The Genesis Meditations: A Shared Practice of Peace for Christians, Jews, and Muslims

This book teaches step-by-step how early practitioners may have meditated in all three religions springing from the Middle East. Based on translations from Jesus' native language, Aramaic, Neil Douglas-Klotz links Jesus' own way of meditating to that of early Jewish and Islamic mystics. What he finds is a shared focus on sacred "beginnings" rather than on apocalyptic "endings." As he says: "This original meditation lies behind the Christians' awe at the rebirth of the Christ Child each midwinter. It fuels the heartfelt hope of Jews in the New Year celebraations of Rosh Hashana. And it roots the devotion of Muslims each year during the fast of Ramadan. These are all celebrations of hope, not fear, and of love, not hatred. By experiencing the creation story as our own, we have the same opportunity to renew ourselves and to deepen our connection with the Divine every day." We also experience the one meditative practice that might unite our Christian, Judaic, and Islamic communities in a troubled world.