Beads and Smartphones

Today it is rare to suffer culture shock because we are all well traveled global citizens.  I was curious to see the tribe that had been part of my family's life for so long, but I didn't expect to see much change.
I was invited to attend a church service on the reservation and was not surprised to find that it was held in a shed with crude wooden benches and lit with bulbs hanging from the ceiling. I did not expect to see the car park full of cars I could barely afford.
The next two hours revealed one of the strangest shows I've witnessed, and it was a show with everyone but me participating.  I found myself in shock as I tried to take it all in.  The front of the church was draped in pink and purple plastic cloth.  The electric guitars were plugged in and the sound system turned up to maximum.  While people visited, dogs and children wandered about.  A group of children got up on stage and did choreographed gestures while a young man sang and handled the mike like a pro. The drum kit and back up singers gave the impression of being at a concert.

The recorded music continued to play while another group got up in simple costumes made of cardboard and lengths of cloth. They reenacted the Easter story complete with a Jesus carrying a real cross around the church followed by a group of dancers. My mother and I were starting to feel a little out of place.  Some might say we were the most authentic: I with my beads and her clutching her Kaiwa Bible and hymnbook.
About a hour into it they were just warming up. Even with the song lyrics projected on the wall, I couldn't recognize the tune over the noise of the guitars and drum. Even their variation of the old favorite "How Great Thou Art" was unrecognizable to me.  But the most distracting was a teenage girl who stood up on the stage and did disco-like dance moves to further animate the songs. I was so exhausted by the myriad of strange sights that I was in danger of falling asleep when it finally quieted down.

Why was I so shocked? I had seen all those things before but they went against all my preconceived ideas for a church service on a reservation where most of the tribe lead very simple lives.
I didn't expect the congregation to pull out their phones and iPads to film the passion play.  I didn't expect them to be using their smartphones to read the Bible. I didn't expect the rock concert style sound system. And the fact that those modern touches were mixed in with the simple surroundings, dogs and children, sent me reeling as I tried to make sense of it all.
On the way home the comment was made that this church had managed to overcome the shock of cultures between different tribes living on the same land.  All that united them caused me to suffer a genuine culture shock!