If God told me to offer one of my daughters as an offering, I could not respond like Abraham. I love God. However, I also love them. If this would be how God would test my faith, I would gladly fail.
We hear nothing about Isaac’s mother Sarah. Aided by a drama seen long ago, I hear her crying out, utterly powerless, at the foot of the mountain. After Isaac is spared, she must wait for the good news until she no longer sees smoke coming from the mountaintop and once more sees her son. As she collapses around him, her faith in a loving God is restored.
In our country, we hear cries of women for their children—those lying in graves around residential schools; those missing and murdered; those killed by overdose, lack of mental health treatment or because they are different. I cannot accept God takes these to test their parents. Instead, amid my questioning, I hear God inviting me to stand with their mothers, those who love them, and to call for answers, for justice. God calls me to say their names, so that they are never forgotten.
God, through this story, help us to hear the cries of those who have lost children through violence, and to respond with love and justice. Amen. — MHD