Journal - Jack Somerville, SM

25 September 2006 – Monday
"Do not refuse a kindness to anyone who begs it, if it is your power to perform it. Do not say to your neighbor, 'Go away, come another time', if you can do it now." (Proverbs 3) In other words: Do not put off charity to tomorrow if you can do it today. "For nothing is hidden but it will be made clear, nothing secret but it will be made known and brought to light." (Lk. 8)

This is one of those mornings I just don’t feel like putting forth the effort to reflect on these readings. I’m tired. God’s word comes like a beggar today. I say, "Go away. Come back when I feel like it." Is there any convenient time for God’s word to visit? How can I refuse the beggar at our door when all he asks for is food to alleviate his hunger when he sees my overfed belly?

26 September 2006 – Tuesday
"A man’s conduct may strike him as upright, the Lord, however, weighs the heart." (Proverbs 21) "My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and put it into practice." (Lk. 8)

What a person says and does is certainly important but the book of Wisdom today points out that the motivations of the heart are a true measure of a person’s integrity. In Luke’s gospel we hear not a rebuke from Jesus concerning his mother and brothers but rather a compliment to them that they have heard the word of God, taken it to heart and lived by its call.

Yesterday I visited with Colm McDonough so I could encourage him to send me a bill for his architectural services. He asked me how we were doing with Jamal and the purchase of the property. He was very concerned that we would proceed with the next phase of construction on a piece of property we do not legally own. I tried calling Maggie Chalwe today without much success. I think she’s going to be difficult to access. I am not feeling good about this.

27 September 2006 – Wednesday – 5:15 a.m.
Today’s readings bear similar themes but end up delivering different messages. Proverbs proclaims, "… Give me neither poverty nor riches, and grant me only my share of bread to eat." (Prov. 30) Luke's gospel has Jesus instructing the disciples to "Take nothing for the journey…" (Lk. 9) Proverbs seems to make more sense with its moderate approach while Jesus on the other hand presents a stark approach to the concept of traveling light! How do I reconcile these readings? There seems to be little comparison between the economy of Jesus' day with ours. We are now in the month of Ramadan. Muslims eat and drink nothing from sunup to sundown. Solly Patel says, "It really cleanses you." I have been thinking about this whole situation with lawyers Patel and Chalwe. They have the power, or at least I think they do. I am powerless. I think of Gandhi. What did he do when faced with injustice? He fasted. Perhaps I should call Patel and Chalwe and tell them that as of today I am going to begin a fast and shall only break it when I am convinced that the Makeni property transaction is completed. That was Gandhi's way of protesting against injustice. Last night Erick and I picked up Myles McCabe at the airport. He is on a tour of the District of Eastern Africa to meet with different local offices of the Catholic Relief Services (CRS).

Do I have the guts and inner strength to fast? I know I have enough fat stored up for I have only lost about 10 pounds since arriving here last April. I could stand to lose another 30 pounds, easy. Perhaps if I just write a letter to Marty Solma and tell him that as of today I am beginning a fast and deliver copies to Patel and Chalwe that will begin the process. I'm no damn hero but I am now convinced that there is a serious injustice going on here and I am powerless against its force. All I can do is protest. I don’t think I have ever protested publicly against anything! I did go, once or twice, to those neighborhood prayer services in Dayton protesting against violence in the neighborhoods by praying at the sites where murders had been committed.

Is this situation real injustice or just a case of lazy lawyers? For sure I do not know the whole story behind why it is taking so long for this affair to be completed but I bet $20,000 that Jamal, Maggie & Solly know! What is the source of my motivation in this matter? Am I just tired of all the delays? Am I afraid that if this affair is not concluded soon then the Society of Mary could face problems should we proceed further with renovations and construction on a property we do not legally own? Am I moved by anger against only what I see, knowing that there are unseen aspects of this affair whose knowledge might embarrass should they come to light?

