If I were a

Catholic, I would be exceedingly blessed by the example of Pope John Paul

II, as he became the first pope ever to enter a Muslim mosque as he pilgrims

the journey of the Apostle Paul. Since I am not a Catholic, I am blessed

anyway!

Many give the

Pope part credit for the destruction of the Berlin wall. Now, he moves

to take down the walls of suspicion and incivility between Muslims and

Christians. He took off his pontifical shoes and walked into the Omayyad

Mosque in Damascus. Wow! A historical first.

Some may fear

that John Paul is less of a Christian or even less of a Catholic. No,

he didn't recant his belief that Jesus is Christ and Lord, nor the authority

of the Bible and tradition of the church, and not even his belief that

all people need to come to know Jesus Christ personally.

The Pope's

visit demonstrated the strength of his convictions not any sort of vacillation.

When anyone, held by any set of beliefs, is able to reach out to others

of opposite beliefs to extend love, respect, friendship, that person has

himself modeled Jesus Christ.

Far too many

religious groups have not caught on to this concept in which the Pope

is light years ahead of the rest of us. It seems that far too many religious

groups are paranoid about their encampments. They correlate reaching out

or letting someone else reach in would be a breach of doctrine.

It should be

easiest for the Christian to reach out to other religions and faiths because

we believe we are all related. How so?

We believe

we all have the same mama and daddy. If you trace the lineage of every

Hindu and Buddhist, it would intersect with my family tree at the beginning

with Adam and Eve. This we believe.

We believe

that God made a covenant with all people of the whole world when he preserved

Noah through the Great Flood. God cut a deal with Noah and said he would

never destroy the world again by flood and God hung his hunting bow in

the sky as a sign of this covenant with all peoples.

We believe

that Jews, Muslims, and Christians can trace our lineages