Interfaith Relationships


I'm going to start off by saying that I'm definitely going to ruffle some feathers with these next few entries. But this faux pas of a subject has to be talked about. It's unavoidable with this ever changing global community we find ourselves in.

So hang on tight. It's going to be rough!

Interfaith relationships. What is it?

Conceptually, interfaith relationship is a simple idea where two people of different religious background date/ marry one another. Love is love, right? That supersedes all else? These two questions will be the focus of my discussion (entries) as we move forward.

Personal:

I thought that once I decided to start dating, again, the challenge would be simple. I would find someone who was a non-practicing Christian and have to debate the relevance of God in our everyday life. Well, it wasn't. My first dating experience after a year break was with someone of Islamic Faith.

 Yippy, right?!?!? Y'all are probably as excited as I was at the prospect of such a venture. 

Of all the boundaries to break. An Orthodox Christian dating a Muslim. I'm not talking about apathetic religious folks. I'm talking about two devout and super religious individuals meeting on the same playing ground and finding a spark. 

While most would avoid such a situation; I went in thinking that it would just be another one of those 'Crazy Linda' things. I honestly thought we would never last more than a date and would never talk about faith. I was wrong. Soo very wrong!

 We spent a lot of time discussing spirituality and saw each other very frequently in a short span of time. I believe we both came in with the misconceived notion that the other one would judge and argue why one religion was better at interpreting the word of God than the other.

 What I learned from this experience is that spiritually supersedes all else. And that in my brokenness, someone reached out and reassured me that I am worthy of love and deserving of husband who loves God and adores me for simply being me. 

 So the next couple entries are going to look at the similarities between the two religions and the differences. Hopefully, I will come to a conclusion of sorts. 

Everyone's noisy questions: 

 Do I love him? Do I miss him? : Yes, to both. But the love is more of compassion because romantic loves takes time to grow. But will he ever know? Probably not; unless he decides to read this entry. My love for him runs along with my faith that God will heal his wounds and help him to become the man he is destined to be.

 Are we still dating?: No, we parted ways because of many things but the main one being religion. 

 And lastly, are we still talking? : The answer is no. It would be too hard, however; it was agreed upon that in a year's time we will reconnect and hopefully a friendship can be sprouted from this. 

So now that this is out. Are you ready to see how I go about to exam two different religions and tie them together in a form of coexistence??? Cause I'm not! Not only will I butcher my own understanding of Christianity; I might not do justice to Islam. But this is where God is pressing me to write.

Many Blessings,
Linda

P.S. If you haven't guess it. This is how I heal. I write. I create. I sing.

Photo: As you can see, the numerical reference is foreign to Christians. It is because it does not come from the Bible. It comes from the Qur'an. I will be pulling scriptures from both books to bring light to both religions in their commonality and differences. 

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