Shiloh Baptist Church, the beautiful church that sits on a rise just south of the intersection of Lewinsville Road and Spring Hill Road, celebrates 150 years of service to the community this year.
Founded in 1872 by Cyrus Franklin Carter, who also founded other churches in the area (First Baptist Church of Vienna and First Baptist Church Chesterbrook), Shiloh was central to the post-Civil War Odrick’s Corner Community. To read more about the history of the church, please visit shilohbcva.net/our-story.
To commemorate this special anniversary, Shiloh held a series of events including a community picnic in July, and a “Spotlight on Shiloh” event at the McLean Community Center in August. The celebrations culminated in a special worship service held on September 18.
The September 18 service, in addition to celebrating the church’s sesquicentennial, also recognized Rev. Dr. Robert F. Cheeks, Jr., and his wife, Minister Constance Cheeks, for their fifteen years of leadership to the congregation. It was a joyous occasion that included the presentation of a commendation from Fairfax County by Board of Supervisors Chairman Jeff McKay, and the reading of congratulatory messages from Governor Youngkin, the leadership of National Cathedral, and from Lewinsville Presbyterian Church which has been partnering with Shiloh Baptist in Bible study.
Shiloh Baptist is a member of Tysons Interfaith. At least four Tysons Interfaith communities were represented at the September 18 service. Pictured here at the service is Fazia Dean of Dar Al-Hijrah Islamic Center.
Tysons Interfaith congratulates Shiloh Baptist on their 150 years of enduring service to the local community. We look forward to continuing to partner with them to weave the values of spiritual connection, spiritual learning, mutual support, and community service into the fabric of the greater Tysons area.
A recent lead article in the Christian Science Monitor Daily really caught my attention. On September 15, editor Mark Sappenfield published a piece entitled “Butterflies, capitalism, and the golden rule.”
Butterflies, capitalism, and the golden rule
Editor
| When the world gathers in New York next week for the United Nations General Assembly, Kim Polman will be there to talk about butterflies – kind of. Ms. Polman is co-founder of Reboot the Future, an organization built on the idea that the golden rule – cherished in various forms by all human cultures – is the basis for societal and economic transformation. Ms. Polman is not alone in thinking capitalism needs a reboot. On one hand, capitalism has generated unprecedented wealth, lifting wide swaths of the world out of poverty. But it is also at the basis of what some call the “death economy” – extractive and exploitative practices built on competition run amok. She’ll be in New York to discuss the new book she helped write, “Values for a Life Economy.” The key to pivoting from an extractive, exploitative capitalism to one that embraces all and the planet is recognizing our deep interconnection. “We are all connected, and we are all responsible,” she says. “We need to wake up to the idea that we are not just here for ourselves.” She’s talking about nothing less than a shift in our economic paradigm. From the days of Adam Smith, capitalism has been about how competition holds our lower natures in check. Can we really expect more of ourselves as humans? That’s where the butterflies come in. When the caterpillar starts its metamorphosis, its cells actively resist. It tries to stop the process. “But the cell that holds the vision of the butterfly is innate in the caterpillar,” she says. The ability to transform is already there, and it only becomes active under duress. For humans, she says, that visionary cell is the golden rule – the innate, natural impulse to treat others and the world the way you would wish to be treated. “Our work,” she says, “is to reach a tipping point.” |
Isn’t this a wonderful thought to be discussing at the United Nations? An economic paradigm shift based on a deeper understanding of the Golden Rule.
Over 40 years ago the United National General Assembly established the International Day of Peace. In 2001 they unanimously clarified the day as being dedicated to strengthening the ideals of peace among all nations and peoples of the earth. This year’s Day of Peace theme is End Racism. Build Peace
With all the serious challenges to peace around the world, and right here in the US, Tysons Interfaith will highlight the 2022 International Day of Peace (September 21, 2022) with a continuation of our Oneness of Humanity series.
The Oneness of Humanity series began in the summer of 2020, when Tysons Interfaith hosted an on-line discussion about the concept of the “Oneness of Humanity,” and what it means from different faith traditions. In the ensuing months, we also explored “Since we are one, how do we deal with race?” and “Do you feel a call to take action (to build an equitable society)?” The series has continued since 2020, exploring topics of common interest to people of all faith traditions and spiritual practices.
