To: WondaTr
From: Bogalech

Dear WondaTr’ye,

wow! who knew that you could duck and swerve at such speeds while launching your bibliographic references and lengthy explanations at me? much as i tried, it seems none of the questions or blasphemous comments stuck to you. when i think of the Teflon King from now on, it won’t be Reagan who comes to mind anymore…

let’s recap, shall we? my attention span is so challenged these days…

on my dating situation: i’ve been paroled to just five years instead of the life sentence i expected. i am so thrilled i’m ready to go shopping right away

on your comment about NY: i love the idea, but a real test of your faith (in the order of Daniel and the Lions…it was Daniel, right?) would be to live in Kabul right about now.

my Dergue reference: yo, serious misunderstanding! i didn’t say the Dergue helped us question, just that the conditions led to us doing so. come on! do i look like a Dergue apologist!?

on the Church and openness to questions: i don’t know which churches you attend, but i dare you to venture into the Gebriel church in DC and pose some pointed questions to either priest. but you seem to have gone to a lot more churches than i have, so i concede to your superior knowledge.

a small aside: you sort of…kind of…implied that my comments are not based on my real experience but on hearsay. nope, those were mine. who else would dare?

on your bibliographic references, all i could say is "amazing!" i swear i tried very hard to keep a straight face at the idea of the "autobiography of the Holy Spirit" … i really really tried. but i think that’s where my faith just fails. i’m thinking there was a human (a man) translating that stuff into text at some point, right? as for Adam and Eve’s kids’ spouses, i intend to look up in the Semania Ahadu exactly where those other people come from. i mean, weren’t they all Adam and Eve’s kids?

i also think that you gloss over the fact that in the translation from the original language to English, Gi’z, etc., some of those references were changed by the translators to reflect their understanding of the passages. for example, here’s a little something i came across:

(don’t you love the internet?)

that being said, though, i envy you your dedication to your faith almost as much as i envy your faith, because you have clearly done whatever it takes to get your questions answered. and to get away from the bwalt of this exchange for a moment, i will definitely look up some of these books and seek some of my own answers. so i thank you for providing me with the titles.

and now back to the bwalt…

on "yerekesech", etc. you HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING. let me get this straight: women are branded unclean a good number of days a month and some 40 days after they have birth for their own protection? please tell me you don’t believe this. if the offending behavior is that of men, did someone consider maybe…perhaps…declaring THEM unclean for a few days of the month? and how come the rule about not letting women do household chores has been conveniently forgotten over the years (i hadn’t heard that one before) but not the one that bars women from Church during those times? like i said, Teflon…

on the 40 vs. 80 days for boys vs. girls, one public health reasons i can think of is that boys are born weaker and are more likely to die than girls, all other things being equal. thus you have to get them baptized earlier to ensure a holy burial for them in case they die. i don’t know if that’s fair for the girls, but hey, you’re not complaining, right? as for why boys go first, you don’t really address that. don’t look now but that looks like…evasive action (you thought i’d say Teflon again, right?)

on Churches that stand up for the poor and downtrodden, i’m sure my Latin American friends could suggest a few books on liberation theology for both you and me. i won’t question your references about the Ethiopian Orthodox Church fighting externally imposed forces and ideologies (thereby maintaining the status quo, some defar aynawTa…not me!…might argue), but i think we have something to learn from those pesky Catholics, particularly with regard to the treatment and the rights of the poor within their own countries. you and i could spark some healthy debate by asking our Church how she feels about land reform.

i wish i could have found a glimmer of criticism in your staunch and unfailing defense of the Church, but alas you are a good soul, through and through. you see holy intention where i see hole-y arguments. and here i am casting stones sitting in my glass house while a gigantic m’seso soars from my eye, while you sit there at peace with your religion and your faith. at the very least, i feel safe in that i can count on your forgiveness.

oh, by the way, i should have been clearer…the marriage ceremony is incomprehensible to me, meaning i don’t understand Gi’z. so you speak Gi’z, too? man, Teflon or not, i am very much in awe.

did you notice i didn’t ask you to deal with that whole sex issue? i must be growing up.

and now, on to your story.

