And yet, they choose to worship, side by side with God imaginary intercessors! Say: ‘Why – even though they have no power over anything, and no understanding? Say, ‘All power to intercede belongs to God alone – His is dominion of the heavens and the earth; in the end, you will return to Him.’ Surah 39:43-44
It is clear that our lives have had their ups and downs… we have been caught up in pettiness, greed, fear, anger, bitterness, and temptations. We have refused to help our fellow human beings when crushing calamity befalls them. Even when granted forgiveness, we don’t return the favor.
Every Sunday in church, I confess with those with whom I am worshipping that we have “sinned… in thought, word and deed, by what we have done, and by what we have left undone.”
The Qur’an focuses on this lacking on our part, as part of the human condition, but the Qur’an emphasizes something else, that goes deeper. Here’s the real sin: Rather than accept our failings and be accountable, and return to God with a new spirit of renewal, a spirit we actively pursue during Ramadan and Lent, we avoid and deny our failings and call upon “imaginary intercessors” to justify our actions.
This will not work. As the Qur’an describes it, on Judgment Day, we will see our lives as we lived them and our “imaginary intercessors,” our defenses, justifications, explanations, excuses, validations, and rationalizations will be stripped away. And in all objectivity, we will see our life as we lived and then judge it.
When my 10th grade students and I read the Qur’an together, they often focused on the Day of Judgment.
One day, a student said, “If I am reading this correctly, on the Day of Judgment, I will have no access to my achievements. All my harmful deeds ‘will fall back on me.’ My ‘own tongue and hands and feet will tell all.’ Even my ‘very skin will bear witness to the nature of all that I have done.’ And all I can do is watch the truth of my life unfold before me. And I judge it. I think this accountability is scary and a lot more real than those cartoon images of burning in hell forever that I grew up with.”
Another student responded, “You know it takes God off the hook of being seen as the Condemning Judge. Actually, we judge ourselves.”
And then another student said, “Maybe this is how it works. Once we have condemned ourselves to hell, God comes to our rescue and saves us because we will always ‘return to Him.’”
~ ~ ~ ~
When I was a young priest, I was working with a married couple, helping them through a difficult time. The husband had confided in me earlier in the week that he had had a one-day fling, in a moment of weakness; his wife had no idea, and he wasn’t going to tell her.
Now the two of them were in my office. I was not paying much attention as they talked, as I was judging the husband and imagining God’s judgment, (as much as I hate to admit this now). I did not like him; I was picking sides, feeling self-righteous, wondering if he was going to get away with his adultery and how he was going to justify it.
And then, all of a sudden, the husband dropped to his knees, wrapped his arms around his wife’s legs, put his head in his wife’s lap and began to sob, admitting to everything he had done, and how sorry he was.
I was overwhelmed. I wanted to throw myself at their feet, the husband and wife, at their suffering, at their hope, at their sorrow and struggles and to say to them:
“I’m so sorry; I judged you; I put God’s name on that judgment; forgive me.”
Yes, there in the most unlikely of places, in an office dimly lit, the power of humility and grace were giving us hope, keeping us open, forgiving, and receiving in ways we could never imagine.
A blessed moment: God always pursues in love, and we will always return.
Day 24: Reflection
How have you returned to the Mercy of God’s pursuing love?
