This first week of the Advent season will be filled with more about Ubuntu by Michael Battle.
Ubuntu is the interdependence of persons for the exercise, development, and fulfillment of their potential to be both individuals and community. This is why extended family is so important in African societies. Through extended family, an individual becomes capable of living a larger life, not only through those related by blood, kinship, or marriage but through humanity itself, conceived as a family one joins at birth and in which no one is a stranger.
What a good image of community. Then again, this could be also the worst part of community. What if the larger life that is connected with others is only a connection to some. It may be a village. It may be a tribe....a city...an extended family. If we do not have the ability to extend ourselves beyond our group or larger extended family, it seems to me that it can become quite demonic. On community of close-knit people can become the ones who threaten and go to war with another community. Ubuntu seems to rest on the understanding that this connectedness is to run throughout humanity. No one is outside. No one is beyond our relationships. We can and must be one and refuse to have any issue or cause or action separate us or call us stranger. When we cannot be that expansive, we will become like a cult - speaking good words about community but speaking them with little respect toward those not "with us."
Connection: There are simply too many ways to come up with reasons to divide. It takes courage to reach across the lines of our own separation.
Lord of Creation, when you make us in your image, it is within the beauty of our differences that you see this image and it is handed to us as our own. Continue to make us bold and uncover the many facets of our humanity that help to build bridges to new life. Amen.
Monday, November 30, 2009
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Wednesday 25 November 2009
Have a blessed Thanksgiving - more on Ubuntu.
...relying only on a literal interpretation of the word as human being does not satisfy Ubuntu's deeper meanings. To the Bantu-speaking peoples, a phrase, such as "Mary has Ubuntu," would mean Mary is known to be a caring, concerned person who abides faithfully in all social obligations. Mary is conscious not only of her personal rights but also of her duties to her neighbor. In fact, Mary is conscious of her personal rights only in relationship with the rights of others. Mary does not know she is beautiful, or intelligent, or humorous, without Ubuntu. Mary has come to understand her own identity only in relationship to other persons.
I find this to be scary stuff - in a way. It demands that the community is always looking after the welfare of the other. Imagine counting on your self-perception in a community that ridiculed you...or degraded you...or abused you...or counted you as nothing at all. That, from what I have read here would be a demonic community - one not able to be truly human. But, when others can be a blessing - a word of encouragement and truthfulness - a wellspring of honor and respect, then this communal humanity can be the very ground beneath the lives of everyone. The character of each would then begin to reflect the character of the whole and we would see dramatic expressions of humanity at its best.
Connection: Can we be so afraid of others that we will not allow ourselves to be in communion with them? And yet, at the very center of our life together as Christians is the common meal that shapes our identity.
Knit us together, O God. Help us to see how our humanity is so enriched by our contact with others and the way we mix together to see the beauty of the whole. Amen.
...relying only on a literal interpretation of the word as human being does not satisfy Ubuntu's deeper meanings. To the Bantu-speaking peoples, a phrase, such as "Mary has Ubuntu," would mean Mary is known to be a caring, concerned person who abides faithfully in all social obligations. Mary is conscious not only of her personal rights but also of her duties to her neighbor. In fact, Mary is conscious of her personal rights only in relationship with the rights of others. Mary does not know she is beautiful, or intelligent, or humorous, without Ubuntu. Mary has come to understand her own identity only in relationship to other persons.
I find this to be scary stuff - in a way. It demands that the community is always looking after the welfare of the other. Imagine counting on your self-perception in a community that ridiculed you...or degraded you...or abused you...or counted you as nothing at all. That, from what I have read here would be a demonic community - one not able to be truly human. But, when others can be a blessing - a word of encouragement and truthfulness - a wellspring of honor and respect, then this communal humanity can be the very ground beneath the lives of everyone. The character of each would then begin to reflect the character of the whole and we would see dramatic expressions of humanity at its best.
Connection: Can we be so afraid of others that we will not allow ourselves to be in communion with them? And yet, at the very center of our life together as Christians is the common meal that shapes our identity.
