I've always felt incredibly uncomfortable listening in on the prayers of others. Like a kiss between a bride and groom it's always seemed beautiful and yet incredibly private to me. I feel like an intruder. Even during group prayers, like at family gatherings when we all hold hands and say a blessing together, I feel like an trespasser. And it isn't because I'm agnostic, or that I think people should keep their prayers to themselves, but because I think that they are conversations the pray-er has with his or her god, and they are not meant for me to hear.
None-the-less I felt very fortunate to experience Iftar (the meal when muslims break the Ramadan fast after the sun has set) tonight at the Clintonville-Beechwold Community Resource Center on the last night of Ramadan. The CRC offers ESL classes and many of their students wanted to be able to share the beauty of Islam and Ramadan with members of the community and so I was invited by a friend to eat and learn with them. The food was delicious (I ate sheep brain!) and the people at the CRC as well as the people they serve are wonderful.
But most beautiful to me was hearing the call the prayer and the prayers that followed, sung in arabic, and although I don't understand the language, or even believe in their deity, I felt an overwhelming sense of specialness because I was allowed to witness something pure and faithful. I appreciate that the members of this community were willing to share something so important with me. Yet again, in it's perfection I felt awkward. As much as I believe we can work BETTER TOGETHER, and I love to learn about the beliefs and cultures of others, I will always feel as though I'm eavesdropping on private conversations, hearing secrets I shouldn't know, even though I cannot make any sense of them.
But as my mentor, Patty, always says, "Lean into the awkward." And I did, as I often do, and feel better for the experience.
I've always felt incredibly uncomfortable listening in on the prayers of others. Like a kiss between a bride and groom it's always seemed beautiful and yet incredibly private to me. I feel like an intruder. Even during group prayers, like at family gatherings when we all hold hands and say a blessing together, I feel like an trespasser. And it isn't because I'm agnostic, or that I think people should keep their prayers to themselves, but because I think that they are conversations the pray-er has with his or her god, and they are not meant for me to hear.
But most beautiful to me was hearing the call the prayer and the prayers that followed, sung in arabic, and although I don't understand the language, or even believe in their deity, I felt an overwhelming sense of specialness because I was allowed to witness something pure and faithful. I appreciate that the members of this community were willing to share something so important with me. Yet again, in it's perfection I felt awkward. As much as I believe we can work BETTER TOGETHER, and I love to learn about the beliefs and cultures of others, I will always feel as though I'm eavesdropping on private conversations, hearing secrets I shouldn't know, even though I cannot make any sense of them.
