As Jesus the son of Mary and John the Son of Zachariah were walking, they saw a wild goat calving. Jesus said to John, "Say these words: 'Hannah begat John and mary begat Jesus. The earth calls you, child. Come out, child'" Any woman in labor to whom thse words are spoken will staightway deliver, by God's leave. John was the first to believe in Jesus and trust him. They were cousins, sons of maternal auts, John being six months older than Jesus. Then John was killed before Jesus was raised to heaven. (Hayat al-Hayawan al-Kubra, Kamal al-Din al-Damiri)

In the gospel of Luke, John is a great prophet but he is "not worthy to untie the thong of Jesus' sandel." The relationship between John and Jesus is clearly important, but there are deep ambiguities.

In Mandaean scripture John is a great prophet and Jesus is his gifted, yet troublesome student. The relationship is important, even dialectical, but fraught.

John is much more prominent in the history of Flavius Josephus than is Jesus. Most scholars argue the mentions of Jesus are accretions of Christian editing. What Josephus tells us of John is coherent with the gospels and Mandaean scripture.

Islamic scripture and tradition embrace John as the closest companion of Jesus. It is John who challenges, engages, and corrects as would a best friend, a life-long friend.

The stories of John tell us more of Jesus than of the Christ. But if there is any truth to the parallel traditions the Christological implications could be compelling. While I am intellectually prepared to accept that Jesus was fully human and fully God, I am sure my relationship with the divine is mostly an encounter with the fully human Jesus.

On Monday, August 31 I started a new blog at http://didymus-desertfathers.blogspot.com/ Please join me there.

It is reported that John and Jesus were walking in the marketplace. A woman bumped into them and John said, "As God is my witness, I did not feel it." Jesus said, "God be praised! Your body is with me, but where is your heart?" John answered, "Cousin, if my heart were to feel secure about anything other than God for the twinkling of any eye, I would think I had not known God." (Mukashfat al-Qulub, Abu Hamid al-Ghazali)

When I was reading the Mandaean accounts of John, I did not reproduce here everything those scriptures have John saying. That was a difficult choice to make.

But in many cases I perceived John was simply serving as a mouthpiece for Gnostic mumbo-jumbo. I am sympathetic to many Gnostic notions, but I have concluded they too often lapse into advocacy of self-reliance and self-glorification.

There is a mystical reality. There is great value when body and mind are wholly with God. But when walking with Jesus - or any other - in the marketplace, I perceive there is also great value in being fully present in that place with that person.

Jesus said to John the son of Zachariah, "If a man makes mention of you and speaks the truth, give thanks to God. If he is lying, multiply your thanks, for God will increase the register of your good deeds without exertion from you." (al-Tibr-al-Masbuk, Abn Hamid al-Ghazali)

To suffer unjustly -- and to do so with integrity, courage, and love -- is honored in all of the Abrahamic faiths.

In a 1964 interview Ayn Rand rejected this shared ethic.

Christ, in terms of the Christian philosophy, is the human ideal. He personifies that which men should strive to emulate. Yet, according to the Christian mythology, he died on the cross not for his own sins but for the sins of the nonideal people. In other words, a man of perfect virtue was sacrificed for men who are vicious and who are expected or supposed to accept that sacrifice. If I were a Christian, nothing could make me more indignant than that: the notion of sacrificing the ideal to the nonideal, or virtue to vice. And it is in the name of that symbol that men are asked to sacrifice themselves for their inferiors. That is precisely how the symbolism is used.

Rand is right. And she is terribly wrong. She has accurately summarized the action and the symbolism. She utterly failed to perceive the power of self-sacrifice.

In Judaism we see, again and again the redemptive possibilities of struggling with our fate, wrestling with our God.

In Islam we can experience the blessings of submission, the bliss of giving over to God all our struggles.

In Christianity we are called to self-sacrifice by which our fractured condition is healed, made whole, and may find its potential and purpose.

The three faiths have each tended to specialize. I wonder if we might not be missing the synergy of struggle, submission, and self-sacrifice?

John the son of Zachariah met Jesus the son of Mary, John smiling of face and welcoming while Jesus was frowning and gloomy. Jesus said to John, "You smile as if you feel secure." John said to Jesus, "You frown as if you are in despair." God revealed, "What John does is dearer to us. (Kitab al-Ikwan, Abu Bar ibn al-Dunya)

Based on my prior understanding of their ministries, I would expect Jesus to be smiling and John to be frowning.

I speculate - I don't really know enough to theorize - that the Islamic tradition gives us a glimpse of the competition between the followers of John and Jesus in the centuries after their death.

By the time of Mohammed (late Sixth Century into the early Seventh Century) the Assyrian Church was undergoing monastic reforms emphasizing strict asceticism. The reforms were based on their understanding of the model established by John the Baptist.

At the same time the Mandaean followers of John, more numerous and prominent than today, rejected asceticism as heretical. Their baptism had removed the need for fasting, giving cause for celebration.

In any case, the spiritual lesson seems to me correct. We should smile much more than frown. We are to approach life with confidence in God's love and grace.

A man who had committed adultery was brought to Jesus, who ordered them to stone him. Jesus said, "But no one should stone him who has committed what he has committed." They let the stones fall from their hands, all except John the son of Zachariah. (al-Zuhd, Ahmad ibn-Hanbal)

I love the listening-game of history.

Only the gospel of John tells of the story echoed above. There it is a woman caught in adultery. There the son of Zachariah is not mentioned. (John 8:1-11)

But the interplay of law, self-criticism, and mercy is the same.

