AN OPEN MIND

It was a bright mid-day in Lagoon town, but for blind prince Johnson, one of the three surviving sons of King Warrior of Lagoon, it was mid-night because all he could see was darkness. But since the mind is like a window, he looked through his mind. He often sat in front of his father’s chamber, observing every movement.

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From his mind, he could see the beautiful flowers in his father’s compound which he touched every morning when he woke up, and the birds which pitched on the flowers, whistling so loudly every morning. Besides this, he also saw the company of people who visited his father, the king every day either to pay homage to him, to bring a letter which was usually a notice of war from another king, or to lay complaints to the king about people who offended them. From their voices, he could distinguish if they were men or women, or if they were boys or girls; and by their footsteps, he knew if they were many or few. By experience, he had devised a means of knowing what time it was at any moment, he kept the time in his mind and therefore knew the time when every action took place. Moreover, blind Prince Johnson listened attentively whenever his father the king described lagoon and everything in the town to his guests who often visited him from other towns on certain festive days. King Warrior often boasted to his guests about how beautiful Lagoon was, the number of people in the town, the rich cultural heritage of the people, the positive attributes they had, their beautiful tourist sights, the natural resources found there, and every other thing they needed to know about lagoon town and blind Prince Johnson, having heard this description over and over again, created a picture of lagoon town in his mind. Though he was blind, he saw lagoon through his mind’s eyes! The townspeople often got amazed whenever the blind prince described the town of lagoon to them accurately as though he had seen it before. They only knew that his eyes were closed but never knew that his mind was open!

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Five years later, King Warrior fell sick and died. The entire town of lagoon was in deep sorrow, they hardly believed that their great king was dead. The king’s family was not left out, though the king died at a good old age, yet they expected him to live a little longer at least to have the few black hairs on his head turn white like the rest. However, they were consoled because as his name implied, he fought many battles and won them. He restored many properties belonging to Lagoon town which was forcefully taken by their enemies who fought and overcame the kings who reigned before him.

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After the king’s burial, there was an urgent need for a new king and according to the law of Lagoon town, the new king must be one of the sons of the former king, and whichever of them that would be crowned king must be proven to know the town very well in every sense of it and must be proven to possess enough wisdom to rule the people. So the elders of the land and the kingmakers appointed a day in which to invite the sons of the late King Warrior for an interview to appoint a new king among them.

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On the day appointed, the three sons of the King Warrior, Prince Edmond, Prince Walker, and the blind Prince Johnson took turns to stand before the kingmakers who asked them questions concerning Lagoon town and concerning the vision they had for the town if they finally became king. The first to be interviewed was Prince Edmond, the first son of the late king. When asked about the history of Lagoon town, the kingmakers were stunned to see that he knew nothing about Lagoon town. He had lived abroad all his life and only managed to visit home once in a while and then flew back overseas. Concerning his vision for the town, he said he was going to rule the people from abroad and replace Lagoon’s rich cultural heritage with that of the western world. Upon hearing this, the kingmakers laughed him to scorn and immediately disqualified him.

The next in line was Prince Walker, the second son of the late king. He was able to give an accurate history of Lagoon town and also described the town accurately. But concerning his vision for the people, he said he will return all the properties his late father took from their enemies back to them as a way to make peace with those towns. Then all the kingmakers laughed again and disqualified him.

At this point, everyone had given up, though they knew that one person was still left but what can a blind man see when even those who had their sights could see nothing? However, they proceeded to interview the blind Prince Johnson just to fulfill all righteousness, but they started changing their minds when Prince Johnson started giving the history of Lagoon town and also described the town and everything in it beyond the normal. His understanding of the town and everything about it was exceptional and the wisdom he exhibited was top-notch. No one believed he was blind. He proved that he knew the town even more than those who had seen it physically, however, he only saw it through his mind! Finally, when asked about his vision for Lagoon town, he behaved like a wise man by simply saying the opposite of the things his brothers had said that disqualified them. He started by promising to live fully in Lagoon town and work with able-bodied men to carry out the things he had in mind which were to improve Lagoon’s rich cultural heritage and make it among the best in the world and to fight all the remaining enemies of Lagoon town just like his late father did, and to bring home even more properties than his father brought to the town. These sayings pleased the kingmakers, this was certainly what they wanted to hear. They were most impressed by blind Prince Johnson’s boldness which showed that he was brave, as well as the deep wisdom that accompanied his words. He never spoke like he was blind and the manner with which he spoke was evidential that he could see, irrespective of where he was seeing from. So the kingmakers straight away took late King Warrior’s crown and placed it on blind Prince Johnson’s head, together with the king’s robe and beads, and crowned him the new king of Lagoon kingdom! They also gave an order that no one should refer to him anymore as being blind rather, he should be referred to as ‘The Visionary King of Lagoon!’

The entire town was already waiting outside with shouts of jubilation and all manner of musical instruments, singing and dancing as they waited for their new king to be presented to them. The celebration increased greatly when King Johnson stepped out majestically to see his people. They all went and bowed before the king and the king cheerfully received their accolades.

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In less than two years of reigning in Lagoon, King Johnson succeeded in bringing the picture of Lagoon which he had in mind to reality, and it turned out to be that the picture he had in mind was far more beautiful and excellent than what Lagoon looked like before he became king.

He sent and cut down the trees and bushes which surrounded the town and made it look primitive. Then he created new roads in some parts of the town, planted beautiful flowers everywhere, and reconstructed the markets in the town. He trained thousands of warriors who fought and conquered all their enemies and brought back their enemies as slaves, together with their cattle, silver, gold, and farm produce. These slaves were used to till the ground and plant all manner of crops in large farmlands across Lagoon town. In a short while, Lagoon was known as one of the greatest exporters of agricultural products in the area. They were also respected for their highly trained intelligent and brave warriors who never lost a battle and who have left all their enemies and neighbors alike in deep fear.

At this point, it was very clear that King Johnson had positively transformed Lagoon beyond recognition. This transformation drew the attention of the government to the town. The government built modern schools, hospitals, companies, and firms in the town and other investors also came and invested in Lagoon. If only King Johnson’s eyes had opened even if it was for a minute to see what his mind had done! However, there was no need for his eyes to open because his mind was already open and had seen everything his eyes should see and God had helped him to achieve them.

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On the day the government was to commission the projects, the governor expressed shock over the rapid development that took place in the town since the emergence of King Johnson as king of Lagoon, he further stated that he was most surprised by the fact that King Johnson was physical blind and was expected to underperform but rather, he did more exploits than all the previous kings of Lagoon who all had their physical sights. He, therefore, noted that physical blindness is better than mental blindness because, those who are physically blind can still see, but those whose minds are blind are blind indeed!

King Johnson was given an award of excellence by the government and he ruled Lagoon for many years and did more exploits to the amazement of all the people.