Once Upon an Allegory

"Can we take a picture with you?" asks a short middle-aged man in a thick Chinese accent as the rest of his family giggles behind him.

"Uh...I guess!" I manage to say as I quickly devour my slice of Sicilian pizza. A few of my friends and I gather for a photo with the large family as each member makes the peace sign with their index and middle fingers. We wave the tourists goodbye and run past the giant Roman columns to catch up with the rest of the group.

Dressed in our navy blue velvet and silk dresses, men in black and white tuxedos, the Walton High School Choir from Marietta, Ga. prepares to perform for a mass ceremony inside the overwhelmingly magnificent Saint Peter's Basilica.

I struggle to maintain my place in the single-filed line as my black uniform platform heels cluck against the ornate marble floors. One irresponsible step and all sixty thousand of the cathedral's capacity would hear. Clutching my pearls around my neck, I can't help but notice my jaw drop and my eyes widen to the wonders around me.

I stop at the bronze baldacchino towering about a hundred feet over me and feel a crick in my neck emerge from looking up for too long. It takes a few minutes for me to realize I'm well behind the rest of my group, which is headed to the chapel to serenade the basilica.

I stumble into place alongside my peers in front of the altar. Our choir director looks up, her eyes filled with tears like newly-made water balloons sensitive to the prick of a fingernail.

We begin a rendition of Bach's "Ave Maria" and I feel my voice immediately disappear following the first note's echo inside the hall. I gulp and wonder if I'm the only who notices.

Tourists from all over the world gather around us--hundreds of them. Men, women, and children of all faiths focus their eyes and ears on us. A fair woman in a silk floral hijab makes eye contact with me and for a brief second I feel like I have brought two worlds together. As the only Muslim woman in my choir of over 200 students from my high school, here I stand in one of the most sacred halls of Christianity, serenading all faiths of the world.

We had performed at Austria's Salzburg music festival and in New York City's Carnegie Hall, but this specific venue left a special mark on me.

I'll never forget that day. I'll always remember the first time I realized the power of music as a universal language connecting faiths worldwide.