The title of our September 21, 2002 Oneness event is: Building Peaceful Communities, Promoting Mutual Respect: A Call to Action. The event will be held on Zoom from 7:00 – 8:30 pm, and will be facilitated by Dara Feldman, an educator, international speaker, author and founder of Virtues Matter. We will explore learning language and practical skills to promote peace, and how to recognize virtues in others to build/repair relationships and foster mutual respect. We hope you will join us!
To register and learn more about this event, please visit tysonsinterfaith.org/iwe-event/building-peaceful-communities/.
This blog post is the expressed opinion of its writer and does not necessarily reflect the views of Tysons Interfaith or its members.
I recently visited Boston to visit my brother, and among a few other outdoor things, we visited Mt. Auburn Cemetery. Designed by Frederick Law Olmstead, who also designed Central Park, it is a beautiful array of trees, plants, ponds, and a stunning view of downtown Boston. Several luminaries are honored there, including Longfellow, Winslow Homer, Julia Ward Howe, and Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. But three of the memorials in particular caught my eye.
Robert Gould Shaw, born into a prominent Boston abolitionist family, accepted command of the first all-black regiment of the Civil War, the Massachusetts 54th, at age 25. As featured in the movie Glory, Shaw fought for the interests of his troops, and for their opportunity to participate seriously in the war. They got that opportunity in the bloody Battle of Fort Wagner, South Carolina, in which Shaw and many in his regiment were killed. The confederate general returned to the Union army the bodies of all Union officers that were killed, except for Shaw, since he commanded a black unit. Shaw was buried with his troops in a mass grave. Shaw’s father was proud of that fact, stating, “We would not have his body removed from where it lies surrounded by his brave and devoted soldiers . . . We can imagine no holier place than that in which he lies, among his brave and devoted followers, nor which for him better company – what a body-guard he has!” The memorial to Shaw pictured below was erected in Mt. Auburn Cemetery, where some of his relatives are buried. There is also a famous sculpture of Shaw and the 54th Regiment in the National Gallery of Art.
Dorothea Dix is memorialized by one of the plainer markers in the cemetery, which is fitting for someone who was a tireless and unselfish reformer for others, even though she suffered from numerous physical and mental health challenges of her own. She grew up in Worcester, Mass. In 1840-41, Dix did a statewide investigation and report of treatment conditions for the mentally ill in Massachusetts, resulting in expanded hospital facilities in the state. She did similar studies in many other states, including New Jersey, New Hampshire, Louisiana, and North Carolina, as well as Scotland and Nova Scotia. While facilities remained inadequate, her tireless activism helped improve care for the mentally ill. She was also appointed Superintendent of Army Nurses in the Civil War, overseeing over 3,000 nurses, though her strong views sometimes clashed with other leaders. Among other things, she encouraged her nurses to provide treatment to all those suffering. One of her nurses stated, “Many of these were Rebels. I could not pass them by neglected. Though enemies, they were nevertheless helpless, suffering human beings.”
Mary Baker Eddy led Christian Science, which is part of the Tysons Interfaith group. She is honored by a beautiful monument at the side of a beautiful wooded pond. Eddy contributed greatly to American religious thought in the 19th century, and the Christian Science Monitor continues to be a thoughtful and influential publication.
This blog post is the expressed opinion of its writer and does not necessarily reflect the views of Tysons Interfaith or its members.
Over 40 years ago the United National General Assembly established the International Day of Peace. In 2001 they unanimously clarified the day as being dedicated to strengthening the ideals of peace among all nations and peoples of the earth. The theme for this year’s Day of Peace is End Racism. Build Peace.
For the 2016 United Nations International Day of Peace, Centers for Spiritual Living formally recognized the Collective Meditation for Peace Initiative as an integral and essential element of our organization. Its driving purpose is to raise the consciousness of peace around the world.
So, what are we doing about it?
The Collective Meditation for Peace Initiative coordinates the weekly Heart of Peace Meditations on Facebook every Monday afternoon at 1:00 PM MT. Team members are “vision led” to provide an array of meditation experiences throughout the year.
The Heart of Peace team invites everyone to take a deep dive into their spiritual practices, committing to daily peace prayers in total confidence that we do have the power to change the world using affirmative prayer – Peace shall prevail! The team is fostering the emergence of a world in which compassion and empathy overcome suspicion and hatred. A world that we can truly be proud of.