Knit us together, O God. Help us to see how our humanity is so enriched by our contact with others and the way we mix together to see the beauty of the whole. Amen.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Tuesday 24 November 2009
As noted yesterday, Ubuntu by Michael Battle.
Tutu's more specific connotation of the term (Ubuntu)...derives from a Xhosa concept. Generally, this proverbial expression means that each individual's humanity is ideally expressed in relationship with others, and, in turn, individuality is truly expressed. A person depends on other persons to be a person. This is certainly the understanding Christians have of God as Trinity in which the three persons of God are so interdependent that all three persons of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit have one nature.
I like where he is going. The whole matrix of God and humanity is creatively nourished within relationship. In fact, God, in whose image we are created, is just as we would be - a community with many faces that expresses the very center of being that makes us whole. We are wholly human and in that mix of being communal, we find our individuality and we find that we are not ever without brother and sisters. We are never alone. We are never abandoned. We are forever laced together with other and in that reality we continue to evolved into the wonder of our humanity.
Connection: Is this why Hindus bow to acknowledge the God that is present in the other? Just wondering. We would do well to consider such a thought as we face those around us.
Liberating Lord, you free us to be vulnerable with one another so that we may find ourselves within the wide embrace of your love that creates new life among us from day to day. Continue to liberate our lives and expand our vision of our own humanity. Amen.
Tutu's more specific connotation of the term (Ubuntu)...derives from a Xhosa concept. Generally, this proverbial expression means that each individual's humanity is ideally expressed in relationship with others, and, in turn, individuality is truly expressed. A person depends on other persons to be a person. This is certainly the understanding Christians have of God as Trinity in which the three persons of God are so interdependent that all three persons of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit have one nature.
I like where he is going. The whole matrix of God and humanity is creatively nourished within relationship. In fact, God, in whose image we are created, is just as we would be - a community with many faces that expresses the very center of being that makes us whole. We are wholly human and in that mix of being communal, we find our individuality and we find that we are not ever without brother and sisters. We are never alone. We are never abandoned. We are forever laced together with other and in that reality we continue to evolved into the wonder of our humanity.
Connection: Is this why Hindus bow to acknowledge the God that is present in the other? Just wondering. We would do well to consider such a thought as we face those around us.
Liberating Lord, you free us to be vulnerable with one another so that we may find ourselves within the wide embrace of your love that creates new life among us from day to day. Continue to liberate our lives and expand our vision of our own humanity. Amen.
Monday, November 23, 2009
Monday 23 November 2009
For the three days prior to Thanksgiving, we are returning to Ubuntu by Michael Battle.
The word Ubuntu comes from the linguistic group of Sub-Saharan languages known as Bantu. Both words Ubuntu and Bantu can be recognized by the common root of -ntu (human). the prefix ba- denotes the plural form for humanity. In short, Ubuntu means personhood. A further etymological foundation for -ntu can be translated as being, that is, human being. In the spirituality common to Sub-Sarharan Africa, there is a direct relationship between human being and God's being. Ubuntu, therefore, also includes a theological understanding in which all beings are known through the category of personhood.
All are see as persons. If that were the case, then there would be no reason to treat men or women differently. Nor would there be any reason to treat any human differently simply based on who they are. Actually, we would need to assume that I am only more human as I treat the other as human. It is in that time of sharing that we begin to experience the great wonder about our humanity. Thus, we begin to see the fullness of humanity that we often limit. We honor the human being. In that way we begin the daily journey of following the truly human one. Some may say that is the Christ of God, Jesus. Others may call this the "son of Man." In either case, it presses us to see the fullness of who we can be and by seeing the expansiveness of our being, we are also exposed to how limited we really let ourselves become.
Connection: Can you see in the other person the humanity that will allow you to stretch your understanding of what it is to be human? Then can you see where that might lead us?
Lord of Creation, in your image we are created. Humanity - the whole of our being - the wideness of our experience - the mystery of our being, is created by you. It is in this created form that the simple 'me' comes to see how life is really brought to it defining moments when we see in the communal 'we' the life of humanity created in your image. We bless you for moments of insight and the grand texture of your being that becomes us. Amen.
