Mr. Suleiman says that Allah listens to peoples' prayers and meets all their needs, dealing with them in mercy and compassion. Again, Jews, Christians and Muslims all agree on this. We can all be glad for His love for us.
But a little reflection leads us to some questions: What is God's life like, in Himself? He keeps the universe in operation, and we can be glad for that; but even though the whole universe is a vast thing to us, it is not a vast thing to the Infinite, Ultimate Being. So what else can infinite God do since running the universe is not an adequate activity to occupy Him?
God Almighty loves human beings, and we can be mighty glad for that too. Still, we finite beings are hardly an adequate object for infinite love. We can neither fully appreciate nor return infinite love. As writer Frank Sheed says in his book Theology for Beginners, "Is infinite love [God] never to find an object worthy of it?"
In the middle section of his letter, Mr. Suleiman said "The one most highly emphasized aspect of God in Islam is His Unity. God is One. He has no associates. He is neither born of anyone nor gives birth to anyone. He shares His supremacy in the universe with no one. To associate anyone else with God is shirk (ascribing partners with Him) and it is a grave sin in Islam."
Jews, Muslims and Christians all agree that God is One. Is there nothing and no one adequate to receive and return God's love? Is God ever to be frustrated in loving, because the fullness of His love is never fully appreciated and returned? Christianity says 'No'. The Christian Bible says that God is love. That is his nature. Before anything else was created God loved and was loved perfectly. But love must have an object.
Again from Mr. Sheed: "It was left to Christ Our Lord to reveal to us that there is companionship within the one divine nature-not a number of Gods, but three persons within the one God. It is in the knowledge and love of the three persons that the divine life is lived." Through all eternity, the three persons who are the One God know and love one another. This eternal and dynamic exchange of love remains totally sufficient within the divine life.
From the Christian perspective, there is no "ascribing of partners" to God in this truth, for each person within the One God-Father, Son, and Holy Spirit-is fully God. And since there are three persons in the one God, His infinite love can be fully received and reciprocated.
The interior life of God is difficult to understand; still, just because something is hard to understand does not make it untrue. Interested readers are encouraged to see Sheed's book.
The wonder of love is that it always produces life. God knows eternally the joy of divine love, and he made human life that we might experience a portion of that love. Even when our first parents, Adam and Eve, sinned and turned away from Him, He had a plan-born of love-to bring us back to Himself. God the Son-Jesus Christ-came to earth and without losing His divinity became a fully human man, to offer his life to God the Father to forgive us of our sins.
True love involves sacrifice. We can ask, "How much does God love me?". Our answer comes when we look at a picture of Jesus on the Cross. He is telling us, with arms outstretched on the Cross, "This much".
God is One, and God is love. Within the divine life moves an eternal circle of love. This love overflowed in our creation, and in Christ's sacrifice to bring us back into relationship with God. Let us give thanks for God's perfect unity in love, and His love for us.
Rudy Poglitsh
rpoglitsh@live.com
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