Skip to main content

Charles de Foucauld: A Universal Brother

 Charles de Foucauld (1858-1916) lost his parents when he was only a boy. His grandmother took charge of him and looked after him. He joined the military; but he was rebellious and a misfit and had to leave. Charles received a lot of wealth as inheritance from his grandfather. He lived an extravagant and prodigal life—full of himself, He indulged in carefree and dissolute luxury. Fast forward to 21st century, today we proudly revere him as a universal brother.

I love the title ‘universal man’. I am sure that most of us love being identified as universal. But in truth we are full of me, mine, and we, our. We get stagnated in our language, religion, region, colour, and caste. It would be very strange and rare to see a universal person toady.

Kahlil Gibran’s The Madman opens with the incident of how its protagonist began to be called a mad man. One day, as he was going to sleep, he removed all his masks and placed it a table beside his bed. After a beautiful night’s peaceful deep sleep, and found all his masks were stolen; the seven masks he had fashioned and worn in seven lives were all gone. He ran mask-less through the crowded streets shouting, “Thieves, thieves, the cursed thieves.” Men and women laughed at him and some ran to their houses in fear of him. And when he reached the market place, a youth standing on a housetop cried, "He is a madman." Thus his protagonist became a madman. Thus the story goes on…

He, now the mad man, looked up to behold the boy (in fact the society) who called him mad; as he raised his face he saw the sun; the sun kissed his own naked face for the first time, his soul was inflamed with love for the sun; he wanted his masks no more. As if in a trance he cried, "Blessed, blessed are the thieves who stole my masks." The mask-less man, the ‘madman’ of Kahlil Gibran had become a universal man.

Charles de Foucauld had embraced what was madness in the eyes of the world to get out of himself and become what he is today—a universal brother. From my readings of literature on him I would identify two factors that led him to become universal: Travel and taking the last seat.

Travel not only takes people places, it moves one from the old to spaces and reasons that are new. One must not die in the same place where one was born. Isn’t it quite allegorical that we are born young, gradually mature, grow, and become old and die, and we call that life? Though born in France, in a wealthier environment, he travels to Morocco, then to Palestine, then his long sojourn in the Sahara. Being in a desert, like being in a big forest or on seashore, makes us realise the smallness of ourselves against the vast universe. In Sahara, Foucauld lives among the most forgotten people in imitation of the hidden life of Jesus of Nazareth; finally gets killed unexpectedly in Tamanrasset, Algeria by local rebels in their uprising against France. His life too was one marked by changes: he served as a soldier, then an explorer, had a conversion experience and became a monk, and finally lived a little brother’s life as a desert hermit in Algeria.

Jesus of Nazareth was someone who left his home, and moved on and on. Born in Bethlehem, he had to be taken to safety in Egypt immediately. They come back and settle down in Nazareth, and there he grows up in wisdom and stature. He multiple times moved through Galilee, Capernaum, River Jordan, Trans Jordan, Bethany, Samaria, non-Jewish territories, Decapolis and other Greek territories, Judea, and Jerusalem. Jesus travelled long distances to meet the other, to challenge himself, to challenge others, and in pursuit of the new.

Moving or wandering need not only be geographical, though that is important too, move, and wander away from our spiritual, intellectual stagnation points; move around from where we are, wander about from our ghettos, that is where we meet the other. As Rosa Luxemburg, Polish activist and philosopher says, “Those who do not move do not notice their chains.” For the kind attention of the non-passengers, you are missing out on life and becoming.

universal brother, last seat, Charles de Foucauld,

Taking the last seat means to take a space that is non-threatening. Taking the last seat is a conscious move towards peace building. It is not surprising that Foucauld is considered to be one of the pioneers of inter-religious dialogue. One-upmanship is the root cause for most conflicts and wars. Foucauld settled down in an oasis in Sahara, where he spent years in the desert, living among the Muslims as a little brother.

Once, when Jesus noticed that some guests were choosing the best seats, he told them, when someone invites you for a party do not vie for the first seat, rather choose the last seat (Luke 14: 7-11). One of the marks of true greatness is that one can sit at the lowest place and yet be comfortable with oneself and with others. Jesus did not find it difficult to be with groups of people not regarded as great in his time, be it the fishermen, tax-collators, or sinners.

With the attitude of taking the last seat, Foucauld’s approach to mission is particularly significant. In contrast to the triumphalistic models of his day, Foucauld exemplified what has come to be known as an evangelism of presence, a willingness to encounter people of other faiths on a basis of equality and mutual respect. He essentially embraced the poverty of his neighbours. Foucauld wanted to bear witness to the Gospel by living it, by being a friend and brother to all.

Abandoning into His hands completely, Charles de Foucauld’s life seemed a failure as he faced, almost a useless, death in a remote corner of the Sahara, he had published none of his spiritual writings; he had founded no congregation, though today called as the universal brother, he had attracted not even one to be in his company as a follower. He could not claim responsibility for a single conversion. And yet his witness endured. Many today regard him as one of the great spiritual figures of the 20th century, a prophet whose message speaks more clearly to the challenges of our time than it did in his own. 

