Ramadan Kareem

As I was reading the ISU Daily today I had the opportunity to read a nice little article about Muslim students who were observing Ramadan. So I read the article with great interest, and when I noticed the comments I went to read them with interest. When I opened the comment page my heart sank. It was full of hateful and frankly false speech, so I left my Ramadan wishes for my Muslim brothers and sisters, not acknowledging the commenters spreading hate, because they did not deserve acknowledging. But as I have been thinking the rest of the day I think I owe it to my Muslim sisters and bothers to write about my positive experiences of Ramadan and of Muslims.

For those of you who did not know my wife and I spent time teaching in Bahrain (the island Kingdom of the Coast of Saudi Arabia). Less than a month of us arriving in Bahrain we got our first experience of Ramadan. It completely changed the entire country for that month. Things were closed during the day so that people could observe the fast. They opened back up in the evening as people broke the fast. I truly admired how much commitment it takes to fast from Sunrise to sunset for a whole month.

I taught 5th graders and a good number of them were trying to observe the fast for one of their first times, so out of respect for my students I fasted while I was at school. Being that I was fasting I used that fasting as a time for me to be intentionally spiritual in my Christian faith as well. It surprised me just how much of a time of spiritual renewal this was for me. I got to spend time thinking about those who could not afford to eat everyday. I got to learn how to rely on God in those times when physically you are not at the top of your game but you need to keep going. I spent time thinking about all of the famous fasts that were in the scripture. And in the end I found, as I did many times when I was in Bahrain, that my Muslim sisters and brothers had spurred me on to be a better Christian.

The fact is that the people I met in the middle east were easily some of the most welcoming, accepting and warm people I have ever met in my life.

I am tempted to tell you how "they" are this and "they" are that, but I don't want to label them as "they." The truth is that "they" are us, we are sisters and brothers. I tired of the fear mongering people are people and deserve to be treated as such.

So in this holy month I wish all people a Ramadan Kareem and as Ramadan ends next week eid mubarak. And hope that maybe this Ramadan we can all because better adherents to our own faiths. That maybe we can find understanding, because we have much to learn from one another.