If God wills

On Clove Island, life is lived in the conditional. Even with seemingly definite plans. If I tell a friend, "I'll see you tomorrow!" They always reply "If God wills."

"My birthday is tomorrow!" "If God wills."

"You'll have a great trip." "If God wills."

"I'll see you at 3." "If God wills."

It's also used for more serious things. "God will give you children." "If God wills." 

Anything said that references the future is typically tagged with an "if God wills" at the end. I can even guarantee it when giving a speech. "And I hope to see you all in level 2 next month."  "If God wills," responds the entire crowd.

When I think of the future, I tend to insert that phrase into my thinking. But sometimes it just becomes a phrase and I forget what it really means. Do I really hold all of my hopes, dreams, and even the definite plans with an open palm, saying, "If God wills" ?

So if you catch me muttering kamunguavendze under my breath, don't think I've gone insane. I'm just thinking in Clovish for a moment. We might all benefit from that sort of thinking at times.

Simple Joys

It's funny, life in America is really different from life in Africa, but I get joy out of the same sort of things. It's often not the big things that give me the most joy, it's the little stuff:

Flowers on the side of the road.

A successful cooking experiment.

Music.

Heart to hearts with friends.

Learning something new.

A long walk and a chat with my Maker.

Quality coffee.

Quiet and stillness after a long day. 

Family.

What gives you joy?

It's Party Time!

Boxing parties

This month back on the island my friends have been partying like crazy. It's the month of picnics, boxing matches, theater productions, concerts, and more.

But why?

Because this next Sunday or Monday the month of fasting begins and they believe that the eye of Gd will be watching during daylight hours. They won't be able to eat or drink, smoke or do other pleasurable things from sunrise to sunset for the full life of the moon. So right now they have to "eat, drink and be merry", for tomorrow the fasting begins.

I have fond memories of the pre-fasting month. Last year I went to a whole series of parties and community events. I even ended up going to multiple picnics in a day because people were running out of time for their merriment. There were SO MANY chicken wings!

Food prep at a picnic

But why am I talking about this anyway? Because this coming month is very spiritually significant. It's a time when islanders focus on following their religion more strictly than the rest of the year. They need to collect good points to cancel out the bad points they collect other times of the year.

And in this time I pray for my islander friends that it will be a month of emptiness, that they'll be blessed with discontentment and unfulfilled longings which only He can satisfy. Would you pray that with me? That He would reach out and show them through dreams, visions, and contact with His followers that they can never earn their acceptance into His presence, no, He provided the way as a gift. He provided the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Will you pray that with me?