i LOVED it! the same thing happened to me, though it was at a church instead of at home. one of my own cousins from ager-bEt who had come to live with us went totally berserk in front of me and my mom. i completely lost it, dashing out of the Church as fast as my little legs would carry me. she went on and on exactly as you described, speaking in a language and in voices that could never, in a million years, have come out of her body. and afterwards, after the priest had doused her with Tebel and touched her with the cross many, many times (while she screamed like she was burning), the whatever-that-was-in-her finally agreed to go, and she collapsed in a big heap. we took her home where she slept for most of the next day or so, and we never talked about it with her. now i wish i had asked her what she remembered, what she saw or felt during or even after. but then i was just grateful we didn’t have to hear those sounds again.

did you see that Seleda story by a photographer who went to a Tebel in Addis? as soon as i read it, that entire sensation of fear and confusion came over me again. i admit it took me forever to finish reading the story.

your father is obviously incredibly strong in his faith, maybe that is where you get your strength, as well. i don’t know too many people who wouldn’t have bundled your maid off to the nearest church for a prolonged exorcism session. i don’t know how you felt, but my overwhelming thought as i peeked in from the door at my cousin (i was maybe 8) was that i didn’t want whatever come out of her body to come into mine. did you worry about that?

you know, it’s interesting that you say that this event made you realize that there was a God. though i’ve always known there was one (i used to talk to God regularly even as a small kid…it gave me a lot of solace to know that someone listened to me), hat experience was the first chance i had to acknowledge that evil existed. and it was not a very good feeling. but once my cousin got back to normal, i did, too, though i think of those moments once in a while.

i think i’ve exhausted you enough…maybe even touched something here and there. in any case, it’s time to hear from you again. and maybe you’ll sing me some more verses from that fabulous song about us. i forgot to thank you for those verses, didn’t i? ay yenE neger!!

with the usual megadose of spirit (if not spirituality), i remain

Bogie

To: Bogie
From: WendaTr

Selam Bogie AKA Bog’Bog, Aman nesh w’ey?

What a turn around? I never thought you would have time to finish reading my treatise.

Let alone read it, comprehend it, and get back to me with another enchanting entry. You are putting pressure on me. I know Seledawoch already think you are the better partner in this LD. I’m getting emotional…..I will be right back….J

Back!

Teflon King!? I really didn’t mean to be evasive. I knew I couldn’t have an answer for every question you had in your entries. I wish I had or have enough time and pages to continue. Besides, sometimes it’s better to keep silent rather than speak on things that are beyond one’s a’emro.

Bogie, I have something to share with you on women being priests and deacons. Although I know deep in my heart that you and I (or our offspring) are not going to live long enough to see it, my wish is for the Holy Spirit to lead the Church to find room for half humanity a service of God and His children as deaconess and priests. Now, I must make it clear to you that I am not saying that churches that do allow women for such services are any better that those that don’t. There is a lot of rush for coolness and political correctness in Protestant churches. I am not advocating the EOTC to be "more modern and ever more chic" (to use your lingua). I don’t want the church to water down her richness. I would rather see the reform come from the true guidance of the Holy Spirit. Bog, do you know what I think is the most difficult thing in search of spirituality? It is the lack of wisdom to distinguish the difference between Menfesawinet vs. S’metawinet. My prayer is for the Church to do it for the sake of Menfesawinet. I would rather see the Church remain "archaic," "lifeless," "inflexible," and "enigmatic"… rather than change her Dogma or T’wfeet to appease anyone.

Bogie, don’t you think we have enough "liberation" fronts already? It seems like we have as many "liberation" fronts in Ethiopia as tribes and languages. Sometimes, it makes me wonder who everyone is trying to liberate from? I have heard about an illusionary, imaginary and faceless "nefteNoch." Maybe the "liberation" is from "them." Here is my view of where the Church should stand. I think the Church should be a voice of reason and caution in these chaotic days when no one seems to know where Ethiopia is heading. Yes, there isn’t infighting and things seem okay on the surface, but the Church should preach love, respect, unity, and mutual co-existence ….and caution us from any foolishness, perversion, wickedness, selfishness…..(on individual and collective basis). In the ever changing and precarious political and social reality of the Ethiopian quagmire, I believe that is the safest position for the Church.

