You may already know the first book of the Bible, Genesis, literally translates, “Beginnings.” The very next book, Exodus, means “mass migration.” We are made. And then, we go. And that story is repeated constantly throughout our holy texts. It’s Adam and Eve banished. It’s Abram’s journey out of his homeland. It’s Joseph sold into […]
Tag: Islam
Stories from Morocco, or Remembering My Encounter with the Muslim Faith
With all that’s been said about Islam lately, I thought I’d take a moment to republish something I wrote after returning from my time as a Peace Corps volunteer in Morocco. This is a slightly edited version of a talk I gave to local churches and a local rotary club in Tennessee: Act 1. Arrival. […]
Challenging Assumptions About the Modern Arab Myth: an Exploration of Moroccan Cultures and Traditions
Earlier this month, I gave a lecture to a group of United Methodist Men (and later to a local Rotary Club) about my experience with the Peace Corps. I am publishing that lecture here with only a few edits. I have also spliced in Wikipedia links every here and there. Please don’t regard those links […]
Sheep in the Taxi Trunk
The big holiday known as Eid el-Adha or Eid el-Kbir is just around the corner. The holiday celebrates the almost-sacrifice of Ishmael. This same story appears in Christian and Jewish texts, though is slightly different in that it is Ishmael who is almost sacrificed by Abraham in Islam, not Isaac. In either case, that God […]
Hassan.
So, here’s a few thoughts about a man who has had a big impact on my life the past two years, but I don’t know that I’ve ever even mentioned him, so it just seemed fitting to say a thing or two. When I arrived in my village, Hassan – the director of my youth […]
Ramadan Mubarak Said
Since Ramadan started, my landlord’s son, eleven year-old Mohamed, consistently shows up at my door every evening at approximately six o’clock sharp, which is about an hour before the call-to-prayer that sounds when everybody breaks fast (el-ftour). Mohamed always has on his blue shorts and a blue wife-beater that says something in English on the […]
Sacred Goodbyes
A lot has happened lately. There’s a thousand little stories to pick from. My friends leaving. New ones coming to visit. Glasses being distributed left and right. Emails that show up with exciting or wonderful news. Emails that show up that cause you to take a step back and take a few, slow and deep […]
On Thanksgiving
In one of my English classes this week, I took some time before beginning the lesson to describe Thanksgiving. I talked about the pilgrimage from Europe and the struggle to yield enough food for the winter; I talked about the friendships made with the local natives and how sharing was essentially what kept everyone alive. […]
Remembering 11 September
I remember sitting in my desk laughing at the television when all planes were diverted to Canada. Someone in the class busted out with a joke, “Yeah, screw Canada,” and we all started laughing desperate to find something to keep us from crying. Mrs. Hardin, our senior English teacher who deserved more love than she […]
Some Brief, Not-So-Classified Thoughts
I’ll keep this one even shorter. Yes, Osama bin Laden is dead. People ask me here if I’m happy about this. Most of them are, it seems. I just respond, “I never rejoice when anyone dies.” That’s not a lie. It’s unfortunate that bin Laden is just one more death in a war I wish […]
