Faith Restored... Somehow

When I was ten years old, I lived in England, and I had a friend named Ahmad.  He was of Lebanese origin, and his family owned a Lebanese restaurant in London.  One day, Ahmad took me there.  The menu was large, and I had no idea what to order.

So they brought us everything.

To this day, it is the second best meal I ever had.  It is second-best because later, while we were on a shopping trip to Harrod's, I took my mother to the restaurant.  When Ahmad's mother recognized me, suddenly we again got everything on the menu.

And ate it all.  It was fabulous, luscious, vibrant, delicious food.

This hospitality impressed me mightily.

I bring this up because lately I have struggled to keep faith in God, and more importantly in humanity.  I've wanted to believe in us, that we can address the problems we all face - and I haven't been able to muster much by way of faith.  We've all seemed... doomed.  Selfishness, self-centeredness: the root of our problem.  And it has seemed intractable to me.

But then I remember the generosity and dignity that was shown to me by Ahmad and his family.  I remember the Good they displayed.

This basic compassion is, I believe, the way in which we can connect with an immense Power greater than ourselves, that can restore us to a life of modesty, decency, and care.

Ahmad's generosity inspired me to study Islamic law.  I have become an Islamophile.  I have studied and memorized portions of the Qur'an, which I believe is the most beautiful poetry ever expressed, in perhaps the most beautiful language humans speak.

All of this has inspired me again to enjoin goodness, and a restored faith.  I can believe in God once again.  He is no longer some external spirit, but the very thing that animates the universe and gives it life, beauty, grace.  And He is contacted in each moment we tap into the compassion within us.