SD-2: Yesterday I noted that we all fall down. I wrote that in the context of my initial journey into reading the Qur'an. Obviously, it is good to read something about the Qur'an before reading it. This would also be true for the Hebrew or Christian scriptures. We all fall down has to do with a very small observation - we all fall down. The notion that one religion is better than another is false. There is such a strong pull in each group to become the word. Don't just read it. Don't even just memorize it. That is nothing. Become the word. I was particularly struck by the number of times the word Mercy was used in the very first - and brief - sura. It was used in association with God. That - is my God. That is the God I have come to love and honor. That is one of the character traits of God that I prayerfully ask would be one of my traits. But alas, I fall down. Do you?
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 translator of this sura made a note in how he offered a change. It was simply at the last sentence that blessed people. He notes that an important change is "those who incur no anger." It is not God who is angry at the people - it is as though people act contrary to the life God has handed us. The blessing - if I may - is the life in which God Reigns. That life - that living word - is blessed because in that life it shows that mercy can Reign among us - it is the straight path. This path leads to an unfolding respect and honoring of the other -not because of what they do, but because of how we embody the mercy that is our God's.
Connection: Oh it is not easy to be a reflection of the mercy of our God. Much easier to condemn - even if we all fall down doing it.
Blessed are you, God of Mercy, for you hold us up as we enter this day so that your mercy will be available to all. Amen.
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