I will
continue to share with you anything about my book The Next of Kin – brief analyses or reviews of certain parts or
whole extract of a certain chapter. Today, I am glad to share with you an analysis
done by Beaven Tapureta, a book reviewer in Zimbabwe.
A Noble
Life
There
is a saying that goes: “If it means we are to die, let us die nobly” or something like that. Olivia C Paasche's novel has something important about living a noble life. I was most intrigued by Part
Three of The Next of Kin which very well
reveals the human spirit triumphing over death, having also triumphed over
trials and tribulations that come with life on earth. One can add to the saying
that ‘to die nobly is to have lived nobly’.
Part
Three is as sad as it is spiritually uplifting. It contains six chapters, that
is, ‘Arise, My Love’ (Chapter 40), ‘Mozambique’ (Chapter 41), ‘The Drumbeat of
Heaven’ (Chapter 42), ‘The Secret Place Revisited’ (Chapter 43), ‘Horses and
Chariots of Fire’ (Chapter 44) and ‘The Zulu Dancers’ (Chapter 45). Once again
the author’s display of flowing descriptions as she captures scenes of spiritual
activity is outstanding.
However,
it is in the first three chapters (Chapter 40, 41, and 42) of this third part
of the novel, where the power of faith and love when death approaches at a
close range is exhibited in powerful language.
Nicole
and Angelo in these chapters become incarnations of true love, of the very
life-giving thing that we give voluntarily from the bottom of our hearts,
guided by the example of Christ’s great love for humanity. Yet the focus is on
Angelo’s approaching death and the grief this ‘waiting’ causes at the Mission
and surrounding villages.
At
this point Angelo is fatally ill, refusing to die until he sees his Nicole –
the girl he had earlier seen in visions, the same young woman who had saved him
14 years ago when he was brought to St Michael’s Mission Hospital in Zimbabwe
half-dead, the same young woman now by his side on his deathbed.
When
one reads about this episode, the issue of noble death comes to mind. Life on
earth will come to pass but what we would have done with it is what matters.
Angelo, a priest devoted to serving God, had seen it all as a missionary.
His
deeds followed him to death. They say believers die a noble death and it is
true. Angelo had done so much for the villagers in Mozambique through his
missionary work. As his best friend Carlos tells Nicole, “Angelo is much loved
by the villagers…He sacrifices everything for them…”
And
when he died, “They sang with all their hearts, paying tribute to a greatly
respected priest who had befriended them, built their homes, schools and wells
and taught them how to grow their own crops and progressed them towards
self-sufficiency. Most of all, he had taught them, by his selfless example, how
to love…Being ill many times, he would be sent back to Rome, but he always
wanted to come back to his beloved mission and the people of Mozambique.”
We
have seen leaders or celebrities who have been described as ‘great’ yet they
die dishonorably because they would have lived a life lacking in love. Angelo
was not selfish – his love for the African people was so deep that whenever he
was flown back to Italy due to sickness, he would upon his recovery beg to
return to Africa to complete his mission.
Angelo’s
death was noble in the sense that he knew he had done what God wanted him to
do. How do we know Heaven was satisfied by his noble deeds? The mysterious
sight of four doves near Angelo’s room when he lay there close to death is
interpreted very well by his best friend Carlos to Nicole: “…The doves are
telling you and me that there is another world out there, a continuation of
life. A more real existence: one where there is joy and peace. They are anxious
to take Angelo away. In letting go in this way, God gives you your own rebirth.
And suddenly when all is said and done, though weeping may tarry for the night,
joy will come in the morning.”
When
we do good on this earth, we are assured of Heaven and death becomes nothing but
a passage to a higher life because, again as Carlos says to Nicole, “…We are
all pilgrims on our journey, making our way back to the Homeland, to the
Father…”
It
is the same loving kindness for humanity that John Bradburne, a known martyr
who protected the lepers, and the one whose life story is seemingly being
re-lived by Angelo, displayed.
Now
that Angelo has seen his Nicole, he feels that God has granted him his last
wish and with it, a certain revelation of the goodness of human love. His
words, “… I am like John Bradburne…” poses a significant choice that Angelo
made years ago, of serving the world in every way possible as in the example of
Bradburne and the ultimate example of Jesus Christ.
His
best friend Carlos, when he is conversing with Nicole in the chapter ‘The
Secret Place Revisited’, he says of Angelo, “He took great delight in composing
music for the church and many things like that - like your John Bradburne.”
What
all this inspires is the will to be ready to serve the people of the world with
the same love as was exemplified by God’s prophets of long ago. Living a life
of kindness towards the poor or vulnerable is voluntary and a work of deep
faith in God; as such it calls for commitment until we see the Rose.
And
when we see it, like Angelo who is in the throes of death, proclaim to the
world:
“I found the Rose! I
truly found the Rose!”
Though the mood at the Mission is too somber
when Angelo’s body is being carried from the church onto to a waiting
helicopter, with orphans and many other villagers gathered to pay last respects
to their beloved priest, the funeral soon turns into celebration of the power
of great love. In the chapter ‘The Zulu
Dancers’, which is the last chapter of this Part Three of the novel, Angelo’s
death becomes nothing but a victory and a celebration of a life well-lived.
***
Comments welcome. Thank you.
