A Savior for All: The Assurance of Access

By David Ofumbi, ThM Student

Growing up in Uganda, where interconnectedness is the buzzword for life, I learned the importance of the “other.” As a young boy, I witnessed people abandoning themselves to what lay beyond them, to the extent that they forgot about themselves as separate beings and lived their lives fully in relation to others. This opened my eyes to the fact that humans inherently have power to reach and live beyond themselves. In the African ethos of life this concept is captured in the popular phrase, “I am because we are, and since we are, therefore I am.” This not only refers to our communal relationship, but also expresses a conviction about our spirit-interconnectedness: We are human when we overcome our limitations and divisions.

During the Christmas season, we celebrate the seminal interconnectedness of God becoming man and man becoming God. This divine-human connection opened for us the floodgates to access God and his presence—the best of what I am, the best of what others are, and the best that the universe possesses—not just for myself but above all for God, in whom, from whom, and to whom are all things.

In this Christmas season, therefore, I find hope in the assurance that I have this access to God and his presence, and to all of the good that flows from that. While all may not be rosy now, Christmas gives me the full assurance that one morning I will wake up to this hope. In the meantime, I keep hold of this assurance by maintaining a “glass half-full” attitude—because it is just a matter of time before the glass shall be full.

The challenge I face, then, is this: Shall I fully abandon myself to the “other”—as I saw modeled in my Ugandan homeland— so that I can access God and his presence, and all the good that comes from him?  Shall I live out this Christmas reality?