Self-giving and social immortality
I have come to realise that those who give to society are those that society remembers. Think of Jesus Christ and the picture of self-giving comes to mind. Philippians 2:6-11 has this to say about him: But he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, becoming as human beings are; and being in every […]
I have come to realise that those who give to society are those that society remembers. Think of Jesus Christ and the picture of self-giving comes to mind. Philippians 2:6-11 has this to say about him: But he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, becoming as human beings are; and being in every way like a human being, he was humbler yet, even to accepting death, death on the cross. And for this God raised him high, and gave him the name which is above all other names; so that all beings in the heavens, on earth and in the underworld, should bend the knee at the name of Jesus.
In sum, Jesus emptied himself of his divinity and took human nature to make us divine. To do this he became a slave and died for us thus God has raised him above all other names.
On the 18th of July, 2009, the whole world celebrated the life of a legend in our contemporary world, Nelson Mandela, the world’s icon of selfless giving for the good of humanity. He gave his life to free his people from the devil of racial discrimination. He gave all he had to make sure that the black race as well as their white counterparts in South Africa live together amicably. If the world holds Mandela in high esteem today it is because of his self-giving. When the 2009 Mandela Day was being celebrated, the legend said that the Mandela Day is not a day of rest, but a day that every body is called upon to do something for the improvement of life in his or her community. People around the world could be seen sacrificing their time and money helping the needy in their communities.
On that day I had an exhilarating experience. After sharing the story of Nelson Mandela with my students and what he wanted the world to do as a commemoration of his birthday, we decided on what we could do to improve our school community. We then decided that we could remove trees on the site we want our kitchen and dinning hall to be built on. When the decision was taken, I was a bit afraid, I thought the little children of 10-15 years would not be able to uproot the mighty trees, but they willingly accepted to do so. As they dug the big trees, echoes of All for Mandela could be heard. Instead of observing the 67 minutes recommended by the organizers of the day (67 symbolizing the years Mandela had been in active politics for the progress of his people), we went more than the 67 minutes and worked for about three hours, All for Mandela.
As I work with the youth, I have come to appreciate the fact that the youth want their world to be a better place where they can all live in happily. What they need are people who can guide them on how such a world could be built. I would like to share an experience of how we want to inculcate the spirit of charity in our students at Holy Ghost College.
I am always sad when a child has to leave our boarding school for lack of money. Worried over this situation, I sat down with the student community to propose a solution, and the solution we had was to open a kind of “bank” at the school whereby those who have money at the beginning of the term could deposit the money, those who are in need could withdraw the money with some kind of minimal interest put on it. The accumulated interest could be used to help those children who may be in need at one time or the other. Such needs could range from buying textbooks, provisions to the payment of school fees, and by so doing no child will leave Holy Ghost College for lack of money.
Another solution to this problem is to invite the notables in society for “see-giving” at the school, a concept to replace thanksgiving. With this concept of see-giving, those who come to see our humble efforts of providing quality education to children in the rural area could be moved to help us in cash or kind. Some percentage of the help got at the see-giving would go into infrastructural development at the school and then a percentage dedicated to those in need. I see this as something positive that when well articulated and exhibited, can inculcate the spirit of charity in our younger ones for a better tomorrow. We must also reason with Bill Newman that “success depends upon the support and help of other people. No one makes it alone.” Thus in teaching our younger ones to help the needy, we are teaching them to help themselves for a better future.
Fr Indyer, CSSp is the Principal of Holy Ghost College, Sankera, Benue State ([email protected])