Papa James Olawole---Still Fresh in my Memory.

Today, I remember a great man.

Papa James Olawole would have been 102 years old today if he had not crossed the threshold into the Astra plane as he did in 2005. He was not just my father and a live-in philosopher but also a sage from whom many people "tapped" wisdom and philosophies. There was a time some of my close friends made it such a regular habit to come seek papa’s wise opinions on various personal issues that I “threatened” to start charging them “professional fees”.

It was papa that introduced me, among other things, to a spiritual school of thought that placed a very high premium on the act of charity. Initially, I disagreed with him because he was also the same person who was in the habit of counseling me vigorously about never having to put much faith or expectation in fellow humans. He would often back this wise counsel up with a Yoruba adage that said, “igbekele eniyan, asan” (placing faith in fellow human beings is vain). To me, that was contradictory. How could it be alright for me to be kind and generous to people, including total strangers, but not okay for me to expect acts of kindness from them. I told him bluntly that I would be unfair to myself if I had to adopt such a principle.

Papa however shook his head slowly as he gave a response that will remain forever in my consciousness: “As fasting cleans the body, so does the act of generosity purifies the soul. The more eager and cheerful you are while giving, the better purified is your soul. Yet, all the glories go to God, not you. Therefore, to expect similar acts of kindness from other people will only lead to frustrations that will not do your body any good. This is because it takes painstaking efforts to learn the act of giving and not everyone is prepared to acquire a knowledge that will only lead them to give in a world where everyone wants to take.”