Last night I stopped by the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church in Nairobi a few hours before Christmas mass, which I considered attending but was warned off from by a couple non-Amharic-speakers.

Here’s a photo of the inside I took at the urging of a member of the congregation. The painting of the three bearded men depicts the Trinity. I was told that the TV screen, though not working at present, is intended to give people a view of what’s happening in the inner sanctuary when the curtain is closed.

I love watching people showing up for Ethiopian mass, the women in white packed into cars, emerging like circus clowns turning into butterflies.

My Ethiopian Orthodox Christmas highlight was baking a loaf of injera, using an electric mitad.

Interesting fact: The word “Tewahedo,” according to Wikipedia, refers to a doctrinal difference I did not know of. “This word refers to the Oriental Orthodox belief in the one single unified Nature of Christ; i.e., a belief that a complete, natural union of the Divine and Human Natures into One is self-evident in order to accomplish the divine salvation of humankind, as opposed to the ‘two Natures of Christ’ belief (unmixed, but unseparated Divine and Human Natures, called the Hypostatic Union) promoted by today’s Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches.”

The unprogrammed worship didn’t go very long, so we walked over to another building where they hold, you guessed it, “programmed worship.” I had no idea such a thing existed. It’s similar to an evangelical service. (Though on the tamer side.)

One more surprising fact: Kenya has the most Quakers of any nation. I am told that the Ngong Road congregation is mostly Luhya.

Starring Bruce “Snow Ghost” Russell as “a wise man—or a wise guy.”

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Video: Downloads and other formats

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[0:00] The first few of more than 1000 Buddhist relics are installed at Worcester’s Linh Son Temple, 16 Ruthven Avenue. They will be on display this weekend only.

[6:25] We learn a little about the relics.

[11:28] Venerable Man Shing talks about the temple and Buddhism.

[20:14] Jen talks about the striking Clark University cafeteria workers.

[21:55] The temple’s Abbess blesses Jen with a relic.

[25:18] Mike notes there’s an interesting post at InCity Times this week.

We’ve received a shocking number of questions about Mike’s wardrobe. In the styleblogger tradition: jacket, Faconnable; shirt, Brooks Brothers; chinos, Patagonia; tie, Luciano Barbera for Louis Boston; pocket square, Hermes. Brendan is threatening to raise his game on this front….

Seven monks and nuns joined with more than 50 other people for traditional prayers and ceremonies, a prayer from a local Shawnee leader, a rousing chorus of “Down by the Riverside,” and a Japanese feast.

T cannot wait to see his picture.

A visit from the President: No matter what your political persuasion, you should consider getting an Obama cutout. Nobody can resist goofing with this.

In particular, there are lovely 18-foot-tall woven tapestries all along the north and south walls of the nave depicting the Communion of the Saints as a crowd of people, individually recognizable and identified, gazing toward the altar. These are truly moving — proof that people can still make great sacred art. The artist (John Nava) painted them using a realistic “old master” style, then digitized the images and programmed a computerized loom to make the tapestries, producing an effect that is both classic and very immediate.

If you click on “art” and then “tapestries” on the cathedral’s website, you can read more info and click on the thumbnails to zoom in on a couple of the individual panels.