October 6, 2024.
Dear Friends,
We will gather together remotely for our Badaliya and Peace Islands Institute faith sharing on Sunday, October 6, 2024 from 3:00 pm to 4:30 pm. Please join us on Zoom, or in spirit, as we encourage Inter-faith relations and pray together for peace and reconciliation in the Middle East, especially in Israel and Palestine and Lebanon; for an end to the violence in the West Bank, a ceasefire of the war in Gaza and Lebanon an end to war as a solution to the many conflicts in our world, especially in the Ukraine, Haiti and the Sudan. Our prayers are on-going for all the victims of human-created violence as well as natural disasters and for the many humanitarian groups risking their own lives to offer much-needed aid.
In the Roman Catholic liturgical calendar the month of October could be called "the month of All-Saints". October 1st marks the Feast marking the death of the Carmelite Saint, Thérèse of Lisieux, known to many as "the Little Flower" and designated a Doctor of the Catholic Church (a model of exceptional Christian spirituality). On October 4th the iconic Saint Francis of Assisi is celebrated, whose charism spread well beyond the many Franciscan communities he inspired. On October 15th Saint Teresa of Avila, a reformer of the Carmelite Order and the founder of the Discalced Carmelites in the 16th century is memorialized as we journey with these charismatic spiritual models of faith to the end of the month. All Hallows Eve, the ancient pagan festival of warding off evil that evolved into our modern Halloween, ushers in the Christian All Saints and All Souls Days on the 1st and 2nd of November. Perhaps what makes these images of those human beings we honor as particularly "holy" is their inspiring life-stories that invite us into a vast communion of Life beyond the narrow confines of our daily life-challenges into a larger, more universal and eternal perspective.
Each one of those canonized as Saints by the Catholic Church were first and foremost human beings facing the same daily challenges and struggles of life in their time as we all do in our own time. And, just as we are all called to conversion of heart and mind throughout our own spiritual journeys in life, so they too changed and grew into the charismatic followers of Christ that caused so many to discover their own vocational calling as Carmelites, Franciscans or social activists inspired by Jesus' own Life and ministry. They were not driven by personal glory or desire for wealth and power but rather by falling in love with the Divine Lover of humanity and desiring nothing more than to share that Love with others. Taking seriously the model of compassion, empathy, merciful forgiveness and humility offered freely by Christ to everyone, when received, up-ends lives, altering our preconceived experience of ourselves and others, often creating extraordinary people like Martin Luther King, Jr., John Lewis and Rosa Parks and so many others unnamed and unofficially recognized who put the reality of Divine justice first in their lives. There are a myriad of selfless examples of peace activists, volunteering doctors and medical trauma physicians and those brave journalists putting their own lives at risk on the ground in Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon, the Ukraine, Haiti, the Sudan and so many other conflict-ridden parts of our modern world right now. And of course there are those organizations and first responders offering help to the many victims of hurricanes and ever-increasingly dangerous storms as a result of the devastating effects of climate change These are examples of an authentic experience of spiritual awakening that leads from Selfcenteredness to Selfless self-giving for others and is the root meaning of Badaliya.
As we begin this academic year of Christian and Muslim faith-sharing in the spirit of Louis Massignon's Badaliya prayer movement, let us reflect together on the wisdom found in both of our traditions that calls us to that more universal and eternal perspective in life, that leads to "metanoia", change of heart, mind, direction and purpose; from authentic prayer to action.
Our faith traditions were born in the Middle East and therefore I am beginning with the 7th century Saint Isaac, the Syrian who wrote:
"The beginning of Divine Wisdom is the calm born of greatness of soul and the patience to tolerate human weakness."
Perhaps our greatest challenge today is, in fact, to "tolerate human weakness" so that we can begin to recognize ourselves in those we fear and even tend to judge and hate the most. Human beings are incredibly resilient as we see daily in our Palestinian friends and so many human rights advocates. Greatness of soul surely empowers such resilience.
"Happy the one who finds Wisdom, the one who gains understanding. Her profit is better than profit in silver and better than gold is her revenue; She is more precious than corals, and no treasure of yours can compare with her, Long life is in her right hand, in her left are riches and honor. Her ways are pleasant ways and all her paths are peace. She is a tree of life for those who grasp her, and those who hold her fast are happy." (Proverbs 3: 13-18)
"For Wisdom is mobile beyond all motion and she penetrates and pervades all things by reason of her purity." (Wisdom 7: 24)
In Arabic the idea of Wisdom in Islam is called hikmah and, given its basic root letters, can refer to philosophy, rationale or basic reason and the hidden power of thinking and logic. The starting point of wisdom for Muslims is the recognition and understanding of the Oneness of God that comes in part from knowledge of the Qur'an.
"He giveth Wisdom unto whom He will, and he unto whom wisdom is given truly has received abundant good,". (Qur'an 2: 269)
In the Qur'an the term wisdom, hikmah, is mentioned along with the Book of Wisdom in the Bible and the Gospel, or Christian Scriptures. The Qur'anic pairing of the Book and Wisdom has a more universal significance in Islam as it has been used in relation to other Qur'anic figures such as the Children of Abraham, David, Joseph and Moses as well as Jesus in the Book of Imran where we find the wonderful account of Maryam and the birth of her son and his ministry.
"And Allah will teach him the Book and Wisdom, the Law and the Gospel. And appoint him a Messenger to the children of Israel (with this message:) I have come to you with a sign from your Lord in that I make for you out of clay, as it were, the figure of a bird, and breathe into it, and it becomes a bird, by Allah's leave; and I heal those born blind and the lepers, and I quicken the dead, by Allah's leave; and I declare to you what you are to eat and what to store in your houses. Surely therein is a Sign for you if you did believe." (Surah 2:48-49)
From the Hadith, the teachings and sayings of Muhammad, Mulla Sadra suggests two types of Wisdom: the theoretical pertains to faith and the practical pertains to good deeds; the intellectual combining of knowledge with action and having practical experience.
This is a moment of insecurity due to the coming election here in the United States and the outcome of far-right ideologies gaining in popularity around the world coupled with the on-going, never-ending war and conflict in the "Holy Lands" claimed by all three Abrahamic faiths traditions. The model of Christ for followers of Christianity could be called "radical Love", the kind of love that experiences the radical nature of Divine Love at the center of one's life, refusing to hurt. hate, take revenge for perceived wounds or oppress or diminish another human person; in fact, to "love one's enemies and pray for those who persecute you." That is the mission of the saints in all spiritual traditions and the mark of Wisdom available to all of us as she transforms us from war-mongering into peace-makers and protectors of our planet. May her Spirit prevail through our fraught elections and tragic failures of diplomacy in the Middle East and in so many other hotbeds of conflict in our world. Let us pray for Peace with Justice.
Peace to you.
Dorothy
References:See www.dcbuck.com for all past letters to the Badaliya and Peace Islands