To: WondaTr
From: Bogalech

Selam WondaTr,

i am up at 6 a.m. today, a Saturday, unable to sleep. i can't say what woke me up, but i felt an overwhelming need to write this.

you've given me much food for thought throughout our exchanges, and i am thankful that you saw how important this debate is to me, despite the irreverence and humor with which i've approached my entries, and i am awed by the care and attention you gave to so many of the questions i asked.

so it is with my profound thanks that i want to start this last entry. thank you for the thoroughness of your responses; thank you for the seriousness of your answers; thank you for your humanity and willingness to debate those specific issues for which your own quest for answers seems largely fulfilled. thank you especially for not claiming to have all the answers and for not implying that your own quest is over. you not only have shared your faith with me but have shown me how you've been able to walk your own path. so for this and for what turned out to be a remarkably enjoyable exchange, i thank you.

so why am i up so early with LDs on my mind?

i was utterly devastated by your sentence on women becoming 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 deaconesses and priests."

utterly devastated.

i would be no less devastated had i been at a White church and been told by a devout and kind worshipper that the Holy Spirit had not yet led the Church into finding room for Blacks in the service of God. and yet i know that there are believers, good Christians, who claim exactly that. one finds meaning where one looks for it.

i wish i could find the words to tell you have certain i am, to the very core of my being, that the One who made women in the image of God would want them to serve their Creator in whatever manner they chose. i wish i could find the right words to convince you that including women in all ways into the Church is not just "coolness and political correctness" but an inclusion of half of the world's people. half of the world's people. i wish i could show you the strength of my belief that the Holy Spirit must have spoken to many of God's followers up till now, but in any exchange of this weight and seriousness, it requires the Church and her followers to listen as much as it requires the Holy Spirit to speak. one finds messages where one looks for them.

i am not a believer in original sin, but that may be just denial on my part. but were i even to accept that the sins of Adam and Eve were reproduced in all of us throughout the ages, including the set of special sins that, apparently, are reserved for women, i find it impossible to believe that Jesus, the one Son of God, died for the cleansing of some of our sins and not of others.

i don't believe men and women are the same, but i do believe that they are equal. and i am certain that nowhere are they more equal than in the eyes of the Lord.

i don't believe God's love comes with conditions. i don't believe that God's grace comes with caveats. i don't believe God's calling is felt only by men. and i can't believe that God sees women as less in any way. and no matter how you spin it, i find that that is how the Church i was baptized into views women.

i won't debate whether first baptized is no better than last, whether 40 days are no different than 80, whether words have contextual meanings ind'agebabachew, or whether spiritual growth comes only through the Church. in the end, it is up to each of us to find our own paths. and we will find them where we look for them.

and this is my path. until the arms of the Church, and the doors of the Church, open wide enough for me with all my baggage, i shall remain on the margins. but my spirit will not fade and my spiritual growth will continue under the care of a God that sees me no matter who i am and where i worship.

and i remain on the margins of the Church with the certainty that, when the time comes for me to show up at the Gates of the Lord, they will welcome me unconditionally.

i am swamped with emotion as i write to you today. i've always believed that things happen for a reason, and these days more than ever before. perhaps i woke up early today because i needed to be reminded of and be reassured by my unshaken belief in the fairness of God. this gives me the determination and sometimes even the serenity to go on.

may you and i, and our offspring, live to see the day when a woman will be welcome into every door of the Church, every day, serving the Church in every way she wants to, just as so many women now serve God.

With my deepest thanks and my best wishes,

Bogalech

To: Bogie

From: Wond’aT’r

Dear Bogie:

I must tell you that it was very illuminating to have such a deep dialogue with you. Spiritually and intellectually, you have taken me where I have never been before. I must confess to you that except with my beloved fiancée (I will be getting married soon and you and Seleda editors are invited, seriously), my siblings and very few close friends, I have never let "it" out like I have with you. I guess, as you well put it, everything happens for a reason.  

