Wahiba Sands, in Oman. Beside each other.

Left to right: Doug Leonard, director of Al Amana Centre’s academic partnership program with Hartford Seminary; Ameer, a Pakistani Muslim student in Oman’s Institute for Sharia Studies; me; Fatima, a fellow Hartford student.

In the days and weeks to come, I imagine myself unraveling — positively — much of what I encountered and experienced over two weeks in the southeastern part of the Arabian peninsula. Oman will undoubtedly linger — with its breathtaking natural beauty and overwhelming Arab-styled hospitality, its modern development and compelling character as a Muslim majority nation with an open streak for religious pluralism.

For now, upon re-entering the American atmosphere, I feel caught up in the questions of Dr. Steve Garber, who directs The Washington Institute: “[Christians] are called to love the world. Do we love the world enough to know it? And do we know the world enough to love it?” As ever, to embody a knowledgeable love is a significant form of Christian witness and of Christian contribution to the common good. With respect to Christian-Muslim relations, Oman is now a small piece of what I know, which, I pray, will deeply inform how I love.