In the gospel version of the story, the accusers seem to slink away while Jesus is looking down. When he looks up, they have all gone.

"Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?" She said, "No one, sir." And Jesus said, ‘Neither do I condemn you. Go your way, and from now on do not sin again."

Neither should we condemn one another.

John and Jesus met and John said, "Ask God's forgiveness for me, for you are better than me." Jesus replied: "You are better than me. I pronounced peace upon myself, whereas God pronounced peace upon you." God recognized the merit of them both. (al-Zuhd, Ahmad ibn-Hanbal)

This is almost certainly a reference to Quran 19 where Jesus explains, "I am a servant of God. He has given me the scripture, and has appointed me a prophet. He made me blessed wherever I go, and enjoined me to observe the Contact Prayers (Salat) and the obligatory charity (Zakat) for as long as I live. I am to honor my mother; He did not make me a disobedient rebel. And peace be upon me the day I was born, the day I die, and the day I shall be raised up."

To our ears there is something over-done and false in this exchange of humilities. We might even hear a competition in self-deprecation. It also offers a portrait of Jesus, and his relationship with John, that is at odds with that of the gospels.

We are not a culture that cultivates humility. Quiet confidence, yes. Walking softly (but carrying a big stick), is respected. John Wayne was not a show-off. But was he humble?

I felt nothing but the revulsion Dickens intended when Mrs. Heep tells David Copperfield, "Umble we are, umble we have been, umble we shall ever be." Clearly it is a false humility, even a prideful humility. This is the caricature of humility that we disdain, without giving much thought to a reality behind the cartoon.

But in approaching and being in relationship with God, which might be more efficacious: confidence or humility?

Jesus met John and said to him, "Admonish me." He said, "Avoid feeling anger." He said, "This I cannot do." He said, " Do not own any wealth." He said, "as for this - it is possible." (al-Zuhd, Ahmad ibn Hanbal)

We do not avoid feeling: anger, fear, envy, lust, and more. We can discipline our perceiving and thinking to be less intense in our feeling, but these are human emotions. To be human is to have such feelings.

We can, however, choose our behavior. We may feel avarice, but we can avoid wealth. We may feel anger, but avoid wrath. Because we are human, we are capable of choosing what we will do with feeling.

Some commentators have suggested the inability of Jesus to control his anger is a failing. For me, it is proof of his full humanity. Recognizing the difference between feeling and behavior is proof of his wisdom.

John said, "Let me ask another." Ask what you will," replied Jesus. "Adultery - what causes it and what makes it recur?" "A glance," said Jesus, "which implants in the heart something that makes it veer excessively toward amusement and self-indulgence, thus increasing heedlessness and sin. Do not stare at what does not belong to you, for what you have not seen will not make you wiser and what you do not hear will not trouble you." (al-Zuhd, Abdallah ibn al-Mubarak)

Jimmy Carter famously told an interviewer, "Christ said, I tell you that anyone who looks on a woman with lust has in his heart already committed adultery. I've looked on a lot of women with lust. I've committed adultery in my heart many times."

What is less often remembered is the context in which the then Presidential candidate made this remark. Mr. Carter went on to say, "This is something that God recognizes, that I will do and have done, and God forgives me for it. But that doesn't mean that I condemn someone who not only looks on a woman with lust but who leaves his wife and shacks up with somebody out of wedlock. Christ says, don't consider yourself better than someone else because one guy screws a whole bunch of women while the other guy is loyal to his wife. The guy who's loyal to his wife ought not to be condescending or proud because of the relative degree of sinfulness."

We will glance, but we need not stare at what does not belong to us. More important is the opportunity even such a glance provides for honest self-reflection, self-correction, and giving thanks for the grace of God.

John son of Zachariah met Jesus and said, "Tell me what it is that draws one near to God's favor and distances one from God's wrath." Jesus said, "Avoid feeling anger." John asked, "What arouses anger and what makes it recur?" Jesus replied, "Pride, fanaticism, haughtiness, and magnificence." (Kitab al-Zuhd, Abdallah ibn al-Mubarak)

It is unusual for me to become angry. But a few weeks ago I was as angry as I have ever been.

A series of events caused me to suspect that a stranger was attempting to defraud my son, and once I became involved trying the same trick on me.

One of the reasons that I generally avoid anger is that I don't think it is worth the time or energy. Creativity is a better application of time and energy.

But in this case there was, I thought, reasonable evidence for a pattern of fraudulent behavior involving a large number.

I specifically considered that this might be a time appropriate for "righteous anger."

My anger produced a few sharp words directed at the suspected individual. But even more the anger produced a sense of pride, haughtiness, and self-righteousness approaching magnificence. I was on the edge of fanaticism.

I was wrong. There was a pattern, but it was one of neglect, poor communication, and bureaucratic thinking and behavior.

My anger just made a difficult situation more complicated. Mostly, my anger fractured the wholeness with which I might have engaged the situation.

