HELLO!

I hope to see you on Tuesday, February 24^th at 7 pm in the Sams Room for the next session of our faith study, “Holy Envy: Finding God in the Faith of Others”. Author and renowned preacher, Barbara Brown Taylor, writes about Islam and Christianity in chapters 7 & 8, our focus for this night. As I have mentioned many times, you don’t need to own, or to have read the book, to participate in the discussion. I share a summary of the chapters at the outset, then ask those who have read the chapters to add what I have passed over. What comes next is a free-flowing conversation, including questions, comments arising from personal experiences, other books read, and epiphanies revealed by others. If you have not joined us previously, please come this Tuesday. We learn from each other.

The chapter on Islam is somewhat overtaken by the fact 9/11 occurred as the author was writing this chapter. Unlike other chapters, that dig into the particulars of what these undergraduates and Brown Taylor herself as learned about a religion, in this chapter we hear how the context of that very specific time changed perceptions and made curious conversation almost impossible. It made me remember that time as well. I was the minister at Fairview United Church. I wrote a weekly column in the Halifax Herald. I received a call from Queen Elizabeth High School, would I participate in forum with a local Jewish and Muslim leader, with the student body invited to ask questions. I was 38 years old. The other panelists were in their 60’s. I felt quite out of my league. I recall both of my colleagues reminding the students that all three of us represented religions that sprang from the Abrahamic tree. I also learned, as our text reveals, Muslims revere Jesus and that the Qur’an upholds his virgin birth and says more about his mother Mary than the New Testament does.

Brown Taylor reveals her Christian undergraduate students knew less about the specifics of how Christianity came to be than the other religions they studied. When a religion is state sanctioned, as Christianity was for many years, with the residue still present (Christmas and Easter are national holidays), those who call themselves Christian are not necessarily aware of their beliefs or the history of their religion. Brown Taylor was not raised in a religious family. In fact, her parents were highly critical of religion. That means her exploration of faith was her own personal journey, and she learned a great deal about Christianity in those formative years. That sets her apart from many other Christians in our part of the world. Further, when it comes to spreading the Good News of Jesus, especially other part of the world, Brown Taylor points out how Christianity has often been exported less as a faith community and more as a specifically western European culture. We know this from what we have learned about residential schools, but another example is India, where citizens were taught Christianity, less as a means to know about Jesus and more about being part of the British Empire. Gandhi would say, “If your life does not speak, your footnotes will have limited impact.”

I look forward to our conversation. Peace, Kevin