Journal Entries

Journal Day 2. After calling several more mosques without success, I did some library research. There are three main sects of Islam. Shi'ite, or Shi'a, Islam is linked to intensely devout, militant, or "anarchic" Islam; Sunni, the orthodox/conservative mode of worship, has the greatest number of members throughout the world; Sufi is a mystical branch of the faith (Campbell, 1978, p. 440).

Journal Day 4. A mutual acquaintance introduced me to a student from Egypt majoring in biology. She said two things that seemed mutually exclusive: "Everyone is welcome to attend a mosque," she said. However, she added, "You might not realize the significance of our practice." In retrospect, I believe this was her way of protecting me from potential hostility from other Muslims if I were to show up at the mosque. I seemed to be running out of time.

Journal Day 5. I received a call from the Egyptian woman, who suggested we meet for coffee the following morning. "I believe I have an idea about your as

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e between the individual soul and God. One explanation is that such people either have given up on finding meaning or have uncovered the possibility of meaning despite the most absurd frustrations of existence. Such people may find meaning without an appeal to the transcendent, to take life rationally as it comes, not to make a bargain with the universe in strictly spiritual terms, and certainly not to expect a divine reward of some kind in exchange for bearing life in this vale of tears. Yet even such people believe and hope in (say) art, politics, emotion, ethics, and the resolution of such hopes, dreams, and fears cannot always be accommodated by rationality. One is brought back to the idea of ultimate concern. It is possible, of course, that after all nothing may mean anything, though not everyone who adopts that view of life and death is willing to act on the belief and commit suicide. In any case, meaninglessness and hopelessness are a risk of rational experience whether one adopts a spiritual conception of the universe or not. But the experience of meaninglessness does not necessarily prove that the universe is without meaning or that immortality is a foolish concept. For example, it is possible to view the immortality of
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Some common words found in the essay are:
Christ Church, Paul Tillich, Canda Furman, Life Committee, Lichtbblau Liptak, Workers NASW, Taylor Wolfer's, Martin's Press, Arabic Adib, Macmillan Company, social workers, social worker, assisted suicide, journal day, nasw 1994, john paul ii, life death, john paul, social christianity, ultimate concern, paul ii, pers comm december, comm december 2003, humphry wickett 1986, social christianity 26,
Approximate Word count = 5048
Approximate Pages = 20 (250 words per page)

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