Third in series on the 7 principles of Kwanzaa: Ujima means support when you need it!
The self cannot be self without other selves.
Self-concern without other-concern is
like a tributary that has no outward
flow to the ocean.
Ujima (Collective work and responsibility). It is building and maintaining our community together and to make our brother’s and sister’s problems our problems and to solve them together. (Official Kwanzaa Site).
I heard people recently saying things like: “I have enough problem of my own”. Another said, “They brought it on themselves”.
No this is not' drug addicts or criminals huddling over a piece of find and talking about self preservation. People with similar downfalls do have a tendency to help one another even if it’s in mischievous conditions.
No, the former words and phrases were prevalent in a adult Christian Sunday School class discussion. It would appear that Christians have had enough of wayward members of society, and, each other.
But something is wrong with that picture especially when we are taught early on in our family-based traditions to to ‘take care of one another’. Why does it seem that those who strive on ant-social behavior are more apt to help a fallen colleague than to others who claim to be headed to heaven?
Well, there’s never an easy answer when it comes to distorted values and frustration while living in today’s world. Even though selfishness, coldness, fear and apathy have been around since ‘Adam and Eve’ or the earth;’s creation, the intensity of these in the ‘last days’ have also been told. Confusion shall prevail.
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Thank you for opting to join the dialogue on important issues. Be respectable - and watch your language.