Sabbatical Day 1: I started reading the Qur'an today. I do not know if I will read all of it. And yet, that is what is what "qur'an" means - Read. That is what the Prophet Mohammed was told to do. From that initial instruction - to a man who could not read - comes this work that has captured billions.
Reading with some sense of the substance of Judaism and Christianity - and close to zero information or knowledge about the Qur'an - this journey will be filled with impressions from an outsider. Having said that, one of the beginning assumptions is that we are 'people of the book.' We have been handed a word to take in - a word to eat - a word that will become us. When we are willing to step back from any of our traditions and teachings and look at the impact those words have on our lives, my first observation is that we all fall down. We all have brilliant words that open up are minds and our eyes and our ears and our hearts. They are words that are able to transform us. They transform us into the living word of our God. Quite an amazing journey takes place as this word becomes life. The Opening of the Qur'an is a simple sura of praise:
In the name of God, the Lord of Mercy, the Giver of Mercy! Praise belongs to God, Lord of the Worlds, the Lord of Mercy, the Giver of Mercy, Master of the Day of Judgment. It is You we worship; it is You we ask for help. Guide us to the straight path: the path of those You have blessed, those who incur no anger and who have not gone astray.
The very first line is the beginning verse of most of the suras. But look at what is most prominent - mercy. If such a merciful God is the "Master of the Day of Judgement" - what a day that will be! When we say that Jesus will come to Judge the living and the dead, we too can say: What a day that will be! For in that day there will be the one who opens up the future. Nothing has power over that word handed to us: a word that judges us with unbounded mercy. Now, when we hear of this judgment day, why do we keep putting it off to another day. Is it that we give ourselves a way out - a way to act as we please for we will surely be 'forgiven'? The word spoken to us - the word that is meant to become us - shapes the day at hand. No waiting. It is now. Mercy prevails - we live under that Reign.
Connection: In this first sura, it says: Guide us to the straight path. Paths are meant to be taken. We do not look at them. We take a step and then another. The steps we take are embraced by our God who - under many names and yet one God - is always inviting and calling us into God's own image.
Blessed are you, God of Mercy, for you shape our day with your word of promise and life. Amen.
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