Toronto, Ontario
Robey
Robey works with Uber. One day a passenger of his, who happens to be
our neighbour, asked to be dropped off across the street from the Hare Krishna
Centre.
“The what?”
“The Hare Krishna Centre. You know?
I wake up every morning to the sound of their drums. They have a vegetarian restaurant
inside. You should try it.”
Robey got the idea to visit and today was
his first. “I loved the meal,” he told
me as I seated myself at the table next to him.
He said he was from Nigeria.
Aside from Uber, he also does social work with youths in group
homes. We talked about everything from
Christ to Krishna, St. Nicolas—who got converted to Santa Claus—and from Al
Jolson to Black Pete.
I told him I was born in Canada of Dutch
descent.
“What’s that thing about Black Pete where
someone gets painted black?” he asked, taking this notion to be derogatory, and
a Dutch tradition.
“To my knowledge, Black Pete—in Dutch referred
to as Zwarte Piet—was a helper to Saint
Nicholas, who was very generous with children.
As kids, we were taught that Piet
was greatly revered. Al Jolson was a Jewish-Russian
immigrant to the U.S. who loved the black man’s sense of rhythm. As a routine, he would don black make-up,
sing sentimental songs and enthrall white audiences. If anything, he gave honour to African
Americans. The most important thing to
come to terms with, though, in all this regard, is we are not these bodies, but
instead, pure spirits.”
Robey is really nice. I hope he returns. He took with him a copy of the book, Science of Self Realization.
May the Source be with you!
7 km
