A few weeks ago, we celebrated a dear friend’s 50th birthday.  The evening before the big bash, a few of us sat with the guest of honor.  There were lots of laughs and lots of tears, each of us expressing how much we loved and appreciated him. As we made our way around the circle, it was his daughter’s turn to speak. With a crack in her voice and tears in her eyes, she said, “Ubuntu.”

It’s meaning,  I need you to be all that you are, so I can be all that I am.

It’s a word her father learned while in Africa.  A word he taught his family and then taught us.

Living Ubuntu out keeps you humble and selfless. However, it also makes you extremely vulnerable to people who will take advantage of you (which happens often).  In essence, it means, I can be successful, if you are successful. So, I’m committed to your success.

In Romans 16,  Paul completes his letter to the Romans. He gives a little shout out to twenty six people who have been a support to him during his missionary trips. Twenty six people who have committed to his ministry and to his success.

Paul writes …. ‘Priscilla and Aquila risked their lives for me, Mary worked hard for me, Andronicus and Junius are outstanding apostles, Urbanus is my fellow worker, my dear friend Stachys, oh…and I can’t forget Rufus’ mother, she has been a mother to me….’

Y’all, if the great apostle Paul needed people, then we need people too….and more importantly, people need us.

We can’t live in isolation. We can’t do life alone. We need one another. And we need to be committed to one another’s success.

Ubuntu. You be you, so that I can be me.

It was all she said…but it was all she needed to say.

-Binu