Learning Another Language

Learning another language, in this blog, does not literally mean attending a class to study the grammatical and linguistic characteristics of a language such as English, Spanish, French, Chinese, etc. Rather, it means learning about each other. Learning the methaphorical "language" (the lives, rhythms, hopes, dreams, etc.) of your classmate, collegue, brother, sister and/or stranger.

Yesterday, my wonderful classmate and collegue, Ratnasari Dewi, visited our youth group to teach us her "language." She spoke about growing up in Indonesia, being a Muslim, and about the progressive ideology and practices of Islam. The kids loved it! They asked so many wonderful questions and were so engaged. I was really proud of their behavior and curiosity!

I invited Dewi to speak with the group to widen their world-view of people, culture and religion. The lesson was about tolerance and love for all of humanity. We accepted Dewi into our group as another human being and were then enriched by the knowledge that we gained from her.

I also had a wonderful time spending the day with Dewi and learning more about her, the culture and life in Indonesia and Islam. Thank you very much to Ratnasari Dewi, my very good friend!

Thank you also to Luckett McDonald for the fabulous spagetti, bread and dessert!