Years ago, when my brother lived in Austin, we’d sometimes meet up at the one on Barton Springs. “Okay," my brother was known to say, “Do we want to be Catholic or Jewish today?” While I know there’s no way to list every single religious and faith tradition, I read the three prayers listed and thought, “This seems unhelpful given the largeness of this wide world.” Having just concluded our “Holy Envy” sermon series, I was curious and did a search to see if I could find any information about why this particular silverware package was being used. As far as the restaurant’s decision, I found nothing. In my search, however, it didn’t take long for me to come across Islamophobic remarks online suggesting that the omission of a Muslim prayer was proof that the religion was inferior. I know it’s not fair to criticize the small envelope the silverware comes in, but it did get me wondering - “What do we include and what do we exclude?” I believe this is the type of question to “live” rather than answer, because our learning and experiences will always lead us to question, re-think, and grow in our understanding of who God is, what we believe, and how we are to relate to our neighbors.
Throughout worship in July, Pastor Earl and I preached about finding God in the faith of others. We reflected on how our faith has been deepened when we build relationships with people of other faiths, and I continued to learn a lot while reading for each week’s sermon. Two books I recommend if you and/or your Sunday School class or small group are interested in learning more include “Holy Envy: Finding God in the Faith of Others” and “Relating to People of Other Religions: What Every Christian Needs to Know.” The first book is by Barbara Brown Taylor, who taught world religion at Piedmont College in Georgia.
