Sabbath | Church Chronicles 5

“Hi,” 

“Hello,” 

It was a weird conversation with a stranger down the winding staircase. It felt good. Sunday arrived early and in sync with the soft instrumental escaping from the second floor. It preluded the start of service.

Sunday was Sabbath. It was a special day of rest when people poured out the streets in their Sunday best. Aso ebi from a cousin’s wedding. The three-piece suit from last Christmas. Agbada from best man duties the previous month. Shoes that were a gift from a friend on her birthday.

The wig from the impromptu shopping for preparing for the Presidential visit to the orphanage. The neatly pressed choir robe. The friendship gift of a tie before she became his fiancé. The new white gown from Iya Aladura sewing enterprises. A worn rosary from late grandma and a new bell for the recently ordained pastor.

Hundreds of cars; Some drank water from time to time to avoid overheating, the ones representing the status of a middle-class family, and the tear-rubber 2019 car that a father would share testimony about in front of thousands of Christians.

The mighty stone cathedral graces selfies and group photos of different age groups. The rented empty hall does not do less. In fact, the overflow is no longer surprising. The ‘pako‘ church is a gathering of believers too, and it is no less than the tarpaulin church or the parlour church that tells of the humble beginnings of many ministries.

Sunday’s rapturous feeling is short-lived. Because at the front of the human mind is the high and mighty Monday that cares for nobody. So, from Monday to Saturday, Sunday gets the dump. With lifted hands, gyrating bodies, clappings, quiet meditation and high tongues, God gets the Glory and all the problems people table before him.

Nevertheless, CEOs from Monday to Saturday show off their anointed riffs and runs at the choir stand. The honourable commissioner is busy showing people where to park their cars outside the church as he is in the security unit. The lecturer is a teacher at a young and energetic teenage church. People drop their authority and their ability to bark out orders and just cast their crowns. 

Just breathing deeply in, and the Sabbath will take up all of the mass of the heart. It was a day to loosen up the tension. It was a day to laugh with other children of God.

Just rest. 

Read Church Chronicles 4 here: My daddy longlegs