Would You Mind Coming to Jericho?
by Sybille Ngo Nyeck

"Then said he unto me, Fear not, Daniel: for from the first day that thou didst set thine to understand, and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words. But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me; and I remained there with the king of Persia. (Daniel 10:12-13)"

"A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his rainment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half-dead. And by chance, there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. And likewise a Levite, when he was

Click here for French version

at the place, came and looked on him and passed by on the other side. But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him. And went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, brought him to an inn and took care of him... Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbor unto him that fell among the thieves? And he said, he that shewed (sic) mercy to him. Then said Jesus unto him, ‘Go, and do thou likewise.’ (Luke 10:30-37)"

The end of the year has always been a very special time for the Church in the sense that, according to the Christian doctrine, Christ’s birth brings new hopes to the world. All during the previous year, many are those among us who have followed the Magi in their traditional pilgrimages on a quest for the Divine.

Whether the final place is called Jerusalem, Mecca, Nirvana, or Tao, the way to the Divine here symbolized is, according to the mystics, a very solitary, strenuous and perilous one. But, despise the difficulties, the final crowning of the pilgrims’ souls through a mystical union with the Divine makes the path smooth and enjoyable by meditation and adoration.

December was an appropriate time for worship and adoration in our respective holy places. Now, to begin this New Year and by God’s help, I would like to invite us on another pilgrimage to the reverse location: from the Divine to the Creation, from Jerusalem to Jericho.

The map of Palestine in Jesus time situated Jericho not in the southern region, but on the eastern side of Jerusalem. Based on that position, I expected the path of the personages in the above-mentioned parable to go upward, not downward as it is written. The old Jerusalem was economically a centrifugal city, and at the same time, a religious center. It seems to me that this parable is not only an attempt to "make things and people move" in Jerusalem, but beyond this, I see a real effort to overturn the beliefs of the listeners. It is a call for a true movement for religious and political dialogue between classes and races. Isn’t it the true purpose of Christ’s birth to be the Emmanuel among us? The presence of the Magi as well as their offerings to the newborn baby speak to the world about a universal and cosmic renaissance.

Jesus helped us to understand this by making "the life saving action" — coming not from an angel, or from leaders paralyzed by the virus of the frigidity of systems of oppression that make war on nature, but from a despised man by birth and by faith.

The author of the following parable said to the disciples: "No man hath ascended up to heaven, but He that came down from heaven. (John3:13)" In other words, the way that leads upward is the same that leads downward. The same obstacles are set for he who longs for a personal or a global salvation. In Daniel’s vision, the "divine being" revealed to him straightforwardly the causes for the delay in the answering of his prayers. Above all cosmic predispositions to maintain the Creation in harmony, the human nature seems to be a stumbling block on which the cosmic Will falls. It is a certainty for Daniel that the search for solutions to humankind’s problems should never be considered as totally dependent on a super cosmic Will. Jesus helped us to understand this by making "the life saving action" — coming not from an angel, or from leaders paralyzed by the virus of the frigidity of systems of oppression that make war on nature, but from a despised man by birth and by faith.

For me, Jericho could be in a Palestinian village; the inner cities of the United States; an African village trapped between various armed forces. I call Jericho those places where we go with blindfolded eyes and hearts, while our feet are carefully stilted on contempt. Jericho is indeed the name I give to the continents of oppressive poverty that all envy the islands of materialistic arrogance; except their lack of concern when it comes to human sufferings. Yes, for this age the duty of compassion is the cornerstone that the builder of the first hour neglected if not rejected.

In Jesus’ story, the first pilgrim fell among the thieves that wounded him and left him half-dead. The victim was lying beneath like a broken cloud in the sky of violence, and the first of two questions I have on my mind is: why him? The second is: why didn’t the next two pilgrims help him? I have a very young friend in Sunday school who said that the priest probably passed by because he forgot his Bible, and the Levite did because he had no alcohol. His little mind made me laugh, yet I found in him wisdom. Anyway, I know that humanly speaking, we are never completely prepared to face human sufferings without feeling helpless or hopeless. As the Levite, who knows what is written in the book of the law and who prefers to interpret that law from an egoistic perspective, we too sometimes prefer to close our eyes to things that hurt our sensibilities. The rules of our life become disincarnated when we fear going beyond our sense of the assured into the uncertain. I cannot number the times when I have turned my face from lepers or street children begging love and money. I close my eyes more tightly in front of Palestinian children armed with stones who are killed by Israeli soldiers. The vision of thousands of AIDS orphans in Africa and the images from the WTC collapsing under the pressure of hatred leave me speechless.

Thank God, everything has an end. There was a time in Africa when the Church was an accomplice of political crimes, sometimes by active participation or others by her guilty silence. Things are changing here from the top… The priests and the civil society are asking for transparent elections for this year 2002.

In Cameroon, nine young men have been killed in Douala for no reason by the operational commandment created by the executive government. More than that, the nation is complaining about election irregularities situation that have become for most African countries constitutional. In this country, the policemen have become identical with thieves by harassing the population. But thank God, everything has an end. There was a time in Africa when the Church was an accomplice of political crimes, sometimes by active participation or others by her guilty silence. Things are changing here from the top. The Roman Catholic Cardinal Tumi has already begun to denounce publicly the government’s machinations to maintain itself through shameful ways. Following the Good Samaritan, many are those who refuse now to keep silence in front of injustices. The priests and the civil society are asking for transparent elections for this year 2002. This requires faith and actions to preserve Justice, the mother of Peace.

As it is true that the strength of the cloud comes from the wind, it seems to me that the healing and the reconstitution of our broken identities (here and in the world) depend on our common will to initiate a real dialogue between the North and the South, the East and the West. We must leave to each part the responsibility to make visible his/her wounds and to tell in the appropriate tense his/her story. I hope that together we will here find an interesting topic to reflect on this year, on our way to Jericho.

Happy New Year to all!

Sybille Ngo Nyeck is a regular contributor to A Globe of Witnesses. Her monthly column is Colors of Conscience. Sybille can be emailed at sybeck77@yahoo.fr