This blog is 'borrowed' from someone in a group that I belong to. Again, I can't take any credit for the words, but... well, I thought that the message was so enlightened and dead-on that I wanted to share. So shoot me... Anyway, the author titled it 'Eating the Menu'. so here it is:
Eating the Menu
One day I was riding the 22 Fillmore bus to a class. It was crowded on the bus and these two Mormon missionaries step on board. I look around and see that the seat next to me is the ONLY open seat. Shit!
So, sho 'nuff, dude sits right down next to me. We know what happens next.
"So, what are you reading there?"
"I'm reviewing anatomy for a deep tissue massage class I'm taking."
"Wow! That's interesting. Isn't it amazing how the body was made?
Oh, I have a very good book here..."
(yep)
So he tries to pass off the Book of Mormon on me. I tell him I already read it. He perks up.
"Really??"
"Yes"
"What did you think"
"It gave me a headache."
"hmm... well... maybe you just weren't ready for the message back then..."
So, I reach into my bag and pull out a Marmaduke Pickthall translation of the Qur'an. "Well, this is the Qur'an. Would you like to read it?"
"Why would I want to do that?"
Yes, he actually said that.
His companion sort of winced at that comment.
I paused. I knew this could turn into a tangled theological discussion of quoting verse and all that shit and I knew where that would go, but something moved me to take another course...
I pulled off my glasses and handed them to him.
"Here, put these on."
"What?"
"Put them on"
He paused but he did put them on for about two seconds.
"What was that like?"
"Everything was blurry."
"It kinda hurts your eyes too, don't it?"
"Yes."
"Well, if you were to wear them much longer, you might even get a headache."
He laughed in agreement.
"Look..." I said. "All of us have different lives. Culturally, personally, experientially. Who I am is not who you are, and yet God, in his infinite mercy, helps us all. I told you that the Book of Mormon gave me a headache. Well, that is YOUR prescription. This Holy Qur'an is MY prescription. Through these books our vision is corrected. Some people are actually fortunate enough to not even NEED a prescription. God bless them. But just like these glasses, I don't expect you to wear my prescription."
After I said that, the whole back of the bus applauded.
An old black woman who was getting off the bus patted my shoulder on the way off. She told me that her son became Buddhist and that she was Baptist. She thanked me and for helping her understand a bit and gave me her blessings. Which I happily accepted and returned in kind.