Day 26 Let's roll

A few years ago I listened to a talk given by my high school psychologist, Dr Tim Barry, about narcissists. In the talk he spoke about the difference between bonobos and chimpanzees. The two primates are separated by a river that for thousands of years kept the evolution of each species completely separate. In short chimpanzees are violent, territorial, patriarchal, have rigid hierarchical structures, rule by fear and do kak things to each other. Bonobos are the opposite. They are smaller, kinder, look after the most vulnerable, are matriarchal, need smaller territories and generally live in a lot more peace. He discussed the brain wiring of the two species and ultimately compared the male leaders of a chimpanzee troop to your run of the mill narcissist. Apparently when a human being reaches a certain level of power they can chemically no longer feel empathy. Based on the numerous narcissists I've had the pleasure of knowing this rings 100% true. 

This week I've had reason to ponder some bonobo moments...

The first was reading the telephonic manuscript of the phone call made by Todd Beamer on flight 93 on the 11 of September 2001. A summarized version of the 911 phone call on board that fateful flight was a decision made by the extraordinary passengers to overpower the terrorists and attempt to stop the flight from crashing into either the White House or Capital buildings. We know what happened. They managed to overpower the hijackers and crashed into a field. Their sacrifice prevented many more deaths on a day that was already black. Todd's final words were the Lords Prayer and The Lord is My Shepard before shouting, 'Are you guys ready? Let's roll.'

This week a group of people I know were given the news that there would be multiple retrenchments in their department. After days of uncertainty and fear a meeting was called by HR where imminent retrenchments were announced. Before the meeting the entire department prayed together. And now that they know their potential fate they are banding together to job hunt, create CVs, question HR and generally stick together to help each other through this incredibly stressful time. 

I did a prac with my Grade 8s yesterday. They were given very strict instructions to strike their sets once they were finished rehearsing. One group didn't but I didn't know which one. I threatened death by firing squad, ok, a Sunday detention, and no one owned up. At the time I was maniacally busy with my matrics who are about to do their final prac exam so didn't have time for a manhunt. During my matric lesson a group of grade 8s arrived at my door, not a main oke in site, and I know for certain that it was not their group who left the mess. But they said they wanted to help me and would take the blame and would strike the set for the other group so that no one would get into trouble. 

In all these moments - some monumental in the shaping of history, some monumental in the life of a bread winner, some to be forgotten the next day by some messy Grade 8s the message remains the same. The Kingdom of God belongs to the bonobo. To the team player who can see the bigger picture of sacrifice, of kindness, of love, of compassion, of courage. I think the narcissists, who have made themselves into gods in this world, are going to have a hard time in the next world where their power will become their death sentence. Sometimes the life of an ordinary human being, with normal fears and dreams and hopes, can become the hugest testimony of the grace of God because they choose to be Christ in the world. And when the terror seeks to overtake, and evil threatens to cripple with anxiety, the call of the bonobo to her troop shouts in courageous defiance, 'Lets roll!'