The Prophet of Allah (may peace be upon him) said: I was near the House (i.e. Ka'bah) in a state between sleep and wakefulness when I heard someone say: He is the third among the two persons. Then he came to me and took me with him. Then a golden basin containing the water of Zamzam was brought to me and my heart was opened up to such and such (part)... My heart was extracted and it was washed with the water of Zamzam and then it was restored in its original position, after which it was filled with faith and wisdom. I was then brought a white beast which is called Al-Buraq, bigger than a donkey and smaller than a mule. Its stride was as long as the eye could reach. I was mounted on it, and then we went forth till we reached the lowest heaven. Gabriel asked for the (gate) to be opened, and it was asked: Who are you? He replied. Gabriel. It was again asked: Who is with you? He replied: Muhammad (may peace be upon him). It was asked: Has he been revealed to? He (Gabriel) said: Yes. He (Prophet) said: Then (the gate) was opened for us (and it was said): Welcome unto him! His is a blessed arrival. Then we came to Adam (peace be upon him). And he (the narrator) narrated the whole account of the hadith. (The Holy Prophet) observed that he met Jesus and John the Baptist (peace be on both of them) in the second heaven; Joseph in the third; Enoch in the fourth; Aaron in the fifth (peace and blessings of Allah be upon them). Then we traveled on till we reached the sixth heaven and came to Moses (peace be upon him) and I greeted him and he said: Welcome unto righteous brother and righteous Prophet. (The Hadith, 238)

In the Islamic tradition Jesus and John are constant companions, even in heaven.

The Hadith is an authoritative collection of traditional sayings and stories. To my mind it is similar in function to the Talmud.

In the following days we will conclude this study of John the Baptist with the stories of John and Jesus that are found in this tradition.

In these stories we read of two friends -- two partners sharing the ultimate journey -- each actively seeking the insight and support of the other.

Above is a page from an early 16th Century Ottoman Hadith.

O John, you shall uphold the scripture, strongly. We endowed him with wisdom, even in his youth. And (we endowed him with) kindness from us and purity, for he was righteous. He honored his parents, and was never a disobedient tyrant. Peace be upon him the day he was born, the day he dies, and the day he is resurrected back to life. (Quran 19: 12-15)

He was given the capacity for wisdom, kindness, and righteousness. In another translation it is wisdom, compassion, and purity.

We are each unique expressions of God. But we all may share in these capacities, and living coherently with these we may find peace.

Wisdom is knowledge applied with compassion and without self-interest. Sounds simple enough.

But knowledge is infinite. Compassion can be treacherous. Avoidance of self-interest is exceedingly difficult.

Dear God open me to your grace, the only path by which these capacities can be claimed.

A narration about your Lord's mercy towards His servant Zachariah. He called his Lord, a secret call. He said, "My Lord, the bones have turned brittle in my body, and my hair is aflame with gray. As I implore You, my Lord, I never despair. "I worry about my dependants after me, and my wife has been sterile. Grant me, from You, an heir. "Let him be my heir and the heir of Jacob's clan, and make him, my Lord, acceptable." "O Zachariah, we give you good news; a boy whose name shall be Yahya. We never created anyone like him before." He said, "My Lord, will I have a son despite my wife's sterility, and despite my old age?" He said, "Thus said your Lord: `It is easy for Me to do. I created you before that, and you were nothing.' " He said, "My Lord, give me a sign." He said, "Your sign is that you will not speak to the people for three consecutive nights." He came out to his family, from the sanctuary, and signaled to them: "Meditate day and night." (Quran 19:2-11)

It might be said of each of us, "we never created anyone like him or her before."

We are each a unique expression of God. We are each presented with unique opportunities and challenges. We are each responsible for crafting our purpose in coherence with God's intent.

What will today bring? What resolution or new beginning? What is God's intention for this day?

This will be a day of miracles. But too often we do not notice and fail to do our part in fulfilling the miracle intended.

May we approach this day expectantly, watchfully, and enthusiastically ready to do our part.

Those who believe, and do not pollute their belief with idol worship, have deserved the perfect security, and they are truly guided. Such was our argument, with which we supported Abraham against his people. We exalt whomever we will to higher ranks. Your Lord is Most Wise, Omniscient. And we granted him Isaac and Jacob, and we guided both of them. Similarly, we guided Noah before that, and from his descendants (we guided) David, Solomon, Job, Joseph, Moses, and Aaron. We thus reward the righteous. Also, Zachariah, John, Jesus, and Elias; all were righteous. And Ismail, Elisha, Jonah, and Lot; each of these we distinguished over all the people. (Quran 6:82-86)

While this is not all of the prophets mentioned in the Quran - this sura does not, for example, mention Mohammed - it does suggest the continuity of the Abrahamic faiths.

The two listed here that we do not know from Hebrew scripture are John and Jesus. And the Zechariah listed is almost certainly the father of John, not the Hebrew prophet of the Babylonian exile.

Despite (or because) of having so much in common, we squabble and worse over our shared heritage and destiny.

The sixth sura is mostly about distinguishing between false faith, especially idol-worship, and true faith in God.

Speaking of the prophets and principles shared by Jews, Christians, and Muslims we are told, "These are the ones guided by GOD; you shall be guided in their footsteps." (6:90)

Dear God help us celebrate what we share, rather than be preoccupied by what separates.

That is when Zachariah implored his Lord: "My Lord, grant me such a good child; You are the Hearer of the prayers." The angels called him when he was praying in the sanctuary: "God gives you good news of John; a believer in the word of God, honorable, moral, and a righteous prophet." He said, "How can I have a boy, when I am so old, and my wife is sterile?" He said, "God does whatever He wills." He said, "My Lord, give me a sign." He said, "Your sign is that you will not speak to the people for three days, except through signals. Commemorate your Lord frequently; and meditate night and day." (The Quran 3: 38-41)

We have read of John from Christian and Mandaean scripture and in the histories of Flavius Josephus.

Known in Islam, as by the Mandaeans, as Yahya, John is a prophet, the son of a prophet, and the companion of the prophet Jesus.

