Adapting Traditions

 Someone had died. Island tradition dictates everything that happens next. The washing, the wrapping, the prayers, the gathering of mourners, etc, all the way through the burial. But there’s a problem— the government COVID restrictions make parts of these traditions impossible.

Men praying in the street

I heard the debate going on. What should they do? The gendarme wasn’t going to open up the house of prayer for them. They couldn’t do things the normal way, the traditional way. They would have to adapt.

Originally I think they planned on just skipping a step, they started to take the body out of the house in the traditional draped stretcher, but then someone objected and they awkwardly backtracked the body back inside. Someone had a new plan of how to proceed. They asked all the women to clear the street in front of the house. They laid out some mats. They couldn’t pray with the body at the house of prayer, but they placed the body on the mats in front of the house and lined up men to pray in the street. They adapted.

I find adapting to changing circumstances to be a fulfilling challenge. Islanders wouldn’t agree. Islanders don’t like to adapt their religious traditions, because they don’t know if adaptations will be accepted. Even sanctioned adaptations are often avoided by islanders because they are just not as good. For example, if you are sick or pregnant or traveling, you technically don’t have to fast on fasting days. If you can’t pray in an official house of prayer, you can pray at home. But in all these situations, while it is okay that you aren’t doing things the traditional way, you are still missing out. You may not be punished, but you are also not receiving all the blessings and rewards that you would be getting otherwise. So for islanders there is always that sense of loss with adaptation.

Women moved to the sidelines

We enter island culture as foreigners with different beliefs and different backgrounds. We attempt to enter into island community as participating members, cherishing island culture while still disagreeing with aspects of it. We question. We embrace some aspects of the culture readily, others we are careful to distance ourselves from. Sometimes traditions are a mixture of things that we see as beautiful with things that we disagree with, so we question, can these things be adapted?

When I consider why I value adaptation and islanders don’t, I realize it is because I don’t put as much value in the outward performance of traditions, I value the meaning behind them. I am confident that if the meaning and heart behind a tradition is maintained that it will be completely acceptable. But islanders don’t have this confidence. They worry that if the outward performance is changed then the traditions might lose its power and value. These religious traditions are meant to please the unseen, the unknowable— how can they know if any changes will still be pleasing? What’s the point if they can’t be sure that their offerings are acceptable?

It is always a challenge when we try to explain our ability and willingness to adapt to islanders. We are exploding their boxes. They expect us to have a stringent list of instructions for the proper performance of our own traditions. When we carelessly say that “it depends” or “it can be done in different ways” or “it doesn’t really matter exactly how you do it”, they don’t understand. “Of course it matters!” the island culture calls out, “It’s all that matters!” 

Coffin on truck heading for burial

Having us enter island culture and community, having us question and adapt, is challenging to islanders. We’re glad it is. We don’t pretend that our own culture gets it right and we don’t pretend that we always strike the right balance or understand enough to know how to adapt island traditions well or successfully, but there are some islanders that understand and are doing it themselves. There are those that see the beautiful in island culture and are attempting to extract it from anything ugly. There are those that want it to be more about the meaning and the heart than about the outward forms. They have insight that we’ll never have and we pray that they will find the balance that is truly pleasing and acceptable.

PRAYERS ANSWERED
New workers arrived on the big island this past weekend amid COVID restrictions! We thank God for their safe arrival. Our long time friend and colleague from the big island left the islands for the foreseeable future this past week. We are very thankful for her years of service and friendship and for whatever she is being called to next. We had our first official team day as a new, bigger team. It went well and we are excited about what God has in store for this team! An island brother who was having trouble with some neighbors and was taken to court, was able to get a favorable hearing from a judge and maintains a heart that wants reconciliation and friendship with his neighbors.

PRAYERS REQUESTED
Please pray for the new workers freshly arrived on the big island (including a family with five kids and Africans from other nations). Pray for their orientation and adjustment to island culture and to the challenges of language learning. Pray for protection from illness and discouragement. We were all set to have schools reopen this morning, but at the last moment it was decided that schools will not open until Wednesday! Pray for clearer communication from the government and for all the kids as they adjust back to school (including our boys!). Pray that our new teammates will find good language helpers as they meet different possible helpers this week— may they be guided to the right people! We have a visitor scheduled to come and do a vision trip on our island this week. Pray with us that the afternoon flight to our island is not canceled on Wednesday so she can make the same day connection! Pray that we would know clearly if she should join the work here and for protection from COVID during her stay!