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Reflections
on Isaac and Ishmael By Rosemary J. Langellier Originally
I thought the birth of my grandson, Cole, would be the fire of my
inspiration to write again. ItВ’s
been so long. Turns out it
took a much bigger fire to bring me back.
So, now that the flags are raised, here goes my penВ….. to write
about the two things we are cautioned never to discuss---Politics and
Religion. Actually,
IВ’m simply doing my dutyВ… My government urges me to live my lifeВ…yet
on a heightened state of alertВ….And, just as I didnВ’t need them to
tell me to raise the flagВ…I didnВ’t need the caveat about the
heightened state of alertВ….But sadly for so many of us, it did take the
big fireВ….. To wake us up so we donВ’t take our families, friends and
freedoms for granted. And
now we all feel the need to do somethingВ…and about all I can do is
write. But
more than thatВ….this is the heightened state of alert partВ…..to make
us realize that only a burning hatred could cause such an
explosionВ…..and only in the light of the fire and in digging through the
unending rubble will we find out why???
Why has there been trouble in the Middle East for two millenniums?
And why do these Terrorists hate Americans?
The
answer was simply and poignantly given last week on the special episode of
West Wing. The presidentВ’s
wife quietly explained to a class of high school students the biblical
story of Isaac and IshmaelВ….the two sons of Abraham:
God had promised Abraham
and his wife, Sarah a son, but after so many years of bareness they grew
impatient and Sarah had her slave, Hagar, bear AbrahamВ’s son.
Then, big surpriseВ….Sarah gets pregnant and gives birth to Isaac.
She then banishes Hagar and Ishmael.
Ishmael is the В“true sonВ” of Abraham, according to Islam.
As is Isaac, according
to the Jews. ItВ’s all about
whatВ’s true and legitimate. And
the wars have been going on ever sinceВ….A foot note to this particular
story is that the two sons of Abraham did come together to bury their
father. And rest of the story, and to me personally, the answer to
the story is yet another Son, Jesus.
OkayВ….but
what does that have to do with Americans?
Well the way I see it, borrowing from an equation also used in the
script of the West Wing: America is to countries, what Jesus is to
religions. The
equalizer, the context. And
anyone can belong to either, by the grace of GodВ… And in this
contextВ…no one is greaterВ….no one is more equalВ….and we all are
freeВ…finally. The
Grace of God part is keyВ….. Lest any of us begin to think, some of us
are really more legitimate, more religious, or deserve more freedom or
respect than othersВ….that others should be forced to accept our ideas,
our way of lifeВ…. We need to accept that while God didnВ’t pilot the
airplanes into those two buildingsВ—buildings
I now like to think of as Isaac and IshmaelВ—He
did have something to do with how the bricks fell.
And
by His grace, it is the legacy of those of us who are left, to continue to
dig through the rubbleВ— all the rubble, the rubble from the explosion
and the retaliation that is to come В— for Peace and Understanding.
God
Bless America |
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