Albert Einstein

Parts of this passage were not fully clear to me. But i think my favorite part would have to me the ending where he says, "Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living beings and all of nature." I think that this is a lesson that every religion has in common. If you look up the definition of compassion is says, " sympathy for the suffering of others, often including a desire to help." This is incorperated somehow in almost every religion we have studied. The desire to help others that are less fortunate than ourselves. My point is that every religon, in some form or another, has this same message about compassion and helping.

Novalis

This is another passage where the simplicity of it caught my attention. I thing one of my favorite quotes in this passage is the last one, "When you understand how to love one thing-then you also understand how to best love everything." I agree with this quote completely. When you finally understand how to love yourself only then can you love the world around you. Another quote that i really liked in this passage was, "We are close to waking up when we dream that we are dreaming." This just reminds me of those nights when you have a long dream and when you start to wake up your dream becomes less real and more like a dream. Then you wake up and realize that you were dreaming.

Maximus of Tyre

"God himself, the father and fashioner of all that is, older that the sun or the sky, greater than time and eternity and all the flow of being, is unnamable by and lawgiver, Unutterable by and voice, not to be seen by an eye." What i got from this passage is that everyone has their own view on who God is. Nobody can tell you who God is it is your own belief or interpretation. We all worship and celebrate God in different ways. Nobody is right or wrong. We all pass judgement on each others religion or beliefs which we shouldn't do. Everyone has their own image of God.

Heraclitus

I decided to write about Heraclitus because i love the simplicity of it. Some of my favorite lines are:
"The sun is new every day." Which i took as everyday you start fresh leave the past in the past and enjoy each new day for what it could be.
"You can't step twice into the same river." This one was a little less clear be i interpreted it as is that you can't make the same mistake twice, or have the same experience twice. You learn from you mistakes and after you have experienced something once you can never experience it for the first time again.
"To men, some things are good and some are bad. But to God, all things are good and beautiful and just." To me this one is quite clear God does not view things as good and bad as we do everything is meant to be, or a learning experience.

Dhu'l-nun Al-misri

I think that this passage had some of my favorite messages. My favorite would have to be, "If anyone joins you in my name, show friendship; if he goes astray, search for him." I think that this shows the bond between people who share the same beliefs as brothers and sisters. Just like in my church everyone who joins you at mass and prays with you i believe shares a strong connection.
Another part i really found interesting was about the saints. "The saints are those whom God has invested with the radiance of his love and aborned with the mantle of his grace; he set the crown of his joy upon their heads, and he put love for them into the hearts of his creatures." I dont know why i love that so much. I just do.

Muhammad

In Muhammad's passage I could definatly see the relationships between Islam and Christianity. One of the parts that stands out to me is how he talks about the kingdom of heaven which was Jesus's main message. He also talks about the earth being created in six days which is what Christians also believe. In class we talked about how Muhammad believed in both Christian and Jewish tradition. This passage truly shows this.
"Whoever knows himself knows God." This is one of my favorite lines in this passage and it brings me back to other religions that we have studied. You can not truly know God unless you know who you are first.
"Do not despise the world, for the world too is God." To me this means that despising the world is despising not only God but all that he created. Over all i think that Muhammad had some wonderful messages to share.