world would be much of a better place. Think about the two flowers I saw, the yellow Ixora doesn’t argue with the Red Hibiscus nor does it claim superiority because of its color. It just blooms, adding a unique beauty to the environment. If we embraced our differences the way these flowers did, our world would not just be tolerable, it would be breathtakingly beautiful. Hence wherever we find ourselves worshiping we should always bear in mind, people before principles, empathy over ideology, compassion above creed, humanity above religion and a kindness that transcends faith.

- Nwafor Chiagozie M.