Last night, (Sunday, August 29, 2010) Carol and I, along with our pastor and his wife, attended the Iftar dinner at the Mosque in Morgantown, WV. Invited by friends we had met previously, we were honored that they thought enough of us to extend the invitation.
To be respectful, although it was not required, the three women in our group covered our heads with scarves and followed the lead of the Imam’s wife, and that of our new friends. The experience was, as they say in the Master Card commercial, priceless.
The evening began with introductions and greetings. Immediately, the four of us were made to feel welcome and included in the evening. The three of us were led by our friend, Gulsum, to the area where the women gathered. Bert went with Egemen to be with the men. At no time did we feel isolated or ignored. We all were engaged by the wonderful folks present. Bert expressed the same with regard to to the men.
An opening prayer was said and the day’s fast for those participating in Ramadan was broken by the eating of a date. Until last night, I had only tasted dates in date nut cookies served at Christmas time. This was my first taste of a whole date. I never knew they were so delightful, and so sweet.
This was then followed by a time of prayer. The women participated, as well as the men, only in separate areas. The reverence and commitment to submitting to God was amazing. All, even the children, were respectful.
Then the dinner began with the sweet fragrance of foods served hot and prepared by hands of love. A woman from Turkey had prepared the meal that night, and the dishes were from her homeland. I especially enjoyed a dish served over rice, made of meat, vegetables and spices. Carol and Suzanne enjoyed a dish that resembled lasagna with cheeses and meats.
Throughout this time of feasting, there was lively conversation and greetings. We came to know several women, young and old, from diverse backgrounds. Women from Pakistan and Turkey, West Virginia and Alabama, and points in between were there, having fun, praying, sharing their lives with one another, and making us feel as if we had been part of their families for generations.
As the evening came to a close, and we were heading toward the exit, I passed an open door to the kitchen area. Two men were there cleaning the dishes and doing the pots and pans in hot, soapy water.
I stepped in and thanked them for allowing us to join them in their evening Iftar. And then I asked, “Is there anything we may do to assist you in the clean-up before we leave?” The response of one young man was, “No, thank you. Your lovely smile and the mere presence of your being here is all the assistance I need.”
As a Christian, and having been a member of the Church since birth, I learned some wonderful lessons last night that could be learned by the Christian community as well.
1 – We take our faith commitment too lightly and too much for granted. Having been raised Catholic, I understand the respect and participation that I witnessed in the Muslim community last night as they attended to their worship and prayers. I left the Catholic Church nearly thirty years ago and have been a part of the Protestant Church since. I have not been to a Protestant Church that has the same level of respect of participation as the Catholics I knew, or of the experience with the Muslims last night.
Perhaps if we as Protestants had a better Sacramental Theology, and a greater sense of the majesty of our God, we might have a greater understanding and foundation for our own witness in the world.
2 – Most Christians today have lost the spiritual disciplines of daily prayer, scripture reading, confessing of our sins, breaking bread together, and fasting. If we believe that those early Church Mothers and Fathers actually prayed and fasted as we read, then we can begin to see where their sense of power came from as they connected with God through spiritual discipline.
I am not saying we should engage in the religious practices of mortification and other means of denying and punishing the flesh as some of the mystics did. But what if we, as a Christian community, began to fast and pray with the intent of engaging God to discern His will and direction in our lives? What would the possibilities be of engaging the world in meaningful ways in the name of Christ?
What if we regained a new appreciation of Sacramental Theology? What would happen if we began to understand that Christ does meet us in the bread and wine, that forgiveness of sins is passed on through confession and absolution, and that the waters of baptism do reflect our birth into the Kingdom of God and affirm our priestly ministry to the world? How would that impact our ministry to the world? Would our petty differences continue to be be so important? Would we still be content to worry more about who to keep out than we are about who we let in?
3 – Hospitality was one of the hallmarks of the early Church. It is one of the lost disciplines today. We gather for our hour of worship, get through the exit line quickly, and head to the nearest eating establishment before the crowd from the church down the street, so we don’t have to wait for a table.
Rarely are visitors welcomed, cared for, taken to dinner, or entertained by someone from the Church. We seldom even ask them their names, or tell them ours. In fact, we are often so isolated in our own Church, we are not even sure who, if any, are the visitors. Last evening, I believe every woman present introduced herself to us and made us feel welcomed.
4 – It was nice to see the men cleaning up and not expecting the women to be in the kitchen. That one is just a side, but it does teach us something about having a servant’s heart.
As we prepared to part, our friend said to Carol that it is customary in Turkey to bless the hands of the one who prepared the meal. The lady was sitting next to Carol and Carol turned to her, took her hands into hers, and said, “I bless your hands, and your heart”. That wonderful Turkish lady beamed at Carol and thanked her.
When was the last time any of us spoke a blessing to someone who is outside our faith system? I have seen Church members bless others who cut them off in traffic with the wave of hand held in a certain posture and a prayer spoken under the breath, or loudly, uttering the name of God in the invocation.
But that is not the type of blessing I am referring to here. I am talking more about the type Carol spoke, made with sincerity, appreciation, love, and in the name of Jesus Christ.
Many years ago, I once heard a minister from the Church of the Nazarene say that he did not like Robert Schuler until he had the opportunity to sit with him for a meeting and was able to, for the first time, learn Schuler’s heart. The minister said, “How can you hate, or dislike someone, with whom you have sat face to face, and gotten to know?”
I ask you, how can you dislike, or hate someone, once you have sat and broken bread with them? How can you continue to fight with someone once you know their heart? How do you say you are not welcomed here after you heard their stories?
All lessons the Protestant Church could spend some time learning.
Edwin Curtis IV, millennium chair of liberal arts at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, wrote in the Washington Post (Monday, August 30, 2010), “Five Myths About Mosques in America”. It is worth reading.
