CHAPLAIN’S WORD
“SAMSON WAS WEAK WITHOUT ANY 'AND,' HE HAD NO FRATERNITY. NONE OF US IS STRONG ENOUGH TO MAKE IT ON OUR OWN, WE NEED BROTHERHOOD, WE NEED SOME 'AND.'”
failure to commit and invest in family, but his lack of faith in God. Samson’s true strength never came from his hair, but rather from the Lord. Every time Samson exhibited and displayed his strength, there is an accom- panying verse that says, “the spirit of the Lord fell upon him.” The Lord gave him his strength and Samson never realized that all he had, came from God. But someone may ask, if the source of his strength was not really his hair, why did he lose his strength when his hair was cut off? Simple, because that’s where he thought and believed his strength came from. May I ask you a question – what do you believe is the source of your strength? Why have you been successful in life? What is the source of the blessings you hold near and dear to your life? Let me help you answer that correctly. It is not your resume, it is not your degree, it is not your
connections, it isn’t even your work ethic that makes you strong. Be careful, all of those can be cut. The real source of all we do and all we have is God. And it is our faith that holds us together, it is our faith that keeps us from failing, it is our faith that guides us through the dark seasons of life. Brothers, let us not be like Samson but rather like the psalmist who declared “I will lift up mine eyes to the hills. Where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord.” For we know that God is the source of our strength. Finally, it wasn’t just Samson’ failure to invest in his family, it wasn’t just his failed faith in God, there was something else. Samson was given strength by God to protect his people. Sadly, Samson never used what he was given for the benefit and blessing of anyone other than himself. He never cared about the enemy’s attack on his own people. He knew
his people’s colleges and universities were being threatened and he never did anything about it. He knew there was a resurgence in racism and supremacy, but he never spoke out against it. He saw the attack on his people’s history, and he never pushed back. He knew the justice system was monetizing the incar- ceration of young boys that looked like him and he never mentored a single soul. He saw the legislation being passed to intimidate his right to vote and he never did anything about it. He saw the courts destroy affirmative action and he sat still and let it happen. Samson never cared about anything other than himself, and it is seen in the fact that nowhere in scripture do you the phrase “Samson and” another brother. Samson is always alone. He doesn’t have any “And” connected to
him. All the successful men in scripture had some “and” – Moses and Aaron, Elijah and Elisha, Noah and his sons, Peter and James, Paul and Silas, Jesus and the disciples. Samson was weak without any “and,” he had no fraternity. None of us is strong enough to make it on our own, we need brotherhood, we need some “and.” It is the “and” of our bond that holds us accountable to be better men, it is the “and” of Kappa that reminds us of our obligation to mentor and train young men, it is the “and” of this fraternity that pushes us to do more for others than ourselves. I thank God for our “and,” begun in 1911 and still going strong to this day. Samson was weak and his life didn’t matter but through family, faith, and fraternity ours can be successful and significant. Phi Nu Pi. ♦
Brother Howard John Wesley (Iota Xi 1991) serves as the National Chaplain for the 35th Administration.
14 THE JOURNAL ♦ SUMMER 2023
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