inadequacy

I've tried to write this blog entry several times. I've started over, written a few words, written a paragraph, written a sentence, and erased it each time. I cannot seem to find words adequate to tell you about what I experienced today. Katie and I spent the day in Little India. It's a pretty large area in Chicago that we decided should actually be called "Little World" because there are people from SOOOO many different ethnicities and countries. It's absolutely beautiful. I can't describe the feelings I get there. I stood out. People stared at me because I was white. Not that all of them are the same, but I am still definitely out of place there. If that isn't strange enough for me, there are two opposing religions living next door to each other- Little India is very Muslim, but there is a Hasidic Jewish community that borders it. One side of the street is a Jewish synagogue and school- all the boys have their yamakas- and on the other side of the street are little girls in burkas as well as Mexicans, Indians, and all sorts of other cultures. It's absolutely bizarre to see. Katie and I ate with Cody at an Afghani restaurant, which was actually quite yummy. Our waitress was Irena from Russia. Gorgeous girl, and very sweet. Hopefully we'll get to see her more throughout the summer. She wants to move to San Francisco soon. Then we spent the rest of the afternoon in prayer for the hundreds of lost souls in the area. Walking through grocery stores and seeing idols lined up on the shelves was a real wake up call for me. There are shrines and idols of all sizes on sale in every little shop along the street. It breaks my heart to see people in such bondage to false religions and gods. They worship a graven image that is made by human hands rather than the God who formed them in their mother's womb and has a beautiful plan for their lives. My heart cries out against that. I hurt for these people. I love them and want them to worship the Living God, the God of Hope, as we talked about in Satsang (Indian and Nepali worhsip service- another blog for another day-this deserves its own entry) The God who is coming back for them, but wants to have a personal relationship with them even now.

I still wish I could somehow open your eyes to what I saw and smelled and heard and felt today. I wish you could be here with me. I wish I had words to somehow explain to you the beauty I have seen. I'll close with a neat thing I've learned- the Hindi word "namaste" means something along the lines of "I bow to the image of the Divine that I see in you"- a powerful example of how I am beginning to see the image of my Father God in each of His children, no matter their color or race or language or caste or anything else.

Oh, how He loves us so.