I put this up a few years ago and wanted to repeat it. I found it profoundly moving, but also interesting to watch in terms of the various responses: hesitancy to respond, eagerness to respond, uncertainty and inability or unwillingness to believe the statement on the poster, peer pressure both for and against, partialness of response, wholehearted responses, shared pain and tears, laughter, etc. Today, when divisions are even more exaggerated than ever, we need the reminder that we all have more in common than we have differences, and for Christians, the task of making neighbors of aliens" (that is, "the other") is enjoined on us by virtue of the Christ in whose death and life we are baptized.
Part of accomplishing this is with the kind of vulnerability to the "other" shown by Karim Sulayman as he stands blind to appearances and open to approach. One of the most Christlike characteristics we find in the Scriptures is Jesus' vulnerability (and that of the Abba he reveals)!! If we can adopt the same attitude and way of being present in our world, we assist our God to truly be Emmanuel, God-with-us, and make of our world the place God wills it to be. We help fulfill our vocation to be truly and authentically human.
Karim Sulayman - I trust you (Lyrics In This Heart by Sinead O'Connor) from Meredith Kaufman Younger on Vimeo. (And, yes, as noted above, Karim Sulayman, a gifted Lebanese-American tenor, is singing the lyrics for this video! I wonder how many people saw him as even so potentially gifted as they looked at him, read his poster, and tried to decide whether to approach him or not.)
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