Hindu?

At service today, one of my students noticed a necklace I bought in Varanasi. It’s simple, black string with a silver charm in the shape of the “ohm” symbol. Since the loss of my favourite necklace from Peru, I felt the need to replace it with a simple token of my travels to remind me to breathe.

My student pointed to my necklace and asked, “Hindu?” And I said “No, Hindi naa.” Her teacher laughed at her and said “Naa naa, Christian.” But I turned and said “No, Christian naa.” This confused the hell out of them. “You American?” I nodded; “You Christian.” I shook my head. Both looked back and forth at the other’s puzzled expression, then stared at my confident and seemingly unclear face. “Where is your god?” they ask.

The next moment in the scene was just a collision of confusion, for it is something I could not explain to them in my broken Bangla. So I will explain it to you: my god is not found in a book, but in all words that create organic beauty. My god is not found in a sacred house, but in every moment of pure harmony. My god was not found alone in prayer; my god was found in you. I have so much natural love for this world, for my life and the people in it. And that is the god I worship.