The Cosmic House: Where Our Original Beauty Is Revealed
by Sybille Ngo Nyeck

Now Jericho was closed in and secured because of the Israelites; no one went out, and no one came in. The city and all that is in it are devoted portion to the Lord. Only Rahab the innkeeper and all that are with her in the house will be spared, because she hid the messengers whom we sent. All the silver and gold, and all the bronze and the iron, are set apart for the Lord. They shall go into the sanctuary of the Lord. Then with the sword they destroyed everything in the city as a devoted portion, both men and woman, young and old, and oxen, sheep, and donkeys…They burned the city and everything in it; but they deposited the silver and the gold and the things of bronze and iron into the treasury of the house of the Lord. Joshua spared Rahab the innkeeper, her father’s household, and all that belonged to her, and she dwelt in Israel to this day… "Accursed before the Lord id the man who rebuilds this city of Jéricho" declared Joshua at that time. "He will found it at the price of his first-born, and he will set up its gates at the cost of his young son." (Joshua 6:1,17,19,21,24-26)

He entered Jericho and, as He was passing through it, there was a man named Zacchaeus, as chief tax collector and wealthy, who tried to see who Jesus was. But he could not on account of the crowd, because he was a short. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree to see Him; for He was about to pass that way. When Jesus reached the spot He looked up and said to him, "Zacchaeus, come down quickly, for I must stay at your home today." He hurried down and heartily welcomed Him. And all that looked on complained, "He has gone to be the guest of a sinner." But Zacchaeus paused, and said to the Lord, "See, Lord, I will give half of my belongings to the poor, and if I have defrauded anyone of anything I will pay it back fourfold." Jesus said, pointing to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, since this man, too, is a son of Abraham; for the son of man came to seek and save the lost." (Luke 19:1-9)

I would like to continue the reflection I initiated last month concerning our road toward Jericho. But before entering Jericho (which is my purpose), let me remind you of what the history of that city looks like.

First of all, it is quite interesting to note that what stands out in the history of Jericho is the stories of foreigners who have proven to be foxes.

After the wandering in the desert, Israel emerged with imperialistic intentions about Canaan due to the fact that they considered themselves as an "elected" nation superior in all senses to other nations wrongly called "pagans". The conquest of Jericho was the first step in their zeal to fight against what was to be taken as "the strongholds of the devil" that provoked the rage of the "god of war" on the basis of cultural and religious differences.

The weapons raised by Joshua and his army against Jericho leave no room for doubt about their expectations of what would follow the war. With the targeted murdering of her children, women and men, Joshua expected, beyond all possible doubt, to kill the MEMORY of Jericho. The stolen natural resources (gold, silver, iron and bronze) were luckier than the human beings. They finally found a resting-place in the treasury of the god of war.

The individual rescued from the fall of Jericho was Rahab, a prostitute who sold not only sex but also her identity to foreigners. I confess that the story of her salvation and the model of justice in this chapter leave my throat parched. I bitterly realize that it is most often the weak who are sacrificed in the holiest of the temples.

The individual rescued from the fall of Jericho was Rahab, a prostitute who sold not only sex but also her identity to foreigners. I confess that the story of her salvation and the model of justice in this chapter leave my throat parched. I bitterly realize that it is most often the weak who are sacrificed in the holiest of the temples, and that under the most "holy war" is hidden a dirty desire — that is power — to control and domesticate the freedom and the autonomy of those we hate or secretly envy.

Unfortunately, history easily remembers Rahab as a prostitute, and of course she was. But the problem is that her profession is equated with her identity. I see here an attempt to totally alienate her. While she was indeed a prostitute, the system that made her one is not condemned; instead, it is even given a salutary review. In this situation, the real oppression is no longer seen. The real oppressor is converted to be an exorcist of all hope of the oppressed. The stigmatization works like an intra-uterine device (IUD) in the conscience of the oppressed, and the victimization stands like a condom for the system of segregation that is incapable to fertilize Freedom wherever she is needed. Condemnation and cursing are usually tools used by forms of coercive power to make sure that those they want to dominate will either destroy themselves by self-condemnation or accept and play the game.

I feel as if this is the way things are in this world. We know that rapes and robberies, plunder and massacres, slavery and murderers of the "barbarous" civilizations were (and still are) the cement on which stand the development of minorities and the underdevelopment of the majority. It is painful to ascertain this. There are increasing plots toward economical, political and cultural assassinations of the nations that are despairingly hanging on the slope of underdevelopment, the slope of sub-humanity or sub-territoriality.

I am impressed by the creativity of our generation, but still confused, for we have succeeded in so many things except that we are still incapable of helping the stateless Palestinians have a share of land under the sun. We are more concerned with manufacturing new arms.

