Visiting Hani, my Arab Cousin.

Date:   4/6/2006 8:39:13 PM ( 18 y ago)

April 6, 2006
6:17 PM

Yesterday the wind and rain
poured down. Right now
I can feel the sun from the west
on the right side of my face
and birds distantly in the canyon
below the house.

In that film "Moonstruck"
Cher and the other folks in the neighborhood
are all looking out the window
at the full moon, and the love
energies are moving through young
and old.

I finished the banking and went to make
a deposit. A little girl, who yesterday
would have been rained on, was
sitting on the grass. There wasn't a cloud
in the skin or shadow, where maybe a month
ago before we manipuled the hour,
she would have been in a sweater by now
or indoors.

I wasn't sure what to do with all the feelings.
I am doing pretty good managing my Love addiction
these days. I want to keep some distance from
the woman behind door #1. It is that dangerous
time of year, the coming of Passover.

There wasn't a chance in heaven or hell
that we would be connecting the second night
of Passover these past two years. We neared
that night two years in a row aftrer long separations
and many messages verbally spoken that
said we would never be naked again,
but then came that Second night of Passover.
In the Kaballistic count, it is the night of Chesed--
heart--in the week of Loveingkindness,
and wouldn't you know it, two years in a row
we found ourselves embracing.

Not this year, not this year.

What to do with all the loving feelings
I was having today, and the feeling
that what really makes life amazing
at its core for me
is tender loving affection. Not this year.
Not this year.

The nectarine tree is still blooming.
I went out to look at the new growth of
little seedlings before I stepped into
the EG Mobile toward the bank,
but then, once done, I had energy to give
so I decided to go and share some
Life Force with Hani, my Arab friend
who runs Near East Foods.

I have mentioned him before here.
He was born in Bethlehem. He speaks better
Hebrew than I do.

The store was filled when I entered.
There was Arabic music playing.
I noticed an offer of FREE Arabic
cassette on a banner outside the store
near the other signs that say Lamb
or Hallal, the Arab way that they do
"Kosher"

I did not want to make too much contact
with the women. They were dressed
to the foot level, all covered, some black
skinned Moslems, others white folks
who must have converted.

I was hungry. I let Hanni know I came to see him.
I did not want to distract him too much.
Ever one knows him here. He says "Alechem Shalom"
a lot as people leave, an Arab blessing.

I went for three Kibbi--some lamb wrapped
in wheat.coating. It didn't do my cold much good,
but Hani had some Kleenex when I needed to blow
my nose.

It was good to see his son, who is in college to
become a dentist. I asked if he missed basketball.
He is a good player. He will joined a volleyball leaque
this summer.

I forgot today is fresh liver day--fresh lamb liver.
There were other animal parts in the butcher case.
It always grosses me a bit out. They make it so
real. There is no hiding here. You see cow feet\
and know they are cow feet. It's a bit much.
I am ethically vegetarian, but will eat this liver
on days like this--raw, dipped in olive oil, various
seasonings. I trust the integrity of Hani and the
integrity of the prayers and ways he butchers.
Once in a while, I can stomach this
as the Christian world
prepared to honor the Lamb.

I wanted to spend some money.
I looked around, and thought,
Oh, Yes, I will buy some more water
from the sacred well of Zamzam.

By this time, the store was empty.
The Archangels had cleared the space
so Hani and I could have some Sacred
words.

"Any holidays coming up?"
I asked. "No," he says,
wehave two holidays,
Ramadan in the Fall, and the Pilgrimage.

The pilgrimage is to Meccah,
where Zamzam is located, the Holy Spring.

Hani has told me the story of Zamzam before,
how the well was discovered. I never remind him
that he has. I always want to hear the story.

It was the great, or great great grandfather of
Mohamed who is Abraham, or something like that.
One day, the grandfather of Mohamid had a dream
about a large anthill, blood running, and a crow eating
the blood.

The dream came three nights of in a row.
The message was, go open Zamzam.
What was Zamzam? THe grandfather of Mohamid
never heard of it.

In the ancient of days, there was this flowing stream
in the desert, but the people of that place fought with
each other, and covered over the water.

No one knew where it was.

one day the Grandfather of Mohammid went to this
cow barbeque in the desert. At that time, the
people would have to travel many many miles for water.

The grandfather saw this enormous anthill.
The tribes people a butchered a cow, but the cow
got up and walked more. He was dripping blood
on the desert sand near the anthill. Then the crow,
with a white feather came, and drank of the blood.

He started to dig. Up came the water. This was
the water that had saved Ismael, the son of Abraham
who is the father of both the Arabs, the Jews,
and the Christians.

Hagar, the servant of Sara, was abandoned in the desert.
She feared for the life of her son, Ismael.
She was crying. Then the Archangel Gabriel came,
and before she knew it, her feet were covered with
water....Zamzam!!!

Here we go!

Next thing you know, the barbequers wanted to claim
that the water belonged to them in partnership.
The Grandfather could not see their logic. He had found
this well that as legend says, has no source.

They decided to go to a Jewish woman, a prophetess,
to ask her vision. So they went to find her through the desert.
After days of travel, they were out of water. They decided
to dig holes for themselves, so as they died, at least most
would be buried.

At this point, the Grandfather's camel was sitting down.
When he got up, water again sprang from the Earth.
The other men said, "Certainly, He who has given
water here, must have given you water at Zamzam!

They all satisfied their thirst and went home.

The story comes on. The Grandfather was sad
because he only had one child. He prayed that
if he was given 12 he would sacrifice the last
to the Heavens.

It turned out that the one who was chosen to be
sacrificed was the father of Mohammid, who happened
to be his favorite of the 12. After some bargaining,
120 camels were sacrificed, and not the son.

Turns out that this Sunday is the birthday of Mohammid
the prophet, but Hani says, they do not celebrate this
as a holiday.

So here we were in this Story mode. I glanced over
and saw all the produce in the store. It was not of a high quality.

Then, a man came in, for Garbanza beans. He was a Catholic
he said. We all shook hands as brothers.

Then Hani said, "Leslie is my Cousin. He is Jewish
and he is my Cousin. Sharon, he is not my cousin.
he is into politics, but Leslie he is my Cousin.

I do not read the papers. I imagine Sharon is head
of the Jewish nation now.

At that point, I saw my opinion.

"Hani, I am concerned about the quality of that produce
that you are serving to my cousins. I know you know what
quality is. I want to hook you up with fine organic produce.
My cousins deserve the best, as you would feed your very
children."

He smiled. He agreed.

He came out from behind the counter and gave me
a big hug.

I left, thankful I found a place for the overflow
of Love I was feeling.

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