When we were in Jerusalem,
I looked all over the place for signs of Christianity. I was hoping to find some absolute proof of
the life of Jesus in that place. I
couldn’t find it anywhere. That holy
city is the home of all three Abrahamic religions. They vie with each other to use the
space. The Muslims have taken over the
area where the Jewish temple once stood.
The incredible Dome of the Rock sits in that space, commemorating
Mohammed’s leap into heaven on a horse.
Al Aqsa mosque also sits on that hill, and has been a constant thorn in
the side of the Israeli people who would love to reclaim the space where their
old temple stood. The only remnant is
the hallowed Western Wall of the old temple, where the faithful pray daily.
When I see countless people
protesting the actions of the police in recent weeks by holding their hands up
and chanting, “Don’t shoot!,” I am reminded of the great divide that separates
all of us from each other. It isn’t only
religion, it is also our skin color, or our nationality. What is it that brings up these ridiculous
issues? I know it is our greed and our
inability to look at each other with love and understanding instead of
threat. This is why there is not peace in
Jerusalem, or Staten Island, Cleveland, or Ferguson. We are the ones who can do something about this
if we can simply look at each other with love instead of suspicion. The greatest Christmas present that we can give
to each other is our unconditional love. God bless us in this season of expectation.
We have been taught to pray for the peace of Jerusalem;
but there has very seldom been peace in that place. It has erupted countless times in religious
wars that have killed many and sometimes mocked the hopes of the world’s people
that the city be a symbol of peace and God’s kingdom. I think that city has become instead a symbol
of a constantly divided world, and our prayers need to be for ourselves as we
cope with the terrible divisions that exist among us.
Here it is Advent again.
We look forward to the birth of Jesus of Nazareth, the great preacher
who lies at the heart of Christianity.
It was Jesus who by his short life taught us all the Way of God, the
hope of the ages. Jesus came not with a
short list of things that we all have to believe in order to be “saved”, but
instead a list of instructions about how to live our lives in the service of
those around us. His eloquent Sermon on
the Mount tells us what to do in order to make this world a place of peace and
hope. We aren’t expected to all agree on
our doctrine, but instead to agree on how to take care of each other,
regardless of what we believe. That for
me is a lesson that is made clear in the strife that exists not only in
Jerusalem, but throughout the world.
We look at the war that is going on between the Islamic
State and others in the Muslim community and the Christians who are also
present and we react in despair at the loss of life and the terrible things
that are said by the participants; but these people are doing things that are no
different from what Christians have done to each other throughout the
centuries. We have also excluded one
another from our community because of the differences in our belief
systems. In the Inquisition and through
the difficulties of the persecutions of numerous people because of their
religious differences with the rest of Christianity, we have done exactly what
the people in Syria and Iraq are doing presently. Why our religious issues ought to determine
who lives and who dies is a disgusting testimony to our inability to live
according to what our Lord told us. We
are to love one another as he loved us.
That is a simple commandment and the one that we have ignored over and
over again to produce the chaos that presently exists in this world.
that was amazing content. thnks
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