Jew, Christian, and Muslim claim the same God and many of the same stories. But each of us prefer our way of telling the story to that of the others.

Each of us bring to any story a particular perspective, it makes sense that we will have preferences in how a story is told and what to make of it.

But all of us may be enriched by listening to how others tell the story and knowing what meaning others derive.

Dear God, help me to listen carefully for your voice.

There was a Man sent by God - his name Yoanes. This Man came for bearing witness, that he might bear witness about the Light, in order that men might have faith through it. That Man was not the Light, but came in order that he might bear witness about the Light. It was the True Light which enlighteneth every Man who cometh into the world. ( From the prologue to the fourth gospel, excerpt of a translation of a Greek original by G.R.S. Mead)

An obligation brings me to Las Vegas. This is the second time to visit. It is worse than I remember.

Last evening I walked from the Paris Casino to the Monte Carlo. Small, sharp-eyed men formed a gauntlet offering small cards of naked women, advertisements for strip clubs, escort services, and such.

Discarded cards litter the walk-ways. Totems of a thousand women offer witness to a host of desires: for passion, for acceptance, for yielding, for losing our self in another, for being received by another.

I pass a twenty-something with two snakes tattooed across his broad shoulders. As I step in front of him, I hear him say to a friend. "This is a pit. Why'd we come here? It's worse than Tijuana. We could'a walked through trash in Tijuana."

They keep the casinos dim, perpetual netherworlds of pulsating artificial light. They offer just enough hope to keep you busy gambling. True Light would be distracting.

Dear God, help me to seek out and to stay within your True Light.

There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe. He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world. (John 1: 6-9, NIV)

Now his disposition was extraordinary and his mode of life not that of a man; indeed just like a bodiless spirit, thus did this one too continue. His lips knew no bread; not even at Passover did he taste unleavened bread, saying that, in remembrance of God who had freed the people from slavery, it was given for eating in the flight, for the way was in haste. To wine and intoxicating drink he let himself not even draw near. And every animal he abhorred [as food], and every wrong he rebuked, and tree-produce served him for use. (Flavius Josephus)

Yet we read that the first miracle of Jesus was to turn water into wine.

The disciples of John fasted, while those of Jesus feasted.

Jesus passed the bread and said eat. He passed the cup and said drink.

There is a time and place for restraint and mindful sacrifice.

But there are many more opportunities for joy, thanksgiving, and celebration.

And Herod, his brother, took his wife Herodias. And because of her all the doctors of the Law abhorred him, but durst not accuse him before his face. But only that one whom they called a wild man, came to him in anger and spake: "Why hast thou taken the wife of thy brother? As thy brother hath died a death void of pity, thou too wilt be reaped off by the heavenly sickle. God's decree will not be silenced, but will destroy thee through evil affliction in foreign lands. For thou dost not raise up seed for thy brother, but gratifiest thy fleshly lust and committest adultery, seeing that four children of him are alive." Now when Herod heard [this], he was filled with wrath and commanded that they should beat him and drive him away. But he accused Herod incessantly wherever he found him, and right up to the time when he (H.) put him under arrest and gave orders to slay him. (Flavius Josephus)

Herodias was quite a woman. She was a descendant of Hasmonean royalty. She was daughter, sister, niece, and spouse of half the Herods. The weave of relationship leaves one dizzy.

We need to think of her -- as she surely thought of herself -- as a Hellenistic princess. The ancient proscriptions of the Hebrew Bible seemed to her quaint.

The noisy accusations of John were not quaint. She blamed John for Philip's, her previous husbands, death. He was too soft and susceptible to stress.

Herod Antipas was tougher and more promising in many ways. But until she might bear an heir to her new husband+brother-in-law+uncle her status was threatened by John's attacks.

If I had been a doctor of the law -- a sophisticated Sadducee -- I might well have found the marriage of Herod and Herodias distasteful and an unfortunate distraction.

But, the ruler's private lusts and such are not worth exciting public concern. I would not have supported executing John, but I might well have welcomed a legitimate pretext for shutting him up. All the while I would shake my head at the unrealistic and unhelpful preoccupations of so many.

John and I would each have known the same facts. But where John saw corruption and defiance of God, I would have seen merely typical human foibles.

While Philip was [still] in possession of his dominion, he saw a dream,—how an eagle tore out both his eyes. And he summoned all his wise men. But when each interpreted the dream differently, there came to him suddenly, without being summoned, that man of whom we have previously written, that he went about in skins of animals and cleansed the people in the waters of the Jordan. And he spake: "Give ear to the word of the Lord,—the dream which thou hast seen. The eagle—that is thy venality; because that bird is violent and rapacious. And that sin will take away thy eyes which are thy dominion and thy wife." And when he had thus spoken, Philip died before evening and his dominion was given to Agrippa. (Flavius Josephus)

We are objective observers, but subjective interpreters.

We have the data - more than anyone else - on what is happening in our lives. But as we organize our data, we can easily mis-label, neglect, and mix or separate in ways that produce confusion instead of information.

This confusion is monitored by our brain. Our dreams can serve as a sorting function to reexamine how we have organized, or potentially misorganized, our data.

Ernest Hartmann, a contemporary American psychologist writes, "Dreaming makes connections more broadly than waking in the nets of the mind. Dreaming avoids the "central" rapid input-to-output portions of the net and the feed-forward mode of functioning; it makes connections in the further out regions (further from input/output) and in an auto-associative mode... Dreaming cross-connects. The connections are not made in a random fashion; they are guided by the emotion of the dreamer. Dreaming contextualizes a dominant emotion or emotional concern."

