Abraham rejected the idols of his father’s community and began to seek an object of worship that was truly worthy of his love.

First he looked at the stars and, enchanted by their beauty, would have worshiped them if only he not seen them disappear.

Then he saw the full moon rise. Awed by its majesty, he would have taken it as his object of worship if only he had not seen it vanish from the sky.

Finally, Abraham saw the sun rise. Seeing that the sun was more powerful in its glory than the moon and stars, he now felt sure that this was his true beloved. But then the sun began to set, and as it sank below the horizon, Abraham realized that he could not have as his object of worship something which was, like him, limited, finite, temporary and subject to decline. “I do not love those that set,” he said. And saying so, he began to look for a Beloved that would be there always.

As human beings we are limited, but we desire the unlimited, the absolute. How, then, could we ever be satisfied with a beloved that is as limited and transient as we are? We are finite, yet we desire the infinite: how, then, can we ever be satisfied with an object of desire as finite as we are? Endless needs can be fulfilled only by One Who is not subject to imperfection or decline; the desire for the infinite and the absolute can be fulfilled only by One whose Face is everywhere – by One who is eternal and who, unlike the sun, moon and stars, does not ‘set’…