Proverbs 3
Do not let kindness and truth leave you;
Bind them around your neck, write them on the
tablet of your heart.
So you will find favor and good repute in the
sight of God and man.
Everyone
needs a friend, an ally, or confidant. When I look around, the inherent flaws
of human nature corrupt the channels of trust which run between each of us, and
between the individual and God. The resulting condition is the stranded man or
woman. Betserai Maronga is an orphan, and until about three months ago, he was
an island. For reasons concealed, he never knew his mother. His father was a
devout Catholic, a voice for the Gospel of Jesus Christ up to the day he
passed. When that day came, the silence was deafening. Betserai began on that
day to drift away from God and from others.
When Chapo
met Betserai, the young man was struggling with a heavy bag on the side of the
street, apparently intoxicated. Over the course of the coming months, Chapo
visited Betserai periodically in his room on campus at Copperbelt University.
The friendship grew little by little, but the Purchasing and Supply Management
major remained relatively reserved about the concerns of his soul.
Early in the
afternoon on the sixth of this month, I sent Betserai a message, hoping to
arrange a meeting. It is not clear with whom he had expected to greet, but he
arrived and waited, oblivious to our curious gaze. In reality, Betserai is not
accustomed to inquiries from anyone. Bryce and I have, by now, invited him to
share the doubts in his soul on two separate occasions, and each visit has
allowed us further access into his life. According to him, his thoughts and
questions are typically not well-received, and it has limited the reach of his
social circle to those in his room and in his area of study. Tragically, the
pattern of those within his circle is fraught with deluding behaviors. He
drinks without knowing why he drinks, and he refuses to surrender the habit.
"All mankind is of one author, and is
one volume; when one man dies, one chapter is not torn out of the book, but
translated into a better language; and every chapter must be so translated...As
therefore the bell that rings to a sermon, calls not upon the preacher only,
but upon the congregation to come: so this bell calls us all: but how much more
me, who am brought so near the door by this sickness....No man is an island,
entire of itself...any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in
mankind; and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for
thee.” ~John Donne
Betserai has
a vision for being a positive influence in the lives of others, but he is
unable to identify his purpose in coming to school. In his heart, he is there
only because of those who could not be so fortunate. The hope in Betserai is
dying, and we may be the last remaining plug.
