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Wisdom Story
Moses once heard a shepherd praying as follows: "O God, show me where thou art, that I may become Thy servant. I will clean Thy shoes and comb Thy hair, and sew Thy clothes, and fetch Thee milk."
When Moses heard him praying in this senseless manner, he rebuked him, saying, "O foolish one, though your father was a Muslim, you have become an infidel. God is a Spirit, and needs not such gross ministrations as, in your ignorance, you suppose."
The shepherd was abashed at his rebuke, and tore his clothes and fled away into the desert.
Then a voice from heaven was heard, saying, "O Moses, wherefore have you driven away my servant? Your office is to reconcile my people with me, not to drive them away from me. I have given to each race different usages and forms of praising and adoring me. I have no need of their praises, being exalted above all such needs. I regard not the words that are spoken, but the heart that offers them. I do not require fine words, but a burning heart. Men's ways of showing devotion to me are various, but so long as the devotions are genuine, they are accepted."
*Rumi. The Masnavi. Trans. E. H. Whinfield (1898).
Suggested Reflection
Can you think of any reason an all-loving God would not gladly accept the sincere loving given Him, or Her, by anyone, simply because it does not fit a prescribed path or way of showing that love in religious or spiritual terms?
How might a Christian affirm the fullness of the Christian path while not rejecting the ways God as Father-Son-Holy Spirit might call persons to fullness of Life through other historical paths?
Does Christianity define who the true Christ is? Or does Christ define what true Christianity is?
See next page for Invitation to writer's contemplative village, purpose of OneLife, data on ordering author's book and upcoming devotionals 2008, and material on citations.
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