The Firestone employee was very kind and put air back into my deflated tire. The hissing noise that pursued was not encouraging and he kindly suggested two options: go home and your tire will be completely flat by morning or go back to Discount Tires and have them repair it. Wonderful, just what I wanted to do at 5:35 in the afternoon in rush hour traffic, head to South Blvd. in South Charlotte!
I had twenty minutes to get to the Discount Tires before they closed for the evening, which gave me twenty minutes to clear my head and make a decision to whine about my "bad luck" or consider it another adventure about to happen. I choose the latter.
Pulling into Discount Tires was like pulling into the old family home. The people behind the counter knew my name well and greeted me kindly, slightly laughing at the lady with all the bad luck. I found me a nice seat outside and began looking around to see who I could meet and have a conversation with for the next hour. It was then I saw her walking across the parking lot. A slender built woman dress in an all black Jilbab (a dress like an overcoat which covers from the neck down to the feet). She had a scarf around her head that looked rather saintly. There was a white design inching its way around her Jilbab and her scarf that glimmered in the sun. It was her countenance that was so radiant. Beautiful black skin that shimmered and piercing yet compassionate eyes framed inside the scarf.
Silently I thought "please sit here in this empty seat beside me," as she quickly went in and took a seat in the waiting area inside. I could see her through the glass and I'm sure she caught me taking a glimpse at her. I thought of joining her inside, but there were many people sitting in silent stares and the questions could be intrusive. So disappointedly, I turned back around in my chair and wondered what made her carry herself so proudly and confidently? In a moment's time, there she was again, coming outside and sitting in the chair beside me.
"You have a beautiful countenance, are you Muslim?" I surprised myself by being so bold and jumping right into conversation with a perfect stranger. "Yes, I am Muslim," she smiled and said "What faith are you?" "Christian," I proudly said but in all honesty, she carried herself so nobly that I was embarrassed that my 6:00 pm hair and make-up looked like I had been up since 5:30 am and had not seen a mirror since that time, which was probably the truth. "We share a lot in common," she stated. And I agreed and we spent the next few moments discussing things that both of our faith's have in common, love of God, belief in prophets, hope for the future, another life in eternity, belief in heaven and hell, reliance in God and peace in our hearts. We also discussed the differences in our faiths, her's a work-based religion to earn a place in heaven, mine a faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ. She asked me if I had ever read the Quran, which I haven't. I ask her if she had ever read the Bible; just a little. We talked about many things and what seemed like an instant, her car was ready. She said "Knowledge is Power," and encouraged me to read the Quran to better understand her. I told her I agree that "Knowledge is Power" and encouraged her to read the book of John in the New Testament for a better understanding of who Jesus Christ is. She agreed. Oh, and the most important thing, her name was Miriam which in the Muslim faith is Mary.
Thank you Mary for a lovely interruption.
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