Ahmad ben Ahmad

            Ahmad ben Ahmad had a dream. In his dream he saw an angel writing in a book. He asked the angel, “What are you writing?”

            The angel answered, “I am writing the names of those who love God most.”

            Ahmad ben Ahmad looked at the book and did not see his name. So, he said to the angel, “If you cannot list me as one who loves God, can you at least list me as one who loves my fellow mankind?”

            The next night, Ahmad ben Ahmad had another dream. In this dream the angel was writing in a different book. Ahmad ben Ahmad asked the angel, “What are you writing now?”

            The angel answered, “In this book, I am listing the names of those whom God loves most.”

            Ahmad ben Ahmad looked at the book and there at the very top of the list it said: “Ahmad ben Ahmad.”

And God Speaks:

            “Love one another

            The infatuation with the concept of loving God misses the point altogether. How can you love God when you don’t know who/what God is? How can you love God when you do not love His works? How can you claim to love God while there is even one person you do not love? Isn’t loving your fellow man the best way to love God? Isn’t loving God’s creation the best way to show your love of God? You may say you love God, but first define for me what you mean by God. You are just a blind man fumbling around an elephant without any idea what you are doing. You are blind and cannot see God. Your mind cannot even grasp the concept of God. Describe God to me. When you can do that then perhaps you can love God. Meanwhile, love your fellow mankind. Love one another. Love God’s creation.

            Do not concern yourself with salvation or eternal life. Concern yourself with the need to live today, right now as you know is right with God. If your concern is about tomorrow’s salvation ignoring today’s salvation, today’s life; you might find that you are not ready for heaven on the day you die. Are you going to tell God that you will be ready tomorrow?

Today’s life.

Today’s behavior.

Today’s love.

Forget heaven or hell for tomorrow.

Live heaven here and now.

            When asked, “If you die tomorrow, will you go to heaven or hell?”

            The answer is, “I am already in heaven!”

            The greatest gift God can give you is the ability to love well, to love completely, to love unselfishly.

            That is also the greatest gift you can give God.

If you love all others, you love God.

If you love God, you love all others.

            Yes, you are with God, so you are in heaven.

            In God’s eyes, your sacred concepts, your sacred symbols; are not as valuable as that dirty, foul, drug addict or drunk that you went out of the way to avoid.

            This includes your sacred writings: the Torah, the Bible, the Qur’an.

            This includes the Holy Land, Mecca, all the sacred spots.

            This includes all your holy symbols.

            There is no better way to love God than to love all your fellow mankind. This includes the dirtiest, foulest, lowest of the low. This includes the untouchables in your society.

            Listen to this message from God even if you listen to no other.

                  Ahmad ben Ahmad was a Moslem philosopher who lived more than a thousand years ago. I do not believe he will complain that I have used his story here. This story came out of my memory, so it may be somewhat inaccurate. It has been a long time since I first heard it.