Once there was a small town community in a far off rural place, far from civilization and off the main roads. Life in this community stayed the same through years of isolation and almost zealot traditional beliefs being carried from generation to generation of the same families who lived there through century of existence. People was born and reared with the same names and habits over generations of well treaded paths and stayed fairly homogenous amongst the few family names that were there in the beginning. Almost no new blood entered the population, and if it happened they were regarded as outsiders for most of their natural life and could not become part of the inner circle of the community, not even when they married someone. Our story comes from this simple and seemingly happy town and it is a story of life as it is in many a small town even today.
In Smalltown, as we will call our community, there was some prominent people living there with bigger houses than the rest, who seemed to flourish under the small town conditions. They were the elders, so called leaders of the community, who were seen on every board of directors, every possible convention, committee, sports event and branded themselves as the VIP’s of the town. In their eyes they were the reason why the town existed, and without them there would be no town, real Yuppies. When they thought of something to do in the town, it mostly happened in that way. Mainly because they were the only ones who served on the committees where decisions were made, and they seldom bothered to ask the opinion of the poor, because in their minds, they thought of themselves as a special gift to mankind. They would say: “We are the only people who are willing to take the lead and as such have earned some privileges and must make sure that what we do will benefit us more than those who do not want to lead - where would the leaders come from, if we do not look after ourselves?”.
Most of them inherited some money from their parents, and had fairly no problem maintaining their somewhat elevated status in the community. They had more time on their hands than most, as they did not have to work very hard to build something. They were the only citizens who could go on extended holidays, sometimes oversees and would come back with huge stories in the local Harold about their experiences. Most of their children went to universities, qualifying as doctors, architects etc, never to come back to Smalltown. Those who were not successful would return to Smalltown and soon be absorbed by the Yuppie fraternity as “heredity partners”. Most issues of the local news letter, The Smalltown Harold, carried news about the prominent families’ children who did well at some or other higher institution of training and who they married. Some Yuppies however, could not maintain the high spender’s track, went bankrupt and disappeared from the town. Their fellow Yuppies, would immediately turn from them and soon forgot about them, as it was not fanciful to care about those in distress.
Most of those Yuppies who persevered had some or other business connection, and if the economy of the town was a bit stagnant, they organised some or other event through which their businesses could flourish again. The architect would make sure an extension to the church would be voted through, so that his business could have an income from it. They were not very often opposed in council or committee, and when the rare occasion happened that someone would oppose them, that person would soon be branded as senile or eccentric, soon to be ousted from his position as: “.. he did not deserve to be there anyway”. Even if the opposing person had a very valid argument, like: “ The community can not afford this very expensive new building. They are already taxed beyond their means”, the Yuppies would just ignore this and force their will through. If they could not easily oust their opposition from their seats, they would try buy them out. If this did not work they would try to discredit the person until he would find it unbearable to stay on.
The Yuppies would make contributions to some or other cause if they thought it would be posted in the local Smalltown Harold. Over and above that, they would not open their purses for anything if it could not benefit their images in some or other way. In their minds, they were contributing already so much to the existence of Smalltown, that they could not see why they should give good money away to: “... causes or people who does not deserve it”.
In most ways the Yuppies unknowingly put themselves in the position of the “monarchs” of the community, deciding the future and lives of all inhabitants of Smalltown.
This was also reflected in the way they attended church every Sunday, sitting at their special seats : “..where my father and his father used to sit” and be very agitated if someone dared to sit there. They would be standing at the doors of the church acknowledging their minions’ attendance by nodding and greeting them friendly - even if they did not even know their names properly.
To them, the poor were people who just did not have it in them to be a Yuppie : “They were born to be poor!”. Some of the Yuppies would even have the church ordinance in their pocket to check on the pastor, to see if he follows the correct procedure of the service!
Between the Yuppies and the next group, Smalltown had it’s own corps of civil servants, mainly there on tolerance of the Yuppies. They were the people who had to make sure that whatever happens should be according to the rules of the Yuppie - community. The civil servants also had to make sure that all services to the Yuppie community be intact at all times. If not, the rules would have to be adjusted to ensure nothing was done outside the existing set of rules of the time.
If it suited the Yuppies to build a new shopping centre right in the middle of a residential area, not taking in consideration any of the residents’ rights to protest, they just did it, claiming that the new complex would benefit most of the people of Smalltown. This high handed way of doing things alienated the ordinary citizens of Smalltown from the Yuppies and created a rift in the community, never to be healed again. As such, the Yuppies became more arrogant by the day and the ordinary folks more agitated against them, creating a very unhealthy climate.
Then we had the real strength of the community, the people who worked hard, contributing to almost everything happening in and out the town. They were the backbone of the community in the sense that they were the people who did most of the work in the town or who saw that the work was carried out. Most people who worked, had a job with this group of people. They eked out a living by sheer will force and had to work very hard to maintain their somewhat better than average living conditions. Most of them just did not have the time to serve on any council or committee. Most of them never had the chance to go to universities as they passed from school directly into the working fraternity and as such mostly remained living in Smalltown.
They flourished on the work created by the Yuppies and as such would always support whatever was embarked on by them. They went to church regularly and even contributed freely to any causes that may be operative in the community. They often held expansive parties to impress the Yuppies and very seldom invited the poor to such events. The problem they had, was that they would never get rich as the Yuppies, and would have to work until they get too old to work. Then their children would have to continue working to ensure their offspring a living. As such they lived according to their income and many of them invested in activities where they could meet Yuppies who could help them with more opportunities for work. They also kept themselves happy owning pleasure boats, playing golf or other expensive types of sport, mainly to try and impress the Yuppies, hoping to be absorbed by their fraternity. Because of this tendency many of them became bankrupt during recession times and were deferred to the poor and their way of living. As with the Yuppies their counterparts soon turned their backs on them and even despised them for becoming poor.
