Comparisons and Common Ground

Will A. Sanborn

12/23 - 12/24/96

At the gentle tone of the chime at the door to her cabin, Susan looked up, roused from her quiet contemplation. "Come in" she announced after a moment's hesitation, watching as the doorway glided open with only the slightest sound to reveal one of the ship's newer crew-members. Having come on board several months ago, the small rrakith complement, a minority to the human crew, were still settling in to life aboard a terran starship. Things had gone very well though, both races working together, slowly learning about the other, and but for a few bumps here and there, the situation was going smoothly.

Susan smiled when she saw the Rrakith standing there and rose from her chair to greet her. "Hello Vashi, what brings you by?" she asked, smiling at her workmate and friend, keeping her teeth hidden, an automatic response now after dealing with the Rrakith on such close terms. "Why don't you come in" she added, motioning to the couch.

"I'd like that," the Rrakith responded to the invitation and followed her into the sitting area of her cabin. Sitting down on the couch, brushing her tail off to her side in a instinctive fluid motion, she turned to face Susan in the chair she'd sat back down in. "You weren't at work today," Vashi said, "I was worried at first, but then they said you had time off for a holiday."

Nodding, Susan looked at her alien friend. They'd been working together for a few months now, placed together because of their similar backgrounds and work experience. Things had been difficult at first, each trying to figure out how to deal with the other, so different, so foreign, but it had been their work which had given them common ground, a starting point for their relationship. Slowly getting used to each other, they'd learned a lot in a relatively-short time, and had become closer. Susan was familiar with a few of the other Rrakith on board, but knew Vashi the most, she felt comfortable with her and had taken her for a friend.

"So you were probably wondering why I had the day off while most everyone else was still working?" she asked, smiling slightly.

"Ah, yes I was Susan," Vashi responded. "They said it was a religious holiday relating to the new year... but I thought the terran new year was still three months away. I thought I'd gotten your calendar right." As she finished, her voice and expression showed her obvious confusion, looking upon her friend for enlightenment.

Chuckling softly, Susan answered her with "oh yes... I didn't think of that. I could see how that could confuse you." Pausing, looking into her friend's eyes, different for their feline appearance, but showing the spark of thoughts and emotions not too far from her own, she continued. "I'm sorry Vashi, I'm not laughing at you, it's just something I've taken for granted, that most people know of and I didn't realize that you wouldn't be used to that. You see, for my religion we keep a different calendar for holidays."

"A different calendar, but I thought all of Earth used one standard calendar?" the Rrakith questioned, her ear twitching slightly in confusion and interest.

"Well that's true, we do use one standard calendar on our world, but there are some instances where there are others too. For example, with my religion, we use the standard calendar for all of our daily lives, planning and scheduling things like everyone else, but like I said, for holidays, we use the original calendar of our people, dating back several thousand years."

Taking a breath, she continued her explanation. "Our calendar is lunar, not solar like the standard calendar, so the two of them don't sync up, and they were started by different cultures too, so that explains why our new year precedes the standard terran new year by a few months. We celebrate the standard new year of course, like I said we just use this calendar for our religious observations."

Tilting her head quickly to one side in understanding, Vashi smiled back at her, "okay, so this holiday is for your new year?"

"Well not exactly, our new year's celebration was ten days ago. Today is Yom Kippur, which in English translates to 'The Day of Atonement.'"

Making another affirmative response, Vashi's ears dropped as she parsed the meaning of her friend's statement. Her eyes widening just slightly, she let out a small mewl of surprise as she realized the transgression she might have unknowingly committed. "Oh Susan, that sounds like a very serious holiday. I'm not disturbing you am I? Perhaps I should be going..." she replied, her voice trailing off as she saw the single book placed on the small table in front of them, assuming it to be religious in nature.

She was getting ready to rise from the couch when Susan reached out her hand to steady her. "It's okay Vashi," she spoke softly, "this is a very important holiday for us, probably the most important one of the year. We do spend it in prayer and meditation, but of course I can have some time for a friend, especially on this day I could not be rude to a guest. Please stay a little while."

Looking back at her human friend, seeing the sincerity she'd learned to recognize on her face Vashi relaxed visibly. "Are you sure it's okay Susan? I don't want to disturb you" she asked.

"Yes, it's alright. I've got awhile before I have to leave for temple, and of course I have time for you."

Her tail twitching slightly, Vashi looked at her quizzically, hesitating a few moments before asking her another question. "Ummm Susan, if you don't mind... if it's not too intrusive, could I ask you about this holiday, this day of atonement?"

