February 20, transfiguration

Word of the day: Transfiguration: an exalting, glorifying, or spiritual change.  

Perhaps that is what I was expecting on the Camino, to a degree. Rather, it was a more subtle, quiet, meditative change.  I am more mindful, and place kindness and gratefulness as my day starters!  

in Marrakech, a mostly Muslim city, the Mosques 🕌 and the Imams would chant their beliefs 5 times a day. I would arise in the morning for the 6:30 am prayer, and pause when their prayers were repeated throughout the day.  There is something powerful about praying at dusk and dawn, to start and end the daylight hours in 

Prayer 🙏 



             The Medina in the enclosed city
  Eileen and I at Cafe Franc overlooking Marrakech 
       Eileen and her friend Hamza, who arranged our Riad at the home of his family friends.

According to Wikipedia and other sites: 

Faith (iman) includes six primary beliefs:[11]

  1. Belief in the existence and oneness of God.
  2. Belief in the existence of angels.
  3. Belief in the existence of the books of which God is the author: the Quran(revealed to Muhammad), the Gospel(revealed to Jesus), the Torah (revealed to prophets and messengers amongst the Children of Israel), Psalms (revealed to David), the Scrolls of Moses, and the Scrolls of Abraham.
  4. Belief in the existence of prophets: Muhammad being the last of them, Jesus the penultimate, and others sent before them [like Moses, Abraham, David, Joseph, Jacob].
  5. Belief in the existence of the Day of Judgment: in that day, humanity will be divided into two groups: that of paradise and that of hell. These groups are composed of subgroups.
  6. Belief in the existence of God's predestination (qadar, 'Divine Decree') due to God's omniscience, whether it involves good or bad.

It is interesting how much the Bible is included in their faith tradition.  And how so many in this country have vilified their people since 911 and the endless wars in Iraq 🇮🇶, Syria 🇸🇾, Yemen 🇾🇪 Afghanistan 🇦🇫.  And after 20+ years of was in Afghanistan, the Taliban has returned with a vengeance; denying the rights of women and girls.  It makes one realize how little war really accomplishes, beyond the destruction of lives, and a boost to the military industrial complex.  

So today, 2 days before lent begins; I will pray for peace.  Pray for the victims of the devastating earthquake in Turkey 🇹🇷 and Syria 🇸🇾, and for all the houseless and displaced people in our 🌎.


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