The rock behind the rock we're on
was hidden from our point of view
until it caught the setting sun
and nothing but a sliver to
paint shadows on our faces and
give us a dusky hint of who
we are at night: we're all the same,
imperfect sinners turning to
the stars, a cross, a crescent moon
and taking time for penance: you
have Lent and we have Ramadan
and each of us is hoping to
make it to heaven somehow and
get through life on this rock we're on.
I don't pretend to understand
the purpose of the fasting or
the reason we should watch the moon.
I guess it meant something before
they called it Lent or Ramadan,
before we rested faith upon
the Prophet's revelations or
the resurrection of the Son,
but this is what we're looking for:
salvation past the ceremonies,
focus in our daily worship,
sustenance beyond the sunset,
anything to make us more
at peace and not at odds upon
this hot, dry dessert rock we're on.
Some explanation:
ReplyDeleteRamadan, the ninth month on the Islamic calendar, existed before Mohammed, just as observations of Lent and Easter preceded Jesus. The word Ramadan means dry, hot, in reference to a time when the months were fixed to the solar year; likewise Lent means long, reflecting the lengthening of post-winter days.
Nowadays Ramadan's annual placement varies (as does Easter), but it always starts when the ninth new moon first becomes visible. This year it started last week.
During Ramadan, observers fast during the day, eating only after sundown. They also increase their prayers and resist all anger. Ramadan's importance is heightened for Muslims because this was the month that Mohammed was said to have first received revelations from God.
And why am I taking the voice of a Muslim in this poem? More and more I have clients and neighbors who are Muslim. I eat in their restaurants and shop at their stores. But though we live together, there is still too often a mistrust, even an anger between us, and too often I see it coming from those who would call themselves Christians. Yes, we may wish that Muslims would consider the pillar of faith that can be theirs through Jesus's forgiveness, but we have to start by seeing that their need for forgiveness is the same as our own.