Dear Peggy,
Please excuse any confusion in my name. My “real world” name is Anne but my typekey identity is Arizona.
You are quite correct in reminding us of God’s incarnation in the flesh of Jesus Christ. However, we mere mortals like something tangible to hold onto and Jesus-in-the-flesh is no longer with us. Back when He knew that His end was nigh, He gave us the simple ceremony of breaking bread and drinking wine in remembrance of Him. The trouble was that, in time, this became an elaborate ceremony that could only be performed by (male) priests. The truth is that, any day and every day, if we break bread and drink wine while remembering Him, then the transubstantiation happens, with or without a (male) priest in attendance.
Islam went one further in the process of simplification. The Quran allows any Muslim to be in touch with God simply by handling a smallish book. You could say that, in throwing out the need for a priest and replacing him with a book as divine mediation, Islam foreshadowed the Christian Reformation. Indeed, a lot of similarities have been noted between Islam and Protestantism, not least of which are the abhorrence of imagery and of alcohol as approaches to divinity.
I can sense your frustration that Salim doesn’t enter into further discussion through these commentaries and I will try, in whatever way I can, to fill this gap for you. I cannot be Salim, of course, but I can be a friend in your search for truth and for peace.
Respectfully,
Anne