We are much more than our waking selves. We are much more than the meaning we allow ourselves. The world is much more than the data as we have organized it.

John arrives and reorganizes Philip's data. The new information uncovers new (or newly recognized) knowledge, which is information placed in context. Based on this knowledge John speaks wisdom, which is knowledge applied to solving a problem or engaging a novel situation.

Dear God, help me to make the connections you have offered. Help my senses to know the truth. Help me to make sense of the truth and do with it what you intend.

And when he had been brought to Archelaus and the doctors of the Law had assembled, they asked him who he is and where he has been until then. And to this he made answer and spake: "I am pure; [for] the Spirit of God hath led me on, and [I live on] cane and roots and tree-food. But when they threatened to put him to torture if he would not cease from those words and deeds, he nevertheless said: "It is meet for you [rather] to cease from your heinous works and cleave unto the Lord your God." And there rose up in anger Simon, an Essæan by extraction, a scribe, and he spake: "We read every day the divine books. But thou, only now come from the forest like a wild animal,—thou darest in sooth to teach us and to mislead the people with thy reprobate words." And he rushed forward to do him bodily violence. But he, rebuking them, spake: "I will not disclose to you the mystery which dwelleth in you, for ye have not desired it. Thereby an untold calamity is come upon you, and because of yourselves."And when he had thus spoken, he went forth to the other side of the Jordan; and while no one durst rebuke him, that one did what [he had done] also heretofore. (Flavius Josephus)

Herod Archelaus ruled Judea, Samaria, and Edom from 4 BC to 6AD. If Josephus has his ruler right (the Herods can get confusing), John was considerably older than Jesus, much older than the six months suggested by Luke.

Archelaus was arguably the worst of the Herods, so cruel that he was removed by the Emperor Augustus and banished to what is now Austria.

I am as certain as John that each of us have a mystery that dwelleth in us. It does not usually hide. But it is shy and complicated and, sometimes, contradictory. It is after-all a mystery.

You get to know the mystery by asking it questions and listening carefully to its obscure answers. Or over many days (months and years) you work with it on intricate puzzles. Sometimes the mystery will ask you riddles.

Impatience, anger and threats - such as Simon's - only cause the mystery to tie itself into tighter and tighter knots.

The mystery welcomes us, but we must approach it ready to play, to take neither it or ourselves too seriously, and to enjoy mystery's company rather than always trying to solve the mystery. The goal is not so much to understand, but to be in relationship with the mystery

Now at that time a man went about among the Jews in strange garments; for he had put pelts on his body everywhere where it was not covered with his own hair; indeed to look at he was like a wild man. He came to the Jews and summoned them to freedom, saying: "God hath sent me, that I may show you the way of the Law, wherein ye may free yourselves from many holders of power. And there will be no mortal ruling over you, only the Highest who hath sent me." And when the people had heard this, they were joyful. And there went after him all Judæa, that lies in the region round Jerusalem. And he did nothing else to them save that he plunged them into the stream of the Jordan and dismissed them, instructing them that they should cease from evil works, and [promising] that there would [then] be given them a ruler who would set them free and subject to them all that is not in submission; but no one of whom we speak (?), would himself be subjected. Some reviled, but others got faith. (Flavius Josephus, Bello Judaico)

Flavius Josephus was born in 37AD and died in 101. He was a leader in the Jewish war of independence (66-73), but became an apologist for Roman rule. His account of John the Baptist, started above, is considered the most credible secular source on the prophet.

"Some reviled, but others got faith." There are religious leaders who, if I have not quite reviled, I have certainly disdained. Yet others have found the same men (and all are male who I have in mind) inspiring. Many have been persuaded by the same preaching I have rejected.

I might have disdained St. Paul or would have given him little more than grudging respect. I probably would have smiled indulgently regarding John the Baptist. I am probably more Sadducee than Pharisee. How might I have responded to Jesus?

Dear God, help me to listen for your word regardless of its packaging. Help me to put aside my expectations and prejudices to recognize and respond to your truth.

When Yahyā said this, there came a Letter from the House of Abathur: "Yahyā, take a wife and found a family, and see that thou dost not let this world come to an end. On the night of Monday and on the night of Tuesday go to thy first bedding. On the night of Wednesday and on the night of Thursday devote thyself to thy hallowed praying. On the night of Friday and on the night of Saturday go to, thy first bedding. On the night of Sunday and (? yea) on the night of the Day devote thyself to thy hallowed praying. On Sunday, take three and leave three, take three and leave three. See that thou dost not let the world come to an end." Thereon they fashioned for Yahyā a wife out of thee, thou Region of the Faithful.

John's task is nothing less than to not let this world come to an end. Yet he is encouraged to take a wife and live a life. Might these also be acts of world-preserving?

Not all of us are called to dramatic self-sacrifice. But each of us serve as co-creators of the world. Each of us have a role in healing a fractured world.

For most of us these roles will be fulfilled in what is called ordinary life: as the children of parents, siblings, cousins, neighbors, students, teachers, co-workers, employers, customers, merchants, and part of a wide web of relationships.

Within these relationships to what do we devote ourselves? What proportion is given to praying, to playing, to caring, and to daring to walk a pathway that suddenly opens?

Each encounter with another beckons with sacramental potential. We will not always fulfill the potential. But how might we live to improve the odds of doing so?

