My mother--in-law, Kete, and I

My mother in law, Kete, and I.

My mother in law, Kete, and I.. have an interesting relationship, to say the least.  We are respectful to one another, but we don’t say much because my Amharic is limited and her English is.. yellum/none.

We just returned back to Addis after spending 3 days/nights at a catholic center in DZ, taking much needed rest in this quiet sacred space.  A wonderful place that open their doors to people of all faiths and backgrounds, as long as quiet devotion is respected.

After our time together, what I know for sure, is that Kete speaks really fast amharic and I’m really good at looking at her wide-eyed and speechless, saying “I don’t understand/algebunyem”.  Then we smile at each other and have a chuckle.  

This is our language.  

Kete is a devout orthodox Christian.  She was raised this way, passed on through the generations.  Almost expected even.  It’s what she knows and what is ingrained in her and is as natural to her, as let’s say, walking.  In Ethiopia, alongside millions of others, religion/faith is a way of living and interwoven into the fabric of daily life.  

What makes her an exemplary woman of faith is that, without a second thought, she walked into the chapel for evening adoration (quiet prayer/meditation).  For her, this was a building of godly worship.  Beka.  

For devout orthodox Ethiopian Christians, this can be viewed as morally unacceptable.  

As I said, Kete is an exemplary woman of god.

Her love for her god knows no bounds.  

Her love for her god is tolerant.  

Her love for her god is unconditional.  

She wanted to be close to her god, and this godly place of worship, whether it be orthodox or other, would be her sacred container.

Kete is self-elevated to monk-hood status.  In amharic they refer to it as ‘Alem bekengne’.  The way it’s been explained to me, I take it to mean something like, the end of a human egoist life and the beginning of a life of pure spiritual devotion.  Her wooden staff represents this devotion.  It’s called a ‘Mequamia’.  In Ethiopian culture, the handle of a *mequamia, a prayer stick, is shaped like a Tau cross, otherwise known as ‘T’ cross. 

As for me, I was raised with Buddhist practices.  I have been provided the reigns to be a free thinker, open to love and define god through the lens of curiosity and awareness.  Religion was never something that was pushed on us as children.  It was not a daily practice, it was a gentle practice based on rituals to commemorate special occasions or remembering ancestors passed, that my mother encouraged us to practice, through the lens of following her practices.  But do you know what her main practice was?  It was love.  Through watching her, I learnt how to love and show compassion for others.  My mother was god in motion, to everyone around her.  (One day I shall write more about her).

That’s why I feel close to god/the universe in any place of faithful worship and in everyday life.

And that’s where Kete and I see and understand each other.  

Our other language is LOVE