"We all — in the end — die in medias res. In the middle of a story. Of many stories."(http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/30/opinion/mona-simpsons-eulogy-for-steve-jobs.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all)
You see, this journey began as a search for "the truth" and bringing injustices to light, and then shifted abruptly. Words, even just a few of them, can do that. I had gone to Dar al-Islam in New Mexico for a teacher's institute, not really knowing what I'd find other than some more knowledge about Islam and a few allies perhaps in my efforts to combat misinformation. What I found was both friendship with my colleagues and a new and deeper appreciation for stories. They stood out to me then and continue to stand out now as important markers along the journey.
“We have stories. We all have Stories. Now I can give you stories. Let me now ask your permission to travel with me on my mental highway about Islam in America.”—Dr. Suleyman Nyang, Howard University Professor and Dar Al-Islam instructor"
It was here that I learned a bit about Tariq and Rehana who helped their father run the institute. I learned about Tariq's adorable little boy at home who was about the same age as mine--and we'd talk to each other about them when feeling a little homesick. I learned about Ali and his conversion experience, coming to the camp at 21 on a trip with his college class, and about his life in Morocco afterwards as he sought to learn more about his new faith and the language of the scriptures. And then I heard Dr. Nyang talk about history as telling stories, and it was through his use of story that I was most struck; it was story that I remembered most when I left the institute and stories that still cling to my memory.
I struggled for so long to make this a "legitimate" study with statistics and discourse methods and, yes, a lot of that is still present, but it's the STORIES for me that make this so important. It's one of the oldest ways of transferring knowledge and providing education that we know of. Scriptures tell the stories of faith and their impact--their "legitimacy" is in more than just who passed them down and how long they've been around--it's in their being there, weaving through other stories together that we begin to understand history, life, and ourselves.
To Mona Simpson I must say that her words ring so true in my ears today--we all die in the midst of stories, in the midst of many stories. The stories carry on and carry weight and carry importance. Just a day after all saints day, I continue to sit and think about stories that have ended, but that yet continue because they threaded their way through my own story, and I couldn't help but pick up that story and weave it into my own life and approach to other people. There are things each of us leave unfinished when we die (how can we not? We never know when that might happen), but the story continues on.
I like to think of scripture as not just a chronicle of time, but a love story between God and humans (yes, we're the inconsistent partner, but sometimes we really do try!) and it's a story of life, of learning and most of all a story of forgiveness and love. I see the same threads running through the Torah, the Bible and the Qu'ran. It's all a story of God and his love and our lives and faith--and it's a story in medias res, still being written, though many have lived and died in its midst. It's a powerful story, often best shared by examining lives today, seeing how the scripture "threads" have crept into their lives, their living, and the ways in which they share their identities. Thank you, Mona Simpson, for reminding me and others that we die in the midst of stories and the stories we all share matter. greatly.
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