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Today’s post is by Nic Cable, a senior at Depaul, pursuing a double major in Religious Studies and Peac, Justice, and Conflict Studies. He is serving his second year as an Interfaith Scholar at DePaul University and is the Director of the Better Together Campaign at this institution.

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In my faith tradition, Unitarian Universalism, a large emphasis is placed on walking upon our spiritual life paths with others who are “different” from ourselves. It is reasoned that through connecting with people from different life journeys, we will receive deep spiritual nourishment and enlightenment through that encounter. Growing up I have learned about the major world religions, about their rituals and holidays, and even participated in some of these traditions. Now, as I enter my senior year, I am walking on a new path, one that is inevitably shifting the way I view my relationship to myself, others around me and around the world, and the divine. This is the path of Ramadan.

Ramadan is the holiest month of the year for Muslims. As such, anyone who is not Muslim should look to it with a sense of respect. I have wanted to travel beyond just knowing about the “rules” of Ramadan, to actually experience it first-hand. After talking with some of my Muslim friends about it, I decided to take a leap of faith into the month long journey of fasting and revelation.

I knew entering Ramadan that my experience would be different from Muslims, not just because I was not of that faith tradition, but also because I was not in a community of people to experience it with. However, as time went on, it became very evident that my solitude did not prevent me from remaining in solidarity with my Muslim brothers and sisters around the world. In fact, at times, I felt more empowered being on my own. I connected a lot with the feeling of being the “other,” the outcast, from those around me who were eating or drinking. I felt like I was seeing something that they were not, conscious while they were asleep.

The physical toll that Ramadan has put on my body was overcome by the levitation of my spirit I received through reflection and meditation during the month. Whether through walking to work or sitting in my room, I thought of the world that was going on beyond myself, the world that was complex more than comprehension. On several occasions, I really became aware of the extreme gifts I am given in the world, such as water, food, and shelter that are so easily taken for granted. I recalled working at homeless shelters growing up and donating presents to those who were less fortunate than me around Christmas time. All the while, I was thinking about how we can build a world, a global citizenry where the abuse of resources and people became a practice of the past, replaced with a new universal practice of compassion and justice in our human and environmental relations.

My spirituality is one that hinges on the connection with others, sharing and growing with them in a mutual relationship of respect and understanding. Ramadan has awakened in me the dire need to engage this world in a loving, liberating manner, so that my resources that I am blessed to have are not abused or wasted. If we as human beings can set aside some time each year, each day even, to think about the unfortunate realities that exist around the world, whether in Pakistan or places right here in Chicago, and then act with greater awareness, our days will be spent ameliorating the world, rather than hurting the spirit of humanity.

Life is a blessing and it is one that must not be wasted due to apathy and selfishness. We must come together to realize the world community we are called to create, with a reverence to the divine that encompasses us all along the journey. On our path moving forward beyond Ramadan and into Shawwal, I will not pass up those who continue to fast beyond their will. May we walk with Ramadan in our hearts daily and with every step we take, may it always be one of sacrifice and compassion.