Sankofa Wisdom…
Happy New Year to you! Or am I greeting the ‘new’ you, with new goals and a new gym membership?!
I have to confess that the idea of making resolutions leaves me feeling defeated before I’ve even begun… so I simply don’t make any! Research tells us that most resolutions have been broken by the end of January anyway… (that’s my story and I’m sticking to it)!
Instead, I’m planning to lean on the wisdom of the Sankofa taken from the Akan tribe, part of the Ashanti group in Ghana (yep, the land where Kate was born!).
Sankofa encourages me to intentionally take time to remember, recall and retrieve wisdom from the past as I prepare to go forward into the New Year. SAN (return), KO (go), FA (look, seek and take).
The Sankofa is an Adinkra symbol (a kind of symbolic language) which is often represented by a mythical bird flying forward with its head turned back, holding an egg in its mouth. The egg represents the gems and knowledge based on the wisdom of the past. The Akan believe that as we look back to the past, it can serve as a guide for shaping the future.
As I look back, I’m reminded that ‘Integrity’ is still important’, even though it put Jesus the most righteous man who ever lived, on the cross. ‘Truth’ is still important, Martin Luther King Junior was the most hated man in America with a public disapproval rating of nearly 75% when he died (not because he’d killed someone but) because he told the truth about racial and social injustice. ‘Courage’ is still important, Pandita Ramabai reaped multiple breakthroughs for others through sheer courage! ‘Tenacity is still important, Wangari Maathai accomplished more for environmentalism than some could possibly imagine. ‘Hospitality’ is still important for Auntiji who lives down the street and keeps us well supplied with her delicious chicken curry! ‘Generosity’ is still important as I think of our neighbour’s daughter who has ‘given’ her home over to Ukrainian refugees displaced by the war, she and her son now live with her parents as a result. Of course, there’s so much more I could add to these because we’re all wealthy when it comes to this kind of treasure…
Even now I’m returning to retrieve all of these gems I’ve accumulated along the way and invite you to do the same with yours.
In 2023, life will happen… whether you like it or not, want it or not, invite it or not! So commit yourself to participate, put your treasure to work, don’t just spectate or speculate!
In the words of Henri Nouwen:
The world is waiting… for new saints, ecstatic men and women who are so deeply rooted in the love of God that they are free to imagine a new international order.
We need a new order - now, more than ever before…
Cham and Kate
