Ordinary Time 
Pause
“One of the sayings in our country is Ubuntu – the essence of being human. Ubuntu speaks particularly about the fact that you can’t exist as a human being in isolation. It speaks about our interconnectedness. You can’t be human all by yourself […]
“You are connected and what you do affects the whole World. When you do well, it spreads out; it is for the whole of humanity.”
from No Future Without Forgiveness by Desmond Tutu (1999)
Listen
So the Lord God put the human into a deep and heavy sleep, and took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh over it. With the rib taken from the human, the Lord God fashioned a woman and brought her to the human being. The human said,
“This one finally is bone from my bones
and flesh from my flesh.
She will be called a woman
because from a man she was taken.”
Genesis 2:21-23
Think
Ubuntu is an African word that means “I am because we are.” We are part of each other because we are all human beings made in the image of God regardless of our gender, race, ethnicity, sexuality, or anything that could seem to be different about us. We are all created to be in community and to be in relationship with God.
There are multiple types of relationships in community: parents and children, spouses, siblings, grandparents, friends, neighbors, and many others. Each type of relationship has its function and purpose in our lives. Each one enriches and holds us accountable in its own unique ways. This is the beauty of community. We are better together. We are stronger together. When we are divided, we fall. We flourish together. We are bone of bone and flesh of flesh. Our actions have ripple effects in our communities, both in meaningful and detrimental ways.
Crystal Rook
Question to Ponder:
Why do we often focus more on our differences than on our shared humanity?
Pray
God, help me to make my communities better and to realize that my actions don’t affect just me but also affect others in my life. Help me to be my best self, so that my communities will become what you destined them to be.
Amen.
Go
Open our eyes to see everyone in our community.
Increase our hearing to listen to your creation.
Bless our hands to help those who need our help.
Open our hearts to receive everyone.
Teach us to be in community.
Water and grow us into Ubuntu – the essence of being human.
