Otherwise, it's been a busy weekend. Mama worked from home Friday and we were able to have lunch together at a local Indian buffet. As we were driving to the restaurant, I spotted a lump on a branch in a tree by the river. An adult bald eagle! Mama turned around and we were able to cross the road to see the beautiful bird, still at a safe distance from us. I even got a few pictures. You could see its head moving back and forth, presumably as it scanned for lunch, because several minutes later, it took off. Gorgeous. In fact, now we've seen eagles in pretty much the same area three days in a row--one on Friday (twice--before and after lunch!), two on one branch--one adult (with the telltale white head and dark body) and one juvie (splotchy brown but still really big) on Saturday, and then one adult today.
And of course we're rooting for the Eagles! Friends think it's a sign that there are Eagles in New England territory!
Friday night, the kids had a birthday party dance to attend--one of the first kids to turn 13 in their group. Mama enjoyed our second "date" of the day by eating pizza and watching Wings of the Dove, featuring lovely Venice. Saturday had Sis helping with pony rides and Bud performing in a kung fu show for Lunar New Year. Today we were similarly split, with Bud off for another performance. Sis was supposed to go to speedskating, but her tummy was upset so she stayed home.
Ponies and horses are a bittersweet topic around our house these days. We learned a week or so ago that the farm where Sis rides is going to send her beloved leased pony Murphy back to his owners in Vermont because he's too old to be ridden often and is having some leg troubles. Sis is heartbroken. We are heartbroken. He was her first pony, pretty much, and can't ever be replaced in her heart. And so she wants to see him as much as possible but knows that time is limited. He'll probably leave in March. Her coach has invited Sis to go to Vermont to help choose the next horse to come back to Connecticut. And while she's sure she still wants to lease and loves horses, she's just so sad when she thinks of them right now. It's going to be a tough month.
Okay, confession: this is going to be long because I already wrote it as one of my papers for my CPE.
I had a wonderful experience in the religious education (RE)
class I co-teach. As I think I've explained, this year the focus is on the “Neighboring
Faiths” curriculum, which requires participants to learn about various
religions in our area, speak with their practitioners, and, when possible,
attend a service. Thus far, the
class—with our kiddos included—has visited a rabbi from a conservative Jewish
synagogue, a Roman Catholic mass, and a Presbyterian service. This
class is particularly important for Unitarian Universalists (UU) because we
value the voices of prophetic men and women from many faiths. We also recognize that we live in a global
community and believe that multicultural competence, including interfaith
dialogue, is an important part of being a citizen of the world.
We have been preparing to visit a mosque and so met last
week with a Muslim woman (NOTE: Islam is the religion; Muslim is the practitioner) who travels the area teaching “Islam 101.” She gave a wonderful presentation to our
students, explaining core beliefs, the Five Pillars (belief, prayer, fasting,
charity, pilgrimage), the reasons behind and techniques for the wearing of
hijab, the timing and format of five prayers a day, the gestures and verses
that comprise those prayers, and more.
She taught the children how to sing a song about the months of the
Islamic calendar, recited many of the 99 names of Allah, and shared with us some sweet
bean pie, a traditional African-American Muslim dish. She spoke of her love of scarves and
different editions of the Quran. She
even showed us her special app that alerts her to the time for prayers each day
and also orients her towards Mecca for those prayers. The kids were fascinated by the niqab she passed around so that we could look through the sheer material that would cover a woman's face and intrigued by the bowing and kneeling and rituals of her prayers. As she had hoped, she made Muslims seem just
like everyone else—not weird or scary or dangerous. And she thanked us for inviting us because
she believes it will help our world if we all understand and respect each
other.
On Sunday, we visited a local mosque and met their Imam, youth director, and young members of their
community. We were welcomed heartily into
the mosque, removed our shoes as a sign of respect, and then sat in chairs in
the main room. The Imam talked to our group about the basis of Islam, focusing on the Six
Pillars of Belief (as opposed to the practices of the pious that we learned
about the week before): 1.) God (the
Oneness of God, as opposed to the Trinity) 2.) Angels (“The Unseen,” like
Gabriel 3.) Sacred Books (The Quran, but also the Torah, Psalms, and
Gospels--aka Bible) 4.) Prophets (The Quran names 25, including Abraham, Noah,
Moses, John the Baptist, Jesus, Mohammed is the last. Jesus is not meant to be worshipped, only a
messenger) 5.) Judgment Day (there are three lives—spiritual life before birth,
terrestrial life, and then resurrected life after Judgment) 6.) Free will (God
knows everything, but we choose.) The
students in our class were overwhelmed by all the teachings—especially when one
of the adults tried to ask about jihad and Sunnis and Shi’ites. The Imam was
very careful and clear in his disavowal of violence and hatred between faiths
and races. But he was talking to such a
young group that many of them didn’t understand his words in quite the same
vein as the adults. Soon we shared
doughnuts and the kids from both youth groups were smiling! The
Imam also based out thematic translations of the Quran in English to each
student and adult present. (We were all
surprised to hear the telling of Jesus’s birth, when he spoke out as an infant,
which appears in the Quranic book of Mary.)
We also witnessed the afternoon prayer, starting with the
Athan called by the youth director. I
remembered my college summer in Tunisia when I was on an archaeological dig in
Carthage and we could hear the calls to prayer resonate across the city from
its many minarets five times a day.
Then, with the Imam going first, the long row of men and a shorter row
of young women further behind, bowed and knelt repeatedly to pray. In all, it lasted about 15 minutes. Though, the Imam didn’t point it out, I could
see the door to the area for ritual cleansing that many of the men who had
stopped by for the afternoon prayer entered.
Apparently, there is a separate room for women—for their privacy, the
Imam said—but they do not have to pray in there but can pray in the large
room. Still, the rows in front are for
men, to protect the modesty of the women, who are behind. (We had noticed separate entrances for
“Brothers” and “Sisters” but they did not insist on their use today and had us
all come through the Brothers’ door.
Also, one of our female teachers went to shake hands with the youth
director who politely declined touching her.)
We were told later that it is important to pray close together—even
touching feet—because it consolidates the spirit of the prayer. I wondered why the men were so close together
(even the carpet, with its decoration demarcating separate but small spaces,
like individual prayer rugs.) At our UU
church people would never sit that close to anyone but spread out as a form of
politeness and personal space.
I'm really loving this RE class, especially when we're looking at religions I don't know as well, like Islam. It was all really interesting and great for the kids, and for me in my work as a hospice chaplain. Soon, we'll study Buddhism, visit a Hindu temple, meet with some Quakers, and go to an AME church.
