Nkembo Olikolo

Let us praise God! Nkembo, nkembo, na tata; nkembo, nkembo; olikolo! God is so good. He never forsakes his own. Here is a song we used to sing as children:

 

Jesus, Jesus (2ce)

If you really love me

Don't leave my heart (2ce)

I can't sleep without you

I can't do without you

If you really love me

Don't leave my heart

 

Nkembo is a hymn of glory to God. Nkembo olikolo is an affirmation of praise to the almighty. Indeed we must praise God. But why must we praise him? What are the reasons for which it is right and necessary to praise the Lord?

 

For the gift of life. I recall that as a child when we prayed we used to say: "Many slept without waking up, but we have, and so we thank you, O Lord." We sojourned for hours in the world of dreams but we did not stay there. It happened by the power of God, and so it is fitting to praise him. There were evil spirits that competed for possession of our soul, but God did not grant them custody of it, and so we must praise God. We lay semi-conscious to unconscious in the state of sleep, not knowing what was going on around us, but God did not allow our environment to overwhelm or squelch us. We should praise God. We were vulnerable to fate, but nothing chanced to do us in. We need to praise God. Nkembo olikolo! Nkembo na tata.

 

For the gift of family. God gave us a first participatory framework, the family. We need to praise him for it. These are the people that love us no  matter what. These are the people that we recourse to when the whole world treats us ill, as the title sequence of 7th Heaven says. They are the ones that know us the most and love us the most. They are the ones that gave us our very first home, and our very first global orientation. They are the ones with whom we shared our earliest selves, and mistakes and hopes. We pray with our families. We stay with our families. We derive succor from them, and we pledge our deepest allegiance to them. "Home is where the heart is," as they say. Our hearts are with our families. God gives us our families to support us in the turmoil and trial of life. Our families are gifts to us; we should be gifts to them as well. And so, for the gift of family, we should praise God. We should sing: Nkembo na wana. Nkembo li sanga; nkembo olikolo!

 

For the gift of faith. What is life without faith of some kind? We need faith with which to continue to move in spite of difficulties. Without faith, the difficulties of life will overwhelm us. Without faith, the difficulties of life will do us in. We are encouraged to "trust in the Lord with all our hearts and lean not on our own understanding; in all our ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct our paths: not allowing our feet to be moved; he that keeps us not slumbering; being near as he is to all of us that call upon him, we that call upon him in truth" (Prov. 3: 5-6). Without faith, life will be too hard for us to live. Without faith, we will be unable to progress. Faith is the assurance of things hoped for. It is what keeps putting one foot in front of another, dragging us steadily to those hoped-for things. It is with faith "as small as a mustard seed" that we can surmount any difficulty and remove from our way any mountain of obstruction (Matt. 17:20). Our faith sets us apart from the world. It gives us a character. And it is a good reason for which to praise God. Nkembo nkembo; nkembo na ta e!

 

For the gift of hope. Faith bears hope. Because God has answered our prayers made through faith in the past, we hope for more. And hope predisposes us to believe all the more. Hope makes us set our sights on the transcendent. Hope gives us a reason to go on living. It paints a picture of heaven in our mind. Hope sustains us. Hope is the opposite of despair. Hope is the antidote to the nothingness of Heidegger. Hope gives us peace. Hope consoles us. Hope paves the way for progress. The Catholic Act of Hope states: "O God I hope in you for grace and for glory; because of your promises, your mercy and your power." Hope is true beauty. Indeed what could we possibly accomplish in life without hope! God gives us hope in order to build us up for the beauty of heaven, the grace of the afterlife. How could we look to such afterlife without hope! Impossible. We definitely need hope. We cannot do without hope. And for this indispensable gift of hope, we praise God: Nkembo na wana!

 

For the gift of love. Love is the beginning and end of life itself. Everything ends in love, dissolves into love. We live for love. We live in, through and with love. Love is the life of the soul. Love is the ultimate religion, the ultimate spirituality. Love makes us call God father, and everyone else our brother or sister. St Paul extols love in 1 Cor. 13. He calls love patient and kind; humble and forgiving; universally hopeful, and universally true. Love conquers all. Love endures all. We need love to live. The love of our parents brought us into this world in the first place. The love of our family saw us through our formative years. Their love, and the love of our friends continued to guide us through life, especially  in times of difficulty. And the love of God ultimately watches over us. Love lifts us up. "Behold what manner of love the father has bestowed on us that we should be called the children of God" (1 John 3:1). And so for this identity of love, let us praise God: Nkembo olikolo!