I recently was blessed enough to be able to go to Hawaii, partially for some research, and partially for some holiday (which is still a fairly strange/guilty feeling for me - I don't feel entitled to taking a holiday when there's so much to do and sort out =/). Anywho, some context to hopefully explain the title of this post:
Out of the two and a half weeks spent out there, the first week was for research, spent with two of my fellow PhD students/colleagues, and the remainder of the time was spent with one of those two, pretty much as 'travel buddies' (both will remain anonymous out of respect for their privacy, unless the specifically wish for me to disclose their identities on here). My travel buddy would describe themselves (please note that this is not the same as "identify themselves") as a "strong atheist" (but not in the sense of "One who believes there is/are definitively no deity/deities or beings of such a manner.", rather as somebody who believes/acknowledges that they can't know for sure if there is or isn't, yet has no inclination towards a belief in one or has felt any appeal by such beliefs or related ideologies/religions. As for me, I would describe myself as a "weak theist" (in the sense that I don't think it's possible to know for sure whether there is/are or isn't/aren't a deity/deities [to the point where I think it's so ambiguous that it 'simply' comes down to a matter of personal choice], yet choose to believe in a Creator-being, and identify as a Muslim (as I've said in a previous post, I think? Haven't posted in a while...) with the intent to pray the obligatory five daily prayers.
That's the context, pretty much. Two PhD students in Astrophysics/Cosmology, that had only met four months prior, with two rather different beliefs about "God" (not that this is something that's very apparent or made a big deal of, as far as I'm aware), but what seemed to be [relatively] a lot of common interests and who get on with each other well enough that I wouldn't even regard it (the act of getting on with each other) as an active process or something that requires effort. Ironically, we were perhaps 'too considerate' of each other's preferences, as the following conversation took place several times a day, probably every day:
Them: What should we do next? Me: I don't really mind; what would you like to do? Them: I don't really mind, either. We could do [this] or maybe [that], but I really don't mind, so if you have a preference for either of them, or something else, I'm fine with that. Me: Yeah, we can do any of those, I really don't mind, either. [and so on...]
So, to actually get to the point, on one such day, after we were attempting to plan what to do and had actually made decisions, we were going to head out. I had yet to pray the two daily prayers (as a traveler, it's permissible to combine the second and fourth prayers with the third and fifth, respectively, for the sake of practicality/ease) appointed for that time of the day, and was going to ask my travel buddy if that was okay to do so before we left (it'd have been possible to do so later, after we returned, but I don't like taking the future for granted, as well as the general "Why do tomorrow what you can do today?" 'mantra' that I try to maintain), though I felt a little guilty for the possibility of making them wait. However, before it even came to that, and before I had even indicated/suggested (as far as I can tell) that I was going to ask such a thing, my travel buddy asked me, without any prompt from me, if I needed to pray first.
That one, relatively simple, line/question meant a lot to me (and I'm well aware it may mean a little or nothing at all to others). Not only was somebody else accommodating to my beliefs, but somebody else who probably (based on what they'd said earlier, as mentioned above) shared none of my 'religious beliefs' at all and also possibly regarded them with little or no merit (that's not meant in a disapproving/critical way of them at all, for the record; rather, to emphasise my point) was accommodating to my beliefs. I really respect and admire that action from them [my travel buddy], and really respect and admire them for performing that action. Again, perhaps it may not mean a lot or anything to others, and in a way, it'd be rather 'ideal' if it weren't a big thing, in the sense that such acts would be the default for everybody, regardless of beliefs, and so it'd become one of those things that we don't even notice and take for granted (though I certainly don't condone taking things for granted, hence the inverted speech marks around "ideal").
So yes, ahead of the many beautiful/fantastic/wonderful experiences I had and sights I saw in Hawaii, my greatest highlight was an act from one person, vastly different from me in some respects, being considerate, tolerant, and respectful of those differences between us, and I hope that is something we all strive to continue doing so, if not already. I think, especially in the world we seem to be living in today, we could certainly do with more consideration, tolerance, and respect.
Thank you for your interest, and your patience :)
