Turkish author Orhan Pamuk, in the course of a long
interview on the BBC this week, slipped in the phrase, “They somehow listen”,
referring to the reception of his work in the context of his government’s
official policy of cracking down on any sign of criticism. “They somehow
listen” is a phrase conveying the suggestion that, despite official closed ears
in many countries on issues of politics, religion, climate, culture and so
forth, people have one corner of one ear open.
It is hard “to teach an old dog new tricks”. It is hard to
break down the door of prejudice and complacency of people fixed in their ways.
In the film, Selma, about the Civil
Rights march from Selma to Montgomery in the United States in the 1960s, we are
led through the stages of resistance on the local level in Alabama and the
national level in President Johnson’s White House. We are also led through the
steely resolve of Martin Luther King to lever open that little space in the
president and the country’s consciousness about the injustice. And “they
somehow listened.”
There are many people in our countries today either trapped
into endlessly repeating and enforcing current “self-destruct” policies or, on
the receiving end, enduring the effects of these policies decade after decade.
They appear to be without hope of resolving the issues that enslave them. But
they are somehow listening. We saw it in South Africa in the 1990s. We see it
slowly looming in other countries – like a huge hippo slowly emerging from the
Zambezi. In Uganda, they tussle and come to blows with one another in
parliament. In Kenya, they annul an election. Neither of these events may have
much effect in the short term. But people are somehow listening.
There is a short parable in this Sunday’s gospel about two
sons. The second one says “yes” to what is asked of him but doesn’t do it.
Familiar? The first one is more honest: he says straight out, “No! I am not
going to do that.” Then he thinks about it and decides to do it after all. He
was somehow listening.
1 October 2017 Sunday 26 A
Ezekiel 18:25-28 Philippians 2:1-11 Matthew 21:28-32
