[Kennypor]

Ramadan Kareem. Here in Mirdif, off the eastern edge of the city of Dubai, the Muslims are fasting all day. The heat is tough, and everyone struggles with the desire, the need, to take a sip of cool water. The struggle is to wait until sundown.

I walked with my 4 year old boy to the grocery store a couple of nights ago, and on the way past the mosque I slipped on a palm frond. The dude passing us on the road stopped to check on me, helped me toss it into the yard of the mosque, by the chicken coop. Judging by his full plastic sacks, he was finally off duty from his job and on the way home to a happy Iftar.

The city is the city, and traffic is traffic, but it seems calmer this week.

The fasting makes folks, as we know from our own fasting tradition, more calm and patient with each other.

Today Islam in the month of Ramadan seems pretty far indeed from any kind of 'danger' to Christendom. They are our younger brothers and sisters; they are zealous, yes, but there is still love between us.

Let's choose to see what we share before we get angry about what's different.

God help us all.