Are you having a happy Wednesday? I hope so. Today is a holiday: Two of my favorite people return from a week in Guatemala tonight and I’m a happy camper!
Of course it’s also a big day for Muslims: Eid al-Adha.
- It’s the second biggest celebration on the Muslim calendar after Eid al-Fitr at the end of Ramadan.
- It falls toward the end of the Hajj, the annual pilgrimage to Mecca that is currently underway. A record-breaking crowd of 2 million were expected to take part in the Hajj this year.
- Eid al-Adha commemorates Abraham’sdevotion to God and willingness to sacrifice (in the Muslim mind) Ishmael.
- A key part of the celebration involves families killing a lamb, goat or cow. The family keeps one third of the meat, gives a third to extended family and the final third to people in need. (I think this may be a good model for our family’s Christmas budget. The percentages! Not gutting a goat!)
- The Abe and Isaac storyhas a cartload of meaning for us too, doesn’t it? We see in it a foreshadowing of Jesus’s sacrifice, through which, in the words of Paul, “God was pleased. . . to reconcile to himself all things. . . .”
Would you join me in praying today that many Muslims would be given insight into the mystery of reconciliation within the sacrifice? Ask God to open doors and hearts so our sisters and brothers serving among Muslims would have the honor of adding fresh joy and hope to the happy holiday.
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