"There is one God, not two"

I met the Khalif, Serigne Bara, two years ago in Touba and now he is gone to meet our maker. He gave me one of the most straightforward lessons in ecumenicism I have ever received. I was a Catholic in Touba, the holy city of the Mouride Islamic brotherhood. When I left California my children were terrified that I would be beheaded because I was going to an Islamic country. I didn't have quite that impression, but I was unprepared for just how opposite the reality is from that notion in Senegal, one of the safest, most tolerant places I have ever been (far more than America in some ways)... And it was the Khalif, at that time not long in his position as the leader of the large and powerful Mouride sect, who epitomized that tolerance. I will never forget his blessing to me: "May you find God in Touba; there is only one God and not two." His blessing was realized because I found myself that much closer to a God that is the same God for me and my Muslim brothers and sisters. My hopes go out to the Mourides that Serigne Bara's successor is as holy and astute as his predecessor, who I expect to meet in the one heaven that awaits us.