So many different religions

It was a wonderful ten day trip to Egypt. The protesters in the streets stayed in their place and we went to our places and never crossed paths.  The great plus was that we were among a very small handful of people touring. We got to see and go to all of the sites without fighting any crowds. The guides, the stores, the sites were delighted to see us. There were no crowds at the Pyramids. No mob at Karnak or Luxor. The Valley of the Kings was empty of living people.  The down side was that all the vendors were desperate for sales and we had to fight off the constant appeals for "deals."

But the ten day tour did present a rapid history lesson and a major lesson in religions. The Temples were built for the Egyptians Gods and Goddesses.  But even among them there was the attempt to change gods under one of the Pharaohs. Then the invasion of the Hykoss came and brought a new religion. The Egyptians threw them out and returned to their gods. Then came the Greeks and while they had their own gods and goddess, Alexander the Great knew that political stability was best if you did not mess with people's religions so he tried to "act like an Egyptian."  The Romans came next with their set of gods and goddesses. The Christians came along about that time and they were welcomed in Egypt by the Egyptians but persecuted by the Romans until Rome became Christian.

The revolving religious story continued with the invasion of Islam. The Temple buildings kept being converted from one use to another. Temple, Church, Mosque, Temple, and on and on. Like so many other places the evidence for the other religion was "removed" by the present or current religion.

It has to make you realize that you have to understand the tentative nature of faith. There is no way to be absolutely sure that your faith is the "correct" one.  On the other hand, it does speak to our deep need and our deep conviction that there is a Holy Dimension to life that is concerned and involved with human history.  There is a need to worship in the human heart. There is a passionate hope for a life that extends beyond this life. There is a common element of death and resurrection.  There is, in many of the stories, a interaction of the gods with humans to achieve a special messenger and a different level of being.  There is an absolute agreement that heaven is much too large, and time is much to long for us to ever find the gods if they did not want to be found. There is  a common convictions that the gods have come to us and revealed themselves to us.