The Spear and the Cross

We are a country in crisis. We are a people in crisis. We are lost and broken and in a sense at war again. We are at war with each other and with ourselves but we don’t realize it until something happens in the public domain that sparks and fans the flame into action. The result is an inferno that can not be quenched.

South Africa is not a stranger to war.  Many a battle as passed through these beautiful lands or ours.  Many a child has been born into the war. Many a life has been taken – robbed from reaching its potential and fullness by the war.  We are a broken people.  There are layers of mistrust and hatred towards each other.  Apartheid was a war within the boundaries of this country. The horrors and atrocities of this time in our history have caused us to be a wounded nation. We limp and crawl through life, trying to find some way of connecting with each other. We have papered over the deep cracks of the past with ideas like reconciliation, one nation, nation building, the new South Africa , the rainbow nation. All good ideas but I fear, that in reality, the wounds that lie very deep and carry so much damage and pain are waiting to erupt. They just have to. We all know that a wound that has not healed can get infected again and again. We need help. We need healing. We need kindness towards fellow man. We need so much. We need Jesus!

Umkhonto weSizwe- The Spear of the Nation or the armed wing of the ANC (African National Congress). It no longer exists for it has been joined together, like all other structures in The New South Africa, to become one. United and together in the hope called The Rainbow Nation. But I guess Umkhonto lives on in the hearts and minds of those who knew it as a real adversary to the then apartheid government. A real cause to hope and live.

Over the past 2 weeks our beloved country has once again been ripping itself apart, held at the throat by a painting. The painting, which by now if you have not heard about it , you must have been asleep J , part of an exhibition by Brett Murray called Hail to the Thief 2.

The painting depicts Jacob Zuma, our president, in a Stalin like pose but with his genitals displayed for the entire world to see.

 It is called The Spear. For those of us who know much of his life, we are left with little doubt about the message the artist was sending.  The message carried within it many layers and it was a trigger for great debate.

There are many angles to take on this issue. I could write about art and what it is and what it does – the role it plays in society. I love art and am interested in it and so could take that angle. I could write about freedom of speech which I also hold dearly and have some strong views on that. I could write about what I think about Jacob Zuma and the role of a president. I could write about racism – what it is and what it is not. All these and many other issues have been exposed again by the exhibition of The Spear.

I am going to talk about real dignity and healing in the light of this painting. The heart of the matter for each person. Who am I ? Do I have value? How do I have worth? 

The Spear cleverly lanced the wound. It rubbed the scab that is trying to heal over the raw damaged skin of this country.

The labours of the artist rubbed the wound raw yet again and anger, rage, malice, slander and all sorts of ‘stuff’ exploded onto the media airways of our land and indeed the world.  And of course, when in doubt call it racist that is sure to get things going.

I listened too much of the debate, joining in with it in the safety of my kitchen. I read some of the articles written in the news and Doug and I have talked and talked a great deal about it. The question I have is this……….

Why is it that Jacob Zuma, the president of a country, is unable to shrug the insult off. Yes he may have been insulted and the painting may be rude and degrading. It may reflect truth. There are lots of “it Mays” but the question on my mind was this. What is it about this man that causes him to take these pictures and cartoons and other expressions by people of him, to heart?. (He is in the process of taking Zapiro to court over some cartoon drawn that has insulted him.) Why is it that he can not simply shake off the mud and insult he feels and boldly, bravely and with dignity rise above it all to lead our people.

Because he can’t and clearly from the debate around THIS painting, many others can’t either, we sink to the depths of debate and discussion but insult and polarization again.

Again and again I heard people say things like ‘in my culture’, or ‘it is insulting to this man; a father, husband’. “It is racist. It is degrading. It is wrong.”   People were deeply offended on a cultural level by this artwork. People were personally hurt by this painting – not just Jacob Zuma. The painting opened old wounds for people and they came out fighting. It has been a time of raw anger. The painting unmasked more that it intended to do. Anger! The many issues around freedom of speech and what that means and looks like were lost in the rage that swallowed the debate. Emotions ran high and tears were shed publicly.  What is this all about?

