Archive for the ‘amour’ Category

CHRISTMAS: ONE FESTIVAL, TWO KEY CONCEPTS

Today is a special day for Christianity. Many non-Christians have also adopted Christmas out of solidarity or for personal convenience. It, therefore, seems appropriate to us to stimulate reflection on the deep meaning of this festival and its impact on humanity in the light of Luke 2:13-14: “Suddenly, a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God, and saying, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” (NIV)

These words follow the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ and his solemn announcement to the shepherds who tended their flocks in the vicinity of Bethlehem. It was at night. The timing could not be better to announce the birth of the Light of the world. However, the symbol does not stop there because the choice of shepherds seems highly disconcerting. Indeed, the shepherds did not have a good reputation at that time. People perceived them as dirty, dishonest, and unreliable. They were, therefore, on the margins of society. But curiously, it is on them and not on the political authorities, the religious leaders, or the business men and women that the choice of God falls to have the scoop of this announcement as exceptional as it is. But what is the deep meaning of this divine strategy?

The hermeneutical key seems to reside in the two fundamental concepts: “glory” and “peace”. Although the original text is in Greek, the terms dóxa (glory) and eirênê (peace) naturally refer to Hebrew realities because the first listeners were Jews. Thus, the glory does not only translate the external beauty and the excellence of the divine nature. It also reflects the Hebrew term kavod, which means “glory, honor, respect, distinction, and importance.” Thus, beyond the aesthetic dimension, the divine majesty is so immense that its weight is terrifying. As a result, human norms and conventions crumble like a house of cards before divine glory, giving shepherds the same value in the eyes of God as any other individual in society. The reasoning is simple: everybody is welcome since even marginalized people are now valued. Christmas is good news for everyone, without any discrimination. What about the second concept?

Here too, it would be aberrant to see in peace mentioned in this text the notion of absence of war and conflict conferred by the etymological meaning of this term in Greek. Instead, this word is deeply rooted in the Jewish cultural and religious context. Thus, “peace” refers to the Hebrew term shalom. It confers the idea of harmony in all dimensions of the human condition. It is harmony with God, with oneself, with one’s fellow beings, with one’s activities, and with one’s environment. In short, it is holistic well-being. At Christmas, God announces to humanity the solution to the multidimensional imbalance caused by the fall in the Garden of Eden. Through Christ, God is interested in spiritual, physical, psychological, social, economic, environmental, and integral welfare of His creatures. It is also under this holistic paradigm that the Lord Jesus placed his ministry through reading the passage from the book of Isaiah, which relates to it in detail (cf. Luke 4:16-19 and Isaiah 61:1 -2 [old Greek version]). Thus, the shepherds have become agents of integral transformation. They promptly assumed this responsibility, spreading the good news in their immediate surroundings (cf. Luke 2:16-20). We then understand that if the outcast can be catalysts for holistic peace, those with a more honorable social position can do it more.

Therefore, this profound message has a broader scope than a superficial reading of the text! The fact that the text is available today, even translated into multiple languages and within reach of the contemporary public, challenges us all. To celebrate Christmas in the spirit of the biblical story is to go beyond the peripheral, material, commercial or worldly dimensions to live the values it contains. As former US President John Calvin Coolidge (1872-1933) so aptly said, “Christmas is not a day or a season; it’s a state of mind.”  Beyond Christmas’s lively and temporal character, human beings may draw from the depth of their relationship with the Creator of the universe and everything within it to be an instrument of peace in all its dimensions. In so doing, the world would be a better place to live. May it please the Lord to grant us the courage, wisdom, strength, and perseverance to be ambassadors of shalom, in words and deeds, in a world plagued by hostile forces and violence in its many forms!

Prof. Moussa Bongoyok

Christmas 2022

Amour inconditionnel – Samuel Traoré

Le témoignage de l’Ivoirien Samuel TRAORE mérite d’être connu de tous les fils et filles du continent africain et du monde. Orphelin et aveugle, il a refusé de subir les assauts de la vie et du négativisme. Il a nagé à contre courant. Aujourd’hui il est chantre, prédicateur, formateur en musique et en informatique, coach en développement personnel et en techniques de communication. Par-dessus tout, il est un modèle et une source d’inspiration pour une jeunesse africaine en quête de repères. Pour en savoir plus, veuillez consulter le lien original: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vpln5LJiObk

The testimony of the Ivorian Samuel TRAORE deserves to be known to all the sons and daughters of the African continent and the world. Orphan and blind, he refused to endure the assaults of life and negativity. He swam against the current. Today he is a singer, preacher, music and computer trainer, personal development coach, and trainer in communication techniques. Above all, he is a role model and a source of inspiration for African youth searching for benchmarks.

Amour du prochain: SEL-France

Unissons-nous – Let us all unite

Le Dieu Créateur est le Seigneur.

Et Jésus-Christ est le seul Sauveur.

Seras-tu en paix avec le Père

Quand tu fais la guerre à ton frère ?

C’est vrai que nous sommes différents,

Mais nos veines ont le même sang.

Chrétiens, cessons de nous faire la guerre.

Rejetons les armes de cette ère.

Unissons-nous, donnons-nous la main ;

Demeurons tous sur le droit chemin.

Que l’Esprit du Seigneur nous remplisse,

Que la mission du Christ s’accomplisse.

Livrons le bon combat de la foi.

