One of the overarching themes I noticed in Eboo Patel’s “My Neighbor’s Faith” is his use of the physical human body. The anatomy he writes about begins as something tangible that is susceptible to disease and by the end of the journey is something more transcendent– a body with a soul. When he first notices the bad things in the world and how America ignores it, he claims that he does “not want that disease.” He writes about he goes through phases and rebels against this disease by traveling and “pierc[ing] my tongue and dress[ing] in drag on campus.” These are very physical and bodily things that he does in response to a disease he sees. When he helps out at the Catholic Worker house and serves “with love…as a friend” he calls it the “best antidote.” When he becomes more soulful and loving rather than just physically fighting the disease he feels healed. The way he writes this feels very anatomical. It’s when someone tells him to “Find a place where you fit, body and soul,” that Patel will eventually find himself in India with his grandmother and ultimately discover Islam as the place where he fits. He stops writing about the body around here and immerses himself to “desire beauty” and discover “the grand purpose of humankind” and feel “the truth of Islam in [his] soul.” These intangible aspects in religion is what causes a communication between his body and soul and ultimately heals him and makes him feel at home. Physically and spiritually he finds “full nourishment” in the end.
This piece is wonderfully written because of Patel’s use of structure and conveying inward experiences. The story starts off in a place many Americans are familiar with: high school and then college. The structure then follows a chronological journey from rebellious teen phases to volunteering to Catholic worker homes, exploration of faith and the world and ultimately ending up back home. It’s a standard Faith exploration journey that you might hear from most missionaries, but it’s unique in that Patel comes back to his roots by becoming Muslim and is accepting of all religions. It’s throughout the stages of this journey though that Patel describes the inner emotions and connections he feels. He writes the Wizard of Oz trio of heart, mind, and courage. He describes the physical changes he goes through in college, the intellectual “attraction” to the traditions in the readings “on the life of Buddha…every article of Baha’i social teaching”, and the soulful nourishment he finds in Islam.
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