I’d like to show you a picture. However, due to certain current technological limitations I will have to do so via my writing. Perhaps it is for the best, as this is a picture best painted with carefully chosen words rather than the short click of a camera. So, close your eyes (figuratively, of course!) for a moment and imagine a dark nocturnal sky. No city lights to dampen the natural splendor of the starry night sky. Gritty brick buildings reaching up against the nightline, but falling terribly short due to their small stature. The night air is filled with the sounds of children playing on roof tops, car horns, and the occasional braying donkey. Clashing against the village buildings are the staunch mountains of Mokattam. The mountains cross their arms in somberness standing tall, solemn guardians of the village. Despite they’re best effort to appear daunting, in this scene they can only seem majestically gorgeous. Street lights shine orange fluorescent light onto the roads, creating a scene reminiscent of New York City.
The mountain is crowned with colossal telecom towers and exuberant floodlights creating an aura that surrounds the outskirts of Mokattam. The face of the mountain is weathered and wizened, literally covered with wisdom. No, seriously. Scripture murals etched into the side of the mountain only adds to the grandeur of the scene. What will really bring this scene to life is the people. In your mind, sprinkle them throughout the streets. A group of kids here, a man driving off to work there, maybe an old mother bringing in the laundry. And speaking of laundry, imagine a hanging line in front of yourself. The line littered with your own damp clothes, dripping into the heaping pile of garbage below.
A breeze gently lifts your clothes, and perhaps your hair, into the air. It is a wind unlike any you’ve ever experienced. It is pure and it is calm and it is just a little bit dusty. Something in it reaches down into the depths of your soul and pulls out an appreciation for the beauty of God’s creation. And as you look up again you may realize that the full moon has gloriously bathed the entire scene in a hauntingly incandescent white light. Go ahead and gasp. It’s okay. What you’ve witness is something raw, potent, and striking. Who knew hanging your laundry could become a spiritual experience?
-Sol
