PROMOTING A CULTURE OF LIFE

Have you ever noticed that when somebody new comes into a village, people look them over very closely to see how they dress, how they talk, how they dance, how they relate to other people?  If this new person has some very fancy clothes – maybe the best from a salaula shop in town! – the village people want to imitate the new styles.  And if this person dances in an elegant new way, then the youth in the village may want to learn how to do it!

Yes, today, more than ever before, the search for new models of action seems to have become the in-thing in our human life here in Zambia, and indeed, elsewhere in the world.  We just have to think about our ways of valuing things.  What values, or principles, or ethics, do we cherish and strive to make our own as Christians here in Zambia?

 Let us consider the clothes we wear, or the hairstyles we choose, or the type of music and dances we enjoy.  Or what about the things we read, or the television we watch (if we have television!) -- what type of material do we look for?  Whom do we consider to be the best kind of friends?   What do we do for our entertainment?  The type of work that we engage ourselves in and how we go about our work are all very important issues and reveal our values.

The scripture readings for this Third Sunday of Lent challenge us to ask ourselves what values do lead us in our ordinary life.  The first reading from the Book of Exodus tells us how God gave Moses the Ten Commandments to show the people of Israel how to live a really good life.  The Commandments are our positive guides for a life that is good, worthwhile and happy. Then in the Gospel reading from John, we see Jesus confronting the religious leaders of his day who have turned the Temple into a marketplace.  In this way, he teaches us that our church should be faithful to true values.

Here in Zambia today, we face some great challenges from the meeting of different cultures:  African cultures and Western cultures.  The old ways of doing things and the new ways.  The basic question to ask is:  what promotes a truly good life and what destroys life?

Let’s talk about the very big problem we all face here in Zambia today:  HIV and AIDS. We are told that almost 20% of Zambians are infected by HIV/AIDS, but 100% are affected.  That means that the problem touches all our lives, with sickness, death, funerals, extra expenses, orphans, loss of jobs, etc.  How are we dealing with this problem right here in our own parish or small Christian community?

Today, there are many voices that claim to be the authentic ones to promote meaningful human life.  But often they lead us down the path to death, to the culture of doom. Isn’t it true that human nature always tends to seek the easier way?  The way of self-discipline, self-sacrifice and self-denial often is ridiculed or spoken of as impossible.

For example, we know that to fight the HIV/AIDS pandemic, we have to struggle to be chaste in our sexual attitudes and practices.  Those who are not married have to abstain from casual sexual activities.  Those who are married should faithfully stick to their marriage partners.  We have to resist the simple solution to the HIV/AIDS problem that is pushed by so many: “Use a condom and you can do whatever you want!”  That certainly is wrong.  Giving condoms as the easy and only sure cure to this pandemic will only increase our problems!

Peer pressure – friends influencing friends – joined with some media adverts which present sex as if it were the only enjoyable action in life are helping to promote the rapid spread of HIV/AIDS in Zambia.  And as a result, our traditional African wisdom is lost sight of.  But so much of the new advice is really not wisdom at all.  As the Chewa proverb teaches us, “Chikome-kome cha nkhuyu m’kati muli nyerere”.  This means that the figs may be attractive outside and yet may be full of ants inside!  Yes, what looks very good may in fact me be rotten.  “All that glitters is not gold!”  It may just be cheap paint!    Besides that, the good advice that comes from faithful parents has lost its force.  It is often sneered at and seen as being old-fashioned.  Yet, what the Chewa proverb tells us is still very true that, “Mau a akulu akoma akagonera”.  That is to say that the wisdom of the advice coming from the elders comes true later on.  Indeed, they are proven right.

We are now coming to realise that polygamous marriages, ritual sexual cleansings, and other sexual infidelities are the channels of HIV/AIDS.  Some people feel that the human person cannot change for the better.  But the prophetic voice of our Catholic Bishops here in Zambia has it right when it clearly states that, “We believe that human beings have the capacity to change attitudes and behaviour”.  In their beautiful Pastoral Letter, Have Life to the Full (November 2002), the Bishops continue by saying,  “We shall therefore as Church support campaigns which seek to stop HIV/AIDS by offering awareness programmes, which support human and moral values and which foster chastity and faithfulness.  This alone is effective and offers 100% protection”.

The question is, who are we listening to?  Let us judge for ourselves.

SKETCH

Two very close and intimate friends are having a very lively personal conversation.  One person wants to abuse the other sexually.  The more serious one goes to a small Christian community meeting for Bible sharing, and then comes back to show the other person the text in the Bible which says that, “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23).  Besides that, the person  counsels the friend that, “If you are really my intimate friend, you will respect the integrity of my person.  Abusing me is satanic!”  They develop a good and respectful understanding of each other and now go to church meetings together.

COMMUNITY PRAYERS

1. Loving God, we thank you for making us a hospitable people.  We pray that you may help us to promote our good traditional and cultural values for our own good and that of our wider society in which we live.  Let us pray to the Lord.  Lord, hear us!

2. Jesus, you are our King, our Saviour and indeed our brother.  Help us to follow you good example in caring for the sick and outcasts, most especially as we deal with the HIV/AIDS problem.  Let us pray to the Lord.  Lord, hear us!

3. God our Parent, we ask you to show particular concern for the youth of our parish and of our country Zambia, to give them the courage and strength to live good lives that keep them away from the dangers of HIV/AIDS.  Let us pray to the Lord.  Lord, hear us!

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