Afternoon at a Mosque.

I visited a mosque last week, and it was the best experience.

I had to attend another religion's worship service for my world religions class, and I really, really wanted to visit a mosque, probably because it intimidated me the most, therefore I figured I had the most to gain from it. So I threw on a head scarf, hopped in my little silver car and drove to Salt Lake City. (I'll take any excuse to drive to Salt Lake City. I'm a city girl. Provo doesn't count.)

I was a little nervous when I first arrived, because I was all alone and the wooden doors to the mosque were very large and I didn't even know if I was wearing my headscarf correctly.

But luckily, people were very nice to me. I asked a Muslim woman in the parking lot to help me out, and she sent me inside with her kids to find the Imam. He welcomed me inside warmly. Even though I couldn't go into the main room of the mosque (because a woman's presence would offend the Muslim elders inside) I felt comfortable there, and he invited me to go upstairs to the women's area.

I met a college girl upstairs. She was my age, and she was wearing her headscarf much more skillfully than I was wearing mine. (years of practice, probably) She was from Somalia, by way of the Middle East, and she was kind enough to let me talk with her for a while.

We talked about prayer, faith, and devotion. The conversation came easily, naturally, beautifully. She explained that she prays five times a day to connect with Allah. I told her that I try to pray morning and night (and sometimes during the day) to communicate with my Heavenly Father. She shared her testimony of her Muslim faith, and I shared my testimony of my Christian faith.

We sat together on the floor--not as a Muslim and a Christian-- but as two college girls with faith in something greater than ourselves, just trying to uphold our high standards and be a force for good in the world. We were more the same than we were different.

I left the mosque feeling very peaceful and full of determination to be a kinder person.

I'd say it was an afternoon well-spent. Times a million.