It is disheartening that we have become exactly what we were not created to be. Maybe that’s the reason we have become consumers instead of the creators we are supposed to be. We are no longer operating as “we” but “I”. So many of us look helplessly at our families that have been torn to tatters after years of talking, guiding, teaching and pleading.
We complain that families aren’t what they used to be because the glue that held us together has passed on, in most cases the glue being our grandparents or parents. We have been reduced to people who operate out of jealousy and envy.
It happens even in our families, instead of acknowledging that we are gifted and blessed in different ways, not to sow division but to unite. Different parts in our bodies with different functions focus on their individual duties but together, work for a common goal. If the heart disregards or envies the veins, it will lead to its own destruction and the total collapse of the body.
The stars don’t envy nor are they jealous of the moon and together, they all adorn and illuminate the sky. Everything begins with self love. If I truly love myself with all my flaws, then I automatically love my family and community members with their flaws. If I am truly my brother’s keeper, then I will stand by and with him, support, guide and teach them with no expectations but with the same patience I afford myself.
Supporting my fellow black sisters and brothers means I am giving back to myself. Their success is my success, an inspiration to me. If we can look at ourselves first and ask, “What am I contributing to my family?” Be it financially, emotionally, spiritually or otherwise, then we all start playing our roles without competition and work towards a common goal. This way we all learn from those families and it spreads throughout our communities.
Within a short space of time we will be fixing and rebuilding our communities and nation without looking for handouts and operating on auto pilot. We are all tools, each one built to specification for its own purpose and in working together, we become producers, leaving a lasting legacy for the next generations. Let us go back to “we” because unity is strength. The time for talking is up, it is now time to put on our work clothes and do the work.
Refilwe Lekabe
Soweto Sunrise News
