Since I was a little child I lived between the two biggest religions in the World, which is Christianism and Islam. My father a Lebanese, muslim, and the family of my mother, grandfather from Syria and grandmother from Turkey, but both Greek Ortodox. I lived also between two different cultures, which is the east and west culture, because for 20 years I lived in Brazil, and after that I came to Lebanon.
The school that I studied in Brazil were a convent school where the Professors were all nuns and priests, where three times per week we had lessons about Christianism. I also had to confess my sins to the Priest, but at that time I was a child and I didn't have too much to say.
With my Protestant or Evangelical friends I use to go to their churches, watch they singing in their choir and I had the chance to know the basis of different religions.
In my family, despite my father Muslim married my mother Christian, they respect each other religion and while my father sometimes went to the mosque, my mother use to go to the church, and during years they lived with these differences but with a lot of love.
I always studied religions because was something that I am very interested. But the one who took me to the mosque was not my muslim father, but my mother who after ten years of marriage start to study Islam and converted to Islam. Then I started to go to the mosque more frequently, and we went every Saturday with Brazilians taking lessons about Islam.
I am not the kind who believe easily, that is why I always was full of questions and sometimes Religious Leaders Christians and Muslims, were tired. But questioning the sacred with logic, bring you great answers, and sometimes good answers can just appear with deeply reflection and just don’t come from others, but from your own self.
In both religions, in the mosque or in the church I knew very nice people, and some not very nice, which shows that in all religions we can find good and bad people, but the bad is not religion’s fault, but singular individual behavior. About my grandparents of my mother’s side, at first was difficult for them to accept my mother’s conversion. When a western person change their religion, the family seems to accept easier than Arabs. Maybe because Arabs are so strongly connected with their believes and with their traditions.
But after sometime they accepted very well, and we lived with them in total harmony, and we continue to be part of Christmas and Eastern's commemoration, and we continue to live the traditions of both religions. My grandparents adapted with our new style of life, with our new concepts.
I just have beautiful memories about them, and they left beautiful lessons for our entire lives. I can say that they were the best people that I ever know, and despite of our different believes, the love was bigger than anything else and I believe that with their magnificent acts wherever they are, they are very fine, because they were just lights in this world, and these lights never go out.
After 20 years I came the first time to Lebanon, where I could observe that a follower of a religion in East was different than West in some aspects. I could see that mores and traditions where very present in the Lebanese society and connected with their religions.
Also the interpretation and understanding of religion is sometimes different in West and East, this is a detailed phenomenon that should be studied and analyzed . In Lebanon in my University I was fascinated while seeing the different religions in front of my eyes, the different clothes, rituals, habits, etc...
They breathe religion, in the University for example there is a Prayer room, in some Restaurants and big stores too, moreover you see people making acts of worship together. In addition the most beautiful, was to see that no ones criticize others religions, it was like no ones have nothing with your religion or with what you believe, and there is not trying to change people’s religion. I was so happy to see this amazing mixed worlds, because was something very new for me.
In 2006 in Lebanon-Israel war I went to Syria with some of my relatives, and there I also could live with Sunni Muslims during the war time, observing their rituals and habits, moreover I could visit some Sacred Places. However I could not concentrate there in such issue a lot, because this was a hard time, but hard times bring us such experience that ease can’t give.
In 2008 I could visit London where my sister lives, and there I also paid attention in their religion, and London was the incredible mix of religions, Jewish working side by side with Muslims in the Airport, Christians preaching the words of the Holy Bible in the streets, an English policewoman working wearing hijab. People from the entire world, with different ethnicity, sharing the same religion althought sometimes with different mores.
In every place that I’ve been I saw how extraordinary is Faith, and how far it can reach, and there is not limits. I never was in a Sacred Place just praying, but always thinking, thinking and thinking.
Each human being has his own decisions, choices and characteristics, and each one of us like it or not is part of a group and the Oneness is only a God’s privilege.
Although I don't consider myself a religious person, faith took over my life. In my last year of Journalism I had to decide about the Senior Project, I started to think about many subjects, but when I looked back I saw that all the time, my life was accompanied by spiritual analysis, and I had a rich background about it, also few years ago a relative also writer advised me to make a book about religion in Lebanon and Sacred Places, in that time I didn't take it as a plan and I forgot about it, but now when I decided to write about this topic I just remembered the words of this wise man and I went for it.
I wish with a lot of faith that you enjoy it!
