A Reflection on Community
Coming to Qom is quite an adventure! Yet even in an adventure there is a time when you long for the comforts of home. We often say that the deepest thing we miss is our home, our friends, and our children and usually in the reverse order. Then the evening comes and one of us comments on the day just ending. The refrain goes something like this: “My what a wonderful day! Can you believe what we experienced today?”
I often wonder if I am missing something because most of the time I feel quite at home in this Holy City of Qom. There is such a contrast between the city of Tehran and the Holy city of Qom. You do not even notice when a man in a turban walks by you or climbs onto the bus in Qom. It is quite noticeable in Tehran. We recently came home via Metro and then bus. On the metro a cleric, dressed in common clerical garb, was traveling between Talighani and Khomeini stations. I could see the young men on the metro watching him board and depart. (Maybe it was because he was not wearing any socks. This is very unusual here since the dress of cleric covers him form head to foot.)
While we are the only Christians or Masihi (means follower of the Messiah) in Qom of which we know, we certainly are very well received. With its hundreds of bookstores, all religious books, its numerous religious schools, its shine to the 8th Imam’s sister, Fatima Masumeh (meaning the infallible) it stills feels like a friendly city. Yes, it is a city where the industry is religious study. It is a city that only ten years ago was a much sleeper one. It is a city where on my daily bus rides and my biking from home to the Institute to the downtown area for supplies I see at least a hundred clerics in turbans. In all this we find it fascinating.
I (David) have never felt any animosity or ill will from the clerics I meet. The clerics can be in there own world as they do the ordinary chores of life. I see a cleric in very fine attire and wearing a very well kept turban carrying home for lunch a sack of greens or haggling over the price of a new computer. When the clerics are not preoccupied and we make eye contact they acknowledge me in a very warm and friendly way. In our apartment complex our neighbors across the hall moved out and a very nice and pleasant cleric has moved in. His English is not as good as my Farsi and so we have not had a very long conversation but he just is the nicest man. We have been here since February and he is the first tenant of the complex to figure out our address and put sign up on the street to help people find us.
It is these kind of things that make life interesting.
In spite of our decision to take this challenging work it is always in our minds that we could not do this alone. How did this privilege come about? I have listed four reasons to keep me grateful for this opportunity. One does not step out in this adventure solely because of ones own merit.
First, the work of the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) in offering to help in the early 90’s with disaster relief was most important. I was at dinner with several professors about a month ago. One of the professors told me why he especially respected the MCC. The MCC came in to help in a time of need and without strings attached. They just wanted to help when there was a need in the world. He indicated that this was very refreshing I a world of calculation.
Second, there is a need to have life experiences that helped us learn to appreciate other cultures and be comfortable in meeting strange customs and different ways of living. It feels like our lives have been a preparation for this form of service. We did not get here with out the opportunities to work cross culturally in El Salvador, earlier in Jamaica, and then the most blessed and fulfilling endeavor is our friendships with the African American Church. It seems like God had given us experiences that help us accept the ebb and flow of being in a very different culture.
Third, we have been humbled by the realization that there are many people in many places that enable us to do what we do. Coming home this past summer we realized the prayer support, the support team that enables us to leave home and children and pursue this adventure.
Fourth, we are touched by the good will of many in the Muslim world who want to find ways to increase good will among people’s in a world of distrust and self interest. No matter how different our theologies are around a good number of issues, the good will and desire for peacemaking is a universal hunger among many of the people with whom we have come in contact. Today a massive demonstration took place in Tehran to protest the economic restrictions that the US has place on Iran. We followed the event on the TV. In the middle of the afternoon one of our close friends called and told us that this was not directed against us or the American people but just against the policy of the American government.
All of these points are worthy of further discussion. I wish to elaborate on two of them- number two and three.
When I got home in early July I started to add up all those who supported us in the few months we had been away. The realtor, our financial people, my brother as power of attorney, the neighbors, those that checked our house and saw that someone was hired to work the yard, the friends that took care of our animals, the prayer partners, those who encouraged us through emails and those who read our blog site. I will not mention names since that will leave out someone but the amazing group of people that keeps the home fires burning while we are away. You do not sojourn by yourself for it feels like the prayers of our friends and their churches have given us extraordinary opportunities to experience new and amazing things. The most important part of the whole experience for me is the strong and growing awareness how important interfaith dialogue is in a world where the press and the anxiety of globalization often pushes for distrust and conflict.
I now want to turn somewhat philosophical if you will indulge me. I read the NY Times on line. I particularly like the commentary. One of my favorite commentators is David Brooks. I do not come from the same part of the political spectrum as he but I deeply respect his integrity and clarity of vision and even his wisdom. If I disagree with him it always comes with a new clarity. This past year he gave the commencement address at Wake Forest University. It was very thought provoking. He said something we often do not think about in our individualistic society. He pressed home the idea that we bring together in our lives all the experiences of our ancestors. He quoted a modern geneticist who suggest that over the centuries we have within us a genetic link to our ancestors and all the experiences of their lives effect who we are and how we are wired. While there are some who transcend their background and ancestry and move it in a new direction, most of us are being carried on the backs of our heritage, our culture, our civilization, and our religious forbearers.
