A Spiritual Reflection

     At its most fundamental level, Christianity mandates that we renounce all worldly possessions and follow Jesus' example - be like Him in every action we take.  In reality, most of us can't do that.  The few who do are eventually recognized as saints, and are regularly credited with earthly "miracles" (in quotation marks for those who don't believe) after they die.  They are honored as having special connections to God and can help us to be heard.  St. Anthony of Padua is one such saint whose many miracles have earned him the title of Finder of Lost Things.  He has been my go-to prayer resource whenever I have lost or misplaced my cell phone, camera, keys, important papers and such, and has rarely, if ever, let me down. Recently, however, in utter despair over the relentless bad luck my youngest son has suffered since losing his job a year ago, I cried out loudly to St. Anthony for something else.  My prayer was simple: "Dear St. Anthony, my son has lost his job; please help him to find another one ." Amazingly, the next day my son got a phone call from someone who had found his resume online and told him she thought he might be a good fit for the company she worked for.  Over the next week he went through a lengthy interview process for the job, along with, apparently, 25 others, and was one of only two people actually hired.  He started yesterday. He is hopeful again.
     I can hear you skeptics out there thinking this is all superstition and coincidence. Maybe it is, and maybe it isn't, but my experience tells me it isn't. Thank you, Saint Anthony, for answering my prayer.

Three Perceptions of God

   I have been meditating a lot lately on the interpretations of God through the ages, and their impact on today's world. I have been reading the Bible, both the Old and New Testaments, and the Koran. The God of Abraham revealed Himself to Moses, Jesus, and Mohammad, or so the stories go. The God of Moses handed down the Ten Commandments, which have been the hallmark of Man's relationship to both Man and God: He told us to respect and honor the one true universal being; do not murder, steal, lie, envy things held by others, or commit adultery; and respect our parents.  The God of Jesus told us who would be blessed (the Beatitudes) and to do unto others as we would have them do unto us (the Golden Rule). But the God of Mohammad tells us that those who say that God had a son are liars (Sura 18) and infidels who should be killed (Sura 47), and states that the purpose of the Koran is to "announce and warn" (Sura 18). There is much about the Koran that seems violent and intolerant, and I wonder why it is such a popular religion. I also wonder why our politicians call it a religion of peace. I wonder how many of them have read the Koran of which they so persuasively speak? It may be a religion of peace if you are Muslim, but it seems decidedly dangerous to be an unbeliever - an "infidel". 

  The Old Testament of the Bible is essentially a history of how God's relationship to Man began and developed.  As such, it certainly contains its own aspects of violence, but not in such a way that it seems that God is advocating for violence. In the New Testament, Jesus preaches only tolerance and patience, adherence to the laws of the Fathers in the Old Testament, and love for all. He never advocates violence as a solution to anything. On the contrary, He admonishes us to "turn the other cheek" (Luke 6:29).  The God of Moses and Jesus follow as one, but the God of Mohammad has completely different characteristics. The book ascribed to that God does not advocate tolerance, but unconditional, unquestioning, universal acceptance of its tenets, without exception. This is not religion, it is slavery.