I’m not going to write about mom right now, ok? The words aren’t here yet. What I’m going to write about is the Talking Baby Jesus.
Did you know about Talking Baby Jesus? Because I sure did not. I was just chilling, watching Tik-Tok, and I stumbled on a video telling me that Jesus’ first miracle was not water into wine, as I was taught, but actually speaking at his birth, as per the Quran. So naturally, this exchange with my Muslim bestie:
NO, HE WAS NOT, MA’AM.
So of course I needed all the information, and her mother was happy to provide. She sent me a link with every mention of Jesus in the Quran, which of course I devoured and then sent follow up questions to Sahar. Questions like “why do you call him Messiah,” and “why did we leave out the Talking Baby,” and my favorite “do y’all have the lost years of Christ that the Vatican hid from us? Cuz I’d really like to read THAT.”
She promised to follow up with her mother, but had to return to Cleveland. She will be back this weekend though, so hopefully I shall learn more.
I think that the most interesting thing I discovered, however, is that like the Christians and the Jewish people before them, the Muslims are also waiting on a Messiah…but unlike the Jewish, they believe he already came to Earth. In fact, they are waiting on Jesus. Now, hold up. Sahar tells me this fact, and my brain melted. Why was this never explained to me? I learned all of the similarities between Judaism and Christianity, but they never brought Islam into play. Which seems ridiculous; they have information on Jesus as well, and also believe him to be the Messiah.
So, my question became, why are we fighting?! Why is everyone constantly fighting? If you’re all waiting on a Messiah, and most of you believe it’s the same dude, why is there room for arguments all the time? I’m sure Sahar’s mother could give me a scholarly answer, but my friend’s short answer does the trick: “people are terrible.”
A sad and universal truth amongst all religions, people are indeed terrible. Look at the Bible, Quran, and Torah, and tell me otherwise. Do I believe people are good at heart? Of course I do. I have seen evidence throughout my entire life. Do I also believe that people are stupid? Absolutely. We may be the most evolved species on the planet, but that doesn’t mean we know everything. In fact, we know very little about the universe and the way it works. We know next to nothing about the gods we praise and adore. We only have snippets of a story, much of it kept only to the eyes of scholars and clergy. It is not for the people, likely because the people will realize that they have nothing to be arguing over. And we all know, war is good for business.
Anyway, this is the little lesson I learned this week. If you know me, you know that I love learning about religion and all of its factions. I don’t know what drives me to it, probably years of indoctrination trying to leak out of my system. Either way, I am always happy to learn something new that brings me closer to a universal understanding. I hope you are as well.
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I will note here that my mother’s funeral will be taking place on Saturday. If you are a reader that is close to the family, and you would like to attend the services, please message me and I will happily provide details. Mom wished for a really big funeral Mass-so that is what I am trying to give to her. Everyone is invited, no man left behind. Anyway, my love to you and yours, because we just don’t say it enough. Happy New Year, and happy Thursday, too.
Ham 'N Eggs 