Kwanzaa Day 5 : Nia Candle Lighting

Today we light the fifth candle of Kwanzaa, Nia (Purpose), symbolizing that our collective goal as people of African ancestry is to build up and develop our communities so that we may experience complete and total restoration to our original and traditional greatness. One way we can do the work embodied by the principle of Nia is by remembering our African Spiritual Origins, and Key 1 of the Seven  Keys to Emotional Emancipation helps us do that:

“African Spiritual Origins: As children of a Divine force, our power–personal and communal–is boundless.”

As we seek to find our purpose, it is crucial that we know that the strength to accomplish our life’s work is not found simply within ourselves, but in a Source outside of ourselves that is also much greater than ourselves. At CHN, we name the importance of becoming aware and awakening to “the reality of [one’s] unquestionable worth and that something all-knowing, all-powerful, [and] all-mighty is always with me.”

Action Step: 

Today, on the fifth day of Kwanzaa, CHN encourages you to reflect on your Purpose & Spiritual Origins. In who and where do you place your hope? Do you have a sense of who and whose you are? What do you feel is your Purpose in life? What and who do you feel you need to accomplish your Purpose on this earth? Discuss your answers to these questions with friends and family.