Today is the day to worship the saint Gabriel. I know this because there is a church built for Gabriel on the way to a restaurant I have become quite a regular at. Typically there are not many people at late at night (Note that late is not too long after dark.). On this night the street was packed. There was lots of traffic and numerous people just standing beside and in the roadway.
I asked the man in front of me on the taxi what was happening. He affirmed my guess. This place is so deceived. I believe fully that we can follow the same Master and do it in different ways. The problem is that the people here have completely abandoned the pursuit of following the Master. Instead they follow good deeds and saints and luck that can bless their lives. Their pursuit of religion is all about the benefits for self.
According to the book, Notes from the Hyena's Belly the orthodox here have, "263 saints' days, 52 Sundays, 9 other Christian holidays, 13 abdar days [They worship the traditional sacred tree of the family.], 36 Wukabi days [They worship spirits.], and 12 days to worship ancestor's spirits." On these days they are supposed to worship all day and do no work. Do the math! It comes up to about 368 days. Now they do use a different calendar here, but there are still 365 days in the year.
They spend all of their time earning the respect and "grace" of their God.
On another front. I hooked up with some old friends from last summer. I got to visit their university today and watch one of the guys play football (soccer). I was amazed; most of them were terrible. I guess I had some pretty high expectations. Perhaps if ever become able to make it up my 5 flights of stairs without sounding like I ran a marathon, I might try to play some ball. At the current rate, I will guess the possibility will never become reality…these stairs are gonna be the death of me.
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