Our next event “One World, One Lover, One Peace” is on United Nations International Day of Peace, September 21st the 2022 on Facebook.
To achieve enduring Peace we collaborate, connect and take actions collectively. The Heart of Peace team is always seeking ways in which it can engage people … to attract spiritual activists with a passion for peace. We began by becoming clear observers, honest evaluators and dedicated doers. We have discerned the components of peace and identified actions that synergistically bring about experiences of peace. In collaboration with other organizations, we produce events and promote those of other peace organizations and our communities such as the Global Chain Reaction for Peace created by the Center for Spiritual Living Geneva [Switzerland]. This past year we have featured the World Healing Peace Meditation, provided a Pause for Peace at the Centers for Spiritual Living 2022 Convention, produced a daily meditation guide posted on Facebook every day of the Season of Peace and Nonviolence, hosted World Labyrinth Day and the United Nations International Day of Peace.
Individually and collectively the Heart of Peace team members remain keenly alert to ways in which to remove obstacles to the free flow of peace around the world. Acknowledging that a lack of information and education about other cultures and traditions, has been one of the primary forces obstructing universal peace, team members have engaged with other organizations to break such barriers.
And, there are more ways in which Centers for Spiritual Living is bringing forth world peace …
Global Services Committee, in fulfillment of our Global Vision of “… a world in which we live and grow as One Global Family that respects and honors the interconnectedness of all life; a world where this kinship with all life prospers and connects through the guidance of spiritual wisdom and experience” works diligently worldwide connecting and nurturing global relationships. These connections make it possible for people to learn about other cultures and make personal connections – essential components of world peace.
Our Diversity Equity Inclusion Committee is dedicated to working toward a world that embraces and celebrates diversity and eliminates all expressions of prejudice in alignment with the United Nations 2022 theme of “End Racism. Build Peace.”
We envision a world that works for everyone and for all creation and are committed to doing our part to make peace magnificently ordinary rather than something exceptional to be achieved.
(Coming next: International Day of Peace, September 21, 2022 – What Tysons Interfaith is Doing to Support It)
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United Nations International Day of Peace 2022 Theme: “End Racism. Build Peace.”
Look for Peace Day activities in your own community and around the world: *Minute of silence at 12 noon (all time zones) *Peace education events *Intercultural and interfaith dialogues *Workshops on the UN Peace Day theme *Meditation and prayer *Planting peace poles *Community gatherings *Vigils *Concerts and festivals
This blog post is the expressed opinion of its writer and does not necessarily reflect the views of Tysons Interfaith or its members.
Over 40 years ago the United National General Assembly established the International Day of Peace. In 2001 they unanimously clarified the day as being dedicated to strengthening the ideals of peace among all nations and peoples of the earth. This year’s Day of Peace theme is End Racism. Build Peace.
It is a common practice in the US is to declare days in recognition of this or that. For years I have found that confusing when it comes to something like peace. The declaration of twenty-four hours dedicated to something such as cease-fire and non-violence, begs the question: Is it then okay to be horrid and hateful during the other 8,736 hours in a year? I know we must start somewhere, and one day is better than no days. I feel we need to be clear about our intention: we want more! We are called to do everything within our power to bring about its fulfillment. We need to be firm and not accept anything less than its fulfillment lest we give in and tolerate something less than real peace. We must be willing to go full out for all peoples – all creation – to experience the components of peace.
This year, the United Nations is acknowledging that achieving true peace entails much more than laying down arms. It requires the building of societies where all members regardless of race can flourish.
It has long been a stand within Centers for Spiritual Living that we are called to create a world that works for all. This involves creating a world in which there is equity, in which all people are treated equally, regardless of their race, gender, orientation, age, ability or other unique attributes. We envision all people, all beings, and all life as expressions of God.
Our Global Vision doesn’t just suggest that we should be nice to one another. It clearly states that we envision “A World That Works for Everyone”- a world of peace and harmony, enfranchisement and justice – and that this is our work to do. It doesn’t suggest that mediocre is okay. It calls us to commit to it and lean into its fulfillment!
As Secretary-General António Guterres has said: “Racism continues to poison institutions, social structures, and everyday life in every society. It continues to be a driver of persistent inequality. And it continues to deny people their fundamental human rights. It destabilizes societies, undermines democracies, erodes the legitimacy of governments …” In the presence of such forces, collective peace is not experienced.