I often wonder if I am missing something because most of the time I feel quite at home in this Holy City of Qom. There is such a contrast between the city of Tehran and the Holy city of Qom. You do not even notice when a man in a turban walks by you or climbs onto the bus in Qom. It is quite noticeable in Tehran. We recently came home via Metro and then bus. On the metro a cleric, dressed in common clerical garb, was traveling between Talighani and Khomeini stations. I could see the young men on the metro watching him board and depart. (Maybe it was because he was not wearing any socks. This is very unusual here since the dress of cleric covers him form head to foot.)
While we are the only Christians or Masihi (means follower of the Messiah) in Qom of which we know, we certainly are very well received. With its hundreds of bookstores, all religious books, its numerous religious schools, its shine to the 8th Imam’s sister, Fatima Masumeh (meaning the infallible) it stills feels like a friendly city. Yes, it is a city where the industry is religious study. It is a city that only ten years ago was a much sleeper one. It is a city where on my daily bus rides and my biking from home to the Institute to the downtown area for supplies I see at least a hundred clerics in turbans. In all this we find it fascinating.
I (David) have never felt any animosity or ill will from the clerics I meet. The clerics can be in there own world as they do the ordinary chores of life. I see a cleric in very fine attire and wearing a very well kept turban carrying home for lunch a sack of greens or haggling over the price of a new computer. When the clerics are not preoccupied and we make eye contact they acknowledge me in a very warm and friendly way. In our apartment complex our neighbors across the hall moved out and a very nice and pleasant cleric has moved in. His English is not as good as my Farsi and so we have not had a very long conversation but he just is the nicest man. We have been here since February and he is the first tenant of the complex to figure out our address and put sign up on the street to help people find us.
It is these kind of things that make life interesting.
In spite of our decision to take this challenging work it is always in our minds that we could not do this alone. How did this privilege come about? I have listed four reasons to keep me grateful for this opportunity. One does not step out in this adventure solely because of ones own merit.
First, the work of the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) in offering to help in the early 90’s with disaster relief was most important. I was at dinner with several professors about a month ago. One of the professors told me why he especially respected the MCC. The MCC came in to help in a time of need and without strings attached. They just wanted to help when there was a need in the world. He indicated that this was very refreshing I a world of calculation.
Second, there is a need to have life experiences that helped us learn to appreciate other cultures and be comfortable in meeting strange customs and different ways of living. It feels like our lives have been a preparation for this form of service. We did not get here with out the opportunities to work cross culturally in El Salvador, earlier in Jamaica, and then the most blessed and fulfilling endeavor is our friendships with the African American Church. It seems like God had given us experiences that help us accept the ebb and flow of being in a very different culture.
Third, we have been humbled by the realization that there are many people in many places that enable us to do what we do. Coming home this past summer we realized the prayer support, the support team that enables us to leave home and children and pursue this adventure.
Fourth, we are touched by the good will of many in the Muslim world who want to find ways to increase good will among people’s in a world of distrust and self interest. No matter how different our theologies are around a good number of issues, the good will and desire for peacemaking is a universal hunger among many of the people with whom we have come in contact. Today a massive demonstration took place in Tehran to protest the economic restrictions that the US has place on Iran. We followed the event on the TV. In the middle of the afternoon one of our close friends called and told us that this was not directed against us or the American people but just against the policy of the American government.
All of these points are worthy of further discussion. I wish to elaborate on two of them- number two and three.
When I got home in early July I started to add up all those who supported us in the few months we had been away. The realtor, our financial people, my brother as power of attorney, the neighbors, those that checked our house and saw that someone was hired to work the yard, the friends that took care of our animals, the prayer partners, those who encouraged us through emails and those who read our blog site. I will not mention names since that will leave out someone but the amazing group of people that keeps the home fires burning while we are away. You do not sojourn by yourself for it feels like the prayers of our friends and their churches have given us extraordinary opportunities to experience new and amazing things. The most important part of the whole experience for me is the strong and growing awareness how important interfaith dialogue is in a world where the press and the anxiety of globalization often pushes for distrust and conflict.
I now want to turn somewhat philosophical if you will indulge me. I read the NY Times on line. I particularly like the commentary. One of my favorite commentators is David Brooks. I do not come from the same part of the political spectrum as he but I deeply respect his integrity and clarity of vision and even his wisdom. If I disagree with him it always comes with a new clarity. This past year he gave the commencement address at Wake Forest University. It was very thought provoking. He said something we often do not think about in our individualistic society. He pressed home the idea that we bring together in our lives all the experiences of our ancestors. He quoted a modern geneticist who suggest that over the centuries we have within us a genetic link to our ancestors and all the experiences of their lives effect who we are and how we are wired. While there are some who transcend their background and ancestry and move it in a new direction, most of us are being carried on the backs of our heritage, our culture, our civilization, and our religious forbearers.
posted by Quakers in Qom at 1:23 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home