The word Ubuntu comes from the linguistic group of Sub-Saharan languages known as Bantu. Both words Ubuntu and Bantu can be recognized by the common root of -ntu (human). the prefix ba- denotes the plural form for humanity. In short, Ubuntu means personhood. A further etymological foundation for -ntu can be translated as being, that is, human being. In the spirituality common to Sub-Sarharan Africa, there is a direct relationship between human being and God's being. Ubuntu, therefore, also includes a theological understanding in which all beings are known through the category of personhood.
All are see as persons. If that were the case, then there would be no reason to treat men or women differently. Nor would there be any reason to treat any human differently simply based on who they are. Actually, we would need to assume that I am only more human as I treat the other as human. It is in that time of sharing that we begin to experience the great wonder about our humanity. Thus, we begin to see the fullness of humanity that we often limit. We honor the human being. In that way we begin the daily journey of following the truly human one. Some may say that is the Christ of God, Jesus. Others may call this the "son of Man." In either case, it presses us to see the fullness of who we can be and by seeing the expansiveness of our being, we are also exposed to how limited we really let ourselves become.
Connection: Can you see in the other person the humanity that will allow you to stretch your understanding of what it is to be human? Then can you see where that might lead us?
Lord of Creation, in your image we are created. Humanity - the whole of our being - the wideness of our experience - the mystery of our being, is created by you. It is in this created form that the simple 'me' comes to see how life is really brought to it defining moments when we see in the communal 'we' the life of humanity created in your image. We bless you for moments of insight and the grand texture of your being that becomes us. Amen.
Friday, November 20, 2009
Friday 20 November 2009
Today will be a longer piece by Michael Battle in order to further define Ubuntu.
Ubuntu is an African concept of personhood in which the identity of the self is understood to be formed interdependently through community. This is a difficult worldview for many Westerners who tend to understand self as over and against others - or as in competition with others. In a Western world-view, interdependence may be easily confused with codependence, a pathological condition in which people share a dependence on something that is not life-giving, such as alcohol or drugs. Ubuntu, however, is about symbiotic and cooperative relationships - neither the parasitic and destructive relationship of codependence nor the draining and alienating relationships of competition. Perhaps Desmond Tutu...but it best when he said:
"A person with Ubuntu is open and available to others affirming of others, does not feel threatened that others are able and good, for he or she has a proper self assurance that comes from knowing that he or she belongs in a greater whole and is diminished when others are humiliated or diminished, when others are tortured or oppressed."
I wanted to include the piece by Bishop Tutu because it shows that not everyone has this character of Ubuntu. It is a character that is treasured and pointed to within Africa. I would have to submit though, that it is a positive and wonderful community character, it must not be assumed to be universal. If it was, there would not be, like in the west, the senseless bloodshed and misery that goes along with so many people living together. I would argue that this notion of Ubuntu is a gift. It is one that we can nurture and one that must be nurtured communally - that merely fits with the definition of the word. Can we say that one country or continent knows more about this experience? Or must we remember that we are all saint-sinners who will quite easily reject such a creative and loving way to live together. It would be good to look at other concepts from other places that attempt to hold the same values as primary.
Connection: Without being connected, we lose a sense of who we are and who we can become. What makes us utterly human in the best way possible today!
Creating God, you knit us together as your beloved people. You continue to call us into relationship with one another and your love becomes the power that bridges the gaps between us. Continue to open our eyes to see the wealth of life that comes to everyone when we love one another and that love becomes the foundation of our life together. Amen.
Ubuntu is an African concept of personhood in which the identity of the self is understood to be formed interdependently through community. This is a difficult worldview for many Westerners who tend to understand self as over and against others - or as in competition with others. In a Western world-view, interdependence may be easily confused with codependence, a pathological condition in which people share a dependence on something that is not life-giving, such as alcohol or drugs. Ubuntu, however, is about symbiotic and cooperative relationships - neither the parasitic and destructive relationship of codependence nor the draining and alienating relationships of competition. Perhaps Desmond Tutu...but it best when he said:
"A person with Ubuntu is open and available to others affirming of others, does not feel threatened that others are able and good, for he or she has a proper self assurance that comes from knowing that he or she belongs in a greater whole and is diminished when others are humiliated or diminished, when others are tortured or oppressed."
