Ten lords a-leaping: The Ten Commandments
This summer during my trip to Egypt I made a climb up Moses Mountain, which many revere as the site on which Moses received the Ten Commandments. The pilgrimage itself is an interfaith act as Muslim Bedouin guides take mostly Christian pilgrims to a place of importance for Jews, Christians and Muslims alike. The hike begins in the dark at midnight and winds its way around camels and over uneven rock until it reaches the top of the mountain in time for sunrise. By the time the sun had come up and sleep deprivation had set in, I realized that no groundbreaking revelation would come to me during my time on the mountain. But now I recognize that I may have found something more sublime.
As I followed our 19-year-old guide Musa back down, he loosened up and began to tell stories about his life in Sinai, his girlfriend and his dreams for his future. He asked questions about America and appeared dazzled by the answers.
His impish smile relayed an ease about his spirit, a kind of quiet dignity that I could not soon forget. Perhaps Musa means much more to me than I to him; after all I was the one who showed up in his backyard searching for meaning. But to merely call our conversation ‘interfaith dialog’ would miss the point. As I look back on the hours passed climbing with him, I like to think of us as two young people –albeit from disparate corners of the earth –who find hope in one another.
On a related note, encouraging news on the religion front:
The head of the Vatican's Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue, Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran said the agenda would cover three main topics: respect for the dignity of each person, interreligious dialogue based on reciprocal understanding, and instruction of tolerance among the young.
I’d say a good place to start would be around midnight at the base of the mountain.
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