A Gift of Love

I was seeing James off as he was heading out to do some errands when a knock came at the door. We often have sales people come knocking, and I don’t answer the knock, whereas James likes to hear what they’re selling.  So… I headed down to my office and he answered the door.

Shortly after, he called me upstairs to tell me what had happened: “A couple of school kids were at the door, and they said they had a gift for me. I said, ‘No one comes offering a gift without wanting something, so what do you want?’ ‘No, no’ they replied. ‘We want to give you this gift.’ They were from the local Islamic school and were going around offering a Ramadan gift to people in the neighbourhood.”

I was immediately filled with emotion (as much as by the gift as by my leaving the scene and missing out on this encounter), and I quickly opened the door and called “Thanks” to the kids as they moved toward the next house.

The gift was a little glass filled with a gift bag of dates,

tied with a ribbon to which was attached this message:

Even though Canada is a welcoming, multicultural society, dedicated to “the cultural mosaic,” there are still pockets of prejudice and people who are openly biased against Muslims. These kids were offering a gift that could be seen as “a potent force for peace and source of healing,” a light unto a world too darkened by hate. I found it interesting that Jesus’ teachings were being demonstrated by Muslims––Muslim children. Love is love, whatever the religion.