Page 33 - Then Came the Glory

Amare's Return
choices of religion: either Islam or the Orthodox Church
(Coptic) where my family worshiped. My mother vowed to St. Mary, "If you will give me a son, I will celebrate a feast
in your honor every year and when the boy is grown he will become a priest and serve you."
In childhood I often pretended to be an ark-carrier
(an honored position in the Coptic church). I put a piece of wood on my head to represent the ark and covered it with a
cloth and designated some of my friends as priests and some as deacons. Part of them followed me and others went before me singing songs as we leaped and danced.
. ^;^My mother grieved that a so-called holy spring near
"^ouf home could not be kept clean and reserved for helping
people. Moslem shepherds watered their cattle there and made the water unclean. I thought, "When I grow up, I will fence in the spring to keep it holy so its waters can heal the sick." This did not work out. Though I agreed with my mother's plans until I finished the eighth grade, I decided then I could not understand the meaning of religion.
At age twenty I went to work in Awasa on a farm with a man who had strange beliefs. He worshiped only Jesus Christ, would not lie, refused to accept bribes, and lived a clean life—the opposite of my behavior. He had such active faith. He often reasoned with me about my wrong
doing; I could not hide anything from him. He would say, "This is sin, and God is not pleased with it."
He made me so uncomfortable, I asked my friends, "Are there other people with these strange ways?" When
they said, "No," I wondered who brought this man to me and made plans to change jobs to get away from him. Before
I could do anything, he received a good promotion to a better position in another place. Relieved. I thought, "Now I will
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