Ubuntu and Ashe

For the covenanting service between Rev. Marlene Britton as Principal and the Centre for Christian Studies, Marlene reflected on the teachings of ubuntu and the Yoruba word ashe.

---

I love Denzel Washington.

In fact, I would say his name in my own special way, DENZel.

Not just because of his outstanding performance in movies and tv shows, but because he has mentored people like Will Smith, Dakota Fanning, Glen Powell, Chadwick Boseman and Michael B. Jordan. 

And he participates in the Big Brothers-Big Sisters programme. 

Still.

In his book – A Hand to Guide Me, Denzel declares, “The real story, the universal story, is that we all stand upon another set of shoulders. We are, all of us, the sum of our influences. We’ve all been taken by the hand and led to a better, more purposeful place.”

Ubuntu.

Ubuntu is a word which has its origins with the Bantu and Xhosa people of Southern Africa. 

Ubuntu — a concept in which your sense of self is shaped by your relationships with other people. It’s a way of living that begins with the premise that “I am” only because “we are.” 

Archbishop Desmond Tutu drew on the concept of ubuntu when he led South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which helped South Africa reckon with its history of apartheid. Ubuntu promotes restorative justice and a community-centric ethos. 

With ubuntu, everything fundamental for the life of the individuals in the community is considered part of the community. This means understanding everything that influences people and the relationships, while acknowledging our interconnectedness. The earth, other animals, plants, social events, and ancestors are all considered part of the community in Ubuntu.

The Manhattans crooned in their well-beloved tune – “That’s how I know, there’s no me without you.”  

So, I invite you into this spirit of ubuntu. It is something everyone gathered here knows already. The interdependence. And inviting you into another plane. The spiritual one.

For that is a critical part of ubuntu. Recognizing that we commune together on a spiritual level. It is a joy to be celebrating with you who are present in this room both physically and virtually, you who are here because you love CCS. Or you love someone at CCS. You love the community which has been created all across this country because of CCS. You are living the ubuntu. 

And there is STILL another plane. The one which involves the ancestors. That’s a term that I embrace, and I invite you to step in there with me.

Those who went before. The great cloud of witnesses. The Church Triumphant.

I am, only because they are. They were.  I stand upon  their shoulders.    

I stand on the shoulders, and in the spirit of my paternal grandmother, who was a spiritualist, a woman who would be the preacher when the meetings were held at the local shop in Portland in Jamaica. A woman who was recognized as a prayer warrior in her church setting. But a woman who would never be authorized by the church in her time to become a pastor.

I stand on the shoulders of my church family from my home church in Jamaica, my home denomination, the Methodist Church in the Caribbean, and on the shoulders of many ancestors in the United Church of Canada. 

I stand on the shoulders of all those who have held the role of Principal before me. 

Ubuntu brought me to this place for this time, with this community. I am, only because we are. WE – the community of CCS. The community that loves and supports CCS.  

And we are the ones who are referenced in the scripture reading, “We have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.”  We have this ministry. This task to continue to equip the leaders that the Church of Jesus needs today and will need in the next 10 years. Ubuntu, I am because we are, and we do it together.

Back to Denzel. In his book he noted that the people who contributed to the work were ordinary people who accomplished extraordinary things. They made it happen – with a little bit of help along the way, and with God’s blessings.

So that brings me to Ashe. (Or àṣẹ, pronounced a-shay.)

Ashe is used as a term of blessing and affirmation. Ashe originated in Nigeria, in the African Yoruba language.  

Ashe affirms a prayer or statement. It is a term filled with passion and energy and is meant to be a bold statement. So, it feels like an Amen, Amen?

Ashe refers to the life force or vital energy, so when someone says the word “Ashe” they are both giving an affirmation and sending vital life force energy into the world.

Ashe is a word of power. 

It is not meant to be a quiet prayer but a strong declaration of passion and intention. It is a word to be used as you invoke the Holy Spirit and the spirit of all the ancestors around the commitment or promise being made.

Ashe is a call to action. It is an exclamation to use when your soul is touched by a desire you are passionate about, and that you will act on.

Ashe is a celebration of an intention that you want to bring into being. 

So today my gift to you, is that of ubuntu and ashe. As we say prayers, make promises and do symbolic presentations, may this shared experience reaffirm our far-flung community’s spiritual bond and reinforce its collective identity. May ubuntu and ashe surround and undergird us as we go boldly into an uncertain future, resting calmly in our faithful and competent God.

Ashe and Amen.