MAMA at Grace

MAMA: Mission and Music Alive.

I'm not sure who (and how) did come up with such an acronym. But the way it sounds, serves the purpose. This was a fundraiser event for Salem Lutheran Church (near downtown Toledo). In the event program, Salem Lutheran was described as the mother church of our ELCA congregations in the Toledo area. They are very active in social work (uh oh, as a born again sociologist I'm beginning to use secular words for jobs that have been an integral part of all religions all over their history). This event was a joint effort by Lutheran churches in the area to raise funds for Salem.

I was very busy for the day, but I always enjoy music fundraisers at churches (and Grace is always a pioneer for such events). Furthermore, I missed my friends at Grace (especially Pastor Jacobs) after a long lapse in my church visits and I could use this event to meet them after such a long time. It appears that I'm so fond of Grace as my church that 3 months sounds like a long time to me. When I visited the church, it appeared that they felt the same way.

One of my senior friends (who is very traditional), warned me that some of the music I would hear this evening would not be completely church-style. Or maybe he was warning himself, because he is not such a big fan of contemporary music, but as a member of welcome team, he had to be present there all over the event. He is a retired professor BTW.

And when Zoar Band started their program, I knew what he meant. I think the word band in a church chorus name should explain enough. I'm comfortable with contemporary music (even when it borders on Rock, combined with Country or at times sounding like Bluegrass) but looking at my senior friend's face indicated that he didn't feel the same. I'm not a person to make fun of other people's discomfort, but looking at his facial expression while Zoar Band was playing, it was difficult for me to stop myself from laughing. The rest of the music performances (which included Whitney Houston style songs) were not completely graceful to him either.

But joking aside, hearing all this and watching contemporary dance at the altar of a conservative (more or less) traditional church was quite an observation for me as a sociologist. It was also interesting to watch Pastor Jacobs (who usually has a venerable restrained appearance) imitating some sort of dance at one point when the music was too animated.

When it came to Salem pastor to explain about their activities, I found that they are not limited to feeding the poor and needy (as I'd assumed based on their location downtown). And she was a lively remarkable pastor. In between music performances, different ministers at Salem would talk about what they do for their community. And I was impressed.

As a church whose web presence is limited to a modest webpage like this, they're more progressive compared to some churches who are obsessed with showing progressivism merely in their appearance or worship styles or efforts at sounding liberal (at the expense of compromising Christian principles).

The last speaker was not a minister or maybe not a regular minister. He explained that he had made mistakes and ended up in jail and he was appreciative of Salem for giving him new chances for a fresh start. You can hardly find people going to such legnth as to give an ex-felon the opportunity to work in a church (later on, I found him to be a registered sex-offender). Yet, Pastor Baumgartner had the faith and courage to give him the chance. When he finished his speech (which was too eloquent for a former inmate), everybody was impressed and gave him a long applause.

The event ended with a reception provided by God Empowering Mothers (Salem Mom's Group). As I was fasting, I could not participate in this last part which was very well-prepared. And there was a Salem Cookbook, Feed My Sheep, filled with family recipes contributed by members of Lutheran congregations of the Nothwest Ohio Synod. Given the quality of the book, I found the book very reasonably priced ($15). All sales would benefit Salem Lutheran Church to support their mission. The book (the main object of fundraising) was promoted like this: "If you love me, feed my sheep".

My first Ramadhan in the US

When I landed in Chicago O'Hare airport, I was looking for a place in terminal 3 to say my noon/afternoon prayers before catching my connecting flight to Toledo. Having failed to find a proper place, I settled for saying my prayer behind a closed gate counter, right across the gate I was supposed to catch my flight. While doing so, I felt kinda weird. Not just because I was saying my prayers as a Muslim in one of the high security airports in the US and that some idiot might have assumed I was preparing for an act of terrorism and hence calling security. Well, such things have happened in the US and also in the UK. I felt weird because I knew this would be probably my last broken prayer before arriving in my new hometown.

In Islam, when you're on travel or away from your hometown for a distance of more than 15 miles, your 4 rak'ah (unit) daily prayers (noon, afternoon and night) would be broken in half; i.e. you have to say those prayers in 2 units (rak'ah); unless you stay in that new place for 10 days or more. In that sense, Toledo where I planned to stay for at least 1.5 years for the duration of my Master's degree program, would be considered my new hometown, religiously speaking. And that despite being at a distance of much much more than 15 miles from Tehran (where I'd lived almost all my life). Trivially, Chicago was not my home, although it was in the same country (U.S.). So, this was my last broken prayer over my 32 hour odyssey before reaching my new temporary hometown on the other side of the planet.

The same rule of travel/hometown applies to fasting. When you are away from your hometown for a distance of more than 15 miles, you cannot fast (it's not broken like prayer; it's void) unless you plan to stay at the place for more than 10 days. Apart from the religious ruling, fasting from dawn to dusk could be uncomfortable when you're away from the amenities of your own home and hometown.

First time I was away from my hometown over a Ramadhan over my adulthood (being 15+ years old when prayers and fasting are mandatory for Muslims), it was 2001 and I was assigned as a supervising engineer at a hydroelectric powerplant under construction in Southwestern Iran. It was my first time being away from Tehran (where I'd lived almost all my life) for such an extended period. Although I enjoyed the beautiful scenery amid steep Zagros Mountains and the banks of blue-green Karun River, physical conditions of the job were rather tough. I had to run up and down 4 floors of the big powerplant to make sure that Instrumentation and Control installations were done properly. Add to that dust and all sort of fumes and particles as a result of welding and metalwork. It was a demanding job even without fasting. Now that I look back to that hard period, I feel good about trying to do my fasting and my job without compromising one for the other.

And now, I have a weird feeling about my first Ramadhan and fasting in the US the same way I felt at Chicago. The physical conditions of my fasting period here is not as demanding and daunting as it was back in 2001 when I was a supervising engineer. There's a different issue.

Fasting like all other Islamic rituals gets its meaning in a communal atmosphere. In Islam, you do all things with other Muslim brethren and this would not only make you feel unified with a body of believers and worshippers, but also would make you enjoy your religious experience in that community. It reinvigorates your religious experience. Fasting over Ramadhan, although may look like an individual practice to non-Muslims, is a highly communal experience.

In Islamic teachings, Ramadhan is the banquet of God. This is a banquet where you purify your soul by abstaining from eating, drinking and all sort of physical pleasures for the whole day and then sit down at the end of the day feeling elated for doing what God has told you to do. At the end of the day, when you sit down to eat and drink, you truly find yourself at the banquet of God. You enjoy a banquet with your family and buddies. So, being away from all those loved ones, doesn't let you quite enjoy your banquet.

Over past 3 years that my parents have migrated to Mashhad, although I was away from them over my Ramadhans in Tehran, I was at least among my friends. Now, I'm away from them too. Being on a solitary banquet, although you may sense the presence of the Host, doesn't feel the same as when you sit with His other guests at the table.