Ngulampa is a great word in the Yulparija language of the Western
Desert. It has been described as similar to the Spanish word maňana, (meaning tomorrow or an
unspecified time into the future), but with none of the urgency of that word.
Basically, ngulampa means: Go away
because whatever you want me to do, say or think is not as important as what I
am doing now, and by the way, I probably will never get time to do what you
want me to do. I think that most of us would like to have an eight letter word
to encompass all of those thoughts!
Moses was filled with the spirit
of the Lord when he came down from the mountain with this great commission, the
Israelite people said: Ngulampa, or
its equivalent in Hebrew. They were interested in talking, not doing. Specifically,
they were interested in whinging about their present conditions so much that
they could not see God in their lives or country. Their eyes were not on their
spiritual or physical survival, and as St Paul tells us, the desert was
littered with their bodies.
Eventually God sent his Son who
carried the same message. It is the message that has been given not only to the
people of Jesus’ time but to all of us. He spoke the parable of the fig tree,
which reminds us that God has given us the means to grow. He has cultivated us
by means of the word among us and the preaching of his church. The decision
given to the Israelites is the same given to us during this Lent. Do we answer
God’s call or say: Ngulampa,
translated by one of the Bidyadanga people for me as: “straight away one of
these days.”
Yesterday one of the cardinals was reported as saying that more time to talk and consider among themselves was needed before
the conclave could begin. I get the feeling that he is trying to say ngulampa , that it can be put off almost
indefinitely. For the past three weeks the world has been talking about who the
next pope will be, so now is the time for the Cardinals to go into conclave and
see what the Holy Spirit has in store. They will go into conclave sometime this
week, we will pray for them whilst they are in conclave, and maybe we will have a new pope next by weekend. They have their work
to do, and so we do as well.
Lent, this wonderful season of
the church’s year that invites us into greater union with God is almost half
over. The time for our conversion is now, the time for our penance is now, the
time for approaching the Sacrament of Reconciliation is now, the time for our
giving is now, not tomorrow or next week, because we know that tomorrow or next
week rarely come. We are ready to do whatever God has prepared us to face.
Active Christians do not say ngulampa, do not say no to God. We are
here so that God will strengthen us in the presence of each other to move
forward. May he guide and strengthen us all.
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