To help prepare the final years for examination, we have gone to school or almost getting back. We need a little encouragement and reminders. Using few biblical passages, I would like to propose few ways to best love ourselves and others (our students).
Our Lord Jesus said in Luke 11:33 that, “Whoever tries to keep their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life will preserve it.” See “life” here as your way of life, personal culture and attitude, and not merely your spiritual self. We all, now, need to break some personal rules and protocols to help us stay safe and healthy.
Covid 19 has brought in a renewed awareness of personal care and responsibility. The creation of a mutual sense of suspicion for all others calls on all to take up some preservation roles that we, in the past, relegated to others. For fear of spread of the virus, private space is becoming an actual private space.
Let me get practical a bit. The form teacher may now walk to the office for her pen or a sachet of water instead of sending the school girl; teachers may wash their own spoons and bowls to serve their lunch, and may carry their bags after school instead of always playing the “boss” served by all.
In the fight against covid 19, especially at the work space, we must get to the battle field and do the little extra. Beyond personal preservation, we must, also, seek to protect students a bit more, keeping in mind that whatsoever we do to the least of our brethren, we do it for God. Let us not be like David in 2 Samuel 11:1. “In the spring, at the time when kings go off to war, David sent Joab out with the king’s men and the whole Israelite army. They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained in Jerusalem.”
When we send Joab and remain at home, we may encounter Bathsheba, end up in a mess, kill our defender Uriah and bring shame to ourselves. Now, the issue of instructions through prefects may not be enough; we may need to get down to check, supervise, encourage, and direct affairs in the dinning hall, classroom during prep, hall of residence, and the likes. The time for servant leadership is now. We may lose our energy tomorrow if we seek to preserve it now. We are not in normal times; let us be a bit more purposeful and kind. Never forget: God loves cheerful givers and humble servants.
(Rev Fr Joseph Nyarko Asare
Chaplain, Non-Catholic Institutions, Obuasi Diocese)