I wanted to include the piece by Bishop Tutu because it shows that not everyone has this character of Ubuntu. It is a character that is treasured and pointed to within Africa. I would have to submit though, that it is a positive and wonderful community character, it must not be assumed to be universal. If it was, there would not be, like in the west, the senseless bloodshed and misery that goes along with so many people living together. I would argue that this notion of Ubuntu is a gift. It is one that we can nurture and one that must be nurtured communally - that merely fits with the definition of the word. Can we say that one country or continent knows more about this experience? Or must we remember that we are all saint-sinners who will quite easily reject such a creative and loving way to live together. It would be good to look at other concepts from other places that attempt to hold the same values as primary.
Connection: Without being connected, we lose a sense of who we are and who we can become. What makes us utterly human in the best way possible today!
Creating God, you knit us together as your beloved people. You continue to call us into relationship with one another and your love becomes the power that bridges the gaps between us. Continue to open our eyes to see the wealth of life that comes to everyone when we love one another and that love becomes the foundation of our life together. Amen.
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Thursday 19 November 2009
I have neglected to send out devotions this week due to a bad back. Strange how such a thing as that can alter how things get done and when things get done and if things get done. Sorry about that. I would like to make a switch to a book by Michael Battle "Ubuntu." Several years ago I used one of his writings and find him to be a real lift.
Westerners may find Ubunto - an African concept of personhood - a strange word with perhaps an even stranger meaning. Emphasizing the communal and spiritual dimensions of human identity, the concept of Ubuntu (oo-BOON-too) of necessity poses a challenge to persons accustomed to thinking of themselves as individuals. Imagine a fish trying to understand what it means to be wet, when all it has ever known is life in the water. Or imagine the desperation of an earthling landing on Mars without an oxygen tank. Becoming conscious of what we take for granted can be a strange, difficult - even painful - experience. Yet the winds of change that greet us as we begin the twenty-first century guarantee that Westerners will encounter non-Western assumptions about what it means to be human. The interconnection of identity on the personal, communal, and global levels is inescapable.
Just last evening in bible study we touched briefly on this notion of the individual. We often read scripture as though it is about me...me and Jesus...me and God. And yet, it is about the whole of us - all of us together. It is about the Reign of God that is the radical new way of being humanity. The vision of that humanity is as old as the bible - and yet it is as new as the shaping of the church today. We are human. Yes, I am one of those human beings - but I am on the one and only one. When we are blessed to see that we are one of many...one of a whole that has been created in God's image, the borders we put up to separate and divide really have not power and no reason. The Reign of God is about the interconnection that does not abide by borders and wall and boundaries. Rather, we are a part of the beginning of becoming the one humanity in God's image. That will change everything about us. It will mean listening and speaking and arguing and tossing around possibilities and using our imaginations much more than we have ever let ourselves do that before now.
Connection: Imagine what being interconnected means as the day begins to unfold before us. Sometimes it really does take a great imagination.
When you invite us to love our enemies, O God, you are inviting us to be the humanity you created. Without that love and connection to others, we are not the people you intended us to become. You insist on peace - you insist on our whole humanity. Blessed are you. Amen.
Westerners may find Ubunto - an African concept of personhood - a strange word with perhaps an even stranger meaning. Emphasizing the communal and spiritual dimensions of human identity, the concept of Ubuntu (oo-BOON-too) of necessity poses a challenge to persons accustomed to thinking of themselves as individuals. Imagine a fish trying to understand what it means to be wet, when all it has ever known is life in the water. Or imagine the desperation of an earthling landing on Mars without an oxygen tank. Becoming conscious of what we take for granted can be a strange, difficult - even painful - experience. Yet the winds of change that greet us as we begin the twenty-first century guarantee that Westerners will encounter non-Western assumptions about what it means to be human. The interconnection of identity on the personal, communal, and global levels is inescapable.
