In evangelism training with new Christian John, we'd just read some of Rebecca Manley Pippert's Out of the Saltshaker (very helpful) about our great asset being our humanity:

"The problem stems from our great difficulty in believing that God is glorified in our utter humanity rather than in our spiritually programmed responses… Not to accept our humanness means we lose our point of authentic contact with the world. We of all people, should be offering the world a picture of what it means to be truly human. Yet it is often Christians who fear their humanity more than anyone else". (p.24).

We batted it around for good while, prayed for opportunities to be human and point to Jesus then went off in the rain (again! It always rains on our evangelism days) up London Rd/Abbeydale Rd.

We ended up having tea -out of the rain- and a great conversation with "A" our Kurdish barber. Best convo yet as I found the key for his heart - Omar Khayam the 11th century Persian poet.

"A" loves his writings. ("They made a sort of revolution in my life", he said) He showed us a new book he has of English translations of Khayam's Rubaiyat (4 line poems) and they just ooze the human condition and the brevity of life and disappointment of human love and the weakness of our wills, etc.

We read them together as he cut hair, involving his customers too! It was exactly the point in Pippert's book . We were three men, sharing our humanity, talking about life's mysteries and the possible answer in Jesus.

John and I thought afterwards, let's put on a Khayam Persian Poetry Reading Night at, yes you guessed it! The Khayam Tea Room on Abbeydale Rd, invite our Iranian and Kurdish friends and read some of Khayam's work in English and Farsi, and chat in small groups with shisha and Persian tea. Fancy coming?


Here's a couple of Khayam's rubaiyat:

"How sweet is mortal Sovranty!"--think some:
Others--"How blest the Paradise to come!"
Ah, take the Cash in hand and waive the Rest;
Oh, the brave Music of a distant Drum!

(Khayam was clearly a materialist)

Indeed, the Idols I have loved so long
Have done my Credit in Men's Eye much wrong:
Have drown'd my Honour in a shallow Cup,
And sold my Reputation for a Song.

(He often wrote about wine!)