Behind the Veil

Being in Senegal, I often see veiled women. Some women wrap their hair, others the veil, and still others a combination. Two of my sisters don't cover their hair (one of them does to pray; I've never seen the other pray), and the other does during prayer, and for the most part in public but I've seen her leave the house with her hair uncovered, so I really don't know. My mom does, for sure, though she's most diligent during prayer and in public.

The question of veiling has been a topic of wide discussion in the last several years, especially with France's move in prohibiting veiling in schools. This has also been an ongoing conversation among the Beloit girls.

On the one hand, I see the point of anti-veil advocates. It's true; there are some women who would prefer not to cover, but are forced to for political/social/familial reasons. And that is an issue of rights. But there are a lot of women who simply want to cover their hair for themselves. They find their hair to be an attractive, unique, and even intimate part of themselves and they don't want to share that with everyone. That's something I think everyone can respect. For some reason, I find the white veils particularly beautiful. It's a combination of feminine grace, purity, and radiance, I think, that I find intriguing, alluring, and stunning all at once.

In our Islam in Senegal course, we talked about the Kaaba at Mecca, the holiest of sites where the most pure and holy would connect with God. Debbie sat next to me and wrote "Take me in to the holy of holies" and I wrote "Leviticus 16-17 & Hebrews 6-7; Christ enters into the Presence behind the veil" Seeing all these women every day, thinking about the rituals required to enter into a mosque, much less Mecca or even still the Kaaba, I find myself in further awe of Jesus' own holiness and purity, and the fact that He takes us with Him behind the veil to dwell forever in the presence of God. It seems my verse of the moment strikes again:

This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil, where the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus, having become High Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek. Hebrews 6:19-20

I think about the law, both the law of the Old Testament, and the law of Islam - all the things that are "obligatoire", all the things that are "interdit", and the complexity of the rituals - and how, through the law, we are bound to fail. We would never be able to reach the Holy of holies on our own. Ever. But Jesus paid the price on the cross, taking our dark putrid lives with Him, and creating in us new hearts, new spirits, and new lives, bringing us forever into communion with God. And yes, I said forever. Jesus was and is the pure sacrificial Lamb, the Most High Priest who is able to atone for an entire people, not for a month or a

year, but for eternity.

for the law made nothing perfect; on the other hand, there is the bringing in of a better hope, through which we draw near to God. Hebrews 7:19

Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them. For such a High Priest was fitting for us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and has become higher than the heavens; who does not need daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the people’s, for this He did once for all when He offered up Himself. For the law appoints as high priests men who have weakness, but the word of the oath, which came after the law, appoints the Son who has been perfected forever. Hebrews 7: 25-28

Alxamdoolilay!