Sunday, January 12th, 2014
Today, we attended our first mass in South Africa. And it was pretty dang amazing. When Sister Jodi said the congregation would be good at singing, she wasn’t kidding around. It was as if the entire congregation had practiced the songs before we even got there. It truly sounded as if angels were singing amongst us this morning. And I even knew the tune to the first hymn of mass–it made me feel as if I were home. It was a time for me to finally divulge myself into the South African culture. I now felt as if I belonged here all along. I have also discovered that the sound of music and voice is the one aspect that connects all people in South Africa. Mass has a large influence on this aspect; however, these people love to sing in mass, outside of mass, etc. And they know multiple songs right off the bat–without practice and without choreography. And they’re good. Really good! Every time I hear someone sing, I cannot but help to close my eyes and think about every detail of my life. I just feel so happy and joyous when I listen to these people sing. Like I said earlier, music and song are the things that connect people where. It is the one main thing that people all have in common, despite ethnicity, social status, education background, etc. And I honestly believe that this is a life lesson we can all learn. If we choose to focus on the commonalities rather than the differences, I think we can get along with just about anyone. I still have some more thinking to do about this one; however, I am quite exhausted from the game park today!
My best always,
Philip
9:56 P.M.
Yes, this is real life. 