Religion and Politics...

I think it's considered a general rule of thumb that all good dinner party hosts should initially avoid the controversial topics of religion and politics - yet one that it thrown out as soon as everyone feels well enough acquainted to broach these more volatile topics.

The musings I have here can be used for one of those such moments, if you'd like.

Abu drives the shared taxi between Robertsport and Monrovia. If you didn't deduce it from his name, you would know that he was a Muslim when his mobile phone rings with the call to prayer. In the middle of steering wheel there is a sticker containing a picture of Osama bin Laden. The background of the sticker is a yellow to green continuum, and just above Osama's head, small enough that from the back seat it looks like it might be a rip in the sticker, is an airplane. Oh thank you, Abu, now I feel quite welcome here.

Yet the irony is in the tension that a mere six inches away, dangling from the keys in the ignition, is the full smile face of Barack Obama in front of a royal blue background. Maybe I'm welcome after all? Conspiracy conservatives in the US might choose to explain this by positing that Abu clearly believes that Obama is a Muslim.... but my question is, doesn't he understand that these two leaders are enemies? It's like in a celebration of one for faith and the other for race, the fact that they are philosophically opposed is negligible, they are both still inspirations to him.

Even as I say that, I'm amazed, I cannot digest such dissonance. I want to know what he thinks, so that I can know where I stand. Am I welcome? I'm a Christian, and I'm white - neither of which he identifies with nor inspires him. And the fact that I'm American too? I don't know....

So what do you think about the proximity of the two likenesses? Any other similar stories to share or shed light?

Community and change...

Growing up, my mother was always an advocate of leaving a place well, she said that it is important for our emotional health. Looking back over the years of people and places that I have loved, there is always an inevitable pain associated with goodbyes and separation, you leave pieces of your hearts everywhere you go if you truly let yourself love and be loved. But I have always tried to listen to her advice and proactively consider how to leave a place well.

How much harder, then, thinking about a place where leaving is normative for half of the population, and those who remain have to continually say goodbye. What can you do to honor their hearts? If it were just a matter of readying them .... I could make a royal stink out of myself and then it would be a "good riddance!" They'd be ready for me to leave alright! But it is so much more complex than that...

I suppose it lies in savoring 'this minute' and listening to what they themselves are saying... and, not 'transitioning out' too soon.