SOUTH SUDAN: Bishop Emeritus Paride Taban Encourages Rebuilding a “New Peaceful” South Sudan
Sr. Jecinter Antoinette Okoth, FSSA
To mark this year’s Martyrs Day in South Sudan, a special day to commemorate and to “celebrate the selfless sacrifices of the heroes and heroines of liberation who paid the ultimate price for the liberation of the country,” Bishop Emeritus Paride Taban Abraham Kenyi has appealed to citizens to “rebuild a new peaceful” country and develop the nation that has undergone violent conflict for many years.
“Let us rebuild a new peaceful country and develop South Sudan like any other peaceful country in Europe, America, Asia and Africa,” the Bishop Emeritus of Torit Diocese said in a statement dated Thursday, July 30, the day of commemoration adding, “We should overcome mistrust and promote a peaceful coexistence and make South Sudan a developed, peaceful Kingdom of God on earth.”
In his message entitled “The blood of Our Martyrs is the Seed of Peace: Let us Awake, Repent and Focus,” Bishop Emeritus Paride Taban, the Founder of Holy Trinity Peace Village in Kuron, South Sudan, has given scriptural reflection referencing King Solomon on the errors he made in his leadership and asking South Sudanese citizens to learn from the experiences of this biblical figure.
“We can learn from King Solomon’s costly mistakes. The king of Israel desperately pursued several unrelated goals in a vain attempt to satisfy himself. Here, the Book of Ecclesiastes provides a good example of a leader who didn’t know how to get what he wanted,” the Prelate said highlighting that “he (King Solomon) lacked focus, he searched high and low, experimenting with all kinds of goals, yet never achieved satisfaction. Sadly, he attempted to solve an inward problem with an outward solution.”
In this regard, Bishop Taban peace price award winner for his work at the Holy Trinity Peace Village in Kuron and for reconciliation and interfaith cooperation, identified four lessons that South Sudan as a nation should learn from King Solomon’s leadership about focus.
He said, the King “focused on too many things in too short a time, he pursued the wrong goals to reach his desired outcome, his self-serving goals were all wrong and he despaired because he never identified what he really wanted.”
He disclosed further in his reflection, that when King Solomon narrowed his focus, “he finally determined what really mattered and what he really wanted.”
With this Bishop Emeritus advises that there is need to “determine our focus, based on what really matters or what really counts.”
“When you say yes to an opportunity, get ready to focus. Make a to-do-list; set your priorities; avoid a clutter. Pursue excellence but avoid perfectionism,” Bishop Taban highlighted.
In regard to achieving the desired outcome he continued, “Question everything. Work to prevent procrastination. Control interruptions and distractions. When you empower, keep eyes on but hands off. Use the calendar. Narrow your wedge—don’t try to do everything. That means you’ll have to say no to some good things.”
Giving more spiritual examples on how being focused on things that matter is essential in leadership, the Prelate identifies Saint Paul the Apostle whose “focus gave him absolute willingness to let go of nice things that didn’t matter.”
“Paul so narrowed his focus that he discarded not only the things he once counted as gain, but he counted everything as garbage for the sake of obtaining Christ. He would lose it all if that allowed him to gain intimacy with Christ. Leaders who change the world have this kind of sharp focus,” Bishop Emeritus disclosed in the statement.
He concluded that Saint Paul, “exemplifies a leader who was focused.” Therefore, to learn from him, it is necessary to “work on yourself, to work on your priorities and fight for the important ones, to work in your strength and to work with your colleagues (for) you can’t do it alone.”