We each have a role to play in fostering peace. Tackling racism and other demonstrations of prejudice are crucial and require our collective action.
In furtherance of the United Nations dedication to strengthening the ideals of peace, both within and among all nations and peoples, the Secretary went on to say, “We are called to dismantle the structures that entrench racism in our midst. We can support movements for equality and human rights everywhere. We can speak out against hate speech – both offline and online. We can promote anti-racism through education and reparatory justice.”
Stay tuned as we explore local efforts to promote anti-racism and sustainable peace in our homes and communities.
This blog post is the expressed opinion of its writer and does not necessarily reflect the views of Tysons Interfaith or its members.
An AP story that ran recently in the Washington Post touched us deeply.
We shared the story with our Tysons Interfaith colleagues who also found the story to be very uplifting. We share it again here for all to appreciate:
WASHINGTON POST, June 27, 2022
www.washingtonpost.com/kidspost/2022/06/25/
Syrian refugee spends 5,000 hours carving model of German cathedral
Fadel Alkhudr, a woodcarver who fled war in Syria, was charmed by the cathedral in Cologne, his new home.
Fadel Alkhudr from Syria poses Monday with his wooden model of the Cologne Cathedral on display in Cologne, Germany. Alkhudr, a woodcarver from Aleppo, Syria, fled the war in his home country and arrived in Cologne in 2015. He became fascinated by the cathedral and decided to carve a model. (Martin Meissner/AP) Fadel Alkhudr from Syria poses Monday with his wooden model of the Cologne Cathedral on display in Cologne, Germany. Alkhudr, a woodcarver from Aleppo, Syria, fled the war in his home country and arrived in Cologne in 2015. He became fascinated by the cathedral and decided to carve a model. (Martin Meissner/AP)
When Syrian refugee Fadel Alkhudr arrived in Germany in 2015, the first thing he saw when he stepped out of the train in Cologne was the city’s majestic cathedral.
Alkhudr, 42, became so fascinated by the famous landmark on the Rhine River with its twin spires and elaborate ornaments that he spent hours looking at it. He took photos of it, drew sketches and eventually started carving a wooden model.
For more than 2½ years — or about 5,000 hours, he says — Alkhudr worked on creating a 6½-foot-tall copy of the structure in a small basement that he uses as a workshop in the city.
Alkhudr, who is Muslim, said he developed such a close connection to the Catholic cathedral that at some point it felt like the building became a part of him, “like it’s a dear friend to me.”
The Syrian, who learned carving from his father at the age of 13, first fled to Turkey and then to the western German city of Cologne after his family’s woodcarving business in Aleppo was destroyed during the war in Syria. He said he’s often asked if it didn’t feel strange for a Muslim to dedicate himself to Germany’s most famous Christian house of worship.
Not at all, he says, because growing up in Aleppo before the civil war, he had Muslim and Christian friends, and customers from different religions who came to buy wooden art at the family store.
“When we were in Aleppo we used to have … no issues between a mosque and a church,” the father of five recounts. “Our neighbors were Christian and we are Muslims. We used to invite each other into our homes and there were no problems.”
Alkhudr is one of more than 1 million migrants who came to Germany from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan in 2015-2016, escaping war, destruction and poverty in their home countries. He first worked odd jobs to make a living, brought his family over in 2017, and, since 2019, focused on creating the cathedral model. He hopes that in the future he can also make a living in Germany as an art carver.
Alkhudr used hard beech wood and 50-year-old tools from Syria that his father had passed on to him. The end result was 6½ feet in height and length, and about 4½ feet in width.
The original cathedral is 500 feet tall and took more than 600 years — from 1248 to 1880 — to complete. It’s a United Nations World Heritage Site and hosts the Shrine of the Three Kings, believed to contain the bones of the “Three Wise Men.” The cathedral is one of Germany’s top tourist attractions and one of the oldest and most important pilgrimage sites of Northern Europe.
Alkhudr’s delicately chiseled work is on exhibit at the cathedral’s Domforum visitor center just across from the original. The Syrian hopes that he can present his woodwork in other cities, too, and thus spread what he sees as the cathedral’s unifying message.
“For me, the cathedral is a home for all people,” he said.
