How timely it was for me, in the wake of the terrorist attack in Manchester, England, and the many accusations and inneuendos which have ensued, to yesterday attend an interfaith dialogue about sacred texts.  One by one, representatives from the three Abrahamic traditions--Judaism, Islam, and Christianity--as well as adherents of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Sikkhism, explained the basis and meaning of their respective sacred texts. What I found most moving was hearing how each person approached the texts that ground his/her faith tradition.  Listening to him or her explain what he/she found in his/her text and how he/she wove it into his/her life was highly illuminating.  Although many books have been written about the various sacred texts of the world, few of these have been penned in an attempt to understand why, precisely why, a particular text is so vital to its reader's well being.  Why does a person find this text and, sometimes, only this text, to be especially meaningful?
     For everyone except the Buddhist, this text was important because they believed it to be given to them by God.  They saw this text as God's words to them.  This text was a revelation of a living divine, a revelation that speaks to them in every corner of their lives.  To read the text was to experience it.
     So it is for us.  Texts avail us little if we do not experience them, if we do not weave them into our lives.  We therefore ask ourselves this:  what do I see in my "sacred" text that enables me to live a meaningful life?
     And to this I say that we can see only a text of revelation, a text that we did not make or create, as a legitimate path in this regard.  Otherwise, we're simply talking to ourselves.
     Find your sacred text.  Find a sacred text that exceeds anything you can in yourself imagine.  Find what moves you in a way that you cannot move yourself.