In 1993, the Canadian peace-keeping contingent had deployed to Bosnia. I was one of two padres with the 1,500 Canadian troops.
We had a Bosniak interpreter, who told her imam there were Christian priests with the troops. The imam invited us for an afternoon of dialogue, interpreter in tow. At the imam association offices in Visoko, Imam Asim Asdahič, a man responsible for 60 mosques, led us to a conference table where three of his colleagues joined us. Off to the side sat an additional imam with a striking white beard and black beret.
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An hour into our conversation, it was this other imam who asked about the state of western spirituality and fervour. Did we experience a problem with those who pay lip service to their faith?
I acknowledged that Canada was a wealthy nation. Due to our wealth, most people had all the comforts of life, seemingly placing their trust in material things. We had experienced a falling away of the faithful in recent decades. Many no longer felt any great need for God, and spiritual fervour had waned. Sunday, the Christian day of worship, had become a day to relax and enjoy the good life.
The other imam nodded in acknowledgment as my words were translated.
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I spoke of how we are spiritual beings. “How could we as spiritual beings find inner satisfaction through material things? For that was not why we were created.” No matter how much wealth we might have, these things cannot satisfy that inner longing we have for God. No one stirred while I spoke.
I related that in recent decades, many in the West were testifying to a lingering emptiness. A number of these same people were coming back to God in search of a deeper meaning to life and answers to some of their inner hunger.
The imams spoke in whispers among themselves, waiting for the elder imam to respond.
He leaned forward, looked at me intensely with smiling blue eyes and said, “It’s the same in the mosque. Once they have the fancy clothes, the big house and the Mercedes, they no longer attend Friday prayers. They don’t need the mosque. But after a while, they start coming back in search of more meaning. What the mosque has to offer cannot be found out there.”
The older imam’s response sparked grins and much animated talk among everyone at the table. When the meeting ended, he came to me, took my hand in his and said, “You could be a Bosniak.” One of the greatest compliments I’ve ever received.
***
Rev. Steve Moore is a retired United Church minister and former Canadian Armed Forces chaplain. He lives in Ottawa.
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