My job carried me to another city today, to discuss a case with a man, who was by all intents & purposes my adversary. This man was a highly educated, kind, caring, and intelligent physician. After we finished our business, as all the others were leaving, he quietly asked me if I would stay. This man was Indian by birth, but had spent much time in the middle east, & my familys homeland of Jordan. When we were alone, he made me very strong Arabic coffee, like my father made me when I was a young boy. Then he said, I know who you are. You are a Hashemite. He was well versed in the role the Hashemites had played in Islamic history & middle eastern politics. He asked if I was Muslim. I told him I was Christian, but had many family members who were Muslim. He then politely asked if he could share his faith with me. I said yes, on one condition; that I might also share my faith with him. He readily acknowledged that their was a minority branch of Islam, which had perverted his religion, to teach hatred, violence, & intolerance. I acknowledged that there was a minority of Christians who did exactly the same thing. He believed in the Islam of peace, love, & tolerance. We talked for an hour, with never a cross word or disrespectful statement. We focused on the majority of things we both believed were common to our respective faiths, and talked little of the uncommon things. When we finished, I was still Christian & he was still Muslim. He gave me his private phone number. He made me promise that the next time I was in his city, that I would come to his home to meet his family & share a meal. I agreed, on one condition; the next time he was in my city, he would come to my home to meet my family & share a meal. As I was leaving, this man warmly grasped my hand & said, we are brothers now, for all time. Then in typical Arabic fashion, he kissed me on the cheek & whispered in my ear, in Arabic, may the peace of God go with you. As I was driving home, alone in my thoughts, I began to think of the great majority of people I have been fortunate to meet in this world, who basically want the same things: to be respected; to have a home; to live in peace; to have the opportunity to provide a better life for their children; & to believe that when this life is done, they will have a home in Heaven, or Paradise. I have dear friends who are Muslim, Hindu, black, gay, and many other variations of difference from me. I dont have to agree with every belief they have, but rather am taught to focus on our commonality, & leave the judging to someone much more pious than myself, with my many flaws. They say a friend is someone who knows all about you, but loves you anyway. And then it hit me: what if we could get Presidents & Prime Ministers & Kings, & Rabbis & Mullahs & Pastors to sit alone in a room, without the glare of the media, and drink strong coffee, & talk respectfully, & invite one another into their homes, & focus on humanities commonality? Would the world be a more peaceful place; a more tolerant place? I choose to think so. I believe my new friend & brother would agree. Yes, today was a good day, in my little world. I sincerely hope none of my Brethren feel that my thoughts make me a poor or weak Christian. However, I learned long ago that I am just a flawed, humble beggar, trying to show other beggars where to find bread. #tolerance;peace;respect.
Posted on: Fri, 08 Aug 2014 18:55:11 +0000
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