WHO TO BLAME FOR DEATH?
Every year, at the beginning of November, we celebrate our ancestors in faith, in the feast of All Saints, and reflect on the reality of death, remembering and praying for our dead.
In this Sunday second reading, Paul advises us about the way we should grieve; not as people who have no hope, but as people who believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Death is blamed on a fellow human being
It is interesting to note that in the traditional culture (here in Zambia), God is not blamed for someone’s death. In fact, there death is never considered natural, unless in old age. When someone dies, his death is brought about by the jealousy, the envy and the hatred of the enemy; and that enemy is a fellow human being. He may be a relative or a neighbour, who lives by destroying others. Death is brought upon someone by the powers hidden in the evil heart of a witch (umuloshi). That’s why after death, many people cannot rest until they discover who bewitched their beloved one, who has been taken away from them. In Solwezi area, that is done through Kikondo. As they take the coffin for burial, the pallbearers behave like possessed, guided by a strange power coming out of the coffin, which forces them to move around until they find the killer of the deceased. Then, they exact punishment on the supposed witch, beating him/ her, taking the foodstuffs, animals and sometimes even destroying the house, as a form of compensation and revenge.
Is there any hidden power in the coffin? Not at all! Will the coffin move, if they put it down? What power can there be in a dead and cold body, which cannot stand up and move around? The ones who carry the coffin are the ones who have hatred in their hearts and who are intent on disrupting and destroying the harmony of the family. In fact, they are the witches (abaloshi), because they bring a lot of suffering on innocent people. As long as such type of behaviour is perpetuated, there can be no development.
Kikondo brings suspicion and hatred within the family and the community. The accused with their families have to move out of the village and start afresh somewhere else, leaving behind their homes and their fields.
A quest for imortality
In a way, the search for the source of death is a refusal to accept our mortality and a refusal to recognise that death is the natural course all of us will take. This search shows the conviction that we have a right to everlasting life, and that we are not able to enjoy it because of the hatred of our fellow human beings who become our enemies.
Death alone already brings a lot of pain. The work of relatives, friends and neighbours should be to lighten that suffering by sharing in it, and by bringing consolation and hope. Instead, by Kikondo or by any other form of divination, we inflict suffering and sow hatred, making it impossible to live and to work together in the community.
Paul is very clear: before death, a Christian cannot behave as the unbelievers do. We know that the journey of our lives will come to an end here on earth. However, death will not be the end; instead, it will be a time of passing from this life to the next, and a time to be welcomed in the Kingdom of the Father. Jesus is our Lord in life and in death; and like him we will be raised to life to share in his glory.
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