I remember one day, I went with some companions to a weeklong camp. As we usually do, each should carry all the necessary personal things to use during the week such as clothes and toiletries. At this time, I forgot shower gel and shampoo. I asked one of my companions if I could use his gel and shampoo for only that day, thinking of buying them the other day. Unexpectedly, that simple conversation with him marked me.
Me: “Hi, could you lend me some gel and shampoo for this afternoon? I forgot to bring mine. I’ll buy some tomorrow.”
Companion: “Of course yes, take and use them, these are ours.”
I was surprised and I was thinking for a while about his answer. I was speechles and dumbfounded. As if his words had totally covered up my mouth. I took the gel and shampoo and went to take a shower. When I finished, I returned them and told him:”thank you”.
That encounter, though it seemed simple, was a real eye-opener experience and inspiration for me. This led me to reflect on some important issues in my religious life such as sharing without expecting anything from the other; as not being attached to things that are sometimes secondary and give more importance to the person; how to live fraternity in community, feeling that we are all “brothers”; how to learn to be humble enough to ask for some help and not always feeling being the one who has to give and who has everything, etc.
My companion’s simplicity and spontaneity, the joy and total naturalness of wanting to share with me what he had, marked my life a lot. “These are ours” was not a normal response, nor is it now. Not even after that moment, I heard the same response before. It had to be something already done frequently, many times, until it came out only by heart.
At the end, it’s a way of life. Live sharing life. Sharing the testimony of something more important that touches us and changes our hearts. What matters to us also matters to others. This EASTER, we have to share the greatest thing that we have celebrated of our faith: CHRIST IS ALIVE…PREACH IT… because it is not only mine nor yours, but ours… “THIS IS OURS”.
Gran Canaria 22-04-2019
Tomas Mekar Joustefen, cmf