I am impressed by the creativity of our generation, but still confused, for we have succeeded in so many things except that we are still incapable of helping the stateless Palestinians have a share of land under the sun. We are more concerned with manufacturing new arms. Hiroshima speaks for itself: while terrorism spreads around the globe, not only in the form of "a bad manna" known as anthrax powder in the United States of America, but as microphones that could be placed in our intestines; we realize there are things that don’t kill immediately, but which make us a kind of strolling ghosts. The Chinese president knows something about this kind of "cool and discreet terrorism" with the recent findings of spying microphones on his private Boeing purchased and assembled in the United States of America.

In Africa as well as in Jericho, the resistance against the imperialistic invader was short and by the end by black continent was taken as a hostage by "civilizers" irremediably engaged in a mission of plundering all azimuths. But after this came the time to rebuild what was broken down. Hiel tried his best for Jericho at the cost of his two sons (1Kings 16:34). The children that Mother Africa has lost in the fight for her Liberty were (and still are) unnumbered in the effort to reclaim her unique place in the human story. The (conscious?) radicals — such as Sékou Touré, Um Nyobe, Patrice Lumumba, Thomas Sankara — all died tragic deaths, and in most cases those who were spared owe their lives to their political inconstancy. Some of them are still hanging out in a "Zacchaeus way of governing" on our sycamore states, even after a so-called forty years of independence.

The sycamore was called in the ancient times "the pharaoh’s fig tree", and truly the republics we dreamed for revealed to be autocratic dynasties where "the law of the blood" guarantees a lifelong impunity. Politically unstable and economically dishonest, these dictators confuse the nations that have become their footstools.

O Jericho, here are the guns that hurt you! Here are the tax collectors that have been assigned to you. Could you raise your voice and make you word known? The cost of the anti-retroviral treatment is too high. The salary of the supplier of raw material is unjust. We produce cocoa but we cannot afford to buy chocolate for our children. The producers of coffee, cotton, banana are yelping at the jaunty WTO.

Our misfortune is aggravated by our political leaders who are sometimes more concerned about their private accounts in European banks than the urgent and unmet needs of their people.

Léopold Sédar Senghor will still be remembered as a brilliant poet and a wise politician. He resigned from his functions as a head of state; leaving the power without a push, which was and still is difficult for our presidents to do… fellows who have chosen to fossilize themselves in power by any means.

Last December, Mother Africa lost one of her sons: Léopold Sédar Senghor, the Senegalese former head of state. He was regarded with Aimé Césaire and Léon Gontran Damas, an advocate of Négritude (an African way of thinking). Nevertheless, the Senghorian vision of Négritude is still a subject for debate among the African intelligentsia, and there are beside him others such as Pr. Marcien Towa who denounce this wave of thinking as colonial racist bigotry. Anyway, Léopold Sédar Senghor will still be remembered as a brilliant poet and a wise politician. He resigned from his functions as a head of state; leaving the power without a push, which was and still is difficult for our presidents to do. Abdou Diouf, his successor, followed him in the same way. They — with Nelson Mandela — stand as models, in the midst of their fellows who have chosen to fossilize themselves in power by any means.

In Senghor, Mandela, Abdou Diouf or Zacchaeus, I highlight examples of a rising spirituality by subtraction. Matthew Fox expressed it best: "Our soul grows by subtraction and not by addition." This subtraction is not to be confused with mortification or penitence. I think of this subtraction as a disposition of the spirit, an exhortation to give up irresponsible and suicidal attitudes.

Come down quickly! The call is urgent because this is the priority if we Africans wish to install true democracy in our nations. Having an obstinate Zacchaeus indefinitely hanging over our sycamore states is suicidal. The risk of an accident is so high.

Generally, he who elevates himself — either positively or negatively — is subject to all kind of commentary, and usually human nature does not affectionately respond to the idea of being dominated. Joseph’s brothers hated him because his dreams tended to minimize them. Jesus was killed on a high place called Golgotha. But no matter how, he who takes the inferior road of humility toward the inner life knows the mystery of the resurrection because the painful journey toward our cosmic house is the beginning of a spiritual, social and cultural revival. Our cosmic house is a solitary and perhaps a dreadful place. It reminds me of the tomb on the day of resurrection where the true conversion occurred, a real "metanoia".

Zacchaeus’ conversion, in the contrary, of Rahab helps us to understand two major things. First, Zacchaeus helps us to TRUST in horizontal and circular governance IN and WITH all. Zacchaeus didn’t resign from his job. He was saved, not from power but through power. Secondly, true salvation implies the RESTITUTION of ALL original spiritual and cultural riches that have been stolen to the legal victims (the nation) AND to their oppressors who are trapped by false ideologies. True salvation is the salvation of the whole. It’s not vengeance but Justice. Zacchaeus etymologically means "pure" — I found his true self, reflecting his original purity, through his opening widely his arms and heart in trust of the socius. The purity here is not the absence of sin or mistakes, but the grandeur in the finding, the celebration and above all the sharing of our intrinsic and mystical beauty despite all our missteps.

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