In South Africa it is a public holiday today. Officially it is named "Heritage Day" but it also has a rather popular knick name, Braai (BBQ) Day. Where I come from having a “braai” is as common as brushing your teeth in the morning - it is just what we do! South Africa has wonderful weather and use to have an abundance of meat. If you add two and two together you can understand why people like to hang around the open fire cooking something meaty. This morning I was walking in the local shopping centre on my way to having breakfast with my parents when a young African woman walked by, dressed up in traditional clothing and a painted face would certainly have been dressed in modern fashionable clothing, was it not for this day. She was expressing and expressing her heritage in a very colourful way. Our conversation over breakfast was about our past. Where did our family come from originally; how did they get to South Africa; when did they get here; what was grandmother´s surname; etc. There is something in us that wants to know where we come from, what formed us and why are we the way we are. Funny enough, post breakfast I just picked up my study material on leadership and in the material I was going through it speaks about culture and how it influences leadership and followers. Ironic that I was reading this on this day and it made me think about the world we live in, the cultures I have experienced and the lessons I have learned. You see, like you I have a culture, I have and identity that influence the way I think, behave and influences the way I see others. The question that came to me is, “how much of culture runs in our identity or are these things one and the same thing?” The Encyclopaedia Britannica written in 1871 defines culture as "that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom and many other capabilities and habits acquired by man as member of society". If you think about all these things listed above that influence culture and therefore behaviour, it is no wonder we are different in so many ways and rightly so and many of these differences are worth celebrating. But, we also tend to classify ourselves in comparison to others and this normally looks like a diagram that often resembles the food chain on an African plain. So how do we live in a world with so many cultures, habits, differences and behaviours? I can certainly tell you about my efforts to adapt to different cultures in different lands. It mostly speaks about failure and struggles rather than great successes. The Son of Man came into this world and lived in a culture with strong laws, well defined habits and deeply rooted culture. This culture made a lot of sense considering the times and environment these people lived in. Unfortunately these people more and more started to find their identity in this culture, these laws and these habits and that caused them to get caught in a place where there was very little room to breeth. When asked by the masters of this culture and this habit which of these laws of life was the most important, Jesus said “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with your entire mind and love your neighbour as yourself.” You see Jesus, being the Son of God understood that culture, laws and habits are good for the purpose they were designed for and that is to help us live, but that culture is not something to find your identity in. He knew that identity and life comes from God who created us all, the source of life and the source of love and that in this love there is life beyond culture. God is our true common heritage!
Posted on: Tue, 24 Sep 2013 11:19:59 +0000
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