“Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper.”
In a world full of racism, prejudice and intolerance, wasted with wars and conflicts, diversity has become a curse, and sectarianism is tearing nations apart, it’s a bless to find people who still appreciate differences.
Through all this mess I would try to listen to the voice of goodness rather than listening to the noise of missiles, gun shots and explosive belts.
No matter how late this present has arrived…
Although it actually came closer to Easter than to Christmas (Ok…I might be exaggerating here!)…
And even though I don’t tend to categorize my friends according to race, sex or religion, it will always be interesting to say that
my bible was a present from my Muslim friend.
Thanks Hiba!
Filed under: Coexistence
…I was asked what my religion is
then suddenly the driver became so enthused even that he turned the radio off to start a very “interesting” conversation:
driver: you look smart! you must be aware of the clashes between the two religions..
Fadi: you mean differences..well yes I am..
driver (with a raised eyebrow): and what’s the difference between clashes and differences?
Fadi: differences are not necessarily reasons for clashes..
driver (being sneaky): and why dont all people convert to one religion and then all problems will be solved?
Fadi: yassallam!! and what’s wrong with people having different religions?! aren’t they mature enough to accept being different!? afterall beliefs are all about faith and faith is a personal matter..
driver: welll…eeh..I’m not talking about little things..I’m talking about big issues…like….international politics….you know what…there is no solution unless all the world get ruled by one man!
stunned by this ultra fascistic announcement I was about to switch to the irrational part of my brain and for bit of a secound I was going to start talking about separation between religion and politics and how religions must not be abused to mislead people..and all that jazz!
but suddenly I heard myself saying to itself:
maan! you can’t be serious..do you want to get run over by a mad taxi driver?!
so:
Fadi (with a one-sided smile): oook sir…nice talking to you..keep the change..
This short conversation made me wonder how hard the concept of coexistance can be for some people.. I know not all Jordanians are Taxi drivers..but Taxi drivers are Jordanians afterall..
