Which way shall you travel?

    
      The current socio-political unrests in countries like Tunisia, Lebanon and Egypt are good examples of how the quest for political freedom and the emancipation from the claws of economic inequality continue to propel concerned groups to seek drastic ways of ending oppressive regimes.
     I intentionally used the word “continue” because the conditions that paved the way for those recent upheavals had surfaced in the past and recurred with some degree of regularity. If we were to mark the current decade as our start date and work backward, we will surely notice that every so often, thru the annals of history, similar unrests had sprung in one place or another. And in each of those uprisings, the common thread that weaves them is the quest for freedom and equality, prompted usually by a unifying voice and a more pronounced sense of justice.

In many of those affirmations to fight for justice, the risk of losing limb had almost become a normal feature. Indeed, when the downtrodden get lifted up; when the poorest of society is given partiality, the impending danger cannot be unnoticed. Those who speak and act on their behalf often find before their path the biggest danger imaginable.

     Faced by this threat, some have opted to be silent rather than be silenced; others have opted for the opposite, to continue being the Voice and the Conscience that hopefully will be instrumental in the disestablishment of instrumentations of oppression. For those who choose the second option, there is something sacred in their struggle, especially if it is for the kind of justice that enables those in seats of leadership to render unto every man his just due without distinction. If such struggle, armed or otherwise, is meant to be along this noble path, those who are in it have then followed a beacon towards a meaningful engagement in their own version of prophetic ministry. 

     Should such options appear before you, I’d like to ask which way will you be heading. Will it be the path of comfort, ease and convenience? Or perhaps, you’ll dare venture to face the dangers on that “rough and rugged road”, the end in view of which might include something like freedom and emancipation and perhaps, transformation. 

     Which way shall you travel?