This blog post is the expressed opinion of its writers and does not necessarily reflect the views of Tysons Interfaith or its members.
The following log is being presented in a series of weekly installments. To read this document in its entirety, please visit philchurch.substack.com
DAY 8 (FRIDAY, APRIL 8) – Phil is becoming expendable. HM arrived at our home a week earlier with clothes freshly washed and cleaned at a laundromat close to his hotel. He now needs to wash his clothes again. Connie shows him how to use our washing machine, how much soap to put in and what settings to use. HM now knows something about how to run our house that Phil doesn’t know. Phil is beginning to feel a bit expendable.
DAY 9 (SATURDAY, APRIL 9) – A helping hand from church members. Phil and Connie send out a request to our church fellowship group for a chest of drawers that HM might use in his bedroom. Within less than an hour after our request “hit the streets” we have a call with the offer of a 3-drawer chest. It’s now installed in his bedroom. He can take it with him – along with our daughter’s unwanted student desk – when he finds his own place to live.
DAY 10 (SUNDAY, APRIL 10) – Another Afghan friend, HA, comes to visit. We learn that HA arrived in the first wave of evacuees with his parents and a brother and was housed at Fort Bliss. It has taken HA nearly six months since his arrival to get all his immigration paperwork processed and only recently has been able to find a job as a data analyst with an area company. He brings, of course, food from his family’s Iftar dinner the night before. More delicacies again to please our pallets at dinner.
DAY 11 (MONDAY, APRIL 11) – We celebrate today. HM has a job offer. Not much of one, because it’s a short free-lance contract arranged through an Internet-based company – www.upwork.com – that matches computer techies with small-company clients that don’t need or can’t afford full time IT staff. In HM’s case the work would be constructing a website for the owner of a new restaurant. UpWork has an international talent base and matches employers and workers in a range of business and engineering areas around the world. It just may be of interest to other arriving refugees.
DAY 12 (TUESDAY, APRIL 12) – HM takes over our kitchen. It’s another day of AARP volunteer tax advising for Connie so she will be home late in the afternoon. (Only a few days remain till the tax filing deadline.) Phil normally “cooks” these evenings, that is he goes to get Chinese or Thai take out. When he suggests this option to HM, however, he gets pushback. There is still plenty of Iftar meal ingredients provided by his Afghan friends on hand so he suggests that instead. Phil has no counteroffer so HM takes over the kitchen and has a full meal ready when Connie walks in the door. She is delighted. Phil can’t complain. We three break (HM’s) Ramadan fast together. Phil even has trouble carrying out his normal kitchen duty – rinsing plates and putting them in the dishwasher. HM insists he must also do that. (Has HM’s mother back in Kabul encouraged him to be so helpful?) Whatever, Phil is really beginning to like HM. Connie already.
DAY 13 (WEDNESDAY, APRIL 13) – Another family relative emerges. After Iftar dinner together Phil shows HM an Opinion Page article from the day’s Washington Post about the need for the western countries to press the Afghan Taliban government on its promises to keep secondary schools open for girls. The article is written by Roya Rahmani, the former Afghan ambassador to the US (2018-2021) who is now also a refugee in the US and currently is a visiting fellow at Georgetown University’s Institute for Women, Peace and Security. HM declares Rahmani is a relative on his mother’s side. He knows her personally. Another layer of HM’s family-and-friends background emerges.
DAY 14 (THURSDAY, APRIL 14) – More variety in our daily meals. Today Phil and Connie schedule our Iftar meal to follow our Maundy Thursday evening church service. HM chows down as soon as we return home with food that still another friend, HK, has brought to share with him – rice, of course, along with chicken biryani and Qabuli palau, a tomato-based vegetable dish.
This blog post is the expressed opinion of its writer and does not necessarily reflect the views of Tysons Interfaith or its members.
The following log is being presented in a series of weekly installments. To read this document in its entirety, please visit philchurch.substack.com
We have been “observing” both Christian Easter Season and Muslim Ramadan this year. The choice was ours but then maybe, as part of some divine equation, it was not. Whatever, it has been a rewarding and fulfilling experience, one worth sharing. Notice that we put “observing” in quotes, because the month-long sun-up-to-sun-down fasting part of Ramadan is a bit more than we can handle. (Certain exemptions from fasting exist, of course, for the pregnant, elderly and the infirm among others.)
