Savelugu Catholic Church

My church in Diare is a mission outstation of the larger parish in Savelugu which is staff by the Society of the Missionaries of Africa, popularly known as the "White Fathers" (not only because of their skin but their habits as well - actually most come from the continent of Africa itself).

Fire Festival Video 2

Fire Festival Diare Video 1

Last week all the Dagomba people in Ghana celebrated Fire Festival, pronounced "bugum chugu". This video was taken during the celebration in my home village of Diare. It is a celebration of the lunar new year, so in a way it is as much of a Islamic celebration as a ethnic/traditional one. You can find some people however that know and are willing to tell you the story of how it began - a chief who lost his son. The story is here: http://www.africawithin.com/tour/ghana/fire_festival.htm Enjoy the video!

Ride Through Diare

We await not a man, but God and she may not be who you think she is.

During the last few Sunday liturgies I noticed the intentional use of readings which mention, describe, warn about, or announce the second coming of Christ.  We heard about the virgins who hadn’t brought enough oil with them for their lamps and miss the coming of the bridegroom, the virgins metaphorically represented both the people who heard Jesus that very day he told the parable to and us who many years later still don’t know the time or the hour that Christ will come again.  Today we were warned that Christ will come like a thief in the night and thus we should live in holiness and devotion all our days.  There is a theme running through our liturgical calendar purposefully reminding us that we live in the in-between days of the already and not yet.  We believe both that we have been saved by Christ already and that we live in anxious and hopeful anticipation of him coming again.

So I began to reflect and ask myself what I expect this second coming will be like.  I am not concerned with the when or where, but with the how.  If Jesus was to return today what might I expect from this new Messiah?  What my prayer has shown me is that the second coming may not be anything like the first incarnation.  If Jesus is God and we believe God is neither male nor female yet beyond any sexual categorization, then God’s incarnation is not bound by one particular flesh either.  The second incarnation of God may very well be and I would hope would be as a woman.  If God has sent a son to set us free by the cross then why not a daughter to bring us home to the kingdom?  We await not a man, but God.  And our God is not a He or a Father, but Spirit, Creator, Life, and Love.  Theologians and the more enlightened church leaders have been teaching us about this new way of understand God that is beyond the default Father figure we use in liturgy and find in scripture.  I believe it is now time to also evolve our understanding of incarnation beyond a categorical male figure.  If the two parts of the Trinity known as God and Holy Spirit are without sex, then why must the third, Jesus Christ, be only and always masculine?  No part of our God should be bound by our inability to see into the truth, the mystery that is God.

Unfortunately if God had come first as a daughter we wouldn’t be even having this conversation because no one in Jerusalem or anywhere in Galilee would have taken note of a female prophet who was healing the blind or announcing forgiveness of sins.  She would never have gained the audience of but a few friends and family members.  Instead God sent a son and he was killed for his message which challenged the leaders of the faithful at that time.  We can’t deny the fact that in the historical context a woman could not have had the same affect in proclaiming the Kingdom of God.  However, now, in the 21^st century, in a global village, with instant communication, efficient travel, interdependent economies and science that reaches further and deeper every day, we can say with certainty that men and women are equal, that there is no superior sex, race, creed, or ethnicity.  I am ready receive Christ when God comes again, whether God be incarnated male or female; Caucasian, Latino, African, or Asian; Catholic, Muslim, Buddhist, or Aboriginal.  God’s kingdom and love is either universal, reaching to the full extent of creation, or it is not.  And if not then we need to really ask ourselves, what kind of God is that?  Why not a female?  Why not a black haired, brown skinned, female Jesus?  I believe it is possible.  I’m not saying this will happen in this exact way, but I’m just throwing out the possibility.  God is a mystery and if I continue in any way to box God into a corner then I’ll have committed a grievous error.

This realization is coming out of theology study, service to the poorest and most marginalized people, and now living in completely different context than the only one I know.  In Ghana I eat differently, bath differently, work differently, and now I see God differently.  The “Western” world has lost its grip on me and my male, blue eyed, blond haired Jesus has got to go as well.  Before coming to Ghana I stopped calling God “father” and began to despise religious art that portrayed Jesus as anything other than the Middle-Eastern man he was.  And now my faith has shifted even more.  As I prepare for Christmas this Advent season and my church challenges me to think about the second coming of Christ, I pray in thanksgiving for an enlightened way of seeing creation, people, and now God in three parts, both male and female (maybe).  Let me say again, we await not a man, but God.  Jesus will surely come, but she may not be who you think she is.

Godspeed.  -Zachar