Religion the Effort of Humanity

I’m reading Karen Armstrong’s Islam: A Short History. If you need a good overview of the Muslim faith, then pick this one up. It’s a good read. But I’ve got to tell you something: it is a long, sad, and exhausting thing for me to read this history. You have the dynamism of the Prophet who had his first revelation in 610 CE, started to preach in 612 CE, and died in 632 CE. It was an amazing time. I’ve got her biography of The Prophet on hold at the library right now. But after Mohammad died, things go downhill from there, in my opinion. This is not a reflection on the Muslim people or their faith, but a reflection on the way of all the human race and their religions, including Christianity. I’m thankful for Armstrong’s account because it is forcing me to realize, like I’ve always suspected, that so much of what we do is a complete waste of time and has nothing to do with what really matters. I know I sound like a young, brash hippy-type, but I’m going on 50, have read and seen and done a lot, and am coming to this conclusion fresh! It is one thing to think this cerebrally as I did when I was younger, and another to sense it in your bones. I’m sensing it in my bones. I’m done with it.