Father of religions

Galatians 4:21-5:1

        My father was a very interesting soul. He thirsted for knowledge. Perhaps he was no different than anyone else. In his search for knowledge, for meaning, for wholeness, he read about many religions. He was a font of knowledge. I was amazed at his openness to answers. I'm not sure my brothers would say the same thing but I had the pleasure of his company in his later years more than they did.

         This reading reminds me a bit of his thirst for knowledge. Christians reading this passage will find  a story of faith, tradition and an allegory. Do we really know or see the importance of this story though?

          Of Abraham's two sons, two great religions sprung forth. The obvious answer to Christians and Jews is that Abraham is the father of Judaism. Are we all aware that it is Abraham's other son that is the source, the root of Islam? Islam is a decidedly foreign religion to most of us. Although I have a copy of the Qur'an I have never been able to decipher it in any meaningful way. I do know that every Muslim person I have every met has been loving, generous and faithful. Not exactly the image many people have of Islam. While I am not foolish enough to believe that all Muslims believe that their religion is one of love and peace, I also know the same could easily be said of Christianity over the centuries. Holy wars and the Inquisition do not bear witness to a religion of love and peace either. Looking at the horrors of the Roman Catholic church even today in terms of pedophilia and cover-ups (especially the cover-ups), one would be loath to convince a non believer that Catholicism is a faith of God's love for mankind. The pomp and pageantry, the ritual of the conclave also does not bare witness to the simplicity of Christ's message.

            Perhaps the roots of these two religions are an interesting fact for some to have in their heads. Perhaps it will be a source of inquiry for others. Perhaps it will be humbling to those who feel self righteous about their faith. 

             Knowing that God loves each and every one of is an article of faith to me. God revealing himself to us in all of his created world is also something I believe in. Each with our own snippet of experience, we explore and learn, try to become whole and love. It is a universal truth that God has revealed himself to others in different ways, no better than the other, each of us with a different view. I do not hold that one vision has more truth than any other. That is, the way I see God is no better than the way you see God. The way God reveals himself to me is no better than the way God reveals himself to you.

            In the end God is a God of love. If we are to grow into a world of love, we will need to have respect and love for everyone. If we do not, we will see more of the horrors that we see going on in the world today.

Tell me, you who desire to be subject to the law, will you not listen to the law? For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by a slave woman and the other by a free woman. One, the child of the slave, was born according to the flesh; the other, the child of the free woman, was born through the promise. Now this is an allegory: these women are two covenants. One woman, in fact, is Hagar, from Mount Sinai, bearing children for slavery. Now Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children. But the other woman corresponds to the Jerusalem above; she is free, and she is our mother. For it is written,
‘Rejoice, you childless one, you who bear no children,
   burst into song and shout, you who endure no birth pangs;
for the children of the desolate woman are more numerous
   than the children of the one who is married.’
Now you, my friends, are children of the promise, like Isaac. But just as at that time the child who was born according to the flesh persecuted the child who was born according to the Spirit, so it is now also. But what does the scripture say? ‘Drive out the slave and her child; for the child of the slave will not share the inheritance with the child of the free woman.’ So then, friends, we are children, not of the slave but of the free woman.

For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.