Ubuntu

Thanks to all who helped make our Day of Pentecost a Spirit-filled celebration! As the Church moves into the second half of this liturgical year, there is one more celebration to come before transitioning into “Ordinary Time.” 

Namely Trinity Sunday. And while I’ll leave the doctrinal preaching for Sunday, there is a word I offer you today that shows how the holy Trinitarian synergy can be lived out in us.

The word is Ubuntu and may be familiar to you. Say it aloud several times, oo-buhn-too. Ubuntu is a South African word meaning humanity or personhood—“I in you and you in me.”

According to the spirituality common to where Ubuntu originates, there is a direct relationship between us being human and God’s being—you being you, me being me, together, with God.

In this spirit there is an African proverb: the reason two antelopes walk together is so that one may blow the dust from the other’s eyes. No one can be human alone. Ubuntu gives us the insight that human life is meant to be shared. We are called to be persons in community because we are all made in the image of the triune God. I cannot be who I am without you, you cannot be who you are without me, we cannot be who we are created to be without God.

It seems to me that the upcoming Juneteenth celebration on June 19th is the ideal time to come together as a church, as a community, as a people and stand together for freedom, equality, justice, unity, and the well-being of all humanity.

Grateful to be sharing this time with you,

Jenny+