As if she'd anticipated her friend's interest, Susan was quick to respond. "Oh of course that's okay, I'd be happy to try and explain it to you. As I said, we celebrated Rosh Hashanah, our New Year's Day ten days ago, and now at Yom Kippur we look back on the way we conducted our lives for the past year, atoning for the sins and wrong-doings we've committed, asking God for forgiveness and looking ahead to the new year."

"Hmmm," Vashi mused, "that's similar in some ways to our Year's End celebration, looking back on the past and connecting it with the coming year ahead of us. We get very reflective during that time too."

"Yes it is similar in that aspect Vashi, but there's a deep religious aspect to it too. On this day we believe that the gates of heaven are open and we may send our prayers for forgiveness to God and can atone for the transgressions of the past year."

"You mean you can only ask for forgiveness once a year?" Vashi asked, looking a little dubious.

"That's how we believe it, that once a year we come before the Lord and submit ourselves to be judged for the previous years actions, sending our pleas to him, asking to be forgiven."

"But what about the other days of the year Susan, why can't you ask for forgiveness then?" Seeing her friend's troubled expression, she quickly added "I'm sorry, I don't mean to attack your beliefs, I just don't know if I understand it."

Letting out a small sigh, Susan gave her a slight smile. "It's okay Vashi, I've had this discussion a few times before, and I can understand… It's hard to explain it completely, and I know it must be tough for you, especially since this is probably the first time you've dealt with a differing theology."

Seeing her friend tipping her head slightly in the Rrakith version of a nod, she continued. "Okay, maybe it would help if you explained how you see things from your point of view. What is your relationship with your God… I mean Goddess?" she asked, barely blinking at the small gender mistake she'd made, used to it by now, similar mistakes made countless times before, by both herself and other humans, as well as the rrakith.

"Okay, that might make it easier for us to understand," Vashi replied. "We all have a bond with the Goddess, letting us communicate to Her through prayers and meditation all the time, on a personal level, as well as through religious ceremonies."

"The same is true with us, we can pray to God any time, asking Him for help in troubled times and sending Him thanks for His aid. Now, how do you view sins, how does your Goddess deal with them?"

"There's no punishment like I've read about briefly in some of your terran religions, but of course anything we do that hurts another pains and disappoints the Goddess. We are each accountable for our own wrong-doings though, and when our lives are over and we've passed from this existence, before we can join with the Goddess in the eternal communion, we must free ourselves of the ties to this life, which includes the weight of the transgressions we've caused against others in our lifetime."

"So before you can join with your Goddess, or in our terms, enter into Heaven, you must atone for the sins you've committed, is that correct Vashi?"

"Yes, that's right Susan, but we can also atone for our sins during our lifetime, reducing the weight upon us as we go along, working to live better with our fellow rrakith… which would now be expanded to include humans" she added with a smile and a flick of an ear. "In doing so we can best prepare ourselves for meeting the Goddess, reducing the wait we must spend preparing for Her after we've died."

"Ah yes, we have similar beliefs too. Our God is not a vengeful God, but He will punish the wicked as well as rewarding the good. This simply means that in order to get into Heaven, you must have accepted the ways of God and have asked for forgiveness for any sins and misdeeds you've committed. A person who has truly sought forgiveness and tried their best to live a worthy life will be forgiven and will be welcomed into Heaven. In fact, like your beliefs, according to our tradition, the soul must spend some time purifying itself before it can enter heaven, so again there are the similarities."

Seeing her friend move her head slightly in agreement, she continued. "I bet the way we see things isn't too different from one another afterall. We've been able to see common threads in the various religions in our world, and I'd be surprised if things aren't similar with you." Picking up the book from the table, Susan looked at her confidently. "This is my people's holy book, the Torah, if we were to compare it with your religious texts, I bet we'd find they had a good deal in common."

Taking the book offered to her and solemnly holding it, opening it up to quietly glance at its contents, Vashi's attention was captured for several moments before returning her gaze to look at her human friend. "I guess you're right Susan, it's just all so new to me… Forgive me for asking this again, but why do you only have one day a year when you can offer up your apologies to your God?"

"It's just what we believe Vashi. This day is set aside for reflection on our conduct of the past year and it gives the opportunity to atone for our transgressions, as we ask God for forgiveness. Why is it only one day a year? I think because it's such a special ceremony and it carries a lot of weight. The rest of the year we try and do our best and can talk with God, but on this day, it reminds us of our duty to God and our fellow man. The asking for forgiveness is very special, and we devote this day to it, if we observe today with sincerity then we can be confident that God has forgiven us. It also gives us a chance to focus on the transgressions we've committed against members of the community, seeking forgiveness from them as well." Pausing, she added "does that make it easier to understand?"

