Controversy over Muslims building near “Ground Zero” and the fear of Muslims and Islam, which troubles so many and seems to be escalating, brings to mind Helen Keller and her incredible insight.

Keller, though deaf, mute and blind, often saw so much more clearly than do most of us and she must have been seeing very clearly when she expressed her desire not for the peace that passes understanding, but for the understanding that brings peace. Surely our world today is in need of such understanding.

Misunderstanding breeds fear, and we can do so much harm to ourselves and to others when we are fearful.

I gained my first bit of understanding about Islam in 1996. It came through a lovely, gentle man who did some repair work at my home. His name was Jihad. He told me that he took that name when he became Muslim because jihad means “struggle for God” and his whole life had been a struggle for God.

Jihad explained what his faith meant to him, what it was doing for him in his life. And he gave me a little printed card which serves as a reminder to me. It bears a quotation from Proverbs. “A friend loves at all times.” It also reads, “A friend is one who knows who you are, understands where you have been, accepts who you’ve become and still, gently invites you to grow.”

If only we could be friends … if we could love at all times. If we could know more about each other, if we could understand what we’ve all been through, if we could accept what we are, maybe we could all grow – grow in understanding – then maybe we would find that peace which is beyond all understanding.

‘Lyn Fleury Lambert lives in Bellevue.