by David Housel
I wonder how frequently you think about the Trinity.
I’m not talking about that adorable little girl we see on Sunday mornings in church. She is so precious, isn’t she?
I’m referring to that doctrine of the Trinity. You know: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
If you’re like me you don’t think about it very often, and I’m a minister. And when I do, I realize how hard it is to understand.
I always thought of that doctrine as exclusively a Christian one. But then I ran across the Albanian Muslim group called Bektashis. They have their own form of trintarian beliefs. They began as part of a Islam in the 13th century in Albania. No one seems to know how many there are, but estimates go as high as 750,000 with some even residing in the United States.
Their form of the trinity, however, is composed of Allah, Muhammad and Ali (their form of Christ). It seems that much of their belief and practices have developed by close association with Christians. They don’t observe some Islamic practice, and have a form of baptism and a meal much like our Eucharist. Christian and Bektashis followers even today share together in a variety of ceremonies and they have been known to support both Christian and Jewish groups when they were being attacked.
We keep discovering brothers and sisters in unusual places.
