Living the dream... ;)

"Living the Dream".  "Are you living the dream?"  Haha!  Sometimes it's something people say here to joke about actually being here.  Sometimes it's really neat being a part of something that can make a difference... and sometimes you wonder what you're doing here in this dustbowl.  Well, I'm pretty sure Our Lord wants me right here.  So how to make a difference?  Well, I've been trying to do just that.  In my dealings with people, I know I have the prayers of all of you back home.  Believe me - I'm indebted to you all!  I hope I can represent you all well to the people here in this country.  I was watching some Afghans, and I felt a sense of sorrow for them - struggling to piece their country back together.  I know not all of the are like that, but I have spoken to people who just want a life with no violence, crime, or evil.  They really want to live in peace.  I hear people being cynical of our efforts, and sometimes of the people's intentions.  Well, I pray I get to work with the right people, and make an honest difference here for all of them... and all of you.

Have you ever tasted warm, fresh, stone-baked bread?  I have!  Mmmm!  I was working away at a desk when one of the people passed by and said to me: "Here - Afghan Bread!", and then threw it on the desk.  I picked it up, and it must have just been baked somewhere.  It was warm and soft, and it had that nice smell to it... WOW!  So, I stuffed it into my pocket and hurried off to the dining hall to get some food.  It was great dipping it into the sauce of the food I was eating!  The thought did cross my mind about it being poisoned or whatever... and of course, there is no such thing here as a "City of Toronto Food Services Inspection GREEN pass", so I just had to trust the people that were eating it.  (One dude put peanut butter on it and was munching away!)

I got to spend some time with a Mullah... that is an Islamic Cleric.  It was nice because I had the opportunity to ask him about his faith.  He said he was only happy to speak about his faith (and, as you can imagine - I would only be happy to speak about ours!).  Anyhow - I asked him about religious feasts and how they pray and such.  The Mullah - a very nice man with likeable mannerisms and a jolly smile and laugh - took the time to answer my questions.  It was really nice to have someone explain patiently their faith to you!  (It's just like I imagine many people would like our faith to be explained to them).  Anyhow - he mentioned that prayers are "the usual ones" for all occasions.  So I asked him to pray - just to give me an example of how he prays to OUR God!  He began what sounded to me like a very beautiful prayer.  I do believe they begin their prayers with something like: "In the name of God, Compassionate and Merciful.  Praise to Allah, Lord of the worlds, Compassionate and merciful.  Master of the Day of Judgement.  Thee we worship, Thee we beseech for help.  Guide us in the right path, the path of those Thou hast favoured...".  He had his hands raised palm up and his eyes and head were raised to the ceiling.  I bowed my head to join him in prayer, and to try to show him that there really are Christians around, and that we can pray to OUR common Lord God.  I told him when he finished his prayer (a rather lengthy one) that I prayed with him.  He looked rather pleased.  God wants us all as one people - to be one as He is one.  Well, we gotta start somewhere.  Hopefully, we've begun with a Mullah and this ordinary guy, in some small way here.

By the way - thank you for putting my article up on the Opus Dei website!  Please check it out all of you - just look it up on Google, then click on the link for Canada.  It'll probably be up for only a week.  To my students - I've already told you about that website in class.  Please check it out everyone!  (The website, not just my article.)  You'll learn about what is, as I explained to you in class during our classes on vocation - this is the path God has asked me to follow to get to Heaven.  

Take care everyone!  Keeping you in my prayers!