Just kidding... they didn't walk into a bar. But they did go to brunch.
Stella and I are becoming more and more active in the homeschool group that meets here and next month she's starting an art class with some of the kids. While the kiddos are in class the moms hang out and have breakfast and conversations with people allowed to make adult decisions. We've joined them a few times and it's been great fun. This morning was no different, however, our conversation turned towards religion (and it was fantastic!).
The homeschool group is comprised of a wonderful variety of people from all different parts of the world. Everyone comes from all different walks of life and religions and it's amazing and wonderful and everything I could have ever hoped for for Stella to be around. It's so, so important to us to expose her to people who are different from her to show her we're all human and wonderful and beautiful and unique in our own right!
Our first field trip with the group was to a Catholic Church and we missed their trip to the mosque by a couple of weeks and there are plans to visit other houses of worship. It is truly awesome and inspiring to see how everyone of all these different faiths come together in peace and harmony and thrive with each other (and just further proof that it CAN be done).
This morning we were speaking of Christmas and how, in Britain, there is an imam (a person who leads prayer in a Mosque) who sends out Christmas cards every year to highlight Islam's belief in Jesus as a prophet and the virgin birth. His is a message of peace and remembering the connectedness between beliefs and I absolutely LOVE that. It has long been a belief of mine that all religions and faiths are deeply connected and are even, on some deep, down level, the same-- that the specifics and things that make each one unique are unique so that they can be received and understood by the believers. I don't know if I'm wording that in the way that I need to, but basically God is God. And he's Allah. And he's Zeus. And he's Buddha. And he's the universe. And he (or she) is whatever each individual person needs him (or her) to be to feel connected and to believe what they believe.
Anyway, so we all started talking about religion and I learned a lot about Islam and how there are different prophets they have teachings from--Including Mohammed, Jesus, Moses, and David. I didn't realize that they believed in Jesus as a prophet- or the virgin birth- or that there will be a second coming of Christ. We talked about multiple religions and faiths are now interconnected they all are without people even realizing it sometimes.
The whole point of this post was that five women of at least three different faiths sat around a table this morning, sharing coffee and their beliefs and it was beautiful and enlightening and amazing. And moments like that, my friends, make this entire Bahrain adventure so very worth it!
Amen, my dear! It's magical isn't it?
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