A’salam Ou aleikum:
There is no God but God.
Is it not the sweetest hope of every soul that wanders the realm of creation to return to the happy peace of boundary-less belonging? However, expanding one's circle of inclusivity can be a challenge when the concept of ‘other’ leads to suspicion—conscious or otherwise—about the Unknown.
I had allowed such a barrier of ‘Otherness’ to descend between myself and the as-yet untravelled territory of Islam. I knew the barrier was there, and I felt it escalate with each evidence of ‘Otherness’ that bombarded me from the media.
I also knew better than to assume that such inhospitable perceptions were to be accepted at face value. Yet without a human face, a heartbeat, a voice or a smile to substitute for the veiled anonymity of the stranger named 'Muslim', I allowed that whisper of ‘Other’ to go unanswered. How sad!
I did not go in pursuit of remedy to this perception because I did not feel it was doing me, nor anyone else, particular harm. (It was merely a perception, after all...) Yet perceptions paint the landscape of our consciousness. This meant that I was going through life with a dim sinister corner in my own inner landscape, limiting the splendor of my panorama on humanity.
This minor success at insinuating ‘Otherness’ also had large implications for the integrity of my Theology. That is to say, my spiritual belief in the Oneness of all had been surreptitiously corrupted by this supposedly ‘harmless’ cognitive dissonance. To allow this blatant exception to the receptivity of my spirit in relation to others, however impersonal the basis for this, was not 'harmless' at all!
What a seemingly small an act it was to cross the threshold of the first mosque I visited, yet how great the gains to my consciousness. I now carry the bright face, articulate voice, and warm smile of Sajeda, my host, in place of the veiled anonymous stranger named 'Muslim'. I now have the experience of Islamic hospitality to inform my sentiments.
This dissolution of the veil of 'otherness' within me has expanded and beautified my interior landscape. Importantly, it has also increased the harmony between my perceptions and my spiritual beliefs.
As interfaith clergy who are answering a call to serve the spiritual well-being of others, we are particularly responsible for dismantling such barriers to the wellbeing of inter-human relations. To expand into the fullness of our ministerial callings, may we continue to initiate small steps into the unfamiliar, rooting out the territory of ‘Other’ in our consciousness. Having done this, we will be freer, clearer, more harmonious channels for the Divine, and for the good of All.