Lemuel and Mohammed

Lemuel went to the bank yesterday, not to use the ATM, not to do a counter transaction, but to transact business with one of the bank managers.

Lemuel, being the observant fellow that he is, noticed that the man helping him was not of European descent and that his name tag indicated that his first name is Mohammed.

Mohammed and Lemuel had a conversation in which Mohammed shared that he and his family moved to the US about 18 months ago after waiting around 15 years for immigration approval. Mohammed has siblings living in the US and he comes from a banking family in Pakistan. Lemuel welcomed him to the US and told him that he was glad he made it. Mohammed works part-time in retail when not working at the bank.

Lemuel and Mohammed talked about the perception of Muslims that many people have and Lemuel shared that he and his wife have enjoyed relationships with Muslims over the years. Lemuel asked Mohammed if he would be open to meeting some of Lemuel’s friends who have never had a conversation with a Muslim – because of Mohammed’s work schedule that will be a challenge but they are going to see if they can make it work.

Of course they also talked about cricket.

We can build bridges or we can build walls – it seems to Lemuel that bridges are better.