Christmas and peace in Sri Lanka
 

by Archbishop Oswald Gomis

What has become almost our theme song for Christmas has been peace. Every year we have been re-echoing the song of the Angelic choir to the shepherds announcing peace to men of goodwill. In the strain of this song we have been praying for peace in our own dear land. Together with this we have also appealed for a de-commercialization of Christmas celebrations. As to what all this has brought about remains to be assessed.

One may wonder whether peace, at least in our own land, is an achievable target. Over and over again, the prospect of peace has come within close reach only to be moved later beyond where it originally stood. Once again the ball begins to move towards the goal when some strange happening kicks it back to the centre. This being so one may ask what is the use of all this talk of peace during Christmas?

The simple Christian answer to this is in the second part of the song of the Angels. Peace is given to men of goodwill. The simple question that immediately arises is - are there men of goodwill who are working for peace in this country?

The whole history of the ethnic conflict is ridden with bad will. Much as there are extraneous circumstances that led to the conflict - from the time it turned into a conflict situation it became a political game and gamble. In the typical Sri Lankan attitude of 'all what I do is right and all what you do is wrong' - we have been competing with each other at the cost of the nation.

An analysis of all what had happened from the time we tried to find a political solution commencing with the Bandaranaike-Chelvanayagam Pact will prove the truth of this statement.

From a Christian perspective there is no doubt that peace is a gift from God. But no one forces a gift on someone who does not want to receive it. Much so God! Therefore what is essential for peace in the country is the willingness on their part to have peace. This is imperative especially on the part of the country's political leadership.

Single objective

It is a salient factor in democracy to have an opposition. But both the Opposition and the Governing party have to have only one objective - and that is the welfare of the people and the country. Unfortunately in many of the so-called democracies created after the Post War period this objective has totally been forgotten and the objective has become subjective!

In other words what counts is not the welfare of the people or the nation but one's own welfare and that of the stooges and mafia elements that prop the parliamentarians into power by whatever means. And Sri Lanka is no exception to this.

Quite naturally the leaders and the politicians are blamed and rightly so. But it is well to remember that they are not the only ones that deserve blame. Civil society (which means all of us) is to be equally blamed for our part of negligence, if not total connivance in this regard. If democracy is to be vibrant it is imperative for the members of its civil society to remain alert and active. But is this the case in Sri Lanka?

In a sense it would be wrong to say that Sri Lanka's civil society is silent. But what often if not always happens is that the bulk of the moderate opinion holders who think wisely and act prudently remain in their shells, while a handful of irrational extremists take to the streets and make the loudest possible noise confirming the wise dictum that 'empty vessels make the biggest noise.'

The voice they raise and the havoc they create become such a din that any moderate voice if at all, escapes unheard. And of course the so-called free press has enough matter and pictures to fill their pages with the latest to ensure their sale. And in the process make the silent spectator believe that this is 'public opinion.'

What we should therefore pray for is first for the conversion of sinners so that we would have men and women of goodwill in the country.

It is also said that "Hell is paved with goodwill". Therefore what matters is not just the good wish but the determination to do something positive and to have action follow.

If we truly believe in Christianity we have to accept that Jesus Christ was the Son of God who came on earth. And St. Paul describes this in the Scriptures as follows. Jesus whilst "His state was divine, yet he did not cling to his equality with God but emptied himself to assume the condition of a slave, and became as men are, he was humbler yet, even to accepting death on a cross." (Phil 2:6-8)

Humility

This shows that humility is a basic and fundamental quality that is required in our work to save the world and our country. Unfortunately, a hard thing will have to be said here. And that is - that the most glaring feature of our culture is pride. It would not be wrong to say that pride is something basic to our national culture. The result of this is jealousy.

This may be a hard and hurting revelation. But it is true. One of the best evidences for this is the fact that it would almost be impossible for us to find a Sinhala family that has kept together in business up to a third generation. We have had very enterprising business tycoons who have done excellently well is business. They have grown from scratch. But the children have only to marry to see how the business breaks into splinters. As a result the whole thing goes into disarray.

