In Abraham's Shadow

*This blog is from my own viewpoint and does not represent World Pilgrims as a whole.

World Pilgrims was founded to cultivate greater understanding and cooperation between the three "major" Abrahamic Faiths in Atlanta.  (Let's also be aware that there are many Abrahamic faith traditions like the Baha'i tradition, Rastafarianism Samaritanism and  Druzism among others.) We use this term Abrahamic as a way to bind us to a common ancestor.

Sounds good, no?!  It did to me and it didn't.

I have been open-hearted and respectfully curious of other faith traditions since I was a teenager. Yet there was a tension. I was introduced to Abraham at a very young age.  He was my oldest Jewish relative.  He was the revered ground zero of Judaism. The patriarch of journeys, hospitality, arguing with God and covenants--Jewish-style. He was so Jewish in my first exposure to him and it was such a formative part of my education.  Even when I understood rationally that Abraham was the father of other faiths, his heart was Jewish.

Learning his importance to Christianity was not instinctive. Growing up in the South I had experienced violence and repetitive proselytizing by Christians at an early age. As early as 1st grade, I was confronted by accusations of murdering Jesus and of hiding my horns.  The fear was also reinforced by an education at Hebrew Day School that emphasized a history of persecution. It was confusing.  Somehow, I knew that this was only a version of Christianity --and that my own tradition had its sharp edges. I considered Christianity am erratic and more powerful daughter of Judaism. I was open but closed or rather I had quite the obstacle to travail.

I never really considered Christianity's connection to Abraham except I assumed he was some distant relative. 

When thinking of Islam, the few negative messages I received early on seemed more like caricatures and thus someone inherently untrustworthy teachings.  While it would not be until much later that I would understand more than just what is covered in a High School World Religions class, I knew ever since I read Genesis that Ishmael and Isaac were brothers who loved their father enough to bury him together.  Their estrangement seemed to be due to misunderstandings and their parents poor choices.  But with a clear link to Abraham, it made the separation painful, yet still hopeful.

In my traditional education, Abraham was the Jewish father.  His path was the Jewish one, embracing Isaac and expelling Ishmael.  Learning that the binding of Abraham's son was told different on the Qu'ran illuminated that there was a different claim on Abraham.

It's complicated to claim the same father when all of us have grown up thinking we are the favorite.  Can we give that fantasy up? The myths of triumphalism that can be found in all faith traditions are comforting on the surface but they force us to give up something far more valuable than "God's favorite" status or Abraham's only beloved child. 

And it is the act of confronting and overcoming those limited stories and early teachings that can lead us to discover what the more valuable understanding is.  And that is a wisdom worth  pursuing...