NO SWEET WITHOUT SWEAT!

Everybody knows the truth that in our human life there is “no sweet without sweat”.  If I am enjoying all kinds of good things – food, clothes, travel, entertainment -- which I did not work for at all, then it means that someone else has had to work very hard for them.  I have my sweet because of someone else’s sweat!  It could be that my ancestors, parents, benefactors or friends have toiled very hard to provide such nice things for me.   “Tafisa nga ameno ya mukanwa”, as the Bemba say, which means, “Good things don’t usually come like the teeth in the mouth!”

The man or woman who always basks in the sun but never works should not be surprised at having none of the necessities of life.  The Chewa proverb tells us: “Kanthu, ndi nchito”,  that is to say, “If a person wants to acquire something of worth, they must work for it”.  Truly, if I have a great desire for something good and nice, but never want to sacrifice for it, or suffer for it, or work hard for it, then I’ll probably only get it in some very crooked ways, say, through theft.  A saying among the Lala people of Zambia has it that, “Ubufila tabulisha kaweme”.  That means, “Laziness does not make a person feed oneself well”.  There is need for a human person to be willing to take on some sacrifice in order to reach a really successful goal.

Isn’t that the truth that we find in the first reading of this Second Sunday of Lent?  Abraham is such a devoted follower of God that he is even willing to sacrifice his son Isaac to prove his faithful obedience.  Of course God does not finally make Abraham actually offer that terrible sacrifice, and he rewards him with many wonderful blessings because of his faithfulness.

Here we can ask ourselves the following question:  Who is a good parent?  Surely a good parent is that mother or father who sacrifice themselves for their children, in order to raise them up as responsible children, well-fed and soundly formed in life.  It is not a question of simply bringing children into this world and then let them grow up cared for by grand-parents or by passersby’s like in the case of street kids.  That is a gross crime for a parent.  A father or mother of a family who enjoys idleness but lets their children feed from dustbins is a criminal and an enemy to society.  He or she is grooming thieves for society.

The same can be said about a politician or a government leader.  We all have heard of some Member of Parliament who comes to the constituency and promises everything to the people in order to get elected.  Then they are never seen again – until the next election!  They don’t work hard for the people, but expect the people to work for them!  We all know that Zambia will never develop, that we will never meet the problems of food and education and employment,  if we only have selfish and lazy politicians.

What can we say about our church?  In the parish where the priest and the people work hard together, and the church council and the small Christian communities cooperate together, and the lay movements and catechists collaborate together, there is great life and energy in the building of the Kingdom of God.  But in the parish where the priest is not seen during the week, the church council never has meetings, the small Christian communities and the lay movements don’t help each other, and the catechists don’t provide any real teaching, nothing happens, nothing at all!  According to the Chewa proverb, “Ulezi ulibe mtolo!”  Laziness never produces anything!

During this Lenten Season, there is need to examine myself and my attitude to life.  Am I any better that what we have depicted above?  Am I an irresponsible parent? Am I a hard working leader?  Am I a dedicated church member?   If not, then this is the time to repent of my past life, rectify the present and face the future with prayer, determination and the spirit of personal sacrifice.

It is said that to achieve something great, one has to give up a lot.  If Abraham had not been ready to obey God’s command to sacrifice his only son Isaac, he would not have persevered in being the great leader of God’s people.  Abraham’s love for God was proved true by his sacrifice.  And isn’t that also clear from our every day life?  True lovers go through a lot of sacrifice to cut off other lovers in order to stay close and faithful to one over.  Failure to do that would mean that their love for each other would be merely mythical.  Yes, for any success, self-sacrifice is a must.  The Tonga’s say that the owner of something is seen by the sweat that they exert:  ”Ulaa kakwe ubonwa mitukuta”.

Remember the story in today’s Gospel of the Transfiguration of Jesus.  The apostles, Peter, James and John, would not have experienced the wonderful and consoling glory of Jesus on the high mountain if they did not take the effort and risk of climbing the mountain with him.  Since they willingly made some personal sacrifice to go up the mountain and be close to Jesus, they were able to be rewarded by seeing him transfigured.  They even heard God’s voice assuring them that Jesus was His only son, the beloved one.

At the time of our Baptism, God spoke to each of us in a similar way as he did to Jesus.  He accepted us as his children, his beloved daughters and sons.  However, we shall miss our salvation if we are not ready to suffer for our faith.  We will not experience the joy of salvation if we are not willing to accept the challenge of sacrifice.  Yes, it is true:  “No sweet without sweat!”  Take care!

SKETCH

Two people are working tirelessly in their garden, and two others are just sitting around talking and drinking and enjoying their idleness.  If the end of it all, those who work hard get lots of good food and money, while the others, the lazy ones, are complaining and crying that they have nothing.  The hard working ones walk away very happy, join their family and have a decent meal together, while the lazy ones walk away very sad, yawning and complaining about hunger..

COMMUNITY PRAYERS

1. Loving God, teach us here in our church to cooperate together with the Holy Spirit and with each other, so that our small Christian communities can grow strong and be true witnesses to our faith in you.  Let us pray to the Lord.  Lord, hear us!

2. Merciful God, during this Lenten Season let us turn away from any laziness that hinders the growth and progress of our families, our church and our nation.  Let us pray to the Lord.  Lord, hear us!

3. God the Creator of us all, bless Zambia at this time with good political leaders who will work for the good of all the people and who will be willing to sacrifice their own benefits in order to be honest and dedicated servants.  Let us pray to the Lord.  Lord, hear us!

[Jesuit Centre for Theological Reflection, P.O. Box 37774, 10101 Lusaka, Zambia]