Please notice the reading regarding Abraham receiving the three travellers is this Sunday's First Reading in the Roman Catholic liturgy, followed by the Gospel Reading regarding the complementary hospitality of Mary and Martha.
And if you find that representation as bar joke unappealing, let us read it like Dante: A nun, a rabbi and a Muslim awoke in the midstream of their lives to discover themselves in a dark woods of war and danger, of fear and cruelty, and fled back to the welcoming refuge of Abraham's tent.
Or Biblically: Abram looked out from his tent and saw three strangers approaching: A Rabbi, a Muslim and a nun. Abram ran out to prostrate himself at their feet and beg them to come into his tent to rest and to eat and to pray together. They told him to call himself Abraham and his wife Sarah. And the rest is our history.
An interesting aspect of this recent book is that it reads best from the back to the front. Thus alone do we discover the unmentioned and secret author, the Rabbi Phyllis Berman, sharing her secret story, treasured for ages in secret among Hebrew women, of the profound love, alliance, solidarity and companionship of Hagar and Sarai, and thus of all the peoples engendered by Abraham: The Judeo-christian and Islam, an inheritance more numerous than the grains of sand by the sea and the stars at night.
The leaves high at the top of a mighty oak tree might know only their separation, might feel only their beating one another in the powerful winds that pass. Only by looking way back may they perceive that they in fact spring from the one thick and solid trunk and are in fact children of the one Father.
Other important books to read in this regard were written by the Islamic scholar and Roman Catholic Deacon, George Dardess, in particular his great [[ASIN:0867167319 Do We Worship the Same God?: Comparing the Bible And the Qur'an]] as well as his [[ASIN:1557254338 Meeting Islam: A Guide For Christians (A Many Mansions Book)]].
Truly this present volume is a monument necessary for our needlessly divided times which profit no one but the war mongers and munitions makers. By this great cornerstone may we rebuild the great kingdom of peace and compassion which our One God commanded, to which our One God guides us, the thirst for which our One God fills our Spirit.
This book serves well for Lectio Divina, including the remarkable Forward by Karen Armstrong, who reminds us that Abraham, in receiving the Three Strangers into his Tent, receives God. "The act of practical compassion led directly to a divine encounter." She goes on: " . . .it expresses a religious truth found in all the major traditions: it is compassion, not righteousness and doctrinal certainty, that leads us into the presence of what monotheists call God, . . ."
Recall here that the Latin roots of our word religion indicate a binding back together again, to ourselves, to one another, to God. Religion therefore ties us all together in one family, one humanity, united by God. Religion explicitly does not permit us to kill one another, not even in the name of God, but to love one another.
Truly this book is far too profound and important and prophetic for our times for me to attempt a superficial summary here. This is a book to live with, and to awaken by to the welcoming fact that we all dwell within the generous tent of Abraham. This book comes recommended by several authoritative sources, including Tikkum, which writes, "This book will open your eyes to the possibilities of collaborative work between our traditions, and is a must read for those doing interfaith peacework."
Our duty as believers is to do interpersonal peacework. Blessed are the Peacemakers. Do for others what you want them to do for you. Read this book and live it, please, for the sake of our children and their children.
Late last year Our Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI, paused in silent prayer inside Turkey's Blue Mosque, breathing our unity of Faith. May we follow faithfully his holy example.
And what a joy and a relief to read in this context the great Benedictine Sister Joan Chittister, still strong and prophetic. I also strongly recommend her [[ASIN:0824525035 The Rule of Benedict: Insights for the Ages (Crossroad Spiritual Legacy Series)]]. It was she who led me to this Tent of Abraham, now available in paperback and important for us to study carefully and prayerfully today.
This is a most important book, and I highly recommend it. The combination of a Christian Sister, a Rabbi and a Sufi Murshid discussing their views of Abraham and Sarah's lives/tent from an in-depth perspective offers a model for peace and discussion that can be used in Churches, Mosques and Synagogues around the world.
The authors present a discussion and model for deeper discourse that offers much hope in our seriously troubled world. The following Sura quoted from the Qur'an on page 133 of The Tent of Abraham highlights its message:
"So turn your face and purpose towards the priordial religion of the upright, the hanif, the nature innately formed by the One Reality in which the One created humanity. Let there be no change in this work created by the One. This religion is self-subsisting, the standard, always resurrecting itself. But most among humanity do not understand. Turn to and remain conscious only of the One, remaining constantly in prayer. Don't deify anything else in yor life, not concepts or beliefs. Don't divide yourselves into sects that contratulate themselves on their own ideas (translation of Sura 30:30-32).
We are all part of one human family who simply need to realize our divine Unity. Thank you Sr. Joan Chittister, Rabbi Waskow and Murshid Saadi for such a heartful book.
Sharon G. Mijares, Ph.D.
Primary author of [[ASIN:1845400674 The Root of All Evil: An Exposition of Prejudice, Fundamentalism and Gender Imbalance]].
