VIRTUOUS LIVING - Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University

My father often warned me to watch the goats carefully, for they were cunning andswift to sneak into the cultivated plots. If I became absorbed in some game ordaydreamed, the flock could wreak havoc in a neighbour’s garden, resulting in seriousconsequences for me and a fine for my father. Consequently, I quickly learnt thedanger of leaving sheep and goats without a shepherd, or with a negligent shepherd –a phenomenon the New Testament compares allegorically to a people withoutknowledge of Jesus, the chief Shepherd.Later I would listen to my father preaching, using these experiences and relating themto the parable of Jesus concerning the sheep and the goats. From looking afterdomesticated animals, I learned the principles of care and leadership, and the need fordirecting people to that which was beneficial to their well-being.As I look back now, I realise that the wealth of Christian heritage and the Africancultural wisdom which my parents had and used, had much to do with the initialmoral formative influences on me and the shaping of my life and future career as apriest 1 . The next important formative influence was the political events in the yearsafter 1971.The political situation in UgandaOn 25 January 1971 Idi Amin Dada overthrew Uganda’s first civilian governmentafter independence. I can remember when I brought the news home from school, myfather said, “Trouble has fallen on this nation also”. He was referring to thephenomenon whereby the military personnel were increasingly taking over civiliangovernments in Africa. Uganda had now fallen into a similar political catastrophe(African Research Bulletin 1971:1996).During Idi Amin’s eight years of tyrannical rule, over 300,000 people were abducted,some were publicly executed, and others have not been seen since their arrest. Hehunted down the intelligentsia, which included Makerere University lecturers and1 MacCunn J in his book: The Making of Character (1900) has recounted the very important influenceof parents on their children. He has argued that parent to child influence in character formation ispeculiarly effective because it is made easier by the tie of natural affection. It is the trustful confidencethat facilitates the transaction of values aided by a continuity of theory and practice in a home contextas a constant familiar environment (cf MacCunn 1900:104).8