Daily Reflection

To its credit, our scriptures never seek to hide the flaws and foibles of its heroes, including—early on in the Biblical saga—those of Abraham and Sarah. That being said, the ongoing legacy of this particular episode is at the heart of the faultlines that divide what are sometimes known as the three Abrahamic faiths, with Paul (in Galatians and Romans) providing an alternative interpretation of the Sarah/Hagar story, and the Islamic tradition (beginning with but extending far beyond the Quran) all but reversing the significance of the sons born, respectively, to Sarah and Hagar. As is true of so much in our lives and in our faiths, it’s complicated! Kyrie eleison!