thesoulpurposedotorg

I’ve been observing a very stately elderly East Indian gentleman in our apartment complex. Whenever I go for a walk, I wave to him. It always seemd to me that he wasn’t sure how to respond. After several months of this, I decided to introduce myself. He was outside his apartment in a long dress coat, and dress hat bouncing a tennis ball against the garage door. I asked if he needed a partner. Fortunately for me, he said no (I can’t play tennis to save my life). However, we ended up talking for almost an hour. It seems he imigrated to this country from Bangledesh about 20 years ago. He has a degree in history from a University in India. Our conversation covered many topics but came in the end to our current political situation. He is convinced that our president is mentally ill and for this he has compassion. He is very worried about our future. He went on at length about the history of leadership and the ability to put one’s followers above oneself as a sign of successful leadership. He spoke of Alexander the Great and Ghandi among others.

I asked him about radical fundamentalist Muslims and radical fundamentalist Christians. He called himself a liberal muslim and spoke of his daily prayer and scripture reading. He spoke of how appalled and offended he is at the mis-use of the Koran for purposes of evil. I spoke of my same concern with mis-use of the Bible. It was such a priviledge to speak with him and learn from him. What a different world it would be if we could or rather would listen to people from across the globe every day. I’m thankful my new found friend prays for our country every day.