Why the Head Covering?

As an American, I have been guilty of thinking about the purpose and reason behind head coverings in Saudi Arabia. Then, I realized that head coverings are not just practiced in Saudi Arabia. In fact, I started wondering when head coverings came into existence. As a lover of the Google search engine, I discovered some wonderful articles. Here is a link that has pictures of head coverings all over the world and over the span of many centuries: http://www.scrollpublishing.com/store/head-covering-history.html I discovered that there is a verse in 1 Corinthians 11:5 that says- Every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head, for that is one and the same as if her head were shaved. Covering the head was an early Christian practice just like the Amish practice today. Also, nuns cover their heads. I say this as me and my children are watching "Madeline" which is set in Paris, France. In this movie, little orphan girls are taken care of by a nun. As she wakes in the middle of the night to see why one is crying, she puts her head covering back on. In the same way, when my daughter Rayesa went to play at a friends house, her mother answered the door with her head covering. However, when I came to pick Rayesa back up, her head covering was not on. We then left and she came back outside to hand us a toy that Rayesa had forgotten-and she had her head covering back on. I just recently read the book "Plain Truth" by Jodi Picoult. This was a story about an American lawyer who lived among the Amish. What seemed to strange to her (and to me as I read) was how simple they dressed and how they always wore a "capp" on top of their head. It was simply a way of life that went along with their religion. Today, Muslim women wear head coverings. In Saudi Arabia, the religious police ensure that religious laws are not broken. However, in many photo's and video's from Saudi Arabia in the past several years, some foreign women are not wearing a head covering. I think that I will be on the safe side and respectfully wear a head covering while in Saudi Arabia. I no longer think it is strange to wear a head covering. I just think it is not practiced in my society or by the majority of the women who I live around. Just think, though, no one ever criticized Mother Teresa for covering her head. Many women do amazing things and many of these women are Amish, Muslim, Christian, English, etc.....