7:00pm – By the end of this morning's meditation I decided to try fasting. Water was all I had all day. After my delicious water breakfast I decided to write a common letter to Maggie Chalwe (Jamal's lawyer), Solly Patel (our lawyer), Jamal el Youssef (seller of the Makeni property), and Godfrey Ssenyomo (director of our SM Community). In that letter I sketched a number of events that have led us to this point, explained what was still lacking in terms of proper documents and clearly voiced my total feeling of powerlessness in the face of this situation, unable to move the process further. I then said in the letter that from this date forward I would follow the example of Mahatma Gandhi who fasted in the face of powerlessness until this matter is resolved.

I committed myself. I printed copies. At 9:45 I drove Myles McCabe to the Lusaka offices of CRS then headed for Maggie Chalwe's office. No appointment. Just walked in and asked if I could see her. She was in a meeting. I explained that I phoned her yesterday, she did not return my call and that I had a letter to give her. I was asked if I could wait, for her meeting would not be long. I said yes. Maggie greeted me, welcomed me to her conference room and began to apologize profusely for the lack of closure to our transaction.

I asked her to explain exactly what was preventing the conclusion. The only signature missing was the Director of the board of trustees of Coral Transport and that this person has been difficult to track down over the past days since he was out of the country for awhile. I asked what "awhile" really meant. She said over the last weekend. I remarked that today was Wednesday. She said that she meant to do something about this case on Monday but it just didn’t happen. I then gave her a copy of the letter that I had written.

When she read the part about fasting I could tell that she was starting to soften! She then said, "Brother Jack, we can’t allow you to not eat!" I said, "Rest assured Maggie that if you get all the paperwork in order with proper signatures and deliver them to Solly Patel, I will eat immediately." It all sounded so melodramatic. Hell, so far, all I missed was breakfast! As we concluded she promised to do her best today to make this happen. I repeated that she was certainly the person who could make this come to pass.

I then headed for Solly Patel’s office. He greeted me in his usual warm fashion.
I presented him a copy of the same letter telling him that I was joining him in solidarity. We had a very nice long chat. He was genuinely fed up with the whole mess and wanted it finished. I suggested that if he and Maggie Chalwe would put their heads together that it might just happen. I left, went back to CRS, picked up Myles and headed for Matero Boys. I had another delicious lunch of two glasses of water.

Before lunch I called Jamal and asked if he could meet me at the Makeni property because I had a letter to give him.He was sick and said he would try to arrange for someone else to meet me there. I took a nap after lunch. I was so tired and hungry. Just before I got up Jamal called and asked if I could stop by his house. He couldn’t arrange for someone else to meet me. He lives in the Makeni area not far from the Faustino House. Erick and I left for Makeni to attend the weekly site meeting.

After the meeting we headed for Jamal's. On our way there, as we were turning left off the main road, Erick noticed Jamal in a red car. I asked if he was sure. He said yes. I did a U-turn and followed him. He drove right back to the driveway just before the Faustino house. Jamal's father was there waiting for him. Just then another care pulled up and a man got out. He was from Maggie Chalwe's office. He presented Jamal and his father with the duly completed forms for the transfer of the property from Coral Transport to Jamal's father. The director of Coral Transport had already signed! As Jamal and his father signed Erick took pictures. What were the chances that we would be present to see the signing of these long awaited documents? There is a God and these two Sons of Mary were truly blessed this day. When we arrived home I decided I would not eat until I received official word from Solly Patel or Maggie Chalwe.

As I was telling Bernard Lugutu the good news the phone rang. It was Solly Patel. He told me the documents were signed, all should be in order now and he would collect them on Friday since tomorrow is a national holiday because of the election. Then on Monday he would go to the Ministry of Lands to begin the process of official registration. Supper tasted so good! Thank you God. Thank you very much.

28 September 2006 – Thursday
After the soul searching, proclaiming a fast, and the excitement of the signatures from yesterday, today's readings from Ecclesiastes puts our experience of life in a much larger perspective. "Vanities of vanities. All is vanity. For all his toil under the sun, what does a man gain by it? …What was will be again; what has been done will be done again; and there is nothing new under the sun." (Ec. 1) The wisdom of the writer of Ecclesiastes is amazing compared to the information we have learned from modern day science. What we think is such a new discovery has been true for far longer. What we now know as earth’s cycle of water, today’s writer expresses as "Into the sea all the rivers go, and yet the sea is never filled, and still to their goal the rivers go."

