My Name

Maris? Why Maris? (sounds like mah- rees, like "Marice"). I choose to add my middle name to this blog because I like it and because it reminds me of who I am. Maris comes from the word mar- sea, or of the sea. For me, the sea is home. I grew up near the Puget Sound in Shoreline (north of Seattle) and would take walks and cold water plunges in the Sound's chilly grasp. Every time I step into the lapping waves, I dedicate my swim to something or someone. Each dunk a prayer. 

While exploring the history of three religions that are almost always positioned against each other, I am continuously amazed at how much they share. It isn't that our differences aren't important- they are! But difference is actually grounds for deeper relation, not no relation or anti-relation.  

The deeper connection I experience by swimming in the sea is like the deeper connection I am learning through Al-Andalus. My sea, my prayer, my history. May my name always remind me of this.