This article was written last summer and published in the Winter 2010 issue of the Anglican Theological Review. It captures my thoughts about Faith House’s first year and this community’s larger contribution. Although it was written for an Episcopal (Christian) audience, it makes central use of a text from the Qur’an and would be of interest to anyone in the Faith House and interfaith community.
* Download formatted PDF of published article, with footnotes
Anglican Theological Review
Winter 2010 • Pages 175-181
Volume 92 • Number 1
“Has the story reached thee, of the honored guests of Abraham?”
Bowie Snodgrass
Has the story reached thee, of the honored guests of Abraham? Behold, they entered his presence, and said: “Peace!” He said, “Peace!” (and thought, “These seem) unusual people.” Then he turned quickly to his household, brought out a fatted calf, And placed it before them . . . he said, “Will ye not eat?” (When they did not eat), He conceived a fear of them. They said, “Fear not,” and they gave him glad tidings of a son endowed with knowledge. But his wife came forward (laughing) aloud: she smote her forehead and said: “A barren old woman!” They said, “Even so has thy Lord spoken: and He is full of Wisdom and Knowledge.”
(translated by Hafiz Abdullah Yusuf Ali)
Being a guest in the home or religious space of the “other” can be awkward. The story of the visit of the honored guests to Abraham’s tent (Gen. 18:1–15) reminds us of the awkwardness that can also accompany being a host. In Genesis, Abraham has to hurry about after offering food to the strangers, asking Sarah to make bread and the servant to hurriedly prepare a tender calf. In Surah 51 of the Qur’an, Abraham becomes fearful when the guests do not eat the slain calf. In both stories, the hostess, Sarah, laughs aloud when the guests foretell that she will bear a son.
In interfaith relations, whether we are present as guest, host, or on neutral ground, there is at first a degree of awkwardness. At Faith House Manhattan, “an experiential inter-religious community that comes together to deepen our personal and communal journeys, share ritual life and devotional space, and foster a commitment to social justice and healing the world,” we embrace the gift of encountering God in the other as “holy awkwardness” and an indispensable spiritual discipline of the twenty-first century.
TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE, CLICK HERE.
