The Abrahamic Family House welcomes people of all faiths as well as those who have none. It is an oasis in a rapidly changing historic district of Abu Dhabi. Complete within itself, and yet part of a larger story that will unfold for years to come. Each visit brings the familiar along with a new experience. As I reflect on the visit, what still resonates is the experience of coming through a heavy almost forbidding door that was eerily welcoming at the same time and stepping inside. While the experience with each house was different, the common thread is my personal discovery as I open the door. In doing so, I found each was ready for me in a way I never imagined.
I was welcomed as a member of the family. It felt as if I was a worshipper’s invited guest. Everything had been prepared. There were intentional design elements that told a story that I experienced first, warm and inviting. It felt like my understanding would come in due course. What was important was the knowledge that I was invited, welcomed, and accepted.
Each house reveals Divinity. For me, each brought a different line of sight. From a soft simplicity to a sense of the Divinity’s completeness and the way we connect with the Divine, there was an experience waiting for me as I stepped in. There was a sense of the space aligning itself with who I was. I do not think my experience was universal. Every person, young, old, faithful, and unaware, seemed to be touched differently. In being touched, we could see something revealing.
As new as the experience felt, I understood I was rediscovering something which existed before I was aware. Church words offer a summary; “We throw open our doors to God and discover at the same moment that he has already thrown open his door to us. We find ourselves standing where we always hoped we might stand – out in the wide open spaces of God’s grace and glory, standing tall and shouting our praise.” (Romans 5.2)
