Bakar

I was walking and taking photos down town as a do. I stopped to pay for a parking and heard a man singing. Generally when someone is publically singing whilst walking you just write them off as people you want to avoid. I spoke said hello to Bakar and he stopped and asked me how I was doing and pleasantries. He then proceeded to say “Today is a beautiful day, we didn’t ask him for the birds, the tree, the grass, or the sky. But we got it.” I am not a religious person but I found this profound and actually thought provoking. Bakar spoke more about religion and it’s importance to him and how life is filled with meeting by following religion. The idea of having purpose due to belief is something that has always enticed me about religion. Bakar noticed I was cold and instantly went to give me a hug. I intially thought this was strange and off putting but the geasture was appreciated. He then wanted to tell me one final story before he was on his way, he told me about a person he met who had very similar beliefs as him who stated “We needed to do something about homosexuality.” I wonder where this is going assuming it would be typical Lethbridge homophobic remarks that you’d expect to hear in this conversation but all he said was “it is apart of God’s plan” and he doesn’t want to speak with the person who said this to him again. It was interesting to hear a religious person have this view as so often you here the latter. I asked Bakar for his photo to document this unique experience. He humbly agreed and welcomed it. 

I also loved that he was wearing a flames hat. Go flames.