What do you get when you expect the unexpected?
Here’s one thing: Muslims playing in the snow!
When most people think of Islam, they think of a desert religion. And that’s for good reason— Islam is a religion that was born in the sands of Arabia and extended its reach on the backs of camels. The most common images of Muslims that come our way include hot sun, tents, and turbans.
But here we are, my husband and I, living among Muslims in the foothills of some of the highest mountains in the world, and there’s a lot more snow around than sand!
Last Sunday we took our landlord, Musa, and his family out for a day in the mountains to enjoy some snow play. We drove an hour and a half up to a summer resort area where there was a good two feet of fresh, clean powder on the ground.
Musa managed to connect with an old friend who lives there, and he found someone to rent us a sled. My husband took Musa’s 3-year-old son for short but thrilling sled rides down a hillside. The rest of us couldn’t tell which of the two “boys” enjoyed it more!
Meanwhile, the snow was falling around us in slow, fat flakes. Other people were building snowmen and having snowball fights. We ended our visit with lunch and tea back at the home of Musa’s friend. Our day out in the snow was a nice change for all of us from the usual routine of study and housework.
Does it surprise you that Muslims get excited about snowball fights and sledding? That they laugh when they roll off the sled at the bottom of the hill, and need help knocking the snow out of their boots?
When we reach out and love people who seem so different than we are, we often find that they are more like us than we expected.
God, would you show us today the ways that those who seem so different from us, are actually much more like us than we expected?
Original article: FrontiersUSA.org/blog/article/snow-play
By Lisa: Lisa and her husband have lived overseas for more than 20 years and raised two daughters in West Africa. They are now making a new home in the mountains of North India, where they have been warmly welcomed by their Muslim neighbors. Lisa also does spiritual coaching for other women on the field.
