Suspend Your Beliefs Without
Losing Your Faith
by Jack Walsh
"Hold tightly
to health, well-being, even to life," James A. Connor writes.
"For Christians, Jews and Muslims, this is possible because
all things live and exist in God. It is possible for Buddhists
because enlightenment reveals the true nature of life."
Can we hold on to our own religious convictions and still embrace
and honor all faiths? Here are seven short reflections to help
nudge open the door.
Discover
Thomas Merton poses this question: "What can we gain by
sailing to the moon if we are not able to cross the abyss that
separates us from ourselves?" The same could be said of
the gulf that divides religions. Taking the time to unearth the
richness of all faiths is an important step in building bridges.
Ecumenical outreach is not an option-it's a necessity. To hold
fast to one's beliefs at the expense of another misses the point.
It drives a wedge into unity.
Bow
"In a mysterious fashion not completely understandable to
us," Roland Merullo writes, "everything moves the individual
soul toward humility." What a relief to admit that we don't
have all the answers.
Dialogue
For Father William Johnston, communication means breaking bread
with his Buddhist friends. But it's so much more than just eating
and making small talk. "Dialogue," he writes, "does
not simply mean that Buddhists and Christians sit around sipping
green tea and exchanging pleasantries in a palsy-walsy atmosphere
of ecumenical good will. It means they settle down and learn
something from one another. They get new ideas, new attitudes,
new insights . . . . From Buddhism, we can get new insights into
our approach to Christ."
Take part in "Suspend your beliefs
day," December 10, 2003---an event held in the silence of
your heart, coinciding with the 35th anniversary of Thomas Merton's
death.
Accentuate
Take small steps. Accentuate what unites rather than what divides
us. The hurdles we face are less than what we think. The late
Reverend Isaiah Sears, former pastor of First Baptist Church
in Charlestown, Massachusetts, puts it this way: "We are
an umbrella of oneness even though we are all different and doing
our own thing."
Suspend
Our belief systems can be a roadblock to unity and prevent us
from walking with our brothers and sisters. Is it possible to
suspend our beliefs if only for a moment? I believe we can, by
finding the truth wherever it abides. "The truth knows neither
Jew nor gentile, slave nor free, male nor female," writes
Anthony Padovano. "It is simply everywhere, able to emerge
anywhere."
Listen
In her book The Intuitive Writer, Gail Sher advises writers to
listen to their own voice. "Listening," she says, "isn't
just listening. Listening is the meeting point of souls."
Live the Questions
Mary Vineyard suggests that we discard our "report card"
vision of God. Instead, focus on the joy of life. "What
if," she writes, "as we leave the earth, God says to
us, 'Did you like it? Did you love? Did you pay attention? Did
you look up? Did you really see Me?' How would we respond?"
The ecumenical journey begins and ends with us. It's a daily
one-on-one encounter with awareness. As Moses was told to remove
his shoes before the Burning Bush, we are on sacred ground when
we witness to the spirit of ecumenism. Leave your shoes at the
door and your belief system at the altar.
Jack Walsh is a freelance writer and member of Saint John
the Evangelist Church in Townsend, Massachusetts.
This article first appeared in the Ordinary Time 2003 issue
of Benedictine Bridge, a publication of Sisters of Saint
Benedict of Madison, Wisconsin. To learn more about the Sisters
of Saint Benedict visit www.sbcenter.org.
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