When a neighbour’s house burns
By Achike Chude
The story is told of the man who lost his entire home while trying to save his neighbour’s house.
For truth, he would easily have been forgiven if his attempt at being a good neighbour was done without any knowledge that his own house was in danger of fire and crisis. He would even have been considered a hero for his attempt to save his neighbour’s home and family. But no, everyone knows that he was aware of the fire that had started in one wing of his house, licked its way to the sitting room downstairs and slowly negotiated its upward movement from the staircase to the living rooms upstairs.
The distraught man naturally tried to mobilize the community to put out the fire in his house, when a shout from his neighbour’s house also indicated another new fire with its own dangers. Quickly, the man sprang into action, diverted his attention from his own burning house, gathered some other willing neighbours, and channeled his resources and efforts to the new danger. He went in to save his neighbour.
It did not matter that the people in his neighbour’s compound told him that they were in control of the situation and would put out the fire themselves. The man would have none of that. He would save them – even against their will.
Perhaps he was inbued with the biblical admonition for love of neighbour which insisted on love of neighbour to the same degree of love for oneself. Through his action, he showed a perverted understanding of the good book. To love your neighbour, you must first love yourself. To look after your neighbour’s interest, you must first look after your own interest. To save your neighbour’s house, you must first save your own. Charity must always begin at home.
But it was not so for the man with the burning house. He was becoming a bit uncomfortable ever since he emerged as the householder. He considered himself a prophet but he knew that sometimes a prophet is not welcomed in his home town. He had been accused without proof of having an unwholesome hand in the way he became house owner. He, unlike others before him, now finds his prophetic ministry being questioned.
Since his people would not welcome him fully, he had to seek for foreign alliances and friendships that will enhance his reputation abroad and strengthen his position at home. It is why he found it more strategic to first put out the fire in his neighbour’s house. After all, the fire in his home had burned steadily for more than 14 years and had not consumed all within. He believed that his salvation and the guarantee of his prophetic ministry would be assured by the foreigners on whose behalf he was putting out the fire.
But woe to the man who seeks for comfort and legitimacy abroad following his inability and failure to deal with a crisis at home. A greater woe to him should he fail to successfully put out the fire abroad after sacrificing his homestead. When he comes scurrying back home in failure, his tail between his legs, he will meet a scornful, resentful and rebellious people anxious to depose him because he did not get their blessings in his foolhardy ventures abroad.
And when he fails, as he inevitably will, those powerful other neighbors from beyond the great sea who pushed, cajoled, and perhaps blackmailed him into first putting out his neighbour’s fire will abandon him as they usually do and leave him to his fate. The ultimate betrayal would be when they now decide to recognize the new realities in the troubled neighbour’s house and seek to make their usual kind of peace with him – which is always the peace of the graveyard.
A man without peace at home will never find true peace abroad.
Reminds me of the story of Niger, Nigeria, ECOWAS and the great powers.
Perhaps a coincidence?
Just wondering who the man with the burning house is.