Que le saint amour soit notre loi ;

Un amour vérité et service,

Un amour bonté et sacrifice.

Au paradis, point de divisions,

Ni d’humaines dénominations.

Vivons notre céleste patrie,

Et l’Eglise sera moins meurtrie.

Extrait de Moussa Bongoyok Joyeux malgré la Crise (Pasadena, CA : Trinity Press, 2002) p. 15

HELE Solange: Call for unity, love, and the preservation of cultural values – Appel à l’unité, à l’amour et à la conservation des valeurs culturelles

Chant composé et exécuté par HELE Solange à l’attention du peuple Mafa. 
Song composed and performed by HELE Solange for the attention of the Mafa people.

LEARN HOW TO FIGHT FOR YOUR MARRIAGE – RICK AND KAY WARREN

Loving Your Neighbor in the Covid-19 Epidemic / Aimer votre prochain pendant la pandémie de COVID-19

Useful and strongly recommended documents written by Timothy Leadership Training (TLT) – Documents utiles et vivement recommandés et conçus par le Projet Timothée.

 

Please click on the link below to read the English version of the document

Loving Your Neighbor in the Covid-19 Epidemic 4-12-2020 

 

Veuillez cliquer sur le lien ci-dessous pour le document en français

Loving Your Neighbor in the Covid-19 Epidemic – French

 

 

Sages Conseils de Martin Luther pendant la peste noire en Europe, au 16e siècle

« Je demanderai à Dieu par miséricorde de nous protéger. Ensuite, je vais enfumer, pour aider à purifier l’air, donner des médicaments et les prendre. J’éviterai les lieux, et les personnes, où ma présence n’est pas nécessaire pour ne pas être contaminé et aussi infliger et affecter les autres, pour ne pas causer leur mort par suite de ma négligence. Si Dieu veut me prendre, il me trouvera sûrement et j’aurai fait ce qu’il attendait de moi, sans être responsable ni de ma propre mort ni de la mort des autres. Si mon voisin a besoin de moi, je n’éviterai ni lieu ni personne, mais j’irai librement comme indiqué ci-dessus. Voyez, c’est une telle foi qui craint Dieu parce qu’elle n’est ni impétueuse ni téméraire et ne tente pas Dieu. » Martin Luther

Source : Œuvres de Luther Volume 43 p. 132 la lettre « Que l’on puisse fuir une peste mortelle » écrite au révérend Dr. John Hess.

 

CORONAVIRUS: A CALL TO RETURN TO GOD!

Coronavirus is a call to return to God. Please read the excellent article on spiritual implications of the current pandemic below and watch the videos that expands on practical considerations.
Coronavirus est une invitation à renouer avec Dieu. Veuillez lire l’excellent article ci-dessous sur les implications spirituelles de la pandémie actuelle et visualiser les vidéos qui se penchent sur les considerations pratiques.

https://www.returntoorder.org/2020/03/the-coronavirus-is-a-call-to-return-to-god/?pkg=rtoe0903

 

 

WHO WILL LIVE FOR THOSE WHO NO LONGER HAVE HEADS? A shout in the desert of International Community

You didn’t hear… or did you hide willingly under the bed of abstraction?

Maybe you did hear about Boko Haram and other terrorist movements in action…

But, you see, your geography professor told you as did your musician,

With all the calm and seriousness of an academician,

That Kousseri, Maroua, Mora, Tourou, Moskota, Koza, Ouzal, Mozogo,

And other localities or infrahuman countries must go,

Because their humanity index is so low, and,

They are located on an unknown planet, the land of tomorrow.

Why worry about the future

While one calmly drinks today’s culture?

 

Maybe you didn’t see what is happening on social media as your soul became a taro…

Because, above all, you must set your economic priorities right to beat the antihero

And accumulate as much power and things as you can carry in your empty barrow.

Your business professor told you so, with his academic sombrero.

Your financial advisor is such a genius so different from the harrow

That you gather things, things and more things, and the great dinero.

You eat power, power and more power over bones without a marrow.

Aren’t they mere keys to your success today and tomorrow?

Your eyes can’t see while you dream to be the next pharaoh

And, after all, your neighbor is just a dried arrow!

 

Who will cry for those who no longer have heads?

Who will become a shelter for those who no longer have beds?

Who will eat for those who can no longer smell the odor of fresh breads?

Who will bring joyous colors to lives painted in multiple reds?

Who will tell Europe, America, Asia and others, that Boko Haram spreads

Faster and deeper than the swiftest fighters and meds?

Who will act? Who will dig? Who will lovingly address the roots

Instead of relying solely on boots?

 

Oh! I wish you and I were the recovered triumphant shouts of the voiceless!

Oh! I wish you and I were the beautiful tears of the tearless!

Oh! I wish you and I were the real wealth of the resourceless!

Oh! I wish you and I were the reconstructed ramparts of the powerless!

Oh! I wish you and I were the regained smiles of the hopeless!

Oh! I wish you and I were the lost but found face of the faceless!

Oh! I wish you and I were the living image of the divine rock for the baseless!

Oh! I wish you and I were the real value of lives so priceless!

Regardless of our religious backgrounds, we are all humans;

Would you and I actively navigate against the currents and stop treating others as subhumans?

 

Moussa Bongoyok, PhD

Professor of Intercultural Studies and Holistic Development

President of Institut Universitaire de Développement International (IUDI)

%d blogueurs aiment cette page :