Ramadan

I went to an event I usually wouldn't go to.But the Institute sent out a message a few days ago, saying that the international office on campus needed our help in filling up seats for an event they were having.
Apparently there was a guest speaker coming, but only a couple dozen people had confirmed when they needed over a hundred and fifty to show up.
So they reached out to the Institute to fill those seats.
And those who came... got a free dinner. :)
Yay free food is the national calling card for a poor college student lol. :)

I must say that I really enjoyed myself that night.
The event was held late in the evening from 8:30pm-10:30pm
I thought this was rather late to have a guest speaker.
But it all became clear soon.
You see, the event was about Ramadan. Which deals with fasting.

And those participating in Ramadan do not break their fast until the sun sets. Which would be around 8:30pm this time around. (As Ramadan doesn't stay during the same time of year, it moves)
We broke the fast.
And then those who were Muslims went upstairs to pray.

Alot of us non Muslims followed them upstairs, mostly because we weren't sure what to do. The host didn't tell us to stay, and didn't tell us to come with them.
So most of us followed them upstairs and we watched their prayer.
I'd never seen the Muslim prayer in person before.

It was really a spiritual moment.
The faith and love and power in that room was so strong.
It was very peaceful, and I felt a welling in my heart.
It was a blessing to be able to see in person how others worship God.

I hope that the Muslims didn't mind that we followed them upstairs and watched them pray.
I guess -as one of the others put it- that it would be like a non LDS person coming in while we took the sacrament to watch our ceremony.

It was very reverent in that room, and I'm glad that they let us see this part of their lives. :)
Overall, I really liked being there.
I felt calm and content the entire night. There was so much acceptance and love.
It was a great way to recharge myself.
lol I was positively hyper when I got back home because the experience was so positive and unique.

I'm so grateful that the Institute and International Office are on good enough terms that they reached out to us in their time of need, and we were able to come and help fill up those empty seats and see how similar our religions are. It shows that we can reside in the same room and find similarities instead of differences. That we can accept each other and celebrate and fast in our way for the same purpose. To become closer to God.

I think the experience was so thrilling to me because for a moment I really felt a connection to the spirit of the Olympics. To gather different countries/religions/races together to compete in peace and exhibit our athletes. There isn't a lot of contention (most of the time....some events do get intense) and everyone is accepting and supportive of other people there even if they aren't from our Country, or of our race, or of our religion.
It's great.
And thinking back on going to that dinner brought on a stronger feeling that I've been feeling throughout the Olympics.
Peace, Harmony, Togetherness.

:)
Congrats Olympic Medalists!

Gold: United States, China, Russia, Great Britain, Germany, Japan, Australia, France, South Korea, Italy, Netherlands, Canada, Hungary, Ukraine, Spain, New Zealand, Brazil, Kazakhstan, Iran, Jamaica, Belarus, Cuba, Poland, Romania, Denmark, Czech Republic, Kenya, Colombia, Sweden, North Korea, Ethiopia, South Africa, Turkey, Croatia, Georgia, Argentina, Slovenia, Ireland, Switzerland, Norway, Tunisia, Lithuania, Dominican Republic, Latvia, Algeria, Bahamas, Grenada, Venezuela

Silver: United States, China, Russia, Great Britain, Germany, Japan, Australia, France, South Korea, Italy, Netherlands, Canada, Hungary, Ukraine, Spain, New Zealand, Brazil, Iran, Jamaica, Belarus, Cuba, Poland, Romania, Denmark, Czech Republic, Kenya, Colombia, Sweden, Azerbaijan, South Africa, Turkey, Mexico, Croatia, Georgia, Argentina, Slovenia, India, Mongolia, Slovakia, Switzerland, Norway, Tunisia, Armenia, Belgium, Dominican Republic, Egypt, Bulgaria, Chinese Taipei (Taiwan), Estonia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Serbia, Thailand, Botswana, Cyprus, Finland, Guatemala, Portugal

Bronze: United States, China, Russia, Great Britain, Germany, Japan, Australia, France, South Korea, Italy, Netherlands, Canada, Hungary, Ukraine, Spain, New Zealand, Brazil, Kazakhstan, Iran, Jamaica, Belarus, Cuba, Poland, Romania, Denmark, Czech Republic, Kenya, Colombia, Sweden, Azerbaijan, North Korea, Ethiopia, South Africa, Turkey, Mexico, Croatia, Georgia, Argentina, Slovenia, Ireland, India, Mongolia, Slovakia, Norway, Tunisia, Lithuania, Armenia, Belgium, Uzbekistan, Latvia, Bulgaria, Chinese Taipei (Taiwan), Estonia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Serbia, Thailand, Greece, Moldova, Qatar, Singapore, Afghanistan, Bahrain, Hong Kong, Kuwait, Morocco, Puerto Rico, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan

May the competition be just as fierce tomorrow! :)

Until you next see these words;
I'll be watching the leaves.
Enjoy the day!

-Sarnic Dirchi

The Dream

There were two boys. Either they were friends or brothers, but one was a little older then the other. But one of the boys had a...darker aura. He was a trouble maker and convinced the other guy to help him out. They basically went to an area that had a rock hill. It looked like the sidewalk area that leads down to my apartment from the street above. And the second boy reached up and made a clutching motion and the rocks came tumbling down upon a person, killing him. The overall coloring of the dream was dark but had splashes of red all over. They ended up in a tavern everywhere where the sister couldn't believe that they had just killed a person and she was trying to figure a way out of it. The boy who had made the the clutching motion felt so guilty and he knew there was nothing he could do to bring the dead guy back to life. The other boy didn't seem to care, and brainwashed the second boy into believing that it wasn't a bad thing. They ended up going on a rampage of terror assassinating whoever displeased them. The second boy showed up at the tavern where his sister worked years later, after the first boy was dead. He was wearing a cowboyesk hat in black and a brown cloak. The sister was asking him why he'd become the person he was and why he couldn't change back, and be the innocent youth he had been....

When the unholy tones of daylight pulled me away....
and I became myself again. :)

-S.N.D