I hope I was not too forceful and preachy at times. I hope I didn’t sound like a zealot who will do anything to "preserve his faith". I hope I was disagreeable without being disagreeable. For every challenge, I thank you in as many letters. For every word you wrote to me, I thank you in as may words. For every insight you have given me, I thank you in as many sentences.  

Bogie, I read your last entry and it tranquilized me. I am still in shock for the selection of your words. I reread my last entry again, especially, my comment that evoked such an emotion within you. I didn’t mean to "utterly devastate" you. I never thought it would draw such reaction out of you at all. However, with much caution and delicacy, here is my medemdemia. I hope it will elucidate my position (remember that I am not a spokesman for the Church). I hope it won’t excite anymore unwanted emotions.  

Bogie, the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church has always let women participate in every aspect of church life except becoming deaconess and priestess. Aside from that, I don’t think the Church has a different requirement for women and men. I don’t think she has any gender specific sins. I honestly believe, as a laity, men and women are equal–and I have been taught that our God never measures one better than the other. It has been my experience that, yes, the blood and flesh of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ has and still erases all of our sins–the Original and the present.  

On the issue of the ordination of women as deaconess and priestess, the EOTC is not any different from the oldest churches of the world (other Orthodoxies, Catholics and mainline Protestants). Since her base was more of Judaic than other churches, she also has the historical claim to what she believes is based on the Old Testament and Judaism. Ethiopian Orthodoxy is a continuation from Judaism since Ethiopia practiced Judaism unlike other Orthodoxies, Roman Catholics and Western Churches. They don’t have Judaic continuation. Thus, when we are talking about "changing" a foundation as long and imbedded in time immemorial as you and I are wishing and hoping, we must realize the likelihood of it happening.  

Forget the Church for a minute and hear me on this: 

The ruling coalition in Ethiopia is comprised of four parties. Each party has 30 Central Committee members for a total of 120 members. Guess how many women out of the 120? Twelve! (as in 12). As much as I would like to see women as deaconess and priestess, I was also trying to be as pragmatic as I could possibly be. When I said "…I know deep in my heart that you and I (or our offspring) are not going to live long enough to see it…" I was trying to assess the chance of my wish becoming a reality. I think one should realize what kind of social realities are prevalent in Ethiopia (not Addis Ababa, Washington D.C., California or some other land where Ethiopians reside); I mean the whole Ethiopia; both in the secular and religious spheres. In Ethiopia, the kind of idea you and I are entertaining is an idea many never ever conceive in their lifetime. No, I don’t think it’s because one accepts the unlikelihood of it becoming a reality. I am saying it just never crosses their mind. Period! Bogie, you and I are scientific. You and I are the very few lucky ones who are "educated" enough to venture into such remotely possible ideals in our little tidy worlds. There is no basis or fertile ground to implement our ideals or wishes–especially, in our religious adobes.  

Ih’te Bogie, you have mentioned to me that there are many churches that allow women in "…all ways into the Church…" You don’t need to convince me on it. What kind of churches though? I can tell you from what I know. Most of them are neighborhood or independent churches which the pastor is the minister, choir leader, CEO, CFO, COO, and … maybe even the owner of the church. Whatever works for them is fine with me. Yet, these churches are responsible to/for the "owner" (often a certain charismatic preacher and/or a board he/she assembles). They establish and run churches as they see fit as long as they are "centered in Christ and/or the Bible." It’s run them like businesses; they can be ‘Equal Opportunity Employers’ if they wish. The EOTC is not an EOE. Please, find out what our wish and other "inclusive measures" are achieving to mainstream Protestant churches (the likes of Anglicans, Methodists, Episcopalians, Lutherans…). They are wrecking them from their foundations; they are causing churches to split, people to feel disenchanted by Christianity and many more phenomenon. Mind you Bogie, such foundational turmoil are happening in the most advanced nations of the world; in places such as the United States, where women’s right and other equalities are "far more fulfilled" than any other nation.  

