Religious Enlightenment on the D
I am always interested in the small prophets that preach on the D train. How do they choose which car they enter? Do they look at its occupants and judge them based on who needs saving the most? If that is the case, sometimes I am lucky to look in need of saving. There is something about a really gifted preacher that regardless of religion can somehow fill me with so much warmth, so much love, that I feel that God is with me again. It must be something to do with the passion or devotion of the speaker because that is something that I admire more than anything: devotion.
Sometimes however, these preacher folk remind me of the sadness I feel for the state of religion in the world. It has become based on winning. On being right. Don't they know that no one is right?
Today a Muslim came on the train. The first Muslim preacher I have seen and his message was not so filled with warmth and love. He explained that if you were lucky enough to be born a Muslim you should thank god because he has already deemed you shall win. You will prevail over all other religions. This made me sad, that he could not simply bask in the sacred beauty of his own religion, but he had to parade around and rub people's faces in it. Faces that were perfectly satisfied the way they were.
He was round, wearing african/middle eastern print clothing, and a black windbreaker that had a stain on the lower right side on the back of it. And as the train rolled louder and the squeaking on the tracks screamed in pain, the man only preached louder and louder, as if his elevated, screeching voice could somehow convince us that he was the real deal. A woman sitting a few seats down shifted uncomfortably and rustled her papers…a gloom fell over the car.
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I am always puzzled by the sheer volume that is sometimes possessed in a person's voice. A couple sits across from me. They are adults, but you wouldn't know it. The girl, wearing bright red pants and a chain that is dangling from her hips, is projecting (she is not screaming, her voice is just magically heard at equal decibels from every point in the car) about how she needs her Chapstick from her companion. They are fighting like children. Is it the need for attention? Does this guy find this cute? What a random thing to fight over. Chapstick? Why? She threatens him then and laughs demonically. It reminds me of a 3 year old trying to be serious or trying to be shocking. Oh, and now she gives him the silent treatment--classic.
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As he preached, half in Arabic which I liked better because I couldn't understand it and it sounded beautiful especially in contrast to the ugly English words he was speaking, I was for some reason reminded of something my pastor had said during the homily 2 Christmases ago. He had said, "The opposite of love is fear". It was another broad statement that I didn't buy because I had once been afraid of those I loved or afraid of love itself. What really ticked me off was the speech that followed because it was along the same lines as the Muslim preacher that had entered the train: religion has no place in the modern world. That is not what they said of course, but that is what I have learned from both. If religion cannot acknowledge the insane…
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Ha. The lady is uncomfortable again, glancing angrily at the couple as if the glance will shut them up. She flips the page of her magazine angrily, passionately, determinedly….with a purpose.
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…power behind each religion in this incredibly diverse world, how can they function? How can they be right? I wanted to ask questions, I wanted to preach myself to remind people that it does not matter how you follow God or even if you believe in him at all, it only matters that you live well and respect each other. Love your neighbor. Do no wrong unto others. Love. That's what I wanted to tell this man. It is not whether the almighty Allah graced your spirit with the gift of being born a Muslim or any other religion. It only matters that you are a good human being. It is not a war, it is not tangible. And how dare he? How dare he come into this train and question everyone's integrity? How dare he impose his extreme unrealistic beliefs on us bystanders that he does not know.
What have you not been able to do in your life that makes you feel as if you can try to find fault in others?
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I realize now that they are not a couple, but the girl wants them to be. This is why she acts like an idiot. It was actually at this moment that I realized something.
Grow up, I say to her in my head. You're not even a real person anymore. Don't you see how fake your soul is? Chill out girl, it's okay. What are you trying to prove?
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What are any of us trying to prove?
