Men rise and fall like the winter wheat

'The Gods envy us. They envy us because we are mortal, because any moment might be our last. Everything is more beautiful because we're doomed.'
- Achilles in the film Troy

In this world, from the timeless infinity of time; and over aeons; we have seen men rise and fall: men of honour and men of valour; men of deceit and men of duplicity; men of cunning and craft, cowardice and contempt; sinners and saints; the wicked and the worldly wise, they have all risen to fall like the winter wheat. As they rose, they grew in deceit at seeing themselves discovered, and tried to deceive truth itself: the truth that they shall all fall one day. Some did deeds that disserved not the title of man, disserved not the title they held.

They forgot that the evil that men do lives after them; and that, most oft than not, even the good is interred with their bones; because, the truth is that men seldom eulogize the virtues and wisdom of their fathers, their forefathers, howsoever great they may have been. They repudiate the deeds that make men great and only extend excuse for the follies and wickedness of their own. There are illustrations of it near and remote, ancient and modern.

From the time of Abraham and before; or for that matter, our own queen Kueni; it was fashionable for the children to boast: "we have our father," when in reality they had long lost the faith of their fathers. Most people in this world, contented themselves, and liked to live under the shadow of great names; not realizing, not all greatness is, backed by deeds worthy of greatness. Those who do so, such people, remain mere traders in the bodies and souls of men; people who build tombs and garnish the sepulchers of men who rise and fall like the winter wheat. It is nothing but a reflection of the plaintive lament of a peeled and woe-smitten people.

Right

Throughout the ages, men have lived, died, and have done their work; and have done much of it well. Now, we live; must live, and must die, and must do our work. We have no right to enjoy a child's share in the labour of our fathers, unless our children are to be, blest by our labour. We have no right to wear out and waste the hard-earned fame of our fathers, however little that fame may be, to cover our indolence; for then, our children will do likewise.

Thus, we must fully appreciate the hardship we will encounter and firmly believe in the right of our cause, honourably inviting the scrutiny of an on-looking and ever vigilant world. We must solemnly comprehend the responsibilities we assume and wisely measure the terrible odds against them. For that is what our fathers and forefathers did, at least those that toiled in the sun and sand of this earth with honest sweat on their brows and a heart of gold to bring this generation - us - into this world. They were patriotic people who lived with a sublime faith in the great principles of justice and freedom. They lived for honour; lived for victory; lived for love; lived for destiny; lived for passion; and they loved their country.

Foolish

They laid deep, the corner stone of the national superstructure of this nation we call Sri Lanka, a nation that had risen and still rises in the grandeur around you, around us. Pride and patriotism, not less than gratitude, ought to prompt you, prompt us, to hold it in perpetual remembrance and bolt us to its destiny, the destiny of our nation. Yet; are we worthy of the blessings independence has extended to us? Are we worthy of, the great principles of political freedom and natural justice extended to us through the gain of independence? Have we, honestly and truly, severed the chains of servitude from our limbs through the gain of independence? Could we truthfully return an affirmative answer to these questions?

Such is not the state of the case. Even a wise man can say a foolish thing, at any time, anywhere, and to anybody. As such and perhaps, I may be foolish in saying, but must say, that in truth, I cannot give an affirmative answer to the questions posed. The reality is that, there exists a sad sense of disparity between us, our people; and our independence only reveals the ever-widening gap of disparities in all things. The blessings, in which some of us are fortunate to rejoice, are not divided evenly, not enjoyed in common.

The rich inheritance of justice, liberty, prosperity, and independence; bequeathed by our fathers, is shared not equally, nor equitably, by all. The sunlight that brought life and healing to some of us has brought strife and death to many. It was not long ago, just over 67 years ago - a mere speck in the life of this nation - the people of this country, our people, were British subjects. The style and title of our present status of a "sovereign people," in which we now glory, was not then born. We were under the British Crown. Our fathers esteemed the English Government as the home government, and England as the fatherland.

This home government, although a considerable distance from our home, did in the exercise of its parental prerogatives impose upon its colonial children, such restraints, burdens, and limitations, as, in its mature judgment, it deemed wise, right, and proper. But, our fathers, who had not adopted the fashionable idea of this day, of the infallibility of governments, and the absolute character of its acts, presumed to differ from the home government in respect to the wisdom and the justice of some of those burdens and restraints.

They pronounced the measures of the government unjust, unreasonable, oppressive, and did not submit to them quietly.

Thus was born our independence movement; and the signs and acts associated with it.

Yet, while looking to generous indulgence of the wealth created by our fathers, our forefathers; we have failed to imbibe the values that they cherished. We let ourselves be malleable, and easily led as sheep. We let ourselves be suggestible and susceptible. We gained independence, but lost our independent thinking power. Instead, we let power mongers rise. We did not realize that the only purpose for which power can rightfully be, exercised over any member of a civilized community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others.

Warrant

Our own good, either physical or moral, is not a sufficient warrant. We cannot rightfully be compelled to do or forbear because it will be better for us to do so, because it will make us happier, or because, in the opinion of others, to do so would be wise, or even right. We lost judgment; we let common sense become uncommon; we lacked moral courage; and in short, we were not wise. In the impressionable stage of our existence, greed engulfed us, tempted us.

Yet, there is hope: hope that high lessons of wisdom, of justice and of truth, will yet give direction to our destiny. Great rivers are, not easily turned from channels; worn deep in the course of ages. They may sometimes rise in quiet and stately majesty, and inundate the land, refreshing and fertilizing the earth with their mysterious properties.

They may also rise in wrath and fury, and bear away, on their angry waves, the accumulated wealth of years of toil and hardship. They, however, gradually flow back to the same old channel, and flow on as serenely as ever.

However, while the river may not be, turned aside; it may dry up, and leave nothing behind but the withered branch and the unsightly rock, to howl in the abyss-sweeping wind, the sad tale of departed glory. As with rivers, so with nations: unless you, our future, wake up and rise, even if later, to fall as the winter wheat.

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