Courageous Ethiopians

My previous post was from a chapter in Father Arseny: Priest, Prisoner, Spiritual Father, a book about a Father Arseny, a Russian Orthodox priest-monk who was imprisoned for long periods of time in the Soviet gulags (prisons) and who became a known spiritual father to many.  (The book is available in Amharic at bookstores in Addis Ababa.)

Father Arseny, along with much of the clergy of the Russian Orthodox Church who were not outright murdered, was sent to the worst of the gulags to die as a sort of slow death sentence. In the prison were also political prisoners and criminals, all of whom, understandably, hated the Soviet government and thought the government responsible not only for their imprisonment but also for all their problems and the problems of the country.

In the chapter I posted, while in prison, Father Arseny is asked to participate in a discussion among inmates about the Soviet government, and is specifically asked to condemn the Soviets unreservedly for all the suffering they have caused. They expected that he, as a prisoner of the Soviets, and moreover as a clergyman of the Russian Orthodox Church, which was targeted for destruction by the Soviets, would like them express extreme hatred for the Soviets and blame them for everything wrong in the country.

However, Father Arseny, in true Orthodox fashion, points the finger not at the other - at the Soviets - but the self - himself, his fellow clergyman, and the laity. He says, in short, that if the clergy and laity did not rebel so much against God before the revolution, then the revolution would not have even happened. In other words, it was the sins of the Orthodox clergy and laity that brought about the Soviets. His true and courageous stand left his fellow prisoners speechless.

I have met a few such courageous Ethiopians, and I do not count myself among them, who accept responsibility and hold themselves, in whatever capacity, accountable for what has and is happening in Ethiopia. They do not blame the government, past or present, the Woyane or Tigre or ERPDF, or Shaebia, or "Oromos" or OLF, or Amharas or donkeys, or communists or thieves, etc. for Ethiopia's problems. They point the finger at themselves.

And then, because they point the finger at themselves, they do what they can, with whatever minute capacity they have, to set things aright. By taking responsibility, they empower themselves - they do not see themselves as interested bystanders but as stakeholders with a role to play.

Some people ask me what they can do. What can a simple layman do? Well, I say, if (and this is a big if) you consider yourself an Ethiopian (and not an American or Swede or something) , and if you think you have positive ideas, or perhaps a good civic attitude, or positive moral outlook, then live in Ethiopia and let your positive ideas and good civic attitude and moral outlook permeate their surroundings.

Would this be effective, is the next question. What does effective mean? Will it turn the whole country around? No, of course not, but who are we to think that we can. In all humility, I can affect perhaps my family, friends, maybe neighbourhood. That's about it. If I expect any more then I'm being unrealistic at best, delusionally prideful at worst. Why, even our great leaders have much less influence that we think because of the enormous influence exerted upon them.

So we will not turn our country around, but we might help and influence  a person or two or more. And if everyone does that, as Seraphim of Sarov said: "Acquire the Spirit of Peace and a thousand souls around you will be saved."