What destroys Man by Lovis Kwasi Armah

A Military commander came to a peak of an isolated mountain where a wise man lived with few of his followers to enquire on what destroys man. The commander had observed several mighty men defeated by inconsequential things, later in their lives. And therefore he sought to learn from the wise man.

Upon telling the wise man his mission, the wise man said, “You will have to climb this mountain seven times. Take these seven white stones and place one on the base and peak of the mountain each time you arrive at your starting point. Go through a different route each time. Complete this successfully and I will tell you what destroys man.”

The military man considered this an easy task. He had been trained in the jungle and could easily overcome wild animals and any savages.

At the base of the mountain, where all pilgrims kiss the foot of the holy mountain, he placed a white stone and took a route less used. He climbed that side of the mountain with difficulty. His military regalia impeded his movements and slowed him down. At some point he doubted being able to complete the journey.

And just when about giving up, he saw a fellow pilgrim ahead who seemed to move quite easily. The commander called out to him; he wanted to learn his secret. But the other pilgrim kept moving and refused to be engaged in any conversation. This action appeared rude to the commander. Being a man of no restraint, He schemed to show that he commandeered a whole army. He moved his eyes around searchingly for a creeping plant to pull down the rude pilgrim. His thoughts fixed on doing harm seemed to have made him forget his tiredness. He moved ahead and even the pilgrim to be pulled down could not be found. Nevertheless, He planned to repay him some other time.

But the commander found him sooner than he anticipated. It was at the seventh and last round, it was a descent, and the commander had used the steep side of the mountain. He was in a hurry to finish this pilgrimage that he was yet to make full sense of. The commander saw him when running down. The man pointed down the path and the commander interpreted his facial expression as someone in need of help. The commander thought that it was a good time to repay him, he avoided him and moved on. But that side of the mountain had caved in and so it was a warning to the commander. Descending down and with unclear view, the commander fell into the cave, and broke his legs and arms and sustained several injuries.

Later when he was rescued and regained strength, the wise man asked him, “What do you think nearly destroyed you?” The military Commander pointed to the other pilgrim, whom he had learnt at this time is dumb. But the wise man disagreed and said, “Man is destroyed from within; and not from outside. It was when within your heart, you became poisoned with hate, anger and envy that all your faculties worked for your destruction. This is what destroys a man. Watch over your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life or death.”

Written by Lovis Kwasi Armah (MotX Ghana)
Author of The Limit of Human Goodness and The Wisest Man From the East.