My great great grandmother was a nun. She was well over a hundred years old when she converted religions. She was implored to convert back, then  shunned and pronounced an abomination to the family's legacy. Can you imagine the oldest matron of the clan falling to the መጤ heretics?! The priests wouldn't have it! They came home one day and demanded she return her ቆብ. Emahoy refused cause she bought it with however much money(she was a diva, you see). So one of the priests threatened she wouldn't find burial ground that would have her body.

The thing is, it wasn't a threat. It was a warning, perhaps a well-meaning one. Protestants scrambled for burial plots. It was actually a big issue of prayer. Legend says protestants died less frequently cause the Almighty knew they wouldn't find a place to lay the dead.

Why are we like this? Why do we insist on segregating one another even in death? How is my dead better than yours? I guess my body makes better dust than yours. I'm sure religious people from all creeds have answers ,but I don't think I'll buy any of them. 

I wonder who struggles for a burial plot today. Literally and figuratively. Who are we being cruel to in our righteous intolerance, our religious zeal? Who's biting their tongue out of fear rather than reverence?

I know some of our differences can't be reconciled but we can. And what better thing to reconcile us all than death?

So, as we go our separate ways: I to heaven, and you to hell, at least let our bodies rot together on Earth.

Lessons

1. Do take yourself seriously when you need to.

2. Don't be married to millions only to be committed to none.

3. Plan proactively for low mood days. When they eventually come, you'll be prepared.

4. Find the difference between spirituality and superstition.

5. Be vocal about your love. And use actions to back it up, not to avoid it.

6. Don't overstay your welcome. In a friend group, in someone's house, in a major you hate...

‎7. Don't rely on your endearing qualities too much. (Don't push it)

‎8. Learn the difference between : warning  and fear mongering.

‎9. Do NOT micromanage people, especially children.

10. Don't play into people's power trip to save your skin. It's not worth the betrayal to yourself.

11. It do be how you say it that matters!

I'm blessed to have friends with lovely handwritings that have moms with lovely messages.

ታምራት ሀይሌ
Volume 5

ምድራችን ከጥንቱ የክርስቲያን ደሴት ስትባል ኖራለች
እውነቱ ግን ሲታይ የእልቂት የጦርነት አውድማ ሆናለች
ሽማግሌ ወጣት ወንድ ሴት ሳይባል እንጹም እህል ውሀ
ሁላችንም ወድቀን እንግባ ንሰሀ

ጌታ ሆይ ትረዳናለህ ወይ (×2)
አዎ ካልከን ከረዳኸን የፍቅር ሰው አርገን (×2)

በያደባባዩ መምህር እና ጌታ መባል እንወዳለን
በፀሎት እርዝመት አያመካኘን ሰውን እንገፋለን
ላይ ላያችን ሲታይ ያለን አንመስላለን የመላክት ዝርያ
ውስጣችን ተሞልቶ በቅሚያ በዝርፊያ

ጌታ ሆይ ትረዳናለህ ወይ (×2)
አዎ ካልከን ከረዳኸን እውነተኞች አርገን (×2)

ስልጣን ማን ሰቶናል አንዱን ለመቀበል ሌላውን ለማባረር
ማን ፈራጅ አርጎናል ማን አስቀምጦናል በነሙሴ ወንበር
ይልቅ እንደ ኢየሱስ ዝቅ እንበል እና እንጠብ እግር
እኛ እንዋረድ እግዚአብሔር ይክበር (×2)

ጌታ ሆይ ትረዳናለህ ወይ (×2)
አዎ ካልከን ከረዳኸን ትሁታን አርገን (×2)

እስከዛሬ ድረስ እየተናገርን ብዙ ዘመን ኖርን
ቃል አላነሰንም ከንግዲህ በዋላ ኑሮ ነው የቀረን
የቃል ሰው አንሁን አንባቢ አስነባቢ ተግባር የጎደለው

ጌታ ሆይ ትረዳናለህ ወይ (×2)
አዎ ካልከን ከረዳኸን እውነተኞች ሰው አርገን (×2)

ይድረስ ከChatGPT ሰርተህ A+ ላመጣኸው ልጅ!😭

Seriously though, we are and have been a diseased nation and it's about time we admitted it.

Black Jesus and his birthday gifts

🎄Merry Christmas y'all!🎄

What does it mean to die when you can live until the end of the world? And what is ‘the end of the world’ except a phrase, because who knows even what is the world itself? I had now lived in two centuries, seen the illusions of one shattered by the other, been eternally young and eternally ancient, possessing no illusions, living moment to moment in a way that made me picture a silver clock ticking in a void: the painted face, the delicately carved hands looked upon by no one, looking out at no one, illuminated by a light which was not a light, like the light by which God made the world before He had made light. Ticking, ticking, ticking, the precision of the clock, in a room as vast as the universe.

-Anne Rice