Our Ramadan observations began on Friday afternoon, April 1. That day Phil responded to a knock on the door, opened and welcomed HM into our home. Twenty-seven-year-old HM is part of the second wave of Afghan evacuees to arrive in America since August 2021. He left Kabul, Afghanistan in January 2022 for Islamabad, Pakistan where the US Embassy arranged for him to fly to a US military base outside Doha, Qatar. There, he underwent background checks, physical exams and vaccinations, and processing of his special immigrant visa (SIV) application.
In mid-March HM boarded a Qatar Airlines flight to Dulles International where he was met by his US sponsoring organization, Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Arlington which arranged short-term lodging for him and for some other Afghan evacuees at an Arlington hotel. When his US government-funded lodging allowance was exhausted, HM was expected to find other living arrangements that he could afford – not an easy task in Northern Virginia, one of the region’s most expensive and competitive housing markets.
HM is now our houseguest. We’re getting to know this interesting and intelligent young man, supporting his efforts to resettle in America, learning about the troubling challenges facing his parents and siblings still living in Kabul, Afghanistan, and meeting some of his friends from the growing Afghan diaspora here in Northern Virginia. The following is a daily log of events surrounding HM’s stay with us during the month of Ramadan.
[Note: As a precaution against possible repercussions by the Taliban government against family members remaining in Afghanistan, US State Department protocols urge that, until safe to do so, communications, particularly electronic media use initials in place of full names of Afghan refugees resettling in the US.]
WEEK 1 – GETTING ACQUAINTED
DAY 0 (THURSDAY, MARCH 31) – A phone call. It’s Thursday afternoon when Phil’s cell phone rings. On the other end is NF, a former Afghan employee of the US Embassy in Kabul with whom Phil is working on his job search. NF is resettling in America with his wife and three daughters. They arrived in the US as evacuees in September and settled into housing in Pittsburgh, PA. Phil hasn’t talked with NF for a few weeks, not since NF started working.
NF is calling with a request. A former work colleague in Kabul, HM, arrived in Virginia three weeks earlier. HM has now exhausted his two-week lodging allowance but has not yet found a place to live on his own or with friends. He does not yet have documents needed to work or to rent an apartment here. NF asks if can Phil talk to HM and see if there is anything he could do to help him find a place where he can afford to live. Phil agrees to talk to HM.
Within an hour HM calls Phil. He explains he can’t afford the hotel’s nightly room charge that his resettlement agency had been paying up to that time. His Afghan friends in the area have large families in small apartments; they just can’t take him in. HM is open to whatever Phil can suggest as to a cheaper place he might stay while he gets his papers in order and conducts his job search. He needs to check out of his hotel by noon the next day, Friday, also the day before the month-long Muslim Ramadan begins. Phil and HM exchange email addresses. Phil asks HM to send his resume.
Off the phone with HM, Phil calls the Catholic Charities office to inquire about HM’s refugee status but no one answers and all voice mail boxes are full, an indicator most likely of just how overwhelmed are the nine nonprofit agencies contracted nation-wide by the US government to resettle arriving Afghan refugees. Phil emails the organization but is not hopeful for an immediate reply. He has the evening to ponder the situation; he calls to consult Connie who is at our daughter’s townhouse for some mother/daughter time together. Phil and Connie concur that, absent any other viable options, HM could stay with us for awhile.
DAY 1 (FRIDAY, APRIL 1) – HM arrives. Phil’s morning is hectic. He reaches out again to Catholic Charities and is now able to leave a voice message and email address. By late morning he does get a proforma email message back that it is the organization’s policy not to release to third parties any information about its clients. Dead end, but understandable. Phil calls HM’s cell to see if he has been able to make any alternative living arrangements. None. Phil looks over HM’s resume. It indicates a college degree in computer sciences with lots of IT certifications and work experience with USG contractors in Kabul. The resume is well-written, reflective of the very good English with which HM communicates over the phone.
Phil invites HM to stay at our house in one of our empty-nester bedrooms. He offers to come to the hotel to get HM and his things. HM accepts the offer to stay with Phil and Connie but indicates that one of his Afghan friends will bring him to our home.