Perhaps more is going on here than simply Western Liberalism meets African tradition.  Where their differences are exposed by the painting. I do think on one level this is true but I think that something very deep has been exposed by The Spear – more than just Jacob Zuma’s genitals.

South Africans are a broken and deeply wounded people. If you grew up in the 60’s and particularly the 70’s and 80’s in SA, no matter what your culture and skin colour, you are a broken South African. Your view of people is seared; it is snapped in half like a bit of old wood. This brokenness makes all too much sense. Apartheid was a wicked system that purposely destroyed people and left them without any dignity and hope. It raged and ran a mock , killing and hurting the vulnerable and the weak and those who came out fighting. It destroyed us all.

The problem is most of us can not even see that for what it is and what it means. We need collective therapy. A country that could do with some serious couch time. “People need to tell their stories,” a dear friend said again over dinner. I think she is right. We could all do with writing the story of our country. Each of us has varying depths of loss and pain and wounding. Some people would have so much to write and others of us much less, but write it we should. In a way these talk shows might have a role to play in not just simply airing the views of those who call but perhaps they are a very real way for people to share their pain by exposing their anger.

Over dinner and a glass of wine we talked about what life is like now as a person in South Africa. What kinds of carry on or follow on or patterns of exclusion and barriers do ordinary South Africans experience because of their skin colour. How does the past present itself today. As we talked I saw the Jacob Zuma painting saga morph into the lounge. The past is present for all of us whether you are the president for the country or a street sweeper for the council.

How can all this change. How can we really begin to see people for who they really are? What are we supposed to be searching for? What is the essence of man that gives him worth? Is it his status? Is it his gender? Is it his colour, language, country of origin? Is it his job title?

The bible has some great news about who we are. It is exciting news; liberating news and news that brings hope, even to this sad and broken land of ours.

In his grace God has given all people a hallmark so to speak. He has given all people something of himself. We are made in his image – his image bearers. No matter whom we are – man or woman – no matter what our station in life, president or homeless beggar – no matter what our skin colour, God has marked us ALL with his image. We are all special and unique. That is how he sees us on one level. And this is how he calls me to see others. Unique and lovely made in his image! There is dignity and wholeness in that. This is how I am to see myself too. This is how Jacob Zuma is to see himself and there is strength and dignity in this which is nothing that a favorable court hearing or his culture, however rich, can give him.

God also sees us another way. We are either lost or found – sheep or goats – we either belong to him or we don’t. This has to do with our moral standing before him. It has to do with seeing ourselves and others yes as image bearers but also seeing each other and ourselves as we really are.

We are broken people who arrogantly choose to live our lives without any reference to Jesus and who he is.  I guess that is why we are broken. We take is gifts and ignore him and so we are lost to him. We do not know God and do not live for him. We claim our lives for ourselves and press on in destruction and darkness. But God has never stopped loving us and never given up on any of us and so Jesus came willingly. He came to die in my place and in your place taking our wrong attitudes and wrong stubbornness and wrong behaviour – called sin – into himself. He became sin for me and sin for you. He died and took up his life again. He conquered death so that whoever you are – Jacob Zuma or Caren Falconer or the sad, lonely, dirty homeless person- anyone and everyone can come to him. We can be saved, reconciled to the Living God and we can be healed of all our pain and sadness and brokenness. We can begin to claim back that with Apartheid robbed us all of and we can begin to heal. We can really begin to see fellow people as image bearers and we truly become The Rainbow Nation.

I realize that this dream is the ideal and actually the true Rainbow Nation is God’s nation who he has called from every tongue and nation and we will stand before him whole and forgiven and worship Jesus together. But for now we live here in this broken, beautiful land. I weep for this country I love and pray for us to each play a part in listening and caring; in really trying to make a difference and in saying sorry -despite our pain and fears. I pray too, that Jacob Zuma would truly come to know that Jesus loves him.

There is real dignity, strength, healing and true freedom in him alone.

Nkosi Sikeleli iAfriKa