Yahyā proclaims in the nights, Yōhānā on the Night's evenings. YAHYĀ proclaims in the nights and speaks: "The [heavenly] wheels and chariots quaked. Sun and Moon weep and the eyes of Rūhā shed tears." He says: "Yahyā, thou art like to a scorched mountain, which brings forth no grapes in this world. Thou art like to a dried-up stream, on whose banks no plants are raised. Thou hast become a land without a lord, a house without worth. A false prophet hast thou become, who hast left no one to remember thy name. Who will provide thee with provision, who with victuals, and who will follow to the grave after thee?"When Yahyā heard this, a tear gathered in his eye; a tear in his eye gathered, and he spake: "It would be pleasant to take a wife, and delightul for me to have children. But only if I take no woman,—and then comes sleep, desire for her seizes me and I neglect my night-prayer. If only desire does not wake in me, and I forget my Lord out of my mind. If only desire does not wake in me, and I neglect my prayer every time."

How do we balance and fulfill and make whole our lives?

Mostly, for most of us, we don't. I expect most of us don't even try. Not really. We blithely allow the trivial and instrumental to fill our days.

And unawares we wonder why our lives seem more or less empty.

I expect there are six billion and more paths to fulfillment. But whichever way I am to go - or you - it means choosing an intended path and keeping mostly on the path.

Even if we are very slow. Even if we consciously choose a crossing path.

But too often I follow another's path or no path at all. Too often I am so busy going hither and yon I don't even notice the varied paths laid out for my choosing.

Dear God, thank you for the paths you have offered. Help me to stay on the way to you.

Thereon Yeshu Messiah made answer to Yahyā in Jerusaem: "A stammerer a scholar becomes: a child who comes from the bearer, blooms and grows big. Through wages and alms he comes on high; he comes on high through wages and alms, and ascends and beholds the Light's region. "A blind man who writes a letter: a villain who has become virtuous. He abandoned wantonness and abandoned theft and reached unto faith in almighty Life."A desolate house who ascends again to the height: one of position who has become humble. He quitted his palaces and quitted his pride and built a house on the seashore. A house he built on the seashore, and into it opened two doors, so that he might bring in unto him whoever lay down there in misery,—to him he opened the door and took him within to himself. If he would eat, he laid for him a table with Truth, If he would drink, he mixed for him wine cups [with Truth], If he would lie down, he spread a bed for him in Truth. If he would depart, he led him forth on the way of Truth. He led him forth on the way of Truth and of faith, and then he ascends and beholds the Light's region. "A widow who a virgin becomes: a woman who already in youth has been widowed. She kept her shame closed, and sat there till her children were grown. If she passes over, her face does not pale in her husband's presence. "Foul water that is made tasty: a girl wanton who has got back her honour: she went up a hamlet and she went down a hamlet without taking her veil from her face. "A stone with oil softens: a heretic who has come down from the mountain. He abandoned magic and sorcery and made confession to almighty Life. He found a fatherless and filled him full and filled full the widow's pockets."Therefor baptize me, O Yahyā, with thy baptizing and utter o'er me the Name thy wont is to utter. If I show myself as thy pupil, I will remember thee in my writing; if I attest not myself as thy pupil, then wipe out my name from thy page. Thou wilt for thy sins be haled to account, and I for my sins will be haled to account." When Yeshu Messiah said this, there came a Letter out of the House of Abathur: "Yahyā, baptize the deceiver in Jordan. Lead him down into the Jordan and baptize him, and lead him up again to the shore, find there set him." Then Rūhā made herself like to a dove and threw a cross over the Jordan. A cross she threw over the Jordan and made its water to change into various colours. "O Jordan," she says, "thou sanctifiest me and thou sanctifiest my seven sons."

For the Mandaeans Jesus is the Deceiver. I don't perceive this as ancient irony. The scripture of John the Baptist voices the tension and division that existed between the followers of John and those of Jesus. This is implied by the gospels. Here it is explicit.

But even in their disdain for the Deceiver, they do not understate his power. We hear in the illustrations -- parables -- that Jesus offers John the same ability to deploy purposeful paradox that we read in the gospels.

Change -- even fundamental change -- is always possible. Indeed such transformation can be merely a stroll away. A wanton girl chooses to walk through a small town and back without seeking to entice, without seeking reassurance of her attractiveness, without seeking to provoke. Foul water becomes tasty.

Each day - each moment - offers the potential for reclaiming our purpose, our true identity, and to know God's intent. Perhaps it is only for a moment. Perhaps the next time we will remove the veil. But in this moment, we have allowed our stony separation to soften and sink into the ground of being.

Dear God, I know you are always with me, help me to be fully present and open to you.

The painting above shows Zacharias and John watching over the sleeping Jesus, by Guido Cagnacci (1601-1663)

Then spake Yahyā to Yeshu Messiah in Jerusalem: "A stammerer becomes not a scholar, a blind man writes no letter. A desolate house mounts not to the height, and a widow becomes not a virgin. Foul water becomes not tasty, and a stone does not with oil soften." Thereon Yeshu Messiah made answer to Yahyā in Jerusalem: "A stammerer a scholar becomes, a blind man writes a letter. A desolate house mounts unto the height, and a widow becomes a virgin. Foul water becomes tasty, and a stone with oil softens." Thereon spake Yahyā unto Yeshu Messiah in Jerusalem: "If thou givest me illustration for this, thou art [really] a wise Messiah."

The issue John raises with Jesus concerns how we are to perceive limitations and deficits. What is reality and how do we engage it?

