By Chinwe Ikokwu-Ezeanya
Many years ago, I read a passage in the Opus Dei handbook which compared gold to copper. It held that gold is much higher in value, but copper serves a better purpose.
The rhetoric question; copper or gold: who are you? had resonated within me over the years.
So today, I ask you: Who are you and what is your value to the world? Does your life-work represent gold or does it represent copper?
Yes! Gold represents perfection. It is noble and represents royalty, luxury, class, pedigree and wealth. Indeed, it represents the accumulation of the beautiful things of life and prosperity in general.
Copper on the other hand represents the everyday life. Copper is common and in much abundance. Copper is functional and is seen in every nook and cranny of our everyday life. We cannot live life without copper. Copper renders a lending hand when gold remains in the treasure rooms of the noble.
Are you worried that you are not gold? That you do not live your life in luxury and do not seem to have the certain kind of pedigree those who believe they are gold have.
Do not fret for God does not make no junk. You are fearfully and wonderfully made, and a valued treasure much more than you realize.
Copper is of better use. It is kind, soft, malleable yet full of strength and vigor. It shields you from the harsh elements of the weather, it cooks your meals, scoops your soup from your plate and gently lays it in your mouth, it opens your door to the world, shuts your windows at dusk, gives you support down the stairs. Copper adorns your body and tells you time. It forms the major component of your everyday tools and machinery. Furthermore, it moves you around town via the various means of transportation, it forms bridges between the land and seas, it transports you round the globe and does so much more for mankind.
Copper is so lowly and humble yet so handy and functional. it relates with everyone and is not class conscious, proud, arrogant, irritable nor resentful. Copper is life.
Without copper, you can do nothing. Without gold you can do everything. copper doesn’t worry about thefts. Gold does and hides in vaults. It’s good to have gold as an asset but do not covet it, for it is not functional and its scope remains so limited with absolutely no impact in the everyday life of most men. Although it represents nobility, its value when applied right could make a huge difference to many but, does this fact matter to those who would rather kill to possess it? Gold, therefore, remains in its own world, tucked away as a treasure that has little or no impact despite being an object usually coveted for its high value.
I would, therefore, rather choose to be proudly copper than gold. I believe in “Everyday Greatness.” What about you?
Chinwe Ikokwu-Ezeanya