Just last evening in bible study we touched briefly on this notion of the individual. We often read scripture as though it is about me...me and Jesus...me and God. And yet, it is about the whole of us - all of us together. It is about the Reign of God that is the radical new way of being humanity. The vision of that humanity is as old as the bible - and yet it is as new as the shaping of the church today. We are human. Yes, I am one of those human beings - but I am on the one and only one. When we are blessed to see that we are one of many...one of a whole that has been created in God's image, the borders we put up to separate and divide really have not power and no reason. The Reign of God is about the interconnection that does not abide by borders and wall and boundaries. Rather, we are a part of the beginning of becoming the one humanity in God's image. That will change everything about us. It will mean listening and speaking and arguing and tossing around possibilities and using our imaginations much more than we have ever let ourselves do that before now.
Connection: Imagine what being interconnected means as the day begins to unfold before us. Sometimes it really does take a great imagination.
When you invite us to love our enemies, O God, you are inviting us to be the humanity you created. Without that love and connection to others, we are not the people you intended us to become. You insist on peace - you insist on our whole humanity. Blessed are you. Amen.
Friday, November 13, 2009
Friday 13 November 2009
With love comes accountability - so Willimon continues.
love is not love that is irresponsible. Unresponsiveness is the death of a relationship. Love is not love that is unwilling to take time with the beloved. A lover who expects nothing of the the beloved, who does not want the best for the beloved is not really in love. Once again the story that Jesus told of extravagant beneficence (Matthew 25:14-30), his so-called parable of the talents: A man summoned his slaves and gave them everything he had, lavishing huge sums of money upon them in varying degrees. the master leaves them holding everything he owns, every cent, with no instructions on how they are to invest in so much treasure. "After a long time" he returns and "settled accounts with them" (v.19). There is graciousness and lavish gift, but there is also definitive accounting.
So what are we doing with this love that has been wrapped around us as an unending promise? Is it alive among us...is it something that is visible in our individual lives...has it become us? I immediately thought of the hymn "this little light of mine" and the refrain "let it shine, let it shine, let it shine." A good question in our make-believe judgment day scenario would be the simple question that all the beloved are asked: "did you let it shine?" Or maybe God would simply say, "tell me what my love did in your life - how was it made into you?" Great gift - great opportunity...gracious gift - gracious life.
Connection: At the end of the day ask what took place that day that brought the loving and gracious face of God alive through us...just one little thing would be enough.
You make us a gift to the world, O God, by your love for us. When we are loved by you, we are a part of life that is shaped by you. We give you thanks for turning us loose on the world as recipients of your love. Amen.
love is not love that is irresponsible. Unresponsiveness is the death of a relationship. Love is not love that is unwilling to take time with the beloved. A lover who expects nothing of the the beloved, who does not want the best for the beloved is not really in love. Once again the story that Jesus told of extravagant beneficence (Matthew 25:14-30), his so-called parable of the talents: A man summoned his slaves and gave them everything he had, lavishing huge sums of money upon them in varying degrees. the master leaves them holding everything he owns, every cent, with no instructions on how they are to invest in so much treasure. "After a long time" he returns and "settled accounts with them" (v.19). There is graciousness and lavish gift, but there is also definitive accounting.
So what are we doing with this love that has been wrapped around us as an unending promise? Is it alive among us...is it something that is visible in our individual lives...has it become us? I immediately thought of the hymn "this little light of mine" and the refrain "let it shine, let it shine, let it shine." A good question in our make-believe judgment day scenario would be the simple question that all the beloved are asked: "did you let it shine?" Or maybe God would simply say, "tell me what my love did in your life - how was it made into you?" Great gift - great opportunity...gracious gift - gracious life.
Connection: At the end of the day ask what took place that day that brought the loving and gracious face of God alive through us...just one little thing would be enough.
You make us a gift to the world, O God, by your love for us. When we are loved by you, we are a part of life that is shaped by you. We give you thanks for turning us loose on the world as recipients of your love. Amen.
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