Don't Forget! Latenight prayer!  the 7th of August! 

 

Sitting in downtown cinci.  Just outside the University.  At an old monastery with wi-fi...  it's great to be able to write you from here.  The sun is not quite hot yet and the breeze is cool. 

 

I have to go soon to teach english, but I wanted to let you know about an experience I had yesterday. 

 

I was with my two English students, Gulzar and Qadamsho, in Cincinnati, and they dragged me into a church for a noon service.  They are both devout Muslims.  They enjoyed their time there! 

 

I taught them to sing from the Hymnal--all four stanzas of "How Firm a Foundation"!!! 

the message from the pastor was about relief for refugees in the Sudan, with direct reference to the religious tensions there.  It was a great experience! 

 

For me, it was a sign of connection to the traditional church, and the traditions passed down to us from earlier generations. 

 

I am also enjoying loving my muslim friends!  I love them so much. 

 

They gave me hats.  Cool, muslim hats.  I love hats.  If I wear the hats, people will think I'm muslim.  What if I wore the hats?  what do you think?  What might it mean if I did?  What would it mean to God?  What would it mean to you? 

How about a fat suit?

Or if I went disguised as a black man?

Or if I used a wheelchair??

 

How do we view Muslim people?  What do we Know about Islam?  Do we see a difference between the teachings of Islam and the people who live in cultures under that influence?

 

What about us?  And Christianity? 

 

We have been honored to find out that Muslims are people.  That they aren't all the same, and they have the same needs we do...  And doesn't Christ make us brave to love and share our homes and hearts with everyone? 

 

This year, we have two exchange daughters for ten months.  They are both beautiful souls and we are honored to share Christ's love with them without reserve.  One is from a Buddhist background.  The other, Sunni Muslim. 

 

What might this year mean to God?  What might it mean to them?  And how will this year change me? 

 

So few of us know anything about the people we call Muslim.  And less about the religion called Islam...  And the difference between the two...  And the similarity between those people and us... 

 

I know that Jesus would be loving the people we call Muslim. 

 

There's a lot to say about this.  Why don't you email me or post a comment?  We need to get real about loving these people, if they're in our lives... 

 

Lew