Jérusalem

Can’t remember who died. But what I do remember clearly was that it was a big funeral that brought many of our relatives in neighboring Togo to our village.

The ceremony extended from dusk to dawn. Even the generator that powered the mics and lamps all night became hoarse. The funeral grounds was the only source of glow in our dark village without electricity, attracting insects and humans, even snakes that hid in nearby bushes salivating at the sight of frogs leaping with joy beneath poles against which long fluorescent bulbs had been tied.

The space where the main activities took place was surrounded by crowds of adults. And as children, we either begged an adult to carry us up so we could catch a glimpse, or we simply knelt and peeped through the spaces between onlookers’ feet.

The sermon and tributes and weeping did not concern us kids that much. We busied ourselves roaming the ceremony grounds searching our pockets for coins to buy gum or candy from the chains of petty traders scattered everywhere.

The venue was under the trees where grandpa usually sat during the day on his wooden chair that looked like a bed slightly folded up. Behind was our little local church, beside the church at its main entrance was the main road, untarred, that joined our village to the next town, and also took us into neighboring Togo. Around the venue were the homes of my uncles and aunts, and my primary school was a walking distance of five minutes away, where most of my friends and relatives were schooling. The school shared borders with the home of our local pastor.

If you formed a big triangle inside the funeral grounds with the apex facing the platform, the line of its base will be in line with the road leading to our house, quite a distance from the grounds, but close enough to hear what was going on if loud speakers were being used, the metallic speakers that looked like giant funnels attached to poles to reach the ears of every devil in every hole on earth.

My fondest memory of this particular funeral service was the opportunity to chase little girls our age, sometimes slightly older, especially the foolish ones who found it fascinating to be desired by boys. And we were never out of supply. One boy would discover her, and everything she hid behind her pants. And whisper to another boy and another till the rest of the communication could be carried on with our eyes without words. This non-verbal communication was necessary whenever we bumped into the subject of our discussion.

In a society where parents were very strict, an opportunity to be promiscuous was golden.

I can’t remember what I was engrossed in, but I do know that at a particular point there was this song that was being sung. I cannot recall its lyrics. Never heard the song before. But something in that song touched me. There was a part of the song I retained till date : Jerusalem.

I think it was the chorus. So moving.

Many years into my life, I would hum the tune, and strangely it never occurred to me to ask anyone the full song. Perhaps partly because it was in French. With a number of French villages not far from ours, it was normal that a relative would return home to share a song or two in French they learnt during their travels.

I did not speak French then, neither did any of my parents. And so, I doubted I would have found someone to sing it for me.

It was much later in life when I had the opportunity to live in Côte d’Ivoire for a number of years that I bumped into my beloved song during a church service. I looked up the song on Google to see the full lyrics. Very powerful song. That was when I understood why I loved the tune so much.

The lyrics are the exact words of Psalm 125:1-2 :

Ceux qui se confient en l’Éternel Sont comme la montagne de Sion: elle ne chancelle point, Elle est affermie pour toujours.

Des montagnes entourent Jérusalem; Ainsi l’Éternel entoure son peuple, Dès maintenant et à jamais.

( Those who trust in the LORD are as secure as Mount Zion;
they will not be defeated but will endure forever.

 Just as the mountains surround Jerusalem,
so the LORD surrounds his people, both now and forever.)

I’m thinking of the context of losing a loved one, and reminding oneself that God is forever a shield around His children and that they shall never be defeated, even in death.

And that made the song take on a different, deep meaning for me.