I :: Shout Out to the Mennonites for Leading Me to the Sufi Mystics

Last week, I spent four days at The Hermitage, a retreat center in Southwest Michigan. They practice silence. Simplicity. And are associated with the Mennonites. My spiritual advisor, JMD, is a resident staff member there.

I had been keeping a gratitude journal in preparation for my time there. I collected reading recommendations and knew I would finally have time for John Esposito and Dalia Mogahed’s Who Speaks for Islam? What a Billion Muslims Really Think, based on Gallup’s world poll. I brought two coloring books: A Gift for the Soul of Quranic verses and Dua’s and Vol 2 of The 99 Names of Allah. I packed my 16-pack of Flair felt tip pens, a fuscia hijab for prayer, purple and blue flannel nightgown, and wool. On my first full day, it was 80 degrees. God would be full of surprises that week.

During my first meeting with JMD, I caught her up on my joys and struggles. She reflected, we talked, I reflected. She encouraged me to consider access to God’s love through mysticism. I went to the library in search of Rumi, the only mystic I could name off the top of my head.

The library was arranged based on the Dewey Decimal System. Sitting here now, I remember from previous visits just where the card catalog rests. During this stay, I didn’t come upon it. I turned on one light from a choice of three switches. I love that library, and have had tremendous success there: it’s full of books about God! I made my way over to the stacks illuminated by my choice of switches. I came away with volumes from four Sufi scholars – none of them Rumi. Not having any idea what I had been guided to, I went to the firepit and settled in to read the title on top.