7:15pm – Today was a national holiday because of national elections for president, parliament, and local council members. It was a quiet day around here. I spent time after lunch with Myles McCabe. He wants to spend time with every brother, it seems.
I give him a lot of credit for not being shy about asking for time. Before lunch I typed up my journal reflections of yesterday so I could send the good news to family and friends but when I went to Remmie’s I found it closed.

29 September 2006 – Friday
Michael and his angels are doing battle against the dragon known as the devil of Satan. The heavens are laid open above the Son of Man, angels ascending and descending. These ideas from Revelation 12 and John 1 form the readings for today’s feast of Michael, Gabriel and Raphael Archangels.

I did not sleep well last night for there was a lot of noise outside from people voicing opinions concerning yesterday's elections. I suspect that supporters from the various political parties were claiming victory. Therefore, I'm having a hard time getting into this whole idea of angels. If angels are the bearers of good and evil then I do believe in them because I've seen plenty of the effects of both. They are certainly at war with each other to this day. If personification of these messengers helps our belief then so be it. I don’t doubt for one minute that an angel of God visited me a couple of days ago and whispered a message from God in the form of a question: Have you ever thought of fasting? Went to Remmie’s at 9 a.m. – Closed

Balanced my financial books in record time. Went to Remmie’s at noon – Closed –
I decided to break down and go to the other Internet café. It is 3 times as fast. What a pleasure. Myles McCabe met with the whole community after supper and gave us an overview of the work of the Office of Peace and Justice in the Province and led us in a discussion about the vision of our community in respect to the multiple works in which we are engaged.

I met Linda in the morning. She is a member of the worshiping community here who ran for city council and lost! She said she would not stop her work with the local community. I asked what that meant. She said she was working with a group of women in the Matero – Emmasdale area to try to establish an open-air market. I immediately thought of Myles McCabe and the Marianist Sharing Fund. I set up a meeting between them for 3 p.m.

30 September 2006 – Saturday
The readings today speak of the end of our lives. Jesus, in the gospel of Luke, is at a point in his life "…when everyone was full of admiration for all he did." Then he says to his disciples, "the Son of Man is going to be handed over into the power of men." He knows that his life as he experiences it will come to an end. The first reading from Ecclesiastes speaks of enjoying ones youth; praising God while your hair is dark! It speaks not about when the hair begins to thin!

I say blessed is the one who knows the body is failing and yet continues to live with a youthful spirit and confidence in God. Today's responsorial psalm sums it all. Psalm 89 says, "Make us know the shortness of our life that we may gain wisdom of heart … In the morning, fill us with your love; we shall exult and rejoice all our days. Let the favor of the Lord be upon us, give success to the work of our hands."

The country awaits official word of the results of the election. There is precious little information. The incumbent president claims victory while one of his three main challengers visits the official in charge of the swearing in of the new president to request his swearing in at Independence Stadium rather then Parliament. At 4 p.m.

I heard there would be election results on TV. I tuned in only to see one of the judges simply read each result that had been sent in from the various voting sections since the last report at 10 a.m. No totals were reported! Legitimate question concerning transparency are being asked.

01 October 2006 – 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Today's readings are no more encouraging than the election results. They ask the question: whose is on our side? The first reading from Numbers has Eldad and Medad prophesying in the camp rather than in the Tent of the Lord. How cheeky of them! Moses, realizing that God can speak however, whenever and thru whomever is chosen, proclaims, "Are you jealous on my account? If only the whole people of the Lord were prophets, and the Lord gave his Spirit to them all!" In the gospel from Mark the same scenario is repeated when John the Apostle complains to Jesus that, "A man who is not one of us is casting out devils!" Jesus replies, "Anyone who is not against us is for us." The word of God and the work of God can come from any source that God chooses.