In addition to everything else going on around the world this week, we today take note of the celebration of the feast of Eid al Adah.  One of the two great holidays on the Muslim calendar, Eid al Adah celebrates faith.  It celebrates the faith of Abraham, one of the greatest prophets of Islam, and his willingness to obey God unreservedly.  Even when God commanded Abraham to sacrifice his son Ishmael, Abraham obeyed.  He trusted God.

    Would any of us do this today?  As we ponder why we live, why we are here in this bewildering world, and why we live only to die, we do well to consider Abraham's response.  True, the Qur'an states that right before Abraham raised his knife to Ishmael, Allah intervened and provided an animal sacrifice.  Yet this does not eliminate the dilemma:  why did God ask Abraham to do this?  And why would Abraham obey?

    However, given our finitude and innate frailty, we can no more criticize Abraham than praise him.  Whether we like it or not, we're all creatures of faith, be it faith in a broken self or fractured world, or faith in an infinitely trustworthy God.

    Herein is the central conundrum of humanness.