Yesterday

I greeted a Kenyan friend

while shopping at the supermarket

      “Eeh,” she said

      “Mungu yuko tu”

I am constantly amazed

at how often Africans

refer to God

      In the midst of drought

            “God is”

      In the midst of poverty

            “God is”

      In the midst of war

            “God is”

      In the midst of death

            “God is”

In Africa

religion permeates all of life

The spiritual and secular

are one

      Secular

      is the spiritual taking form

“We are still eating and alive”

       she continued

“God is”

      And she plopped

      two cartons of milk

      into her shopping basket