The Most Christ-Like Person I Have Ever Met. . .

...happens to be a Muslim man I sat next to on a airplane on the way to Southern California last weekend. Within the first 5 minutes of our exchange, I was so impressed with his attitude about finding out he had left his cell phone at the sky-hop, I went way out of character, breaking all of my normal keep to myself conventions in order to find out more about this upbeat no matter what happens to him man. He was joking and laughing about TSA and his own absent mindedness all while sitting in the dreaded middle seat of economy class. Within 10 minutes, he had already sincerely invited me and my family to use his beachfront home in Dana Beach for a vacation when ever we could make it, as he lives full-time in Utah as a busy E.R. doctor and doesn't use the home as much as he thinks it should be used--giving me his private phone number and email so that I could contact him to arrange use of his home. 15 minutes into our conversation I had heard about an incident that had taken place the day before for his 13 year old son who faced ugly discrimination at the hands of a substitute teacher who belittled him for his Iranian-American and Muslim heritage. He did so focusing on the positives (could there be any in this situation). Another 30 minutes and we were almost to our destination, and I had learned that this amazing man had founded not one, but two free-clinics in the Salt Lake Valley where he and the rest of the volunteer staff have served over 300,000 un- and under-insured Utahns over the past 7 years. He works full-time as a E.R. doctor for his regular salary and then takes on very wealthy private clients that provide the resources that supplement his E.R. income nicely as well as donate handsomely when they find out what he does in his "free" time. By the end of our conversation I had learned that he would be donating a kidney to a patient he is a match for next month. An operation that will most likely put him out of commission for close to a month. I don't think I have ever heard of a doctor being willing to give his own kidney to a patient.

The man I sat next to may have been a person that made other passengers feel nervous. He is a man of middle-eastern descent, and they are not always welcome sights on an airplane in our post 9-11 society. Yet another example of the hidden internal story in each of us, that begs others not to judge us too quickly solely on our exterior. This man, Mansoor Emam ,was born and raised in a very small town in Iran that did not have access to running water or electricity. His home was made of mud and clay. He won a chance to come to the U.S as a college student to study medicine and as the Iranian Revolution broke out, worked hard to get the rest of his family safely to Iran to the states. His father was a Muslim Imam, or spiritual leader and he credits his father and his mother for his attitude of service. Charismatic, positive, and instantly likable- serving others is always on his mind. My hour or so spent in his presence has influenced my thoughts and heart in a very profound way, and I have not stopped thinking about the exchange even a very busy week later.