I mean think about it, if God had Twitter and Facebook, do you think he would tweet or Facebook he saved a soul or listened to our prayers.

by Teddy Fikre written:  Monday, February 20th, 2012

YO! Today is the first day of Tsome! I can’t wait to Facebook all about it.  Man, I have been waiting all week for 12:00 AM Monday so that I can be the first person to tweet “I am beginning a 40 day Tsome”!  This is great, when at 11:59 and 50 seconds, I already had my Facebook comment and my Tweet typed in!  10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1-TSOME!  Click send! Yes, now all my friends and followers know I am tsoming! Oh glory on me, I am the center of the world, I am so religious with it eko:: Surely, God will bless me for Tsoming in public and letting the world know just how much sacrifice I am making in HIS name. Man, I might as well be Jesus Fikre aydel, I mean I am giving my one begotten kitfo up in order to glorify yene esgyaber::

Um, no Teddisho, you are not actually fasting nor Tsoming for Him.  You see wendeme, when one fasts, it is a covenant between the one that is doing the Tsome and God.  If I am supposed to be fasting, I am supposed to do it all covert like the CIA or the Mossad.  I am supposed to tell no one, because if I am really glorifying Him, do I really need to make myself the center of the universe and tell people how much my stomach is in pangs or how I can only drink soy milk for the next 40 days?  I mean really, do I need tell people that I gave up meet for close to 8 weeks, do I need to tweet that I miss kitfo or that I am tired of eating timatim becha::

You see, it seems that most of us jump on the bandwagon without knowing the full truth behind fasting or the essence of Tsome.  We don’t question the reasons and methods behind our culture, our customs, and our beliefs.  Nah, who has time to learn about enat Ethiopia when we are too busy tweeting about our supposed culture and our tsoming ways.  If I ask 1,000 Ethiopians why they are fasting, I wonder how many people would really know the real reason other than “my mom does it so I decided to as well”.  Seriously, tsome is a serious matter, it is not something to do in order to be in the in crowd and it most definitely not a reason to do so in order to have something to tweet about.  

Fortunately, some people know the reasons behind tsome.  One person in particular—even if it his first time doing so—knows the precise reason behind fasting.  This is a cut and paste from one of the DOPEST DJs alive:

“Most of us don’t just eat to stay alive; we eat out of passion. Food is given to sustain and nourish our bodies. And it does taste good. God gives us wonderful things. But in our fallen state, we tend to abuse good things by overindulging. Therefore, by fasting we’re learning to make proper use of the things God has given us.” ~ Dj-XL Yafet

Even if this is Yafet’s first time fasting, at least I am heartened that he took the time to learn the reasons why even if there are other reasons behind fasting.  I chided him as well as Yonas Belay for posting a Facebook status stating that they are fasting, but you know what, they did not chafe at my “lecture”.  Instead, they saw it as one man imparting knowledge based on knowledge that was imparted to me by another man in my life time.  You see, this is the essence of Hebret, we teach each other and in return those that learned something new don’t get angry that someone is “educating them” and instead realize that none of us in this earth knows everything. In return, they will pass down this DOPE knowledge that was passed to me down to a future generation.  

That is how we preserve our culture, that is the way we keep our history, one lesson at a time. And you know how Yonas reacted when I told him that posting a status about him Tsoming was not that proper?  “Good looks..didn’t know…deleted post…gotta make sure its done the way its supposed to” said Yonas Belay.

So back to the lesson on Tsome.  Please sewoch, going forward, please keep the fact that you are fasting to yourself and keep it between you and God.  Like I said, you are tsoming not for you but for Him.  I mean think about it, if God had Twitter and Facebook, do you think he would tweet or Facebook he saved a soul or listened to our prayers.  Can you just imagine this scenario:

@God:  Yes!! I just saved Teddisho and now I am about to make it zenzab in Wollo, God I am great #WorshipMe Follow me @God

God does not glorify Himself because we are supposed to do it for Him.  However, in the age of Twitter ena Facebook, it seems that we have forgotten God and made God ourselves.  We forgot that we are made in His image and instead have convinced ourselves that we are THE IMAGE.
Anyway, let me not carry on too far.  My stomach is hurting, I am betam hungry, let me go make some enqulala and bacon. Oh, you thought I was fasting? Nope, not this year, to be honest I have not fasted in a long time.  Unless I can consider not debating people who hate me on Facebook for no reason as tsome, in which case I guess I am fasting.  Do you think that the fact I am not fasting dilutes this message?  Maybe it does, but I was not really trying to preach eko:: I have way too many planks in my eyes to lecture others.  I was just passing along knowledge that was passed to me.  Besides, even if I was fasting, you would not know.  You know why? Shhhhhh Tsome!

“When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to men that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.” ~Mathew 6:16


[click to listen to DOPE Ethiopian Mez'mur]

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Muse #1

Dj-XL Yafet

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Muse #2

Yonas Belay

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Author

Teddy Fikre

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