I was not joking at all and believe everything that I wrote to you. You know, the "public health reasons" about boys being born weaker and more likely to die younger than girls made clear sense to me. Maybe, in the tablet of their heart our fore parents knew about this truth and that is why they have come up with the 40 vs. 80 thing. For me going first isn’t always "Good" and going second or later "Evil." I have never heard gentlemen complaining about "ladies first" stuff. There are thousands of scenarios we can create to justify that second is better than first. The real issue is that they are equally children of God once received in baptism. FYI, in case of sickness or other dire circumstances, the Church does allow baptism before and/or after the 40/80 days. For example, what happens to a Christian boy born in the middle of Kabul from an Orthodox parent? He will wait until there is an opportune time (it could be beyond 40 days). The same parent can have a sickly girl in Ethiopia and have the daughter baptized before she is 80 days old. Trust me Bog, the Church is not as ridged as she looks from afar.

Bogie, you have a way of goading me to say something. Now where did you get the idea of land reform in the middle of a ‘spirit and spirituality’ dialogue? Here is my two cents, anyway: I think merae’t le’arashu! was very S’metawi. You and/or the readers may think I’m some "ye’adhari fewdal buch’la" but I honestly believe that awaj was reckless and devoid of subjective reality and reason. I don’t think Ethiopia is better off because of it; I actually believe we are worse off. I know most people realize I am correct, but it’s still a taboo to mention or discuss something like it in public. I am for private ownership of land. Don’t ask me how we can achieve it?

Yep! The autobiography of the Holy Spirit. Autobiographies don’t necessarily need to be written by the individual. The late Alex Haley wrote the autobiography of Malcolm X; as dictated, guided and edited by Minister X. Just like the Holy Spirit has dictated, guided and edited His Church from schisms, heretics, revisionists and more throughout history.

Bog’Bog, no, I don’t speak Ge’ez. However, I have studied the main Ge’ez liturgy after I came to the US (there are at least 14 different versions). Now, I don’t say ‘when-is-this-boring-thing-going-to-end’. I actually participate in the worshipping. I advise people to get this liturgical CD from your nearest Ethiopian market and convince themselves to sit through it (little by little). Then, after feeling comfortable with the zema, go to church early enough to stand for the whole liturgy in the front part of the church (not back; the further one is from the qidste-qidusan, the lesser impact the liturgy has and the lesser his/her sense of attention and/or feeling of participation). It’s worth a try.

Bogie, all I can say about the apparent "contradiction" or "questionable translations" is how did the apostles, apostolic fathers (church fathers of the 1^st and 2^nd century), martyrs, apologists and the devout saints of the early Church understand and live through the alleged contradictions? They have written extensively to give us guidance for almost every aspect of Christianity. How were the words understood by them? Any translation of the Bible outside of the Church is very suspect. You know there was one church and one faith up until the 8^th century. Today, there are more than 2,000 variation and denominations of Christianity.

Here is a very controversial word in Amharic that haunts Ethiopian Christians: mamaled or memaled. Repeat the words again and again and you would find the root of the word: maleda, malede; thus mamaled is an action word. Other variations of this word are maledku, malede, malj’e, amalede, amaledech, m’lja, and more. The meaning of the word differs from sentence to sentence with what is intended to be said; or is based on what it is used for; ende ag’e’babu. Now, when Neway Debebe sings malje l’shager hager’ua, what he is saying is ‘I ought to go to where she lives early morning’ or simply ‘early,’ as in before something else. If I ask you please "nege wode gebeya amalj’N," What I am saying is "accompany me." When a priest asks "Egziabhaer m’ljach’nn teQebel," What he is saying is ‘hear our prayer.’ Thus, before you get into whether Imebetachn Mariam tamaldalech, atamaldm debate, be on the same page with the TiyaQi on the ag’e’bab of the word. Romans 16:1 and Ephesians 6:21 could possibly be explained ende ag’e’babu, too.

