DECEMBER 4, 2020
Good afternoon,
Ubuntu – ” I am because we are.”
At the MCC Ontario annual peace conference in November, Christen Wong talked about Ubuntu . She was an MCC SALT volunteer in South Africa for a year. She worked with the long term trauma from the effects of the AIDS virus. She had not been prepared for listening to so many stories with such pain. This is when she learned of the concept of UBUNTU.
The Western concept of ” I think therefore I am ” moves us to an unhealthy individualism. Ubuntu speaks of the collective or community. We have a common humanity . It is a oneness of a shared living in this world. It is a concept for the church and the values that it incorporates with each other. “Umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu“, which literally means that a ‘person is a person through other people.’. It is a concept of love in action from the Zulu language and culture.
When Jesus wanted to lead the world into the Kingdom, he selected a group of 12, and then many more, because salvation is a community act. We are in this world together. The Church is not a group of individuals made into a group. It is a group made from individuals, working at life and salvation together.
As we move through this terrible pandemic, how are we together ? We have been told to flatten the curve, and have we flattened the curve of inequality, racism or gender bias ? I like to watch sports but I have been uncomfortable with the ease in which all leagues and their players have been able to obtain COVID 19 tests ? It does not seem fair, and so are we really in this together ? Let us work to change the world.
PRAYER
Lord God,
Wonderful Counsellor
Prince of Peace.
Mighty God
Everlasting Father
Help us to treat all people with equality.
UBUNTU !!!!!! AMEN.
Fred
Tread on bold new paths!
Fireflies flash the directions
Hope Springs Eternal. Monika Pieper Landoni 2020
