My friend @isaac_baker06 wrote a song that made me cry. Because I recognized myself in his words. “I Got Hurt.” And my hurt made me mean (in my case) as a defense against being hurt again. In Nigeria the average man, woman, child is not at war, but they are the ones being hurt. And I am amazed by the willingness to love and forgive, which is not a story being told. How much love and kindness there is between people—in spite of the stories about them that say they hate. Thank you Isaac for letting me borrow your song. Thank you Nigeria for lending me your true story which I will fight to tell.
A child took notes of the Homily at her Easter Mass in Jos, Nigeria today. And I wondered what caught her mind and what she will do some day for her country. The headlines only show the worst parts of a day, if not outright mustering. Most people are not angry in Nigeria, they love their neighbors and practice joy. Easter Mass at St Louis Catholic Church in Jos was a place of fellowship and joy today. Even the military guards listened from under trees.
In Jos, Plateau State, Nigeria this Easter Mass was special. People gather joyfully and thankful at churches across the city region. And in the Easter Homily at St Loius Catholic Church in Jos there was no alarm or hatred, only joy and thankfulness. It is humbling for me, an outsider, to attend Mass in what the world has seen as a war zone. In fact it is a home.
Are their different religions in Nigeria? Yes. Do some believers want to harm those who don’t believe like them? Only a minority. I am almost two months into my travels through Nigeria’s lands of conflict and what I observed during Sallah this weekend appears to be the norm not the exception—friends celebrating together. In these photos are Christians and Muslims together
