Manuscript Found in Accra Read Online Free PDF Page A

what makes them so imposing. If we tried to make them all the same, they would no longer command our respect.
    It is the imperfect that astonishes and attracts us.
    When we look at a cedar tree, we don’t think: “The branches should be all the same length.” We think: “How strong it is.”
    When we see a snake, we never say: “He is crawling along the ground, while I am walking with head erect.” We think: “He might be small, but his skin is colorful, his movements elegant, and he is more powerful than I.”
    When the camel crosses the desert and takes us to the place we want to reach, we never say: “He’s humpbacked and has ugly teeth.” We think: “He deserves my love for his loyalty and help. Without him, I would never be able to explore the world.”
    A sunset is always more beautiful when it is covered with irregularly shaped clouds, because only then can it reflect the many colors out of which dreams and poetry are made.
    Pity those who think: “I am not beautiful. That’s why Love has not knocked at my door.” In fact, Lovedid knock, but when they opened the door, they weren’t prepared to welcome Love in.
    They were too busy trying to make themselves beautiful first, when, in fact, they were fine as they were.
    They were trying to imitate others, when Love was looking for something original.
    They were trying to reflect what came from outside, forgetting that the brightest light comes from within.

And a young man who would have to leave that night said:
    “I was never sure which direction to take.”

 
    And he answered:
    Like the sun, life spreads its light in all directions.
    When we are born, we want everything at once and cannot control the energy we have been given.
    But, if we want to make a fire, we have to focus all the sun’s rays on one spot.
    And the great secret that the Divine Energy revealed to the world was fire. Not just fire for burning, but the fire that transforms wheat into bread.
    And there comes a moment when we need to focus that inner fire so that our life will have some meaning.
    Then we ask the heavens: “But what meaning?”
    Some immediately brush this question aside; it’s bothersome, it won’t let you sleep, and there’s no easy answer. They are the ones who, later on, will live tomorrow as if it were yesterday.
    And when the Unwanted Visitor arrives, they will say: “My life was too short; I squandered my blessing.”

    Others embrace the question, but since they don’t know the answer, they start to read what was written by those who have already faced up to the challenge. And suddenly they find an answer which they judge to be correct.
    When that happens, they become the slaves of that answer. They draw up laws intended to force others to accept what they believe to be the sole reason for existence. They build temples to justify it and courts for those who reject what they consider to be the absolute truth.
    Finally, there are those who saw at once that the question was a trap; there is no answer.
    Instead of wasting time grappling with that trap, they decide to act. They go back to their childhood and look for what filled them with enthusiasm then and—disregarding the advice of their elders—devote their life to it.
    Because Enthusiasm is the Sacred Fire.
    They slowly discover that their actions are linked toa mysterious impulse beyond human knowledge. And they bow their heads as a sign of respect for that mystery and pray that they will not be diverted from a path they do not know, a path which they have chosen to travel because of the flame burning in their hearts.
    They use their intuition when they can and resort to discipline when intuition fails them.
    They seem quite mad. And sometimes they behave like mad people, but they are not mad. They have discovered true Love and Will.
    And those two things reveal the goal and the direction that they should follow.
    Their will is crystalline, their Love is pure, and their steps determined. In moments of