"I think so, again it's a lot to take at once… but then ever since I came aboard there's been a lot of new things to try and get used to. I think you're right about things being similar between us… it's just a little strange looking at them from a different viewpoint."

"Very true, learning about you has had some difficulties too, but it has definitely been worth the trouble," Susan said with a smile, winking at her friend.

Returning the smile Vashi looked silently at her friend, and then turned her attention back to the book she held reverently in her hands. Pausing, thinking things over in her mind, she finally asked "so your people, I mean humans in general, have several different ways of looking at your God? So many different viewpoints…"

"Yes, as I've said we tend to be very diverse, but the truth is the same, no matter which angle you look at it from."

"So your God, is He a man or a woman?" Vashi asked, fumbling with the concepts of the genders. "Do you have two separate Gods like you have your different sexes? So different from our Goddess…" Saying that a small shiver, barely noticeable, ran through her as she contemplated those thoughts.

"Hmmm, that's a bit literal." Susan replied, thinking for a moment, finding her own thoughts becoming slightly muddled as their two races' vastly-different sexualities were brought to her attention once again. Even after covering the subject several times, that totally-alien aspect of the Rrakith still floored her, if only for a couple of moments.

Recovering her composure, she continued "for us God is a being beyond the physical realm, so His gender is hard to think of in concrete terms, though traditionally we refer to Him in the masculine form. However, for us we see God as having both masculine and feminine aspects and qualities. While you see the Goddess in Rrakith terms and we see Him from a human perspective, I still think we're talking about the same almighty being. Why She chose to cast you as Rrakith with your form and us as Humanity with our differences, we cannot say, perhaps She's fond of variety and wants us to live in a interesting and colorful universe."

"It's a lot to try and grasp isn't it?" Susan asked, pausing to look at the slight bewilderment of her rrakith friend.

"Yes it is, even though we've been aboard for a few months now, there's still so much to learn. There's a lot about you that is so different, yet also not so totally different that we can't find a way to see it through our eyes, with some work." Then giving Susan a small, almost sheepish smile, she continued "it still is so new and different for us, and a bit overwhelming at times..."

"I understand, it's been hard at times for us too Vashi, taking the slow steps to learn about you. We might have had a slightly easier time at it though, on Earth we're used to dealing with different societies and over the years have been able to work together and learn more from each other. From what I understand of Rramatharr, your culture is more homogeneous than ours, so this is the first time you've had to deal with such wide diversity." Smiling, she added "of course even with our practice, meeting up with you was still a big surprise, and we've still got a good deal of work to bring our two worlds together."

Tilting her head in agreement Vashi replied "thanks for the understanding Susan, and for sharing your thoughts on religion with me. I know I've still got a long ways to go too, but you've helped me out a lot and it's been good getting to know you. Things can be a little lonely here, with such a small number of Rrakith on board, and it's been very nice having you as a friend."

Taking her friend's hand which was offered to her in her own, Susan smiled at the alien form in front of her which had become familiar over the past few months. Feeling the soft fur on the back of Vashi's hand, she looked into those feline eyes, the face so catlike in appearance, yet not so far from human in the thoughts and emotions it conveyed and the mind and soul it was a mask for.

"It's been nice getting to know you too Vashi," she answered. "We've both go a ways to go, but I like the thought of making the trip together."

Enjoying the moment of silence between them, Susan broke the mood noticing the time on the clock readout on the wall. "Oh wow, I didn't realize it had gotten this late Vashi. I'm due at temple shortly for the final services of the day, I hope you'll forgive me, but I've got to leave now."

"Of course I understand Susan, and thank you for taking the time to talk with me, could I walk with you to temple?"

"I'd like that, and if you're not busy later, how would you like to get dinner with me? I've been fasting all day and am starting to get a little hungry." Seeing Vashi's agreement she continued, "okay, the service will last until about 6:00, then I'd like to take some time and get washed up and stuff, how about I drop by your quarters around 7:00?"

"That'd be fine, would you like to discuss things more with me then?"

"Yes, I think I'd like that, maybe you could tell me more about your beliefs... come on lets go." With that they left the room, walking together down the hallways of the ship like two close friends, the friends they'd become.


Copyright 1996, Will A. Sanborn - was1@shore.net
The Rrakith copyright 1996, Will A. Sanborn and Bernard Doove