Day 7: A House of Worship Whirlwind
Today in the Big City course we set off on an hour long commute to Flushing, Queens. All I had ever heard about Flushing is that the U.S. Open takes place there. But aside from white outfits and neon balls there are strong communities in small and quiet areas of Flushing all brought together by religion. In these houses of worship, prayer seems to be second to serving the communities that surround them.
Our first stop was at a Mosque called the Muslim Center of New York. Imam Ghani first showed us the Pre-K-8th grade school in the same building, as the Mosque teaches 200 students Quranic studies and Arabic in addition to a normal American curriculum. Imam Ghani was eager for us to meet the principle of the school, Nahid Farooqi. After learning some of the slight differences between Muslim Center Elementary School and a secular school, we were shown the sanctuary.
After walking a couple blocks from the Mosque we arrived at an all stone and marble Hindu temple and left our shoes outside it. The moment we entered the temple, there was a heavy scent of turmeric, which was very different from the Mosque, where women are urged not to wear perfume. Small idols of deities lined the walls of the temple and in the middle was a golden statue of Ganesh, the temple’s main deity. Ganesh is the god of overcoming obstacles, which is fitting for the temple since they have such a large number of immigrants. There were many worshippers sitting and praying towards deities, since this week is the holiday of Sri Venkateswara Brahmotsavam, which is about the deity Vishnu, the sustainer. The community was very welcoming, letting us look around the temple while some were praying and inviting us to their temple canteen for lunch where we were served a large variety of vegetarian food and mango lassis.
Our next stop was the the Boon Chinese Church, which felt very different from the Mosque and Hindu temple. The church was much smaller and quieter than any of the other houses of worship we visited on Tuesday. Pastor Steve Kong is a soft-spoken man who immigrated to the United States from China at eighteen years old and leads 4 services on Sundays in Mandarin and Cantonese. Kong is very committed to the church saying that he knew he wanted to be a Pastor when his friend took him to church when he was a teenager. As a kid and young adult Pastor Kong always asked questions on life, death, and purpose and he felt that Christianity answered all those questions. Pastor Kong’s love for God and acceptance of the community differentiates him from the 188 other Evangelical churches in the area.
Our final stop was the Sikh Center in Flushing, where, when we immediately removed our shoes by the door, our host, Simaran, gave us cloth to cover our heads. Sikh men mostly wear turbans while woman wear head scarves. Inside the Gurdwara there was a large shrine with the Guru Granth Sahib, the Sikh holy book, which has writing from religions like Islam, Christianity, and Hindu, covered in a bright green cloth. To respect the book, we walked in a circle around it. This week they were celebrating one of the four principles of Sikhism, which is self defense. Underneath the books were four swords, representing self defense. The other three rules are to not cut your hair, your beard, and to wear a bracelet that represents balance. Simran also mentioned how there is always food and water at Gurdwaras. We were then invited to cool off from the 90 degree weather by eating and drinking with them.
On our way back from Queens we processed everything we had seen. We all came out of our experience feeling like we had just made so many new friends. Every community we sat with was so warm and made us feel like we were a part of their community.
