II. What Unites Us All

Thursday afternoon was scheduled for a lecture to perceive the existance of a human, made to be a prophet, but mistaken for a God: Jesus Christ. That is when I met my friend named Tom. Tom was a very friendly boy whose soul roamed from page to page in his little Bible pocket book. He loved, and from his heart he spoke. What was he searching for?

Tom came to the thursday lecture ready to back his Godly made prophet, but, the twinkle in his eye by the end of the heartfelt lecture conveyed it all. It was as if everything he believed in got shaken up, like an unexpected earthquake. He saw me with his child eyes and shook his head, "he merely took things out of context, I know the Bible is right!"

I reassured him that everything he said was right, and that if only we open our minds and step back, It is then that we are able to perceive the truth. That night, as he later said, was his awakening. He dreamt that a spirit inhibited his hollow body and he felt the presence of the "holly spirit". Calmed and soothed him so to not make a sound, as if everything was alright.
He then woke up from this serene dream, knowing that Jesus was the true God and Jesus was sending him messages that "Its ok, you faith must not shake!" How did I come to know all of this?

I was sitting on the very same bench on a friday morning, about an hour before the prescribed Jumu3a, reading and contemplating the Quran. A bright sunny day it was, a perfect day for a picknique, i thought. As I was going through the beautiful verses, Tom showed up.

"Can I sit with you?" he asked formerly. "Oh go ahead, I don't mind" I replied, very surprised. "Are you sure? I dont want to get you in trouble, you know your friends and all"...."Oh no, go ahead!" I thought that was very intersting how he cared that I might have cared what others might think...

As he was sitting there, he pulls out a small book, A baseball field on the cover. He starts reading the book, turning the pages ever so softly, as if it was given to him by his long gone grandmother. "What are you reading there?" he asked. I had tolled him that I was reading some verses of the quran. "Oh ya! would you care to share?"

Well, It so happens that I was reading Surah Baqarah, the creation of Adam and contemplating the purpose of life. So I started to explain the Quranic story, and he interupts by saying "I AM READING about the same thing!" wow, am I to be shocked or was it the perfect start to a beautiful conversation.

How can two random people, reading two different books, reading the same story, sitting on one bench. One thing led to the other, from the purpose of mankind, to the purification of the soul and heart, the concept of sin and evil, the concept of the love of the divine, the concept of .......God! Quoting from both the quran and the bible, we found each other AGREEING on 99% of everything, but we stumbled on the last thing:

Whether Jesus was crucified or not? This was going to be the turning point to both of our faiths. While Islam denies the claim of crucification, the christians have that one riddle to solve. That's it, other then that, everything from the Quran made sense to him, but he held on to that one verse of the bible that went along the lines of that you must believe that I was crucified to save you, and to perish your sins!

The time for my prayer has announced itself, so I had to go. He demanded that we must sit and contemplate upon life once more, but I just answered my most demanded worries, I am fulfilled with my decision to stand firm with ALlah's words! What will become of him?