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By Donald H. Harrison
 SAN DIEGO—Recently I unilaterally imposed upon my computer a trial separation, although there were times in our relationship that I would have gone further and demanded an irrevocable divorce. I’m sure many of you know the type of computer that I had wedded myself to — always demanding more and more of my time, never satisfied with the amount of attention it receives, constantly chanting “IM,” “IM,” “IM.”
Liberated on Tuesday, November 10, from the computer’s incessant demands, I left its immediate vicinity, squinted into the daylight outside my home, drove to the home of a human friend, Dan Schaffer, and decided with him to explore the campus of the hilly University of San Diego. Some people like to go mall walking, but there is more to see and learn by college-campus strolling. The University of San Diego, a Catholic-run university, was an appealing destination, not only for the exercise that walking would provide but also for any knowledge two old Jewish duffers might learn as we shlepped along.
When we drove up Linda Vista Road to the lower entryway of the campus, a convivial gentleman in the kiosk greeted us in friendly fashion and said we could take our chances trying to find a parking spot on the upper campus, or we could drive down to the parking structure–which “always has spaces”–and catch a tram to the upper campus. “They come every seven minutes or so,” he informed.
It was good advice. The tram is comfortable and it dropped us right in front ofthe Joan B. Kroc Center for Peace and Justice, to which Dan and I were drawn as ifby a magnet. We found in its gallery a collection of works by the early 19th century artist Francisco Goya–each an eye-catching protest against the barbarity and mayhem of warfare. Other artists may have found the glory of warfare but Goya –his belly full of Napoleon–depicted its gruesome reality. Many of the images are haunting.
Along one corridor, we also saw photographs of people who have been speakers orpanelists during major Kroc Center programs: two of whom have views on Israel that made me wince involuntarily: I’m speaking of former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and South African Justice Richard Goldstone, author of the notorious report recently adopted by the anti-Israeli United Nations General Assembly.
However, there was one corridor exhibit at the Kroc Center to which I was positively drawn — a framed collection of six calligraphed writings from as many different faith traditions: Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, Native American, and Islam.
Each offered a thought about a different attribute that we humans ought to cultivate, and I felt that these side-by-side religious declarations were well worth notating. Trying to be ever-prepared for such eventualities, I clicked on my little tape recorder and slowly read the works aloud.
Here is what they had to say, in the left-to-right order in which they were mounted:
Hinduism on Peace: Those unto whom all desires enter as waters enter into the sea–which though ever being filled is ever motionless–attain peace, not those who cling to their desires. Those who abandon all selfish craving and act free from longing without any sense of egoism or possession, they attain to peace. In this condition one abides in the divine. No one having attained this is ever again bewildered. Established in this state at the end of one’s life, one attains final liberation in God. — Bhagavad Gita 20.70-72
Buddhism on Service: May I through whatever good I have accomplished become one who works for the complete alleviation of the suffering of all beings. May I be medicine for
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the sick. May I be their physician and attend to them until their disease no longer recurs. May I be an inexhaustible storehouse for the poor and may I always be the first in being ready to serve them in various ways. May I be a protector for the unprotected,
a guide for travelers on the way; a boat, a bridge, a means of crossing for those who seek the other shore. For all creatures may I be a light for those who need a light, a bed for those who need a bed, and a servant for those who need a servant — Bodhicaryavatāra of Shantideva
Judaism on Wisdom — Happy is the person who finds wisdom and who gets understanding. In her right hand is length of days; in her left hand riches and honor. Her ways are ways of pleasantness and all her paths are peace. She is a tree of life for those who grasp her and whoever holds onto her is happy. Do not forsake her; she will preserve you. Love her and she will protect you, hug her to you and she will exalt you, embrace her and she will bring you honor. The wisdom is a house built and by understanding it is established. Whoever finds wisdom finds life and obtains favor from the Lord. — Proverbs 3
Christianity on Love: Love is always patient and kind. Love is never jealous. Love is not boastful or conceited. It is never rude and never seeks its own advantage. It does not take offense or store up grievances. Love does not rejoice at wrongdoing but finds its joy in the truth. It is always ready to make allowances, to trust, to hope and to endure whatever comes. — 1 Corinthians 13:4-7
Native American Tradition on Respect: O Great Spirit Whose voice I hear in the winds and Whose breath gives life to all the world, hear me. I am small and weak. I need Your strength and wisdom. Let me walk in beauty and let my eyes ever behold the red and purple sunset. Make my hands respect the things that You have made and my ears grow sharp to hear Your voice. Make me wise so that I may understand the things that You have taught my people. Let me learn the lessons that You have hidden in every leaf and rock. I seek strength not to be greater than my brother and sister but to fight my greatest enemy: myself. Make me always ready to come to You with clean hands and straight eyes so when life fades as the fading sunset, my spirit may come to you without shame — Let Me Walk in Beauty
Islam on Mercy: In the name of God, the Compassionate and the Merciful; your Lord has not forsaken you nor is He displeased with you and truly the last shall be better for you than the first. You shall be gratified with what your Lord will give you. Did He not find you an orphan and give you shelter? Did He not find you lost and guide you? Did He not find you poor and enrich you? Therefore do not wrong the orphan, nor chide away the beggar, but proclaim the blessing of your Lord. –Koran 93: 2-11.
Following our visit to the Kroc Center, Dan and I toured the Shiley Building next door with its beautiful atrium and continued onto the Immaculata to see that beautiful church’s stained glass windows and murals. Almost all of the portaiture were based on Christian Scriptures, with the lives of Jesus and his contemporaries supplemented by depictions of various saints held dear by Roman Catholicism. The high ceilings of the church, the sunlight streaming through these beautifully wrought images give the place a feeling of sanctity.
In inspecting the stained glass windows one by one, I came upon one that made me instantly smile with recognition: a young woman holding a sheaf of wheat. It was the biblical Moabite, Ruth, who by Jewish tradition was the great grandmother of King David, and by Christian tradition an even more distant ancestor of Jesus.
It made me feel good that within the buildings of a Catholic university, Judaism and other religions are saluted, and that in the historic church building, a simple Moabite woman who told her Jewish mother-in-law Naomi, “your people shall be my people, your God my God’ occupies such a place of honor.
I felt good indeed–so good, in fact, that when I got home, I banished unworthy thoughts of separation or divorce, and immediately reported upon my day to the computer, which showed forebearance and forgave me my absence.
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