HT: 22 Words

Did you guess Christian diplomat from America?

See other old pictures from Syria at Syria News Wire

1. Leave some comforts at home: eat local, use local soap products, maybe wear some local garb.

2. Adhere to their customs and lifestyle: this could possibly mean taking your shoes off, waving at people a certain way, covering your head in a mosque, or opening a door for a stranger. Take local transport, or visit non-touristy markets and neigborhoods.

3. Don’t stay in the most touristy area: there is a tourist box waiting for you to fit into, counteract this by getting off the beaten path.

4. Use their language: get a phrase book and practice with cab drivers, waiters, hotel lobbyists, and others you encounter. It will communicate that you value them and can result in invites to experience the culture backstage, beyond the tourist routes.

5. Sit and observe local life: there is huge value in just pausing to people-watch for a while, feel the rhythm and join in. Is it sit-on-your-porch-slow, or NewYorker-style speed-walking?

6. Withhold judgement: in other cultures we all find some things to be a bit peculiar… trust me, they do it “that way” for a reason. They’re intelligent and have histories that have shaped the present. It doesn’t mean a little change wouldn’t be good. Change in the world is often good. But withhold your judgement for awhile, and don’t come to conclusions until you talk with several locals and experience multiple portals of information. You just might learn something, too.

There is a new Muslim comic book superhero coming out soon. His name is Silver Scorpion. With the popularity of The 99 (who have worked with the Justice League), that isn’t so remarkable these days. What is great here is who thought it up. The Open Hands Initiative flew a group of disabled American youth to Damascus to meet a group of disabled Syrian youth. Together they came up with Silver Scorpion, a boy in a wheel chair who lost his legs in a land mine accident.

I love that this is the brainchild of Americans and Syrians. Aren’t they supposed to not like each other? And I love that this is the brainchild of disabled youth. Aren’t their lives supposed to be less meaningful?

I found it remarkable that none of the youth wanted his superpower to be something that cured his disability. Sharad Devarajan, CEO of Liquid Comics, noted, “They were empowered by their own disabilities, and they should not be seen as a source of weakness.”

Jaka, one of the American youth, said, “There’s a lot of hatred, and it really can be dispelled by just sitting down and talking to people and realizing you share experiences in common. That’s what happened when I started talking to one of the disabled Syrians. We both discovered that we had a love of basketball and … loved the same players,”

Abdulraham Hussein, a Syrian, said, “I like the American people as I found them friendly.”

A little face to face communication goes a long way in bringing people together. Read the whole article.

Related Posts:
Just the Way I Am
Bittersweet: A Muslim’s Spiritual Perspective on Special Needs Parenting
The 99 – Muslim Comic Heroes

HT: Islamicate

When I first entered college I studied music in the hopes of being a jazz musician. In those days jazz was my life. Now I see my love for jazz coming together with my love for Muslims.

Jazz in Ramadan is a jazz festival in Istanbul taking place later this month. Istanbul is a great city. I wish I could be there.

You can read more about it in the NY Times.

HT: Talk Islam

Four Feet, Two Sandals is a great children’s picture book about two Afghani refugees who become friends by sharing in a Pakistani refugee camp. Author Karen Lynn Williams gives this reason for partnering with Khadra Mohammed to write the book, “I was inspired to write this book when Khadra Mohammed came to me with the story about a refugee girl in the United States who wanted to know why there were no books about children like her.”

My wife got this book from the library. When I heard her reading it to our five year old daughter Lucy I was immediately drawn into the story. So I thought it would be fun to read it with Lucy as well and then interview her. Here is our interview.

Lucy, what did you learn about Afghanistan?
Lina had to run away with her mother and two brothers, but Feroza had to run away with her grandmother.

Why?
Because of the war.

How are these girls different than you?
They are dressed in different clothes.

How are they like you?
They shared. They moved to a different country. They like pretty shoes.

What did you like about the book?
How they become friends and share the sandals.

Is it a good book for other kids to read?
Yes, because you are learning about sharing.

If they moved next door how could we help them (one of the girls and her family move to America)?
We could share with them. And we could give them a Bible.

What kinds of things could we share with them? Could we share clothes?
Yes and we could give her more shoes.

What about friendship? Would you like to be Lina’s friend (Lina is the one who came to America)?
Yes and Feroza’s too.

