Interspirituality

My experience of God is too big for one religion.

My experience of people is too broad for one tribe.

I love my roots, but refuse to be a religious bonsai. My love of God and my commitment to godliness fuel a desire to learn from, and work and pray with peoples of different faiths and cultures.

Interspirituality is the world music of religion; borrowing, fusing,
blending and bouncing rhythms and riffs off one another not to create a homogenized spirituality, but to birth a radical new sound embedded in the ancient and timeless silence.

This doesn't impact or deepen my life—it is my life.

---------------------------------------------------(Rabbi Rami Shapiro)

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This forward thinking, radical rabbi has it right. Oh, but could we as Baptist Christians find this truth and indelibly print it on our collective belief systems, eradicating all religious intolerance.

Why must we be so defensive about the Lord Jesus? Can't he defend himself? Do you believe he lives today, and reigns in eternal life?

Did he not die for all mankind, even Jews, Arabs, Muslims, atheists?

Why have we built walls between our culture and the culture of the Middle East, or the Far East? Why, we cannot even find room in our lives for the acceptance of catholics much less folks who are of other faith streams.

I pray that someday, within my lifetime, that I may begin to experience openness and tolerance with my friends of other faiths, so that I might learn from them and see their wisdom and understand their perspective.

May The Lord make it so.

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