A further evidence of this is the famous or shall we say the notorious "Guru mushtiya" that we proudly safeguard. If we analyze the logic behind this it is nothing but a sanctimonious justification of our traditional jealously. As a result of this we have lost so much of our scientific knowledge particularly in the field of ayurvedic medicine, art and architecture. The simple logic is that one is not prepared to share his knowledge and skills with another for fear that he would do better.

Perhaps a third manifestation of this jealousy is in business. If one were to sell king coconuts at the roadside by his house the next neighbour is bound to begin his own shop the next week. Before five months lapse there will be twenty five shops in the vicinity thus creating a glut that will naturally exceed the demand and cause all in business to crash. In any other country, particularly Japan, the format would be different.

There, if one were to begin selling king coconut the next door neighbour would try to supplement that trade with another article, thus promoting business for both. For instance he would watch the customers trying to drink directly off the nut to the detriment of his carefully laundered clothes and propose selling straws to make the drink more convenient and clean. The second neighbour would think of providing a tissue to make it still more convenient.

Finally, the three will get together and try to provide a wayside hut so that the customer could conveniently sit and enjoy his drink with all the other facilities provided. All this would cost the customer more. But he would pay for all the facilities with pleasure while the neighbourhood will get the full benefit of a large enterprise.

Of course in Sri Lanka things have to be different. While our people are clever and have tremendous inventive capabilities, they would prefer to copy another than use their own ingenuity. It would not be wrong to say that this it basically our uneasiness (or call is jealousy) to see the other man prosper.

For this reason we would just do what the other is doing and thus he and I would both get ruined. This is what happened to many a business initiative in Sri Lanka. The Batik industry is one such example and the supply of employees to the Middle Eastern countries is another.

The envy factor of our people becomes very evident even among the migrant worker communities. From the personal experience I have had trying to help some of these migrant workers I could testify to this fact. It is quite a different matter when it comes to migrant workers of most of the other countries.

They unite when they are scuttered and live in a diaspora situation. But with our people it is just the opposite.

It may hurt some of our ultra nationalists to hear that we are a people who get divided in crisis. A cursory glance at our history proves the truth of this statement. Even though the Portuguese landed on our shores in 1505 they captured power only after 1543. And it was the war between the two brother kings Buvenaka Bahu and Mayadunne that paved the way for them to realize their political ambition.

Again it was the division between King Sri Wickrema Rajasinghe and the Adigars and the signing of the notorious Kandyn Convention in 1815 that led to the British occupation of the whole of Sri Lanka.

Radical change of attitude

If we take the case of British for instance the case is different. For instance when the British were reaching danger zone in World War II they recognised Winston Churchill as the best man to handle the situation and put him in power, even though they had reservations about him. But as soon as the war ended he was deposed and the Labour Prime Minister Atlee was voted in.

The same could be said of the war with Argentina and Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. She is today listed as the best Prime Minister of Britain in the twentieth century.

All this shows that there is a radical change of attitude that is called for from our people. A turn towards humility and fraternal love. And unless this happens we will never be 'men of goodwill' to win the reward of peace. We must simply begin to realise that no man is and island. We will either grow together or be destroyed altogether. The best lesson for us is in the Incarnation of Christ at Christmas.

While he was God he came on earth in the form of man and was born in a manger. He suffered and died on a Cross - a most ignominious death for any person at the time. But that won for him a glorious resurrection. And his message was love and the equality of all human beings. It is this same message that the tsunami conveyed to us the day after Christmas last year. Yet are we not blind?!

Persons of every status and position in life were treated equally and they had no option but to accept the inevitable. After all, this is the same message that is told us at the termination of our lives - "All paths of glory lead but to the grave" (Thomas Gray). Whether our remains are deposited in mausoleums or simple graves or even cremated, it is finally the same destination for us all.

So is it, while we live as people of this one Country. Our nationality, caste and creed - and all these human considerations will finally face the inevitable destiny here on earth. What then is the purpose of extolling our ego? It only amplifies suffering - our own and that of others.

The path to freedom is therefore in the imitation of Christ's humility self-sacrifice and love personified in the Crib and the Cross. May the Star of Bethlehem lead you there this Christmas.