By: Georgia Coats
I opened the screen door and gave a hearty shout for my kidsto come in for the night and get ready for bed. I love the ebb and flow of our neighborhood in east Dearborn that wehave called home for the past 15 years. Inthe winter all the kids stay indoors and just grow inches taller, and then eachspring there is a grand neighborhood reunion where kids pop out of houses likeflowers popping out on the little Magnolia tree in our front yard.
And then there’s Ramadan
Last night, as is customary in the neighborhood duringRamadan, the time just before sunset gets eerily quiet and we can smell thesavory treats being prepared in the houses around us. At dark, my kids come in to get ready for bedand that is just about the same time when we hear a faint knock on thedoor. This time it was the youngestdaughter of one of our Yemeni neighbors with a plate full of piping hot meatand potato sambusas—YUM!
Suddenly my three kids start remembering what they loveabout Ramadan, being raised to follow Jesus the Messiah in a predominantly Muslimcommunity. It’s not just the warmsambusas, syrupy yellow cake, Lebanese knafeh, or our all-time family favorite—layered,buttery sabayah sprinkled with black sesame seeds. It’s about the blessing of generosity, RamadanKareem. The Messiah Jesus teaches us to valuegenerosity and hospitality. Our Muslimneighbors regularly model what that looks like in our community.
To my kids, Ramadan is a time of sharing and abundance. The first Eid al-Fitr etched in theirmemories is marked with girls in fancy dresses and boys donning daunting swordson their belts. Then there’s the candy,the henna, and even gifts of cash! Beinghanded dollar bills from neighborhood dads was mind-blowing for my little ones. Our neighbors set the standard high forgenerosity.
The Plate War continues
Being from a Greek immigrant home, I know how to battle in aplate war. When a dish comes to you fullof flavorful favorites, you prepare to give it back fully loaded with moremouth-watering goodness. Bottom line: Theplate never gets passed anywhereempty. Last summer during theIslamic month of fasting we got caught in a furious neighborhood platewar. We were preparing to leave on anepic summer road trip to visit family in my home state of Colorado. I was not on top of my game. I got swept under by the generosity ofRamadan. A plate came in from neighborsto the north of us and a second plate got handed to my kids from neighbors tothe south. Then, foil-wrapped sabayah camefrom across the street! My kids and Iscrambled to bake our favorite poppy-seed muffins and banana breads to returnthe plates amidst packing for our trip. When it was all said and done, we still had one leftover blue floral-trimmedplate. Since then, we have spent thepast year passing this plate to various neighbors on all sides, thinking we werereturning it. Everyone keeps filling itand passing it back. We finallyconcluded that we don’t actually know who the mysterious plate belongs to. It is still our goal to return thisplate—full, of course—to someone. Wehave yet to win that battle!
I know that Ramadan isn’t just about late-nightfeasting. It’s about cultivating both thepersonal and collective spiritual discipline of fasting in submission to God’swill. Though our own faith calls us tothis discipline as well, I must say, that I appreciate a neighborhood wherefasting is a topic of conversation among ten-year-olds, and breaking fast issomething to share with loved ones and neighbors.
So to all my Muslim friends and neighbors, thank you, foryour generosity. Thank you for showingus, plate by plate, the essence of kareem. And if anyone happens to recognize this plate,let me know and I can fill it full of warm, homemade banana bread orGreek-style spinach pie.
BIO:Georgia Coats is a Language Learning Coach, Spanish Instructor, writer, wifeand mother. Georgia and her husbandSteve have three children and have resided in Dearborn, Michigan, since 2001, enjoyingthe ethnic variety that their neighborhood has to offer. Georgia has been learning and teachinglanguage cumulatively for 30 years. She earned her BA in Spanish for bilingualeducation, and she continues her graduate studies in Spanish, Linguistics andLanguage Learning, at Wayne State. Whether she’s cooking a healthy meal for herfamily, teaching Spanish, or trying to help her kids with their Arabichomework, her life goal comes from the words of Jesus the Messiah: to love God with all her heart, mind andstrength, and to love her neighbors.
