Save the Deputies of God
When Jesus
Peace and blessings be upon him
Announced
The commandment to
“Love one another”
He never meant
Only love
Black or white or brown people
Or Jews only
The prophet of Islam
Peace and blessings be upon him
Was called “a mercy unto mankind”
He was a mercy not for one
Or other
Race or religion
But for all mankind
And
As the Bible proclaimed
Man was made in God’s image
The Quran declared
Man is the
“Deputy of God”
A unique status
For a unique creation
On a unique planet
How have we treated
The deputy of God?
In Pittsburgh we have killed the deputy
in a synagogue
In Christchurch in a mosque
And
In Sri Lanka
In several churches
Jews, Muslims, Christians
No one was spared
We have spared
No one
We have ignored
The wise rabbis
Who said
Tikkunulam
Heal a fractured world
We have mocked
And rejected God
We have thereby
Blocked our path
To the mercy of God
Yet
We recall
On the cruel cross
In intense agony
Jesus sighed
Forgive them
For they know not
What they do
And when Hind
Committed acts of barbarity
To torture the Prophet
He still forgave her
And when the woman
Who threw garbage
On him daily
Fell ill
He visited her
With gifts and good wishes
Every life you take
He warned
Is like killing the
Entire Universe
Others too
The great
Men and women of God
Hindu, Buddhist or Sikh
Preached love and compassion
We can still remind God
That we are part of God
And God is part of us
That God has called Himself
The Beneficent
The Merciful
We can
Pray that the light of God
That shines in the hearts
Of the good and pious,
Will evoke
God’s compassion
Akbar Ahmed
Washington, DC
