The parable of those who spend their wealth seeking God’s approval,
and to strengthen their souls, is that of a garden on a hillside.

If heavy rain falls on it, its produce is doubled;
and if no heavy rain falls, then dew is enough.
God is seeing of everything you do.

The Qur’an 2:265
(translated by Talal A. Itani)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I was chatting with someone from one of the [*ahem*] less inclusive religions, and when I told them about the concept of this blog their reaction was, “I think it’s good to see the differences between other religions, but [my religion is the right religion, is what it basically boiled down to].” It stuck out to me that she would only consider studying other religions to note the differences, and not the similarities.

The next day I stumbled upon the parable above and noticed the message was identical to what Jesus said in Matthew 6:1, “Don’t do your good deeds publicly, to be admired by others, for you will lose the reward from your Father in Heaven.”

(This line is preceded with something like: Don’t nullify your charitable deeds with reminders of your generosity that hurt the recipient's feelings, like those who spend their wealth just to be seen by other people instead of in service to God. They’re like a rock with a little dirt on top, washed away by a heavy rainfall to reveal nothing but a hard and barren surface. They won’t gain the reward they thought they’d earned.)

I bring this up because my goal in writing this blog is to break down the walls between religions, to find out what are the core agreed upon values among them. I feel it’s counterproductive merely to identify the differences between you and others, and not look for what you have in common. I think you have to ask yourself if that’s what God really calls for. This example here is one of what I’m sure will be many to come.

Here’s to boiling religions down to the basic principles of being a solid human being.