Eightieth Birthday

   He marched into the church he last saw its interior about twenty-something years ago alongside about fifteen others he knows none among them. The church in its iconic history had been standing at that same spot since that very day the colonial masters laid its foundation in the first decade of twentieth century. Of course it has undergone countless renovations but nothing much has changed.

He was there for an anniversary of his mother-in-law celebrating her eightieth birthday and her kids, some of whom were priest and reverend sister, decided to do it in a big way.  But Mike did not meet the celebrants he came to join, he met different celebrants. The mass for the birthday was slated to start around 10 am but it was ten to ten that Mike entered the church. The wedding ceremony of a young couple in their early twenties was on and having attended many weddings before, Mike knew there was no way they would finish this wedding service before ten. 

He eased himself in a comfortable pew where he will follow events well. Not long afterwards he got lost in the ceremony before him. He was getting to pay attention in a special way whenever any wedding was going on before him. He is the kind that likes paying attention to the route he knows he will soon pass. The route before him was one of those that required his attention. 

The bride seems to him to be more physically conditioned than the groom. But in the society we are in, it's to be expected. Then he cast his attention to those sponsoring them, they looked average in wealth to him. You can always tell by merely looking at someone how he or she had been finding things economically. Not bad considering the state of the nation's economy. Then the best man and the bridesmaids. They all looked average in everything. Not a poor couple, not an illiterate couple but not rich or educated in its true sense. He turned his attention to the officiating priest. He focused on the seriousness of the priest to what he was handling, that seriousness wasn't there as he expected it. 

He no longer takes it as something to file away and revisit later. It has become a culture for decades now. How wealthy you are determines the attention given to you. He has found out that it's not actually the priest's fault if 100% attention isn't given to you. If you want it that much, better get rich that much before your wedding. He recalled that verse in the bible "do not judge so you will not be judged" he cast his sight to the ground and pinched himself hard to remind himself to cancel that aspect of his behavior.  

About three priests sat on the altar there but only one was wearing vestment and controlling events. Others were in their cassock attire. Sudane or some name like that. Meaning they did not come for the wedding but for what Mike was there for. He mixed up with those that came for the wedding and his presence beefed up the wedding too. He knew that appearing in their footage will make many afterwards wonder who he is. 

The priest seems to be cutting everything short to start the main occasion, the main reason that gathered all those priests that kept increasing in number as the wedding crept to the end. Soon, it was over and the couple marched after the wedding to the back of the church where they will sign all the signables as required by the church law. They filed past where Mike was and he followed their movement with his eyes to the back of the church and that was when he saw his cousin, a reverend sister sitting quietly as usual at the back of the church waiting for the occasion he came for to start. She marched up to him and greeted him. She seemed to be shorter that morning. When you see people last for long, at times they will appear taller or shorter. The science behind such eye tricks is what he doesn't know. He was still wondering why it's usually so when the family he came to support came marching in their own uniforms to the front of the church where they occupied their positions. 

He saw the church interior again after almost three decades, and that his reverend cousin was almost that same decade when he saw her last. Too many stories behind the reason that did not in Mike's opinion concern anyone he kept it to himself and turned his attention to the new event about to unfold.

The number of the priests that filed out from the sacristy when the services started were about twelve or more. It was almost a garrison and the number of the reverend sisters was even higher. When you have a reverend father as a son and reverend sister as a daughter, and you are celebrating your eightieth birthday, those two professions would not be lacking in their numbers. That is how Mike viewed it. He smirked at that idea. "I have even seen one family in Delta state with a priest, sister and Bishop in it. Heaven is nearest to some families" he murmured to himself. 

The woman celebrating her birthday looked younger than her son the priest in Mike's estimation. He never knew that, a profession like that comes with stress too. It shouldn't be so. Maybe something else is disturbing him. He was observing events and monitoring speeches. Learning for him is everywhere an opportunity presents itself like that service did. You need to monitor those it looks as if talking in public is part of their training and the priesthood sounds like those guys to him.

Almost about five of them spoke before giving way to the bishop who was hurrying things up for another occasion somewhere. "Are they always booked up this much or is this part of their training?" Mike asked the woman by his right. "I suspect they are booked up during this season. it's their time" the lady answered eyeing Mike and wondering if he is village based or returneer.

The mass proceeded smoothly and after the service, the contingency instead of reentering the sacristy they came out from, filed like the wedding couple back to the back of the church where some derobed before picture time outside the church with the celebrant and her family and from there to the celebrant compound for 'Item-seven'. It wasn't a small item-seven event inside that compound. Mike came to know that even priesthood evolves. It seems to him to be a kind of civil service thing these days. Education determines your standing and level of your wealth. The more brilliant, the higher your chances of making it wealthy. Mike's inlaw, the priest, is a wealthy fellow. No doubt about that. 

Excess food, assorted kinds and once rich, you can never lack visitors especially when the event is village based. The compound was overflowing with living and nonliving things. Invited and none invited. They were all there and throwing requests around to the servers as if it was no longer a privilege. 

The relatively sunny weather was still smiling around 4:37pm and the visitors kept increasing. Mike presented his gift to the celebrant who was dancing and dancing despite her age and naira never stopped raining on her when Mike decided to call it a day.