The Paradise We Seek
The age old biblical allegory of the “Tower of Babel” bears a strong semblance to current happenings and perhaps where we are today as a species. For those that aren’t familiar with this allegory, according to its metaphoric depiction, a united human race in the generations following the great flood that destroyed the earth all spoke a single language after migrating eastward to the land of Shinar. In their quest for human advancement, they agreed to build a city and a tower tall enough to reach heaven - a metaphoric expression of trying to attain the infinite through finite means. They built relentlessly high into the sky only to realise they were still short of their target - heaven. God, observing their city and tower, confounds their speech so that they no longer understood each other, and scatters them around the world.
Similarly, human advancement has rapidly progressed since the Tower of Babel. We’ve been to the Moon, invented the internet and explored life on other planets. Since the emergence of civilisation and then technology, we’ve continuously lived under the false promise that we’re just one more invention away from being ushered into the utopia we seek. We subconsciously build our own Tower of Babel in the hope of reaching heaven or perhaps a proverbial paradise, but it appears that the very innovations proffered to drive us forward somewhat divide us.
I was recently reminded what happiness truly was by Koffi Winston, a remarkable human being who happens to be the cleaner at a fitness and wellbeing club where I’ve been a member for several years. Bearing in mind the rigorous demands of having to routinely clean after several people for 6 days a week, which includes but not limited to the gym floor, men’s toilet and showers, it occurred to me that for the several years I’d religiously attended the club, I’d never seen Winston without a big smile permanently plastered on his face. So I asked him how he manages to remain constantly upbeat despite the pains of having to do such a tedious job. He expressed importantly the pleasure as well as the privilege he’s been giving to have a job that allows him to serve vast range of humans with meaningful interactions, not to mention that the remuneration also affords him a unique opportunity to build a home back in his motherland of Ghana where he plans to retire with whatever is left.
It was humbling. It’s not to say Winston wouldn’t have bad days, but its a gentle reminder that true happiness is not a transient experience of getting what we want, but a joy that radiates from our core. When we stop trying to build a tower to heaven and take a moment to look around us, we’ll realise that we’re already in heaven. We are divine beings - “the paradise we seek is already within us”.
Remember - “The Mind is its own place, and in itself can make Heaven of Hell, and Hell of Heaven” - John Milton
Peace, Love & Light.