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One Saturday morning – at 7 a. m. – I found myself standing before an immaculately dressed and cheerful bride and groom as they prepared to take their marriage vows. I remarked to the congregation that this was the only time I had ever married anyone before breakfast. I also asked the wedding party if they had slept standing up as they were all so handsome and beautiful. No answer. But it was not atypical of Saturday mornings at Malawi's largest congregation, St. Columba's, during the wedding season – the dry months from May to October. And every wedding is the same – same music, same procession, same Scripture and vows. Only the bright young faces are different. People spend months planning weddings so that they can be exactly the same as every other wedding.
Weddings are early because there may be four or five on a Saturday. They are also early to allow the organizers time to get to the reception venue and make sure everything is in perfect order. Even here there is a strict protocol. The master of ceremonies guides the programme with military precision; money is collected in happy processions of family and friends who throw the bills into the air. Everyone is laughing except the bride and groom who keep a stoic pose throughout the long afternoon. It is only when it comes to cutting the cake, when the bride and groom feed each other tasty morsels, that there is a literal and symbolic taste of joy yet to come. This is when the older women ululate and there are winks and nods all around.
A funeral offers a similar glimpse into Malawian culture. Rich or poor, Catholic or Protestant, at the graveyard there is a rigid protocol that must be observed at all cost. Once the interment liturgy is read and the necessary worthies have spoken, there is an amazing spectacle to unfold. Men take shovels and hoes and earth begins to move. They take turns, family and friends, in a rhythmic movement of hoes tossing earth into the open grave. Every lump of earth, every pebble, is patted into place, leaving time for the women's guild to place flowers and say the Lord's Prayer. Then it is the benediction and people leave quickly and quietly. Only a guard or two will remain to protect the grave during that long first night.
Malawians love order and God's purposeful plan for creation seems just perfect. If you attend Sunday worship in Malawi for a few weeks I can guarantee that you will hear a sermon from Genesis chapters 1 and 2. God pushed back the chaos and brought order and purpose so that life could flourish and have meaning. But where did the serpent come from? How did evil insinuate itself into the harmony of Eden? The serpent suggests choices that ultimately disrupt the perfect order God intends.