Now, imagine Ethiopia and its people. Are the people ready for such a change? Is the Church ready? There are more than 14,000 EOTC churches all over the world; one church in one faith despite its internal petty bickering. Can you imagine where our (yours and mine) wish would be in the ‘must do’ list of the church and the devout? I can tell you. Nowhere! No one is prepared for it. If you try to impose it, it creates total anarchy. Am I using ‘scare tactics’ to advance such ‘patriarchic hegemony’? Trust me, I am not. I’m just being realistic and pragmatic. And, I know making such statement would have been easier if I was not a man. You may say, "You don’t understand because I’m a man." Yet, go ask women of the Church and find out, with a truly representative data, what they have to say about it. 

Bogie, maybe you misunderstood and confused what I was saying about women being deaconess and priestess vs. other "inclusive measures" churches are taking into the church in the name of the Holy Spirit. Things that I believe are done for the sake of coolness and political correctness. Please tell me that you have not seen such things. Maybe 20 years from now (if not less) Ethiopians may discuss about "why the church doesn’t allow marriage between same sex couples; they may argue that other churches are doing it, why not our church? They may demand, otherwise, I won’t be in it…." I can tell you, Bogie, our discussion on women priesthood is as unthinkable and unimaginable as the past statement sounds to billions of people, now. However, one can make the same argument that you whole-heartedly conveyed to me. My wish is for the Holy Spirit to lead the Church and the devout to give the right answer no matter how popular or unpopular an issue. If the Church finds issues to be conflicting with the Truth she has received from Her Lord via the Bible and Holy Tradition, she should hold her ground and defend her Truth no matter how the rest of the world acts around her; even if it means decreasing in numbers including extinction.  

Bogie, I can assure you that it’s not because of the strengths of Ethiopians that the EOTC has survived this long in the most utterly amazing circumstances; it’s only through the guidance of the Holy Spirit and His unfailing tibeQa of His house.  

Mind you, Bogie, what I conveyed to you is only my wish, it’s never a demand on the Church and will never amount to that level. I have read and learned how an attempt to make Ethiopia a Japan or a Soviet Union has come and miserably failed within my lifetime. Once again, I still wish and hope, as you do, but my relationship with the Church will not be affected because of it–either way. I urge you to study church history, the many women martyrs and saints and the Church’s true view of women–including that of Imebetachn Mariam.  

Bogie, do you think we require and demand the utmost perfection from others for which we are scarcely ready to reciprocate? Why do we despise and reject imperfection while all along we know that we ourselves are not perfect? Look at our political culture and tell me if I am wrong. Listen to the demands people put forth on ‘the Church.’ However, I ask myself: What would I do for the Church in return if she allows my wishes fulfilled? Would I be willing to send my asrat so churches with leaking roofs can be repaired in the remote corners of Ethiopia? Would I, in return, come at 6 or 7 a.m. in the morning to stand for the Liturgy? Would I spare my precious time at least once a week to teach my priestess how to read English? Would I learn my faith and teach it to the Ethiopian youth? Would I pray, fast and do the things the Church asks me to do for my own spiritual growth?.… What would I do in return? Would I take her with all her baggage? Would I come to her and the God she preaches unconditionally? Or, would I continue to demand changes from her without reciprocating what is required from me? 

Bogie, the Good Book says that we are the primary temples for our Egziabhare. At the same time, the book of Acts tells us that St. Peter and the other apostles (the custodians and first witnesses of the Truth) went to the temple religiously. These two things tell me that we are both churches ourselves and required to go to church no matter how saintly we have become. Now, I ask you, from whom are you "staying in the margins"? With all the kindness in my heart, I ask you to continue steadfastly with your quest for the Truth (no matter how imperfectly she is reflected here on earth). I implore you to approach your differences with the faith and the church with all the meekness you can muster. I am not a spin-doctor, Bogie, I am just trying to convey what I know and believe as best as I could. 

And, finally, I will use your very own words with my own improvisation: "may you and I, and our offspring, live to see the day when a woman will be welcome[d] into every door of the Church, every day, serving the Church in every way she wants to, just as so many women now serve God [;]" to both our (you, I and the faithful) and the Church’s liking.

I ought to stop now. I have said too much. 

Selam ena Tena Lanchi and Lanchi Lehonu Hulu! May God have mercy on us.