1. Muslim Mosque
I’d never
been to a Mosque prior to the trip, so I was not sure what to expect. When we got there, we had to take our shoes
off before proceeding into the main worship area. The main worship area was a large room with a
large throne-like chair and then a smaller room beyond the large throne-like chair. The carpet was very bouncy and padded: this is
a good thing because the worship services take place right on the carpet with
no chairs. There was a small wall that
was painted to look like part of the Ka’bah.
I thought that was neat. There
was also a small but ornately decorated room, which had models of important
buildings in Islamic history, such as temples and palaces and the Ka’bah. Those were very interesting to look at. We learned how people must “purify”
themselves by washing their face, mouth, nose, and arms three times before they
can touch the Qur’an or before they pray.
I thought that was slightly inconvenient: being a Protestant Christian I’m
used to the idea of praying or reading the Bible whenever I please, without
having to worry about cleaning myself first.
We also learned a bit about the prayer blocks and prayer beads, which
are used during services and prayer. The
prayer blocks are made from a special kind of clay. In prayer, Muslims must place their foreheads
on these blocks. The beads are used when
reciting the Qur’an and saying prayers.
At the end, when we thanked the imam for talking to us, I was unsure whether
or not I should clap. I felt like the
right thing to do, but I wasn’t sure if clapping was acceptable in a
mosque. I looked around and noticed the
same expression of uncertainty on my peers’ faces, and we all ended up applauding
very softly with embarrassed smiles. On
the bus to the next temple, a few of us giggled about that.
2. Buddhist Temple
Although I’d
never been to a Buddhist temple either, I had a slight idea of what to expect
since my grandparents are Buddhist. I
recognized the scent of the incense sticks burning as soon as we got off the
bus and began to approach the temple.
Surprisingly, the interior of the temple had a different scent (I think
it was the oil lights). The incense
smell was actually outside in the garden in large pots. We wandered around the gardens for a while
before we went into the temple. These
gardens had many interesting statues. We
recognized some of them as important figures of Buddhism from the textbook
(e.g. Buddha, and Buddha Tara). When we
entered the interior of the temple, I noticed that everything felt old and
musty. It wasn’t even so much the smell
of the room, it was the atmosphere of it.
We learned that the numerous statues of Buddha were all different: the
one in the West was the Buddha of Medicine.
This differed from the Buddha in the East. There was also a Buddha statue nearer to the
entrance dressed up as a soldier. He was
a guard of the temple. As the nun spoke
to us, some worshippers came and knelt before the various statues of Buddha and
held their incense sticks out in prayer.
I couldn’t help but watch (although I’d seen this before) and wonder to
myself how that must feel. To me, prayer
is something as simple as talking to God.
I can even do it while doing something else (e.g. if I’m doing a test or
something). I thought to myself how it must
feel strange to have to physically kneel before something and then wave sticks
of burning incense. That though alone
was foreign enough to me. Then I added
the thought of 30 pairs of eyes staring at me as a knelt with incense and
mumbled something. I concluded that if I
were in that position, I would probably be uncomfortable.
3. Jewish Synagogue
If the
Buddhist temple someone’s basement or attic, then the Jewish synagogue was a
prestigious corporation’s head office.
From the minute I stepped inside, everything felt so corporate.
Everything was gleaming and professional.
Pot lights illuminated the halls and rooms. We were seated in a chapel with wooden pews,
gorgeous stained glass, and a beautiful Ark at the front, which held the Torah
scrolls. I felt like I was in church,
especially when the rabbi started speaking to us. At first I followed along, but gradually I
found myself struggling to keep my eyelids apart and the gradually nodding off. I liked the way the rabbi spoke because
previously, the imam in the mosque spoke very quietly and slowly and the nun in
the temple was very “chirpy” and spoke quickly.
The rabbi spoke like the president of a company who was presenting a new
something or other. The atmosphere at
the synagogue was very “corporate”. I
liked how everything was very neat and orderly.
4. Hindu Temple
Out of all
the places we’d visited that day, the Hindu temple was were I was most
uncomfortable. We had to take our shoes
off before entering the main worship area (like the Muslim mosque) but I didn’t
feel like walking around in a messy construction area in sock feet—it might
have been a safety hazard for someone as uncoordinated as me. Plus I’d hate to be stuck wearing wet socks for
the remainder of the day. When we
entered the main worship area, the first thing I noticed was all the colours at
the altar. The altar itself had black
tiles. The statues of the different
incarnations of Brahman were very colourful and ornately decorated. The walls behind and around the altar were
painted as murals of landscapes. It was
very beautiful. There were mountains,
which bordered a coast. Then there was a
tropical scene. On the side opposite the
tropical scene was more mountains and the Hindu symbol. There were also huge skylights in the main
worship hall, so everything was brightly lit with the sunlight, which I also
enjoyed. Around us were some pillars,
which were covered in wooden carvings. We
all sat down on the main carpet and the speaker started talking. Since the temple was undergoing renovations,
it was very difficult to hear through all of the noise of the workers on the
roof, even though the speaker was using a microphone. Overall, I really enjoyed the visit to the
Hindu temple. The only objection I have
is the construction/renovations going on.
That made it slightly inconvenient for us.
5. Protestant Church
As soon as we’d
stepped into the Protestant Church, I felt at home even though I’d never been to
Unionville Alliance before. I attended
Scarborough Chinese Alliance Church, so I’m quite familiar with the focuses of
the Alliance denomination and the specific functions and purposes of parts of
the building. It was interesting to see
the same thing but in a different way. One
part of UAC that I really think is a great idea was the Master’s Pantry, which
is a food bank run by the church. People
who need assistance can go there and get food, clothing, housewares, toys, and
more for free. It is one way the
Alliance church wants to witness to their neighbors. Witnessing means living their lives according
to Christ so that people can see that they are different and go “they are
different because they live with God in their lives.” Witnessing is a less confrontational approach
(as opposed to knocking on people’s doors and telling them to memorize the
Bible and give money to the church or else they will end up in hell). Another thing I really liked about UAC was
their “Amoury” or the Youth Centre. It’s
kind of like the rec room for the youth in my church but it was much bigger and
I liked how there was a stage and a snackbar and lots of couches. It was very relaxing to be there and I think
for once all day, everyone felt okay to just sit down and unwind slightly.
My Personal Favourite
I enjoyed the entire tour
very much, and even though I felt most at home at the Prostestant Church, I
would say I liked the experience in the Muslim mosque the best. I loved the wide open space of the worship
hall, I found the room with the model buildings interesting and I loved how
they painted one of the smaller walls to look like the Ka’bah. However, it is not to say that I didn’t like
the other temples—I liked those a lot too.
The most important thing I learned on this trip was that even though
people of different religions worship their God or gods in different ways and
in very different buildings, the main focus is the same: to try to better
oneself in hopes of a better future and/or afterlife.