HM arrives with his Afghan friend, JN, who came to the US two years earlier and is living in Alexandria in a small apartment with his wife and six school-age children. Phil invites both HM and JN in and they settle into the sunroom for some tea and cookies and a brief chat. Phil senses that he is being sized up by both HM and JN who likely are a bit uncomfortable imposing on a Christian household, on such short notice for an indeterminate period of time. Phil must have passed the test, because after an hour, JN indicates he must get back to work and they will get HM’s suitcase and gear from his car.
Phil shows HM the bedroom that he has quickly arranged to accommodate him. Phil suggests HM freshen up and then they go out and get some lunch together and talk. Phil takes HM to his favorite take-out ‘gourmet’ restaurant, POPEYE’S! Phil, thinking ahead buys a few extra pieces of chicken realizing Connie could return home from our daughter’s might be hungry enough to excuse his wandering off onto the no-fast-food path.
That evening Connie prepares a shrimp appetizer – HM, growing up in a landlocked country – has not experienced very much seafood – and meat balls and spaghetti for dinner. HM is hungry but not very enthused about the shrimp or the meatballs. Not spicy enough we will learn later. The rest of the evening we talk and plan for the next day. HM expresses concerns over his Ramadan fasting commitment and how that might impact our daily routine. Phil and Connie tell HM that we’ve lived and worked in Muslim countries – Bangladesh and Pakistan – and are familiar with Islamic practices. HM appears relieved at hearing that.
DAY 2 (SATURDAY, APRIL 2) – Ramadan begins. Phil works with HM today on his job resume. Though HM’s written English is very good, his five-page resume needs some rewording to bring it down to just two pages of more focused information and to highlight his accomplishments better. HM works on revisions over a good share of the rest of the day. He is now fasting (since sun-up) and will not eat or drink till after sunset about 7:15pm. Connie wonders what to fix for dinner. In the middle of that quandary the doorbell rings and it is another of HM’s friends who has come to drop off Iftar (dinner) food for the three of us. Later HM explains the Muslim tradition of sharing Iftar food with others during Ramadan. We graciously accept the rice biryani, cut up chicken, and spicy okra vegetable dish. We eat well that evening. HM observes Phil’s and Connie’s practice of preceding dinner asking God’s blessing; we observe as, is HM’s practice, that he follows dinner with his thanks, “Praise Allah (God) who has fed us!”
DAY 3 (SUNDAY, APRIL 3) – HM’s family in Kabul. Connie and Phil had hoped to take HM to church service with them this morning. The night before, he had responded positively to our invitation and expressed interest in the experience. But when we tapped on his door in the morning we were greeted with a very drawn and exhausted HM who appeared to have had a sleepless night. We worried about that one shrimp or the meatballs, but later we would learn that he had been on his computer using WhatsApp to communicate with his family – Kabul time is nine hours ahead of ours – and HM admits he is a bit stressed and unsettled. Maybe next Sunday ….
Later in the day, HM explains that when he left Afghanistan, he left his mother and father, a sister and a brother still in Kabul. HM’s father works in a government statistics and census office. Under the Taliban government he is still expected to report to his ministry job daily but there is neither work to do or nor money to pay him. He tried to resign, HM reports, but the government refused his request. His father feared that if his father just stopped showing up for work there might be unfavorable repercussions for his family.
When we return from church, we find HM sitting in our living room with HS, yet another Afghan refugee friend. HS, we learn, is a trained dentist who came out of Afghanistan in early September with his family of 11 including wife, kids, parents and grandparents. He has been resettled nearby in Woodbridge. HS needs to pass the Virginia state dental board exams before he can continue his practice in Virginia. That will require at least a year of so more to prepare. Until then he is only able to work as a much lower-paid dental assistant.
There is one happy note: HM has been using HS’s home as his mailing address to receive letter mail related to his refugee status. HM’s social security card arrived in the mail and HS brought it to him today. HM is one important step closer to qualifying for employment.
DAY 4 (MONDAY, APRIL 4) – Halal food shopping. Connie and HM go food shopping at a Halalco supermarket in a nearby area where many middle eastern as well as Hispanic immigrants have settled. Their objective is to pick up some food items HM thinks Connie and Phil would enjoy eating. The items they bring home include 1×3 foot flat bread, very hot chili spices, specially seasoned ground beef, basmati rice and Tunisian dates. (Note: See photo image. Breaking fast with water and grapes is an Islamic practice that dates back 14 centuries to the life of the Muslim prophet, Mohamud.) HM sets about preparing Halal dinner with Connie helping. It’s a unique and delicious meal we have for dinner. HM has very developed cooking skills far exceeding Phil’s, for sure.
