I Am Because We Are

Day 285 of Photo Inspirations — I Am Because We Are
I read this story last week about an anthropologist who proposed a game to the children of an African tribe. He put a basket full of fruit near a tree and told them that whoever got there first would win the sweet fruits. When he told them to run, they all took each other’s hands and ran together, then sat together, sharing and enjoying the fruit.

When he asked them why they had run like that as one could have had all the fruits for himself, they said: “UBUNTU, ‘How can one of us be happy if all the other ones are sad?’” (‘UBUNTU’ in the Xhosa culture means: ‘I am because we are.)”

I loved that, and I found several renditions of that story on the internet, but the single message is clear…..loyalty, success and/or failure as a group becomes more important than the goals and/or possibilities of any one individual.  Can you imagine how much better the world would be if everyone lived by that motto?  Isn’t that the way God wants His kids to live?

My photo inspiration for today is an image from the story behind the Osani Circle Game. The story that was circulating in the social media world taught us that we are much better when we work as a team and think about each other  — before ourselves. It taught us that we can achieve so much more when we approach situations with the mindset and focus on love and cooperation rather than competition.

Efé children of the Ituri Forest in Zaire (Rep. of Congo, central Africa) begin the Osani game by sitting in a circle, feet touching, all connected. Osani is the Efé word for love. Each child in turn names a round object like the sun (oi), the moon (tiba), a star (bibi) an eye (ue) and then goes on to name a figurative expression of “round” like the circle of the family, togetherness, a baby in the womb, or the cycle of the moon.

What I loved  the most was the connectedness and closeness that these children hold dear to themselves. The very game is about a circle of togetherness, of community and creativity, and enjoying each other’s company and celebrating the different perspectives each of them bring to the circle.

I think about the competition that we seem to have in life — between family members, co-workers, friends, political and news pundits, and so many others, and just wonder….”What if we thought more like these kids….”I am…because WE ARE!”

Hmmm!  Those kids sure do sound like the kids that God calls us to be:    Ephesians 4:2-6, 16, 32 “Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.  Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit–just as you were called to one hope when you were called– one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.  16 From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work. 32 Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.”

How about a game of Osani?