 |
|||||||||
 |
|||||||||
|
|||||||||
August
8, 2005 
VOL.
43, NO. 14Oakland,
CA
Prayer sustains
Marine,
connects him to his Muslim hosts
It’s a chilly morning in Paktika Province, Afghanistan,
where I, a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Marines, am stationed with a
U.S. Army unit. Part of my responsibilities is to meet with the village
elders.
The soldiers and I are almost always invited to drink hot tea, or chai,
with the people we meet. No matter how poor the village is, the people
always bring us tea and even feed us if we have time.
I have been impressed during my time in Paktika with these followers of
Muhammad. They don’t just talk of their faith; they live it. On
one visit, the village chief told me they had only one slow drinking well
for the entire village. Each day the women use the stagnant pool under
the well to wash clothes, and then boil the wash water to drink. I sipped
my chai as he told me this and hoped the clothes they had washed before
they made the tea that day were not too dirty.
Since I have been in Afghanistan, I have had many conversations with the
locals. We often discuss our common beliefs. One such discussion took
place with a Muslim elder of a village.
It began with an examination of each other’s prayer beads. His “tasbe”
is a series of 33 plastic beads strung in a loop on twisted threads called
the “alif.” Connecting the beads, the alif symbolizes the
name of God, Allah.
My wood-bead rosary with metal links has a wooden crucifix and medals
of St. Dominic, St. Padre Pio and a Miraculous Medal attached.
Through an interpreter I explain to the elder how I meditate on the lives
of Jesus and Mary as I pray the rosary. The elder explains how he recites
the 99 names of Allah on his beads; Allah the Merciful, Allah the Holy,
etc. He does this, he tells me, at the end of the five daily prayers he
recites and at other times during the day he feels called.
We agree that we are both men of God who have been blessed with many gifts,
including this gift of new friendship. I smile to myself as I remember
that I only started carrying my rosary in my pocket after I became a Knight
of Columbus seven years ago, when I joined Msgr. Daniel J. Bourke Council
3607 in Albany, Ga. I am sure part of God’s plan for me back then
was to have this conversation with a village elder in Afghanistan in 2005.
Recently, my team and I participated in a celebration of Eid-al-Adha commemorating
Abraham’s absolute devotion to God’s will. Muslims believe
the son that Abraham almost sacrificed was Ishmael. We know him as Isaac,
from the Old Testament story in Genesis. Either way, the story is a powerful
example for Christians, Jews and Muslims alike. In the end, God provided
a ram for the sacrifice, and Abraham proved his devotion to God no matter
how trying the circumstances.
Most of the people in Paktika live under conditions I could never imagine
until I arrived here. They have suffered during 25 years of war –
from the Soviet invasion to the Taliban rule, then the Coalition Forces’
liberation and numerous tribal feuds in between. Many of their young men
have been killed. Entire villages have been decimated.
They live in mud brick houses in a desert of temperature extremes, both
high and low, at 7.500 or more feet above sea level. I have seen their
children playing in the snow and ice with no shoes or jackets.
This province has also been enduring a drought for the past eight years
that has devastated the agrarian society of Paktika. Undoubtedly, their
Muslim faith keeps them going during these tough times. They fully believe
in their prayer “God is
great,” and count their blessings.
Despite these difficult conditions, the people are thankful to God for
the gift of life. Most of us can learn from this example. I sure have.
This deployment could have been a time of isolation from my Catholic faith.
Our Savior has not allowed this to happen. I have no regular access to
the sacraments or Mass since we are fairly remote and my unit is not large
enough to rate a chaplain. There are only a handful of Catholic chaplains
in the country, and they are extremely busy. I have made contact with
most of them, and they make valiant efforts to head our way. We were blessed
with both Protestant and Catholic chaplains on Christmas Day this past
year – a very special gift!
To grow in faith out here, I pray my morning and evening prayers, using
the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary. I also pray my rosary regularly.
I read many religious books. I brought some of these with me, like the
cherished pocket-size copy of “The Imitation of Christ” my
father gave me with his notes in it.
Other books and Catholic magazines such as “Columbia” are
sent to me by my wife and my chapter of Third Order Dominicans. I have
my Catholic study Bible and have made progress on my goal to read all
of St. Paul’s epistles while I am deployed. I also attend inter-denominational
Bible and Christian book study each Sunday evening.
The most important reason for progress on my faith journey is the many
prayers that have been offered for my well-being by family, friends, brother
Knights and strangers. Though most are offered for the physical safety
of our troops, God applies them to our spiritual safety as well.
Without this prayer support, it would be easy to fall into the temptation
of forgetting my faith in these conditions.
Our Blessed Mother has a special place in her heart for her Knights. She
has supported me while I use this time to increase my faith, not turn
my back on it. I thank God for the opportunity he has given me to share
my Christianity, and thank him for leading me to the Knights of Columbus
who taught me to carry my rosary. I am sure I will put it to good use
again in the future.
(U.S. Marines Corps Lt. Col. William Harkins Jr. is commander of the
Provincial Reconstruction Team Sharana in Afghanistan. This article first
appeared in “Columbia” magazine and is reprinted with permission.)
Lt.
Col. Harkins holds his rosary and a Muslim elder his “tasbe”
prayer beads as they discuss common beliefs in a village in Paktika Province,
Afghanistan.
PHOTO COURTESY WILLIAM J. HARKINS/KNIGHTS
OF COLUMBUS-COLUMBIA MAGAZINE