DAY 5 (TUESDAY, APRIL 5) – Opening a bank account. Today, one of HM’s friends comes by to take him to set up a bank account, now that he has a SSN. While Connie is out of the house doing volunteer AARP tax advising and HM is getting his bank account set up, Phil is left alone. He takes advantage of the moment to ‘break fasting’ and sneak a couple of pieces of leftover POPEYE’S chicken from the fridge.
DAY 6 (WEDNESDAY, APRIL 6) – Computer Geek as well as Gourmet cook. The router signal is very weak in the back bedroom where HM sleeps and works so he sets up his laptop at the kitchen table. Not good for his privacy and concentration when working. Our home wireless router needs a booster, he tells Phil. Can HM install a booster? asks Phil. Sure, says HM. Off to Best Buy they go and in less than a half hour after they return, HM has the booster installed and paired to our router with a strong enough wireless signal to return to working in his bedroom. HM is now hard into looking exploring job websites and talking via WhatsApp with his family in Kabul, often till the early hours of the morning.
DAY 7 (THURSDAY, APRIL 7) – A Ramadan fasting secret: cut the day in half by sleeping late. HM wakes up and appears downstairs about 2:00pm today to chat, no food, of course. He was up a good share of the night working till about 4:00am sending off job resumes and filling out job applications. Phil and Connie discover that during Ramadan, HM will spend his late evenings and early mornings on ZOOM working on his job search and talking with his family in Kabul while snacking, so he is plenty full with only a short half day to fast when he wakes up around noon. A young Muslim man’s clever way of accommodating lifestyle and religious practice.
This blog post is the expressed opinion of its writer and does not necessarily reflect the views of Tysons Interfaith or its members.
On Sunday, May 8, we celebrated Mother’s Day. On that day, I was struck by what Heather Cox Richardson, an American history professor at Boston College, had to say about the history of the observation in her May 7 Letters from an American post heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/may-7-2022:
“If you google the history of Mother’s Day, the internet will tell you that Mother’s Day began in 1908 when Anna Jarvis decided to honor her mother. But “Mothers’ Day”—with the apostrophe not in the singular spot, but in the plural—actually started in the 1870s, when the sheer enormity of the death caused by the Civil War and the Franco-Prussian War convinced American women that women must take control of politics from the men who had permitted such carnage. Mothers’ Day was not designed to encourage people to be nice to their mothers. It was part of women’s effort to gain power to change modern society.”
Richardson went on to say that it was Julia Ward Howe, the author of the Battle Hymn of the Republic, who originally authored an Appeal to Women throughout the world to establish a “’festival which should be observed as mothers’ day, and which should be devoted to the advocacy of peace doctrines’ to be held around the world on June 2 of every year, a date that would permit open-air meetings.”
“For Howe, the Civil War had been traumatic, but that it led to emancipation might justify its terrible bloodshed. The outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War in 1870 was another story. She remembered:
“’I was visited by a sudden feeling of the cruel and unnecessary character of the contest. It seemed to me a return to barbarism, the issue having been one which might easily have been settled without bloodshed. The question forced itself upon me, “Why do not the mothers of mankind interfere in these matters, to prevent the waste of that human life of which they alone know and bear the cost?”’
Abdu’l -Baha, the leader of the Baha’i Faith from 1892-1921 wrote: “Equality between men and women is conducive to the abolition of warfare for the reason that women will never be willing to sanction it. Mothers will not give their sons as sacrifices upon the battlefield after twenty years of anxiety and loving devotion in rearing them from infancy, no matter what cause they are called upon to defend. There is no doubt that when women obtain equality of rights, war will entirely cease among mankind.”
With wars still raging in our world, it seems very relevant for us to understand that the original “Mothers’ Day” movement was an appeal to women to bond together to demand an end to bloodshed. Empowering the women in our lives, honoring their voices and seeking paths to world peace indeed seems to me to be the best way to honor our mothers.
This blog post is the expressed opinion of its writer and does not necessarily reflect the views of Tysons Interfaith or its members.