Tomorrow morning at our church some Turkish friends will come to the worship and then share Noah's Pudding with us afterward. Here is how my friend, Nimet, describes this tradition:
The first month of the Islamic calendar, though it changes every year, starts at the end of December this year and ends at the end of January. During this month, we make a special pudding from different beans, spices and fruits, as we believe Prophet Noah and his believers made it to survive when they were rescued from the big flood. They made and ate this pudding as a symbol of God's blessing on them. This tradition has been carried on for centuries in Turkey. People make the pudding in very large pots and they distribute it in their neighborhoods to show their love, care and friendship for their neighbors. As the Turkish community here, we have been trying to keep the same tradition here every year. We make the pudding and distribute it among our neighbors and neighborhood churches as a way to start new friendships, conversations to understand one another and to share this wonderful tradition with the people here in Lansing....We will bring the pudding in individual serving bowls, covered, and labeled with the ingredients so people will know what is in it..
Are you surprised that Muslims know about Noah and the Ark? Are you aware that Muslims believe that Abraham is the "father" of Islam, as well as Judaism and, by extension, Christianity? Since my readers are pretty astute folks, I think, maybe you do know this. But it's surprising to me to find how few people know much about this major religion in the world and how many seem to think Islam is only a religion of hatred and violence. Of course there are those who are and who use the name of Mohammed to justify their acts. But there are many variables in Islam, just as there are in Christianity or any religion. I am proud that tomorrow, especially given what is happening in Gaza, a few well-meaning Muslim Turks are going to share their "pudding" with a few well-meaning American Episcopalians. May it be a small, but not insignificant, step toward peace and understanding.
Hello Carol.
ReplyDeleteYour blog is wonderful. It is very meaningful to share this surprising truth in your post. I hope you liked the pudding. Ayten
I was SO happy to see so many people share in the pudding this morning! I really hope we can continue to do more things like this to share common stories and introduce new traditions. Hopefully it will bring stronger relations through understand. Thanks for organizing such a fun and important event!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much Carol, for hosting us in your church. We felt very welcomed, met with new people and talked about traditions. One guy told me that this was a very radical thing for us to do...:) I told him we do these events all the time everywhere.:) So some people were surprized to see Muslims in a church but everyone was nice. I even received another invitation to make a Turkey presentation in a middle school. I hope these small efforts towards peace and understanding will have ripple effects in the community and eventually in the world.
ReplyDeleteThank again to all St. Paul community.