The Ethiopian Church Journal Blog

O golden autumn sun,      You are a comet,      Rushing, whirling      Through the sky! Down at the wretched slum           I live in You gild the sooty sills      As you pass by. You have made me happy, happy, happy; You shone into my dingy little room On the penny-posy in my gargle-bottle, And the little bud has broken into bloom!  ~ Kagawa, 1935

 The Last Supper   Ethiopian Orthodox painting | published by Fine Art America | provenance not indicated

Azabo Revisited By Tsegaye Gabre-Medhin Translator: Mitiku Adisu Seeing is what eyes are for, Before the spell on life span is dimmed, Fourteen years have gone by, And to Azabo I returned … I observed her confines, And gave ear to her vibes … Hearing is what ears are for, So long as body parts are active, I salute Azabo, hooray! After fourteen long years away; Her voice then was distant, nil, Like cough of the deathly ill— A phantom, all downhill; Shadow of nightmares, Terror of evil days; Mist above the plaza, whirling vulture wings; Earth, like cutting file ridges; Teeth clashing, gnashing like church bell, Lamentation as no sound could ever tell; Humanity, field mice in the underbrush, Squeaking, groaning, sudden hush, Birds of prey above rooftops cawing, Not any tone, wailing, clawing; Today well-being is on display, Children everywhere at play, Cattle leisurely grazing, Villagers cackling, buzzing; “All things considered,” they’d say; The hearth is awoke, Every hut pluming wavi

Once again it is that time of the year in Ethiopia. It is the New Year. The year Twenty and Thirteen . At exactly 12:00 on Friday morning (local time) the gates will swing wide open to usher in a set of 12 months and more. What those days will bring is in the hands of the Lord, of course. We live in hope knowing that our God is sovereign over all things big and small. We know He is able to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners. He is able to comfort all who mourn, to bestow a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. Isaiah 61 It is amazing how beautiful God's world is even in these times of a raging pandemic. The air, the mountains, the brooks, the flowers, the birds, the way the sun shines, and so on. The psalmist's mind must have been helped by the Spirit of God to express it thus:   Praise awaits you, our God, in Zio

Gebre-Kristos Desta (1932-1981), 'People disguised' (1973), oil on board 91.5 x 70.5cm (36 x 27 3/4in) Sketches By Gebre-Kristos Desta Translated by Mitiku Adisu The journey to imitate, The journey to interpret, To swim alongside colors, To swim along lines, and Confrontation with light Never ends. To pack gaps with impressions of existence; To track down, to search, To birth the new, To engage the Unseen, to Interrogate Life, To interrogate Self, To interrogate the Universe, To traverse, to soar, to tread Way above the moon, Above the stars, Above the heavens, And elsewhere; to fill chasms, To hide behind thoughts private; To lead to discovery; This journey never ends © Blue Nile Poems (p.47-48), 2018 by Mitiku Adisu "መነሻ ስዕል" | ገ/ክ ደስታ፣ 3/8/1955 ዓ.ም.  

Just Read By Mitiku Adisu There is something special about reading the Bible that is both transforming and refreshing. It is the Word of God! So pick it up and read. Read in complete books. Begin at the beginning and read through to the end in one, two, or three sittings. Recently, a friend called to tell me what he considered a major benefit of the lockdown; he said he spent the day reading through the Book of Genesis! Yes, all fifty chapters. Yes, he did take a lunch break! Isn’t that wonderful! The question now is this; absent a pandemic, would my friend have taken a day off just to do that? We are told that Ezra the priest read Scripture to the people of Israel from daybreak to noon! The hearers were on their feet and apparently very attentive, because they soon became aware of their shortcomings and started to weep. Weeping was followed by prostration before the Lord. Soon they were feasting and sharing the good things they had received from the Lord. It was here that we rea

The Last Handshake By Mitiku Adisu Shaking hands may be on the way out, says Dr. Fauci of the National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases. According to him, handshakes could mean the difference between staying healthy and contracting a deadly disease.  How the dire warning will affect social relationships—especially within the believing community—will depend, to some extent, on the cultural context, as, for example, the Easterner will feel the severity much more than the non-Easterner. A host of questions demand our attention.  How will the "six-foot rule" define seating arrangement, congregational singing, hospitality, and the administration of the sacraments? Will visitors be looked upon as hosts to some deadly virus?  Will we see fewer visitors as a result?  Will eleven o'clock on Sunday morning worsen the already greatly diminished diversity that is the hallmark of Jesus’ new community? (Acts 2:5-13; 13; Revelation 5:9; 7:9)   Will we be seeing a