Interfaith Lent!

Greetings from the Windy City!  I hop everybody had a reflective Ash Wednesday and begining of Lent.  Before getting started I would like to share with you a blog that I found meaningful:  http://blog.sojo.net/2010/02/17/lent-isnt-about-denial-its-about-transformation/

On that note, for Lent I have decided to be mindful of food and fast on Friday.  So Friday night I went with some of the girls from work and Jordan-a guy that works with one of our partners-to IMAN's(Inner-city Muslim Action Network) community cafe-which is basically a chance every two months that provides a venue for Muslims in Chicago to gather and have a venue to perform. Before hand we had decided to go out to eat but as I was fasting I did not get anything to eat.  As everybody sat at the table to wait for their food, we began to find some irony in the situation.  Here I was as a Christian fasting-with a group that was mostly Muslim.   As we sat and shared in this Interfaith experience, it was interesting for us all to feel the role reversal.  Those in the group who were Muslim, shared that most times they were the one faster in a group of people who were eating and I was used to being in the majority.   This was my experience the entire night-being in the minority. At the community cafe, I was maybe one of 5 non-muslims there.    Yet, despite how hard it was to not always understand what was going on or to understand the meaning of what was being said-I never once felt unwelcome or entirely out of place.   Hind-one of my co-workers from IFYC-patiently explained to me what was being said and who people were.  When I didn't understand parts of the dinner conversation, one of them would stop and explain.     Even in the moments I didn't completely understand, to sit and listen was a learning experience in world affairs and what is happening in our world, continuing to crack my shell a little more each time.  

The community cafe itself was a wonderful experience.   There were several artists who did hip-hop and spoken word pieces.  The night was dedicated to Malcolm X so each piece spoke to the message that Malcolm X brought about the fight for human rights.  As somebody who has never been a part of the hip-hop scene, it was a new experience and it took me a while to get used to the mode of communication but once I did I began hearing a message not that different from the one I am used to hearing on Sunday morning, just spoken in a slightly different language.   

The entire experience was also a humbling one.   Reminding me that I have a lot to learn and to understand.    It was also a reminder that I have people surrounding me willing to engage in conversation and answer my questions.