(Written: 9-4-08)
I was just standing out on our balcony (nothing glamorous just a 2ft by 20ft space) and it’s turning into a beautiful evening. We’re 5 floors up (really 6 because they count the “1st” floor as “0”) which means there’s a nice breeze right now. I can hear the call to prayer coming from somewhere off to my right and it’s an interesting time in Cairo (more imminently for me in Agouza) because this month is Ramadan. For us this generally means trying not to eat or drink in front of people (since most everyone here is Muslim) it also means that as I’m looking out on the street all is still as everyone is inside waiting to “break fast.” The stillness is not hollow but rather seems to be filled with the richness of the culture in the smallest manifestations and impressions: a solemn presence of prayer in this season, the smell of Shwerma riding on the breeze, the flow of fabric hanging on lines, and the stories each balcony I look down upon seems to impress upon me.
There are so many lessons in this place and I know than in my time here I may begin to peek at some but as for the rest, I am content to feel them on the breeze and develop a cohabitation with them unexplained but daily influencing my experiences.
In striving to seek the truth it seems to flee from me but to sit and wait upon the Lord brings clarity and understanding beyond any I could seek to develop.
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