I must acknowledge your negative experiences of the Church and the impact it has left on your spiritual growth. I empathize with you. I wish we Orthodox Christians were as loving, meek and morally qualified as our Lord. Don’t let our injustice and inequity get in the way of your spiritual growth. I wish I could be of some help. Maybe I will send you some materials in the future to "reintroduce you to the Church."

It happened in November 1997 at my current job. My boss is an African-American with an extensive connection to the mother continent - especially with folks in Ghana, Nigeria and Senegal. She is a distinguished university professor, an Ivy League highest honor grad, and Ph. D. from one of the top ten universities in the nation, married with children, incredibly intelligent and owns her own business. Her interest in traditional medicine took her to Africa and she loved it. She loved it so much she befriended "medicine men and women." What eNa would call si’r ma’sh, Q’tel be’Tash. They are also folks who claim to have conversations with ancestors and other spirits. These folks convinced her that she also has the "calling" for such spiritual duty. I guess it was "written on the wall." Nonetheless, she is now a certified medicine woman in both Ghana and Nigeria (by the way, I read today that the Addis Ababa government is also planning to register and certify traditional healers and medicines). Thus, she is a practicing medicine woman with her own shrine, as one would have an outhouse. Yep! She sacrifices all kinds of animals; now, be careful not to judge my boss. She is one of the most agreeable, caring, considerate and respectful people you can know. She is by far one of the most hard-working and intelligent people I have ever met.

Anyway, one Friday afternoon in the office, she was having a meeting with the secretary and Associate Director. The AD is one of those fun and funny folks who joke around with everyone in the office - even with our boss. She also knows about our boss’s spiritual sides. The sluggishness of Friday afternoon was imposing its will on my boss, the AD and the secretary. They all wanted the meeting to end. The other two started goofing around when all of a sudden our boss gave them a certain "look." I guess they knew the "look." They both stopped in their tracks and asked our boss if she was okay. I later found out that certain conditions trigger the spirits inside my boss. This time it was the sluggishness of Friday, fatigue, irritation and ….

Bogie, I tell you. I just happen to be near the meeting area when the other two started to dash out of the office and the boss starting maQaset’ing and sweating. Before she left the door running in fear, the AD told me to "put some water on the back of her [our boss] neck". I immediately knew this was a trance. There was a new employee who didn’t know about our boss and I asked him to leave the office at once. There I was alone with my boss and a cup of water in my hand. At the moment, she had her head on the conference table profusely sweating and moaning. All I was saying was ‘Jesus Christ my Lord, have mercy on me, the sinner’ and just praying for Egziabhaer to bring His "peace upon this woman." Of course, I was praying in Amharic. After a few minutes, she kept quite and stayed where she was sitting, her head still on the table. I wiped off her sweat for her and when she got up her eyes were squinting as though she couldn’t stand the daylight. She said she had a bad headache and walked to her office slowly. Shortly after, she went home. We never mentioned the experience again.

Bogie, you may ask, as a Christian, what I say/feel about such "opposite" spiritual phenomenon? There is a fascinating story in the Bible (1 Samuel, 28). The story always amazes me. One part of me clings to the Gospel and Christianity’s Heaven and Hell and all the Truth. My other side imagines the Awesomeness of His mercy and Love. I can’t judge her or anyone who practice a faith differing from mine. I would rather believe that there is more room in Heaven than in Hell.

Personally, I don’t envy her "gift." I have never and will never ask her to help me in her way of spiritual endeavor. She and I have learned to respect each other professionally. Unless asked, I don’t try to preach my faith to her [one time, I gave a lengthy lecture/introduction to Orthodoxy to her and her Saturday afternoon study group]. Unlike many evangelists (of any faith), I truly find exemplary and visual "invitation" to ones faith more appealing than "sharing" or "witnessing" verbally.

I must also tell you that I don’t discount every medhanit awaQi as "devil worshippers." There are genuine medicine men and women who are helping our people in every corner of Ethiopia. These folks were the doctors before we knew scientific doctors and modern medicine.

Beterefe, mels’sh’n begugut eTebQalehu (not gugut the owl, ende ag’e’babu y’nebeb as in too long)

Respectfully,

Wond’aT’r