The Ethiopian Church Journal Blog

The View From a Café in Ethiopia By Daniel Luttrull Hailemichael, newly blind, Heads down the street without his cane. His youngest daughter jogs behind And tugs him back from the roadside drain. They turn, as though to look at you, When a shouting merchant passes through. He carries posters and blocks our view With Guido Reni’s Michael. The angel in this old icon Trods Satan with a careless stare. His victory is quickly won, He has an easy, dapper air. It’s not for me. My Michael’s hair Would wear stipples of blood. His bare Legs shaking in the dying glare Of the devil’s deathly gaze. The merchant wanders off. We see The sightless walker once again. His face is turned toward you and me. His daughter takes him by the hand. And a new icon appears in this Old man named Power of Michael: The angel ranged against hubris Not in triumph nor in struggle, But in dependence on the grace Of a daughter in a shadowed space. Source: americamagazine

Buna Kaffa Coffee ቡና        Jimma-Bonga, Ethiopia | Photo credit: kimkim.com  Kaffa Kaffa bounteous city of fresh hot brew; Land of Jiffar and of coffee, Jimma land; Divan of spring water from a mountain citadel; Effusive majestic red soil; irrigated reddish womb; Land of the never-ending harvest; Black coffee turning watery brown; Coffee, Kaffa’s namesake; fresh sniff abol beckons To elevate one to company of the Splendid; Kaffa zest, ripening coffee wonder; Foggy rain drenched forests on wings of mist; cloud borderlines; Hunting ground, thronging beasts; Land of Jiffar and of the lion-hearted; The giraffe’s towering looks; Fiery-eyed, mane-saddled cats thundering deep calls in the night; Land of Jiffar and of coffee, Jimma land, Of early morn coffee crave; of bounteously fresh hot brew. Poet: Tsegaye Gabre-Medhin ጸጋዬ ገብረመድኅን። "ከፋ" | Esat Woy Ababa እሳት ወይ አበባ | 1999 ዓ.ም.፣ ገጽ 170| Translator: Mitiku Adisu, © 2018  Blue Nile Poems © 2018 by Mitiku

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Softening Self-centered Hearts The Pope has prayed for a softening of "stony and self-centred hearts" to help end injustice in the world, in his Christmas Day message. From the Vatican balcony, Pope Francis spoke of "walls of indifference" being put up to people fleeing hardship in the hope of finding a better life. The Pope prayed for those hit by conflict, natural disasters and disease, listing several countries. He singled out parts of Africa where Christians had been killed. Speaking under a clear blue sky to thousands crowded into St Peter's Square, the Pope urged "comfort to those who are persecuted for their religious faith, especially missionaries and members of the faithful who have been kidnapped, and to the victims of attacks by extremist groups, particularly in Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger and Nigeria". An attack on Christmas Eve in Burkina Faso left 35 people dead , most of them women. Hundreds of people have been killed in the c