but only if it is familiar to one’s heart
and strong by exercise
This small volume makes a nice argument for taking your family to church. Should we give one to every family in our UU congregation?
Nice! I would also love to see more written about how to foster a spiritually enriched family without going to church. There are plenty of folks who identify as UU but aren’t able to regularly attend. UU congregations are scarce in many places and lots of people just simply can’t travel far every week for church.
…maybe I’ll write the book on that.
Tonight (or, rather, yesterday), I attended a Jewish-Muslim interfaith Shabbat dinner. It was so refreshing, especially after the past few politically charged weeks on campus. It’s been really overwhelming, and to go back to our faiths as strings that tie us to one another was just what I needed today.
Sometimes, I think we have to peel away the apparent identity of a group of people and just get to know individuals as just that- individuals. People who are more than just that one part of their identity that you see. I am not a headscarf. Neither is a Jewish girl summed up in the fact that she keeps kosher. These are parts of who we are, but we are complex individuals with normal interests, aspirations, and fears just like everyone else.
One of my friends is a conservative Jew and the other is Evangelical Christian. While we don’t see eye to eye on all issues, there is so much more that we have in common, and we can enjoy each other’s company without letting politics get in the way. If anything, seeing each other as ordinary individuals with