We are taught by experience - and often by society - to recognize and respect boundaries, to know our place, and to be "realistic."

The working definition of realistic is usually someone who understands what cannot be done, what is a waste of effort to even try.

But Jesus transforms the "nots" of John into "becomes." Where the realist is sure of deficits, Jesus perceives an ultimate reality of abundance.

Dear God, help me to see the potential you have endowed in your creation. Help me to constantly be coming into what you intend.

Yahyā proclaims in the nights, Yōhānā on the Night's evenings. YAHYĀ proclaims in the nights.—Glory rises over the worlds. Who told Yeshu (Eshu)? Who told Yeshu Messiah, son of Miryam, who told Yeshu, so that he went to the shore of the Jordan and said [unto Yahyā]: "Yahyā, baptize me with thy baptizing and utter o'er me also the Name thy wont is to utter. If I show myself as thy pupil, I will remember thee then in my writing; I attest not myself as thy pupil, then wipe out my name from thy page," Thereon Yahyā answered Yeshu Messiah in Jerusalem: "Thou hast lied to the Jews and deceived the priests. Thou hast cut off their seed from the men and from the women bearing and being pregnant. The sabbath, which Moses made binding, hast thou relaxed in Jerusalem. Thou hast lied unto them with horns and spread abroad disgrace with the shofar." Thereon Yeshu Messiah answered Yahyā in Jerusalem: "If I have lied to the Jews, may the blazing fire consume me. If I have deceived the priests, a double death will I die. If I have cut off their seed from the men, may I not cross o'er the End-Sea. If I have cut off from the women birth and being pregnant, then is in sooth a judge raised up before me. If I have relaxed the sabbath, may the blazing fire consume me. If I have lied to the Jews, I will tread on thorns and thistles. If I have spread disgrace abroad with horn-blowing, may my eyes then not light on Abathur. So baptize me then with thy baptizing, and utter o'er me the Name thy wont is to utter. If I show myself as thy pupil, I will remember thee then in my writing; if I attest not myself as thy pupil, then wipe out my name from thy page."

In both the Mandaean and Islamic traditions John and Jesus, son of Miriam, had a long association. In these traditions each is recognized as a great prophet.

In the writings of both traditions Jesus is clearly a student of John. In Islam - unlike for the Mandaeans - Jesus is undoubtedly the student who surpasses his teacher. But in both traditions John challenges and corrects Jesus.

The gospel writers ignore or quickly gloss over the relationship of John and Jesus. But they tell us enough that the conversation reported above seems plausible, if surely far from precisely accurate.

If we accept the orthodoxy that before his resurrection Jesus was at once fully human and fully God, then the human would have needed teachers and friends, challenges and correction, affirmation and love.

And it would make sense that Jesus-as-God would be wise enough to seek out teachers and friends who would notice and question the tug of human pride and any folly.

Dear God, lead me to your wisdom.

Yahyā proclaims in the nights, Yōhānā on the Night's evenings. Yahya proclaims in the nights and speaks: "The [heavenly] wheels and chariots quaked. Earth and Heaven weep and the tears of the Clouds flow down.""My father," says Yahyā, "was ninety and nine and my mother eighty and eight years old. Out of the basin of Jordan they took me. They bore me up and laid me in the womb of Enishbai. 'Nine months,' said they, 'thou shalt stay in her womb, as do all other children.' No wise woman," said he, "brought me into the world in Judæa, and they have not cut my cord in Jerusalem. They made for me no picture of lies, and for me hung up no bell of deceit.I was born from Enishbai in the region of Jerusalem." The region of Jerusalem quakes and the wall of the priests rocks. Elizar, the great house, stands there and his body trembles. The Jews gather together, come unto Old Father Zakhriā and they speak to him: "O Old Father Zakhriā, thou art to have a son. Tell us now, what name shall we give him? Shall we give him for name 'Yaqif of Wisdom,' that he may teach the Book in Jerusalem? Or shall we give him for name 'Zatan the Pillar,' so that the Jews may swear by him and commit no deceit?"When Enishbai heard this, she cried out and she said: "Of all these names which you name, will I not give him one; but the name Yahyā-Yōhānā will I give him, which Life's self has given unto him."When the Jews heard this, they were filled with wicked anger against her and said: "What weapon shall we make ready for [a certain] one and his mother, that he be slain by our hand?" When Anōsh, the treasure, heard this be took the child and brought it to Parwan, the white mountain, to Mount Parwan, on which sucklings and little ones on holy drink are reared up. (The Gnostic John the Baptist)

In both Christian and Mandaean scripture the naming of the child is a crucial and controversial act.

Yōhānā or John - his public name - means, "God is a gracious giver." Yahyā, his private and true name, means, "He lives" or "God lives."

For the ancients of many cultures, one's name - "hallowed be thy name" - was no mere label. It was fundamental to identity.

It was common to keep one's true name hidden, much as moderns may sublimate our true identity.

To speak the true name of another is an act of great intimacy and power. To know our own identity - and to live it fully - is a powerful choice.

