Easter Weekend

It's been a strange and colorful weekend. Easter usually is for us. Not for any pageantry, not for the majesty and mystery of the Resurrection story, but for cultural and social clashes that surround these holidays, when the Christian and Christian-influenced portions of Western society try to impose their views of normalcy upon this Buddhist family.

I awoke relatively early on Saturday, considering it was a day off and that I would be working the 6:00am shift on Easter Sunday. Around 10:30am, there came a knock on the door, which was preceded by some milling about of persons unknown on my porch. I opened the door, and what to my bleary eyes should appear? Jehovah's Witnesses, two of them, and Black at that! Now this my seem as mere bigotry to the casual outside observer, but it remains a startling religious evangelical phenomenon to my Pennsylvania Dutch-raised East coast eyes. Black Jehovah's Witnesses? Do the Baptists know you escaped their clutches? Are you sure you aren't from one of those fringe, nondenominational Black congregations that speak of proper dress codes and conduct for men and women that are such the rage among local Blacks? I peered nervously around the corner for a contingency of Asian Jews or Hasidic Hare Krshnas.

The first group (yes, I said first) followed a routine script, telling me that the Watchtower spoke all about the most important figure in history, and who did I think that was? "Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ," said I, and their eyes gleamed and softened, "who got most of his ideas and spiritual practices from the Buddha." Their smiles faded somewhat. "Who?" asked the smaller, rounder, more motherly of the two. "Lord Siddhattha Gotama, who gave up his throne to become a mendicant, found spiritual enlightenment, and taught the path to enlightenment to others. He became a buddha, and due to his teachings, is today known as the Buddha." It was almost disheartening to see the fight fade slightly in their eyes. "I'm really not sure what you mean," she continued, dismayed. "Jesus based most of his teachings on sayings of the Buddha, and most of his miracles are abilities the Buddha displayed due to advanced practice in meditation, most notably walking on water and the story of the loaves and fishes." "Well," she continued, bracing herself and returning to the script, offering me a copy of the Watchtower and asking if we could go over it on a future visit. I took it, saying "Perhaps."

That visit prompted some prone shouts from the bedroom, my wife wanting to know who was bothering us while she didn't bother to rise or dress. I told her not to worry about it, since she didn't have to deal with them. Things calmed back down, the kids returned to their cartoons, my wife returned to her obliviousness. Forty-five minutes later, a second knock on the door.

I opened the door again to find two more Black women, somewhat taller, more slender, but still in the uniform dark-colored, big-hatted finery found among the evangelicals who interrupt their Easter festivities to do their Lord's work. These two, I'm certain, had communicated with the first group who reported unsuccessful conversions. This group spoke along the lines of how hard people are working now, and whether or not they were working too hard, and how this paralleled some of the end-time prophecies of Revelations. I was offered a second, different copy of the Watchtower, asked if I would genuinely go through it (which I will, eventually), and asked if we could discuss my findings on a future visit. I again said maybe, as I worked a rotation of all three shifts, which of course, drew them right back in to endorse their reading materials further.

Again, the caterwauling from the bedroom, but this time she had managed to get up and wrap a blanket around herself so that she could spy on them from a parted curtain at the living room window. I reminded her again, that despite her objections and offense at their arrival, she didn't have to deal with them.

Evangelism in any form is difficult for me to deal with. It's one of the reasons I left the Christian church some twelve years ago, but far from the only reason. I understand the philosophy that some avoid conversion to one faith or another simply for lack of hearing that faith's message, but still find it offensive. In this age of technological advancement and wonder, can it any longer truly be said that every message is not inherently heard, is not available to be found by any curious enough? I greatly respect and honor the teachings of Christ, but cannot get around the people spewing them with ample drippings of self-righteousness and assumed superiority. This so-called master of the Universe certainly doesn't exhibit any self-respect when choosing his earthly PR team. I left Christianity because of the pettiness and ignorant fumblings of His followers when they so ineptly execute and misinterpret his words, but I wasn't content to merely run from something. I had to have a purpose, a goal, something to run towards. I began a search for a faith or system of beliefs that did not advocate eternal damnation for non-believers, did not shun those who chose to leave that particular flock, and , if possible, in the name of which no violence or war had ever been waged. I found Buddhism.

We are a religion for lack of any better term. It is a life path, a collection of teachings that, if followed, offers one the most moral and peaceful of existences, even superior to that Christianity had offered. The Buddhist missions ended nearly three millenia ago, and were the mere spreading of the teaching and conversions of those who chose the path. There were no conversions by torture or threat, no killings, no violence at all. Buddhism acknowledges that it is not the only path to enlightenment, and does not in any way present itself as a path to absolution. We do, however, point out that ours is the only path to enlightenment in which one is free of obligation or bond to any god or clergy. We respect all other religions and philosophies, and will pass on the teachings to any who seek us out, but we do not intrude upon the traditions and beliefs of others.

I worked from 6:00am to 3:30pm on Easter Sunday. The shift itself was relatively uneventful, but still difficult as most of the customers wished us a Happy Easter, and I was genuinely struck for an appropriate response but to regurgitate the same. I had to deal with and hurriedly fill a call-out, resulting not so much from the claimed lack of childcare, but more likely from the advent of some social or family gathering in the name of the Holiday. It is also the burden, not only of retail but of non-Christianity, to keep the world spinning so that the 'blessed' can gather to be unproductive for a day of celebration.