Tea and Empathy

The other day, I decided to treat myself to a Turkish tea and as I sat enjoying it, a white-bearded, very elderly gentleman wearing a polo shirt and jeans shuffled into the restaurant. Immediately, all the employees came running out of the kitchen and lined up in front of him. One by one, tears in their eyes, they sank to their knees, clasped his hands, and kissed him before seating him at a table The waitress explained that he was their "Imam", a Spiritual Leader, and she described him as "person of great respect and love". I thought that her phrasing was a little odd. Wouldn't we, here in the Western World say "A person WORTHY of great respect and Love?" She spoke with a pretty thick accent, so I put it down to the fact that English was not her native language. She was going to ask if I wanted to be introduced when he got up and walked over to me. He flashed me a brilliant, smile that made him look 15 years younger and asked my name. Then he took MY hands and inclined *his* head to ME. I did manage to catch my name in whatever it was he said next but I had no idea what the rest of it was because it was spoken in Turkish. Whatever he said, he said it with great enthusiasm and his hand over his heart. I have to admit that I felt humbled by the respect that this man showed to me; a complete stranger of a different faith, drinking tea at the table next to him. And I felt blessed and peaceful without understanding a word. But then as I went back to my tea, it became clear to me. See, when I was told that he was a man of "great respect and love", I assumed that she meant that such things were to be given *to* him. We here in the west tend to describe our leaders in terms of what *we* give to *them*, and our perceived value of our Leaders and the people around us is determined by what we judge to be "Worthy". In other words, if you don't deserve it, you're not gonna get it. But I realized that the waitress knew *exactly* what she had said to me before. She meant that that man had such great Love and Respect in his heart that it just overflowed onto all things. Respect and Love were what *he* gave to people. All people, whether they were his followers or not. That's just what he was made of. He was not concerned about my deeming him "worthy" of respect because *he* thought *I* was. I will remember this. #FaithYouredoingitright.