Scripture: Micah 4:2
Many nations will come and say, capsule “Come, pills let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, look to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths.”
Thought for the Day: Notice the language used in this verse. It talks about people from all over the world coming to find God, and walking many paths to get to God. This is not the only instance in the Bible that implies there is more than one way to experience God and to live your life fully in God’s midst.
Yet I continue to read things that attempt to convince people otherwise. I accidentally ran across a book called, “Biblical Foundations for Manhood and Womanhood.” (It came up randomly while I was doing some research for a sermon). It’s an interesting read, because the authors argue against pretty much everything reasonable, tolerant, and loving.
The authors don’t like pluralism, because it’s too tolerant (huh?) of other religions that are not Christian (as if there is a single Christian religion). They don’t like monism, because they disagree that we are all created from the same source. They bash Taoists, Buddhists, Sikhs, Jews, and even Christian denominations (other than theirs, of course).
Listen folks, it’s really pretty simple. We are all, every single one of us, on our way back to God, one way or another. NONE of us have ultimate knowledge of God or reality. NONE of us have the right to tell another, “you’re doing this wrong, and God hates you and will punish you for it.”
God loves us all, equally, every single one of us, for God is nothing but Love, for God creates out of and from love, and God desires for us—every single one of us—to become nothing but love. And I seriously doubt God gives one whit which path we take, because ultimately, any true spiritual path ends up at the intersection of love and tolerance.
Prayer: Merciful Lord, may you help us when on our spiritual journeys we find ourselves lost in the woods of hate, exclusivism, and intolerance. May we all remember that as beings created in your image, we represent the many possibilities of the Infinite, in all your glorious manifestations. Amen.