Thanks to Lucy for being willing to be interviewed. In fact, she really enjoyed it and kept asking whether I was typing everything she said (full disclosure: I did edit some of her less focused and more wordy answers!).

Here is a video that explains more of the book.

You can read about the artists, see all the lyrics and download the song at The Muzic World.

HT: Talk Islam

This one was my favorite:

Albert Mohler’s comments are worth quoting at length:

Does God hate Haiti? That is the conclusion reached by many, who point to the earthquake as a sign of God’s direct and observable judgment.

God does judge the nations — all of them — and God will judge the nations. His judgment is perfect and his justice is sure. He rules over all the nations and his sovereign will is demonstrated in the rising and falling of nations and empires and peoples. Every molecule of matter obeys his command, and the earthquakes reveal his reign — as do the tides of relief and assistance flowing into Haiti right now.

A faithful Christian cannot accept the claim that God is a bystander in world events. The Bible clearly claims the sovereign rule of God over all his creation, all of the time. We have no right to claim that God was surprised by the earthquake in Haiti, or to allow that God could not have prevented it from happening.

God’s rule over creation involves both direct and indirect acts, but his rule is constant. The universe, even after the consequences of the Fall, still demonstrates the character of God in all its dimensions, objects, and occurrences. And yet, we have no right to claim that we know why a disaster like the earthquake in Haiti happened at just that place and at just that moment.

The arrogance of human presumption is a real and present danger. We can trace the effects of a drunk driver to a car accident, but we cannot trace the effects of voodoo to an earthquake — at least not so directly. Will God judge Haiti for its spiritual darkness? Of course. Is the judgment of God something we can claim to understand in this sense — in the present? No, we are not given that knowledge. Jesus himself warned his disciples against this kind of presumption.

Why did no earthquake shake Nazi Germany? Why did no tsunami swallow up the killing fields of Cambodia? Why did Hurricane Katrina destroy far more evangelical churches than casinos? Why do so many murderous dictators live to old age while many missionaries die young?

Does God hate Haiti? God hates sin, and will punish both individual sinners and nations. But that means that every individual and every nation will be found guilty when measured by the standard of God’s perfect righteousness. God does hate sin, but if God merely hated Haiti, there would be no missionaries there; there would be no aid streaming to the nation; there would be no rescue efforts — there would be no hope.

The earthquake in Haiti, like every other earthly disaster, reminds us that creation groans under the weight of sin and the judgment of God. This is true for every cell in our bodies, even as it is for the crust of the earth at every point on the globe. The entire cosmos awaits the revelation of the glory of the coming Lord. Creation cries out for the hope of the New Creation.

In other words, the earthquake reminds us that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the only real message of hope. The cross of Christ declares that Jesus loves Haiti — and the Haitian people are the objects of his love. Christ would have us show the Haitian nation his love, and share his Gospel. In the midst of this unspeakable tragedy, Christ would have us rush to aid the suffering people of Haiti, and rush to tell the Haitian people of his love, his cross, and salvation in his name alone.

Everything about the tragedy in Haiti points to our need for redemption. This tragedy may lead to a new openness to the Gospel among the Haitian people. That will be to the glory of God. In the meantime, Christ’s people must do everything we can to alleviate the suffering, bind up the wounded, and comfort the grieving. If Christ’s people are called to do this, how can we say that God hates Haiti?

If you have any doubts about this, take your Bible and turn to John 3:16. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. That is God’s message to Haiti.

Hugh Jackman is in the video and states that if you put a bunch of religious leaders (Jesus, Krishna, Buddha, etc.) at a table he “can’t see them having an argument.” This sentiment sounds great as people try to build bridges between people of different religions, but it is empty and won’t work. They would have arguments (read the New Testament and see how Jesus argued against the religious leaders of his day). My point is that arguments don’t negate peace. In fact, I believe that true peaceful dialogue between people of different faiths depends on having people who will be honest enough to tell someone else that he or she is wrong, but to do it in a respectful, honorable, and loving way.

I’m not offended when someone tells me wrong if he has first listened to me and sought to understand me. I welcome such honesty. It gives me freedom to say what I was already thinking, “You’re wrong!”

Another thing that looks interesting is that the filmmaker doesn’t just ask religious experts. I like the idea of asking regular people about their concept of God.

HT: Ibtisam B.