“Behold, how good and pleasant it is
when brothers dwell in unity.”
Psalm 133:1 (RSV)
I visited a neighborhood hair salon that a friend once recommended many years ago. After arriving, I learned that the Salon was under new ownership. The current owner is an attractive young Moslem woman from Jordan, who dresses in western style attire and doesn’t cover her head. The receptionist and some of her hairdressers are Assyrian Christians.
While we were chatting, the owner shared how she respects people of all faiths. She told me that she services both Orthodox Jewish and Moslem women clients, whose religion forbids them to show their hair in public. The orthodox Jewish women who are married, wear wigs or a scarf in public, and the Moslem women wear the hijab scarf to cover their hair. I was amazed at such a melting pot blend of cultures and traditions, all in one salon.
The owner has a special room with a black curtain for clients who need to have their hair done in privacy. They are led to the special room, behind a black curtain, out of dignity and respect for their religious tradition. Other clients who are not of those religious backgrounds, receive services in the attractively decorated open section of the Salon.
I observed a young Moslem client go behind the black curtain for her appointment. Later, a middle aged orthodox Jewish client arrived, and waited for her appointment to go behind the same black curtain. The owner greets everyone with a warm and friendly attitude, and that Salon is a prototype of peace and unity that the whole world can learn from.
Four days later, I heard of another example of cross cultural peace and unity. On Labor Day, my childhood friend called me from Israel where he now lives. I wrote previously about Larry, who was a neighbor who lived across the street from me, in Chicago, where we grew up. One day during our primary grade school years, Larry was hit by a car, on the side street where we lived. He was hospitalized in a coma for a few months, but he finally recovered and returned to school. He has weakness and spasms in one arm and walks with a limp, but he was able to finish school up to a few years of college.
Being Jewish, Larry decided to immigrate to Israel about forty years ago, and he is now retired after working at an Israeli factory that makes the diamond blades for drills, used by surgeons all over the world.
He told me about a construction project currently being done in his condo building. The government is adding a bomb proof safe room inside every unit of the building, which is a complex five year project. Residents have the option to move out of the building during the construction, but Larry cannot easily do that, since he’s 71 years old, slightly handicapped, and lives alone. He has his groceries delivered these days because the stairs in the building are dangerous to walk on during the renovations.
All the laborers working on the project are Arab residents of Israel. Larry told me how kind they have all been to him, and how they help him whenever he comes and goes, while climbing the stairs. Despite the inconvenience of the construction period, Larry told me about one very special worker, named Mahmoud. Whenever Larry leaves or returns to his condo, Mahmoud stops what he is doing and helps Larry go up or down the stairs, while carrying his bags or anything he is holding. I was fascinated and touched to hear a true story about such kindness, that crosses religious and cultural barriers.
Between Larry’s story about Mahmoud’s kindness and the Salon owner who services people with the dignity and respect of their faith, it seemed that God was showing these examples to me for a reason. Peace and unity comes when we see people as individuals, instead of categorizing them into groups. The world is divided and in turmoil, but we can bring a bit of peace and unity to it, by treating every individual with dignity, respect and kindness, just as Jesus did.
Thinking of the words in today’s Psalm, I said to myself, “How good and pleasant it is when brothers and sisters of all faiths can truly dwell together in unity.”
Lord, help us to be kind, respectful, and to do our small part to keep peace and unity across various faith traditions. Give us the humility to show dignity to every individual who is a stranger, just as Jesus did. Amen