Yahyā proclaims in the nights, Yōhānā on the Night's evenings. YAHYĀ proclaims in the nights and says: "Through my Father's discourses I give light and through the praise of the Man, my creator, I have freed my soul from the world and from the works that are hateful and wrong. The Seven put question to me, the Dead who have not seen Life, and they say: "In whose strength dost thou stand there, and with whose praise dost thou make proclamation?" Thereon I gave to them answer: "I stand in the strength of my Father and with the praise of the Man, my creator. I have built no house in Judæa, have set up no throne in Jerusalem. I have not loved the wreath of the roses, not commerce with lovely women. I have not loved the defective, not loved the cup of the drunkards. I have loved no food of the body, and envy has found no place in me. I have not forgotten my night-prayer, not forgotten wondrous Jordan. I have not forgotten my baptizing, not [forgotten] my pure sign. I have not forgotten Sun-day, and the Day's evening has not condemned me. I have not forgotten Shilmai and Nibdai, who dwell in the House of the Mighty. They clear me and let me ascend; they know no fault, no defect is in me." (The Gnostic John the Baptist)

According to Mandaean scripture John's real name -- the name known by God -- is Yahya, meaning "He Lives."

In 1945 a large collection of ancient texts were found at Nag Hammadi in Northern Egypt. Along with the so-called Dead Sea Scrolls found at Qumran in 1947, the documents have transformed our understanding of the religious and intellectual context of First Century Palestine.

Many of these ancient texts are clearly Gnostic in origin or by influence. By the time I was in my early twenties many of these texts were available in English translation and had a significant influence on my religious thinking.

While there remains a certain attraction, I have come to perceive Gnosticism as flawed in its tendency to celebrate our ability to achieve perfection.

By embracing the divine with each of us, through discipline and diligence the Gnostic -- like Yahya in the passage above -- ascends without fault or defect.

It doesn't leave much opportunity for God's grace to work and -- while I respect discipline and diligence and know that we each share in the divine -- my own experience suggests that it is God's grace and not my effort that brings me closest to God.

All the priests arose and said to Old Father Zakhriā, in reproach: "Old Father! We will enlighten thee as to thy race and thy fathers, from whom thou hast come forth. . . . [there follows a list of prophets and sages, beginning with Moses, which I omit, as it requires a lengthy commentary for which space here does not serve,—ending with]. . . Ṭāb-Yōmīn and the school-teachers have come forth from thy race. The blessed princes, who are thy forbears, Old Father, all of them have taken no wife and begotten no sons. Yet in their old age each of them had a son. They had sons, and they were prophets in Jerusalem. If now out of thee as well a prophet comes forth, thou dost then revive this race again. Yea, Yōhānā will be born and will be called prophet in Jerusalem. "Then Elizar opened his mouth and said to Old Father: "Old Father! If Yōhānā receives Jordan, then will I be his servant, be baptized with his baptizing and signed with his pure sign. We will take his bread and drink his drink and with him ascend to Light's region." Then Old Father opened his mouth and said unto all of the priests: "If the child comes out of the most high height, what then will you do in Jerusalem?" They have taken the child out of the basin of Jordan and laid him in the womb of Enishbai. Life is victorious and victorious is the Man who has come hither.

Yet in their old age each of them had a son...

Finally, prayers are answered. Finally, waiting ends. Finally, the struggle is fulfilled.

With Zakhriā and with others their lives are fulfilled despite doubt and even rejection of God.

Zakhriā has not earned Yohana. Jerusalem does not deserve Yohana. God's grace is self-giving love.

We have seen from Adam to Moses and across the generations a tendency to resist this love. Dear God, help me to open to your love, receiving and being transformed in relationship with you.

Thereon Old Father removed himself from their midst, and Elizar followed him. Then were seen three lights which companied with him (Z.). They (the priests) ran up, caught Old Father by the hem of his robe and said to him: "Old Father, what is 't that goes before thee, and what is 't that follows thee?" Then answered he them: "O Elizar, thou great house, thou head of all of the priests, I know not whom the lights guard which go before me. I know not with whom the fire goes which follows me. [But] neither through me nor through you will Enishbai bear a child." Then all the priests rose and said to Old Father Zakhriā, [they said] in reproach: "Old Father Zakhriā, be at peace, firm and decided, for the child will be planted from out of the most high height and be given to thee in thy old age. Yōhānā will be born, Yōhānā will receive Jordan and be called prophet in Jerusalem. We will be baptized with his baptizing and with his pure sign [will we] be signed. We will take his bread and drink his drink and with him ascend to Light's region."

What is it that compells Zakhriā? This goes far beyond doubt to absolute denial. There seems to be a resentment of the gift.

Over the last year, even across my life, I have been the recipient of great gifts much more tangible than this unlikely promise of a late-life birth. For me the promises have unfolded into experienced reality.

But rather than give thanks and receive the gifts with joy, I have too often worried over the reality and confused the gift with a rebuke.

Dear God, thank you for the lights which you have consistently sent to show me your path. Thank you for the fire with which you guard my journey.

Help me, dear God, to receive your gifts with joy, to recognize in them your intent, and to pursue your intent with creativity and courage.

Then all the priests arose and said to Old Father Zakhria,in reproach: "Be at rest and keep thy seat, Old Father, and let the calm of the Good rest upon thee. Old Father, if there were no dreams in Judea then would that Misha has siad, be lying Rather shall thy word and our word be made good, and the dreams we have seen. Yohana will receive Jordon and be called prophet in Jerusalem. (Book of the Gnostic John the Baptizer, Chapter 18)

When frustrated (or worse) with prayers unanswered, hopes dashed, and potential lost may we each be at rest and keep our seat.

May we continue to dream and day-dream and wonder and explore and experiment and reflect and discuss with others and learn from others and listen for the whisper of God. And may we have faith in what we hear and go forth in love, humility and courage to undertake what we are told.

In all things and at all times may the calm of the Good rest upon thee and me.