Wisdom is shared among faiths of many

TONY DODERO

Thursday morning found me groggily wandering into a gathering at the

Presbyterian Church of the Covenant in Costa Mesa.

No, I was not there seeking redemption. Besides, I’m sure many of

you think that would be impossible anyway.

I was there for my annual attendance at the Newport-Mesa-Irvine

Interfaith Council National Day of Prayer breakfast.

The event, which is mimicked at churches nationwide and has roots

dating back 54 years, is the place to hear the prayers and thoughts

of those who share the Sikh, Bahai, Hindu, Islamic, Mormon, Jewish

and Christian faiths all at the same time and in the same room,

without a war breaking out.

Indeed, the reason for the existence of the interfaith council, a

coalition of diverse religious groups, is to promote unity and open

discussion between faiths.

So, back to Thursday’s breakfast.

The keynote speaker was a gentleman named Marvin Meyer, a

professor and the co-chairman of the Department of Religious Studies

at Chapman University and the director of the Albert Schweitzer

Institute, a group dedicated to the memory of the famous humanitarian

doctor.

Meyer’s speech was titled, “The Wisdom of Jesus/Yeshua/Eesa: A New

Perspective.”

Now I know many of the Christian faith would have trouble

listening to a talk of that title. In fact, one of my best friends is

a staunch fundamentalist Christian who has told me that he has a real

problem with the idea of anything being “interfaith.”

But I wish my friend was there to hear Meyer speak, nonetheless,

if only to hear what could perhaps be another piece of the story of

Jesus.

Meyer, the author of numerous books on Jesus and his disciples,

told of a man searching for gold in Egypt some 60 years ago, who

stumbled upon a jar of ancient manuscripts written on papyrus.

Known as the Nag Hammadi Library, the manuscripts contained a text

widely referred to as the Gospel of Thomas.

Meyer said the Gospel of Thomas differed from the four Gospels we

know in the Bible, written by Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Those

writings are what he described as Gospels of the Cross, complete with

narrative accounts of Jesus’ life and death and resurrection.

The Gospel of Thomas is what he described as a Gospel of Wisdom

that did not contain any story of Jesus but instead just quotes

attributed to him.

Quotes like this: “If those who lead you say to you, ‘See, the

kingdom is in the sky,’ then the birds of the sky will precede you.

If they say to you, ‘It is in the sea,’ then the fish will precede

you. Rather, the kingdom is inside of you, and it is outside of you.”

This Gospel of Thomas, Meyer said, does not describe Jesus as a

teacher, like the Biblical gospels do.

“Technically speaking, Jesus is a bartender,” Meyer said,

jokingly. His point being that he is not teaching but just offering

up the refreshments.

Meyer said the words in these texts can help inspire interfaith

dialogue.

“There is a profound value at this new way of looking at Jesus,”

he said.

Indeed, a woman who came to speak to Meyer after his talk told him

how the Gospel of Thomas reminded her of Hindu teachings.

All thanks to the National Day of Prayer.

Thursday’s breakfast, attended by about 150, dates its origins to

the National Day of Prayer sanctioned by Congress in 1952.

In 1988, the National Day of Prayer was officially proclaimed to

be the first Thursday in May by President Ronald Reagan.

My advice is to put it on your calendar for next year.

To learn more about the Newport-Mesa-Irvine Interfaith Council

just call (714) 921-8665 or e-mail at nmIInterfaith @aol.com or visit

the website at https://www.nmiinterfaith.org.

* TONY DODERO is the editor. He may be reached at (714) 966-4608

or by e-mail at tony.dodero @latimes.com.