Our biggest group of citizens in Smalltown was the poor. The downright salt of the earth type, who did not have a regular income, or who were already too old to work and had to rely on subsidies or hand-outs from other people. They were not so much different from any of the other groups, they also lived according to their income. What they had, they shared with their counterparts however, and because of that they even deteriorated further into poverty. They were mostly despised by the other groups as second class citizens without the potential to ever become anything else. “They just did not have it to be better” was how they were rated by the other groups. Because of that, they were always a thorn in the flesh of the rich, and something to be ignored by the middle class. They were also voters and naturally voted for the people who helped them the most. In this the rich knew how to give small gifts and promised a lot when it came to election times, just to skilfully forget about all that was said after the election was won. The poor could easily be pacified by receiving food and other basic amenities like water, electricity and free schooling, but it could never really improve their status in the eyes of the rich. In their eyes the poor : “..was born to be poor, and just did not have it in them to be anything else, ever..”
Into this cauldron of human feelings and so called civilisation came our new pastor. He came because his father, the owner founder of the country in which Smalltown was situated, saw that the previous pastor joined the ranks of the rich and never even cared about the poor at all. On realising that, in his wisdom he decided to replace the old pastor with his own son. His task would be to unite this very diverse community into a people with common goals and the highest moral values. He would have to follow a road so different from anything ever attempted before by any other pastor or church, that it seemed impossible. He did not come as a already made man, or a rich person with all the obvious glamour and ceremony given him by his father. No, instead he came as a child amongst the people of Smalltown. He came into Smalltown, when the town and what they saw in it, was all the people ever cared about. It was their world, their life, their ambition, their all - their very existence. As soon as the citizens of Smalltown heard of his arrival, they paid homage to him. All according to their means and ways and will. The Yuppies gave free gifts to remind him of their position and what they could do for his church. The employers gave free gifts asking him to keep them in mind if he heard of any possible new extensions to the church. The poor came to his church with the natural expectation of meeting someone new who maybe could do something about their situation.
Soon however all of them realised that it was not business as usual with their new pastor. He demanded honesty and the truth, rather than their business as usual. He did not come to make people rich or more successful in their own wishes as such. He came to force the hearts of the Yuppies open for the plight of the poor for their own sakes. The Yuppies could not understand that language and soon started working against him. He never expanded the buildings or physical structures of the church as he preferred to preach wherever he met his congregation, so the employers also lost faith in him as provider and started joining forces with the Yuppies against him. Most of the poor found his sermons smooth and rewarding but even they did not find what they expected from him in the form of food or money. Most of the poor then also closed ranks with the other against him. Only a few became his followers and stayed faithful to him.
In this last part of this story it seemed that it was inevitable that the new pastor would be ousted by the citizens of Smalltown, because he did not meet their expectations at all. The rich wanted him to preach so that they could feel satisfied about their position in life every Sunday. The employers wanted him to preach in such a way that the workers would feel obliged to work for them at their current salaries. The poor wanted him to preach to the rich to help them live more comfortable lives or even to overthrow the system so that they could become rich themselves.
What happened in Smalltown, was so much different from anyone’s expectation that it resulted in the telling of this story. The new pastor was first asked to change his mind on his goals, and follow their traditional ways. When he did not want to do that he was brought before a people’s court who found him guilty of wrongdoing of a kind not even written in any law books. Once the mob was assembled against him, it did not matter that some of them were rich, Yuppies, employers, workers or poor - they all shouted against him! Suddenly all of them saw in him the cause of all their suffering and unfulfilled cravings. The rich saw in him a major threat against their empire of lies to keep the masses happy, and to get even richer. The employers and workers saw in him a major obstacle to their unending strive to become part of the rich fraternity. Most of the poor saw in him just another person bringing them words, but nothing to eat. Even if he fed them with the promises of a new life, he could not get them all to realise that he was the son of the ultimate owner who owned all they so zealously guarded as their own.
In fact they gave him over to an external power to make him suffer for reminding them of the truth. They went further by voting that, that same external power authorise his killing in the most barbaric way they knew of at the time.
In their minds they thought that they would punish him for once again bringing it to their attention that they were only tenants on the ground which they occupied in Smalltown.
They thought they could erase his presence and the message he brought them, by killing his body in the most cruel way they could think of.
The few followers he had was dispersed and chased by the authorities into many different regions to try to ensure no further was heard about his story.
What they did not know or realise was the power given to him by his father would extend far beyond anything they could do to him in Smalltown. His demise at their hands and his consequent rising from the dead, brought the answer to the prayers of all lost souls for all centuries that was and will still come.
The occupants of Smalltown still lives there. Some by now realised what happened and has changed their ways, but most just went on living their lives according to their own rules and traditions. Those who have changed their ways soon found it very difficult to be part of Smalltown culture and to follow His teachings at the same time.
For them there is hope of a future life after their Smalltown lives in His big city called Heaven. For the others a much feared and worst fate awaits them - Hell.
In South Africa today security plays a vital part in any business or private home. This book and the volumes to follow, will guide you step by step through the essential precautionary measures to be taken in protecting your family and valuables. From employing security guards, evacuation of your site and security measures to burglar bars and alarms in your private home.
a Book compiled by me from experience gained after 10 years in the security industry as Industrial relations officer with Nosa qualifications, 1st Aid, fire protection and also S.O.B. grade A.
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