About meeting Ratan Tata, his young friend, Shantanu Naidu wrote, “I came upon a Lighthouse.” And he held that when we are lost in the ocean and see a lighthouse indicating the shore, move towards it with all your force, and never away from it. I believe Charles de Foucauld is a lighthouse, let us travel from ourselves to the space he finally arrived—universal humanity.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

2025 Must Create Its Own Art

  People are afraid of art, because real art brings the question and the answer into your house.   Tonight’s art becomes inadequate
and useless when the sun rises in
the morning. The mistake lies not in creating art for tonight, but in assuming tonight’s answers will serve tomorrow’s questions. Louise Bourgeois, a French American artist, reflected, “art is a guaranty of sanity;” but that guarantee must be renewed with each dawn, each cultural shift, and
each evolution of human consciousness. If some art endures through generations, it
is only because of its capacity to speak, its ability to demand fresh interpretations that test and challenge the new. To guarantee sanity in the coming year, 2025 must create
its own art. Why create art? Why watch art? Why read literature? True art, in the words of Sunil P Ilayidam, shakes that which is rigid and unchangeable. Art serves as humanity’s persistent earthquake, destabilising comfortable certainties and creating space
for new ways of...

A Sower Went Out To Sow

 The Word of God is stubborn and persevering (Mark 4: 1-20). I would imagine that the sower is stubborn and persevering. The Word of God, which is compassion, love, mercy, inclusivity, truth, and so on will bear fruit, whatever may be the obstacles from within or from outside, provided there is a sower. There can be difficulties; no thorns, rocks, paths, and birds can steal it away entirely—the world still has good soil. It was an encouragement to the disciples who were hearing this parable, and working to spread the values that Jesus preached. I believe if there is someone to stand up or speak up at the right time, whatever may be the odds, it will eventually bear fruit. When a student asks a very disturbing question in a class, an average teacher gets upset, and asks the student to get out for he disturbs his and the so called normal class's peace. But remember, you may have sent the student out, but the question remains; and the question will seek answers. I have seen people bei...

Lead An Impactful But Quiet Life

  Shakespeare’s famous words from Macbeth, "full of sound and fury, signifying nothing," may well describe our times: everyone with content and without content, with credibility and without credibility, is showing up and showing off on social media and on other public platforms. Paul instructed the early Christians in 1 Thessalonians 4: 11 “Make it your goal to lead a quiet life, minding your own business and working with your hands.” It is said that Buddha, the enlightened one, lived a quiet life and passed through this world noiselessly. Look at a day in the life of Jesus (Mark 1: 29-39), he is preaching in the synagogue, praying alone in a silent place, healing people, casting away demons, and more. The devil could not keep silence; but Jesus did not allow them to talk about him. Many were searching for him to hear him or to be healed by him, and some others perhaps were also searching for him to destroy and kill him. Jesus makes no big noise about neither of them. He live...

New Year, New Beginning

 The past year was different to different people. Some of us were very successful, won every battle we fought. Some others of us did not win every battle that we fought, might have found difficult even to get up from bed everyday, we just survived. But for both it is a new year. For those very successful, it is time to stand on the ground and not be overconfident, complacent, arrogant and egoistic. And it is also time to give back. And for those of us not very successful we have another new year with 365 blank pages, 365 blank days. It is a fresh new beginning. Start your dream and go all the way. “There are two mistakes one can make along the road to truth—not going all the way, and not starting”, said Buddha. Every New Year tells that we cannot eternally postpone important things in our lives. We must begin somewhere. How many lives do we have on this earth? One, two, three, four, or more? One of the foremost thinkers and philosophers of China, Confucius, four centuries before ...

Why Wasn't Jesus An Artist?

 Many a times, often confused about my own professional choices, I have thought to myself, why did Jesus not get into art, music, or adventurous chivalry? One may conveniently and religiously argue saying it is because they are ‘bad’ in the sight of God. Absolutely no. He limited his options and goals. Jesus did not get trapped into endless indulgences. Perhaps, in the language of the season of Lent, a spiritual way to say it is, Jesus fasted, he made abstinence. One of the biggest trap of our time is constant indulgence, says, Gayathri Arvind, founder of Abhasa mental wellness centre. Wherever you turn there is an opportunity to let yourself be consumed by endless options, like, endless movies, web series, etc. Even food is available anytime anywhere with just at a click. They may be useful, entertaining, and satisfying; it gives you an instant dopamine hit. The more you consume the more you trap yourself into long-term trouble, and one day you are left wondering, 'what went wron...

The Man Who Loves Walking Will Walk Farther

 While goals and destinations certainly matter, it is our relationship with the journey itself that often determines how far we will ultimately go, and what we will become because of the journey.  “The man who loves walking will walk farther than the man who loves the destination” -Sal Di Stefano. What do you love: compassion, kindness, truth; or do you love heaven/salvation? I personally believe that one who loves heaven/salvation and in order to reach there shows compassion, kindness, and truthful never reach heaven/salvation. And the one who loves, being compassionate, being kind, and living truthfully will not stop with heaven and salvation. Heaven is not the last stop. Either there is no heaven, or heaven is only one of the stops in our linear life. Consider two hikers setting out to climb a mountain. The first fixates solely on reaching the summit, viewing each step as merely an obstacle to overcome. The second hiker, however, finds joy in the crunch of leaves beneath th...

The Information Tragedy

 The book,  Nexus , written by Yuval Noah Harari explores a brief history of information networks from the Stone Age to AI. While Harari was interviewed on his book the host reading out this sub titles of the book, asked, I hope it is a story of progress, it is a story of things getting better, meaning, the human race moves from the discovery of writing, to printing, to the newspaper, and at each stage our abilities getting better and advanced. Does that work that way? Harari smiled and replied, the basic question of the book is, if humans are so smart why are we acting so stupid? We are on the verge of destroying ourselves. The problem is not in our nature; the problem is in our information. Most people are good, but if you give good people bad information they make bad decisions, they make even self-destructive decisions. Look at mass delusion and psychosis in the 20 th century; things like Nazi Germany, most people who voted for Hitler and voted for him were not evil peopl...