I originally posted this last month, but for some reason I am getting lots of spam comments from it so I deleted the original post and am reposting it in the hopes that the spam will stop.
I read about a men’s retreat for Muslims and Christians that looked at the life of Abraham in the Bible and Qur’an and explored the issues of dealing with conflict and being male. It was put on by the Christian Muslim Forum.
One of the Christian participants (there were 6 Christians and 7 Muslims) wrote:
We spent some time thinking about Abraham the Absurd, defining ‘absurd’ as not normal or ordinary. As people of faith we are called to be an extraordinary people. By being together as Christians and Muslims for this retreat we were being absurd. We were challenged as to whether we had become to cosy in our faith and not therefore taking risks. Are we going through the motions of faith without it really affecting the way we live our lives?
You can read all of his thoughts at Unity. Notice that they don’t pretend there aren’t differences.
I suspect that some of us would feel uncomfortable having a spiritual retreat with people of a different religion. Admittedly, there would be potential difficulties. But has not God made all of us so that we “should seek God, in the hope that [we] might feel [our] way toward him and find him” (Acts 17:27)? What if instead of pointing at each other saying, “You’re wrong and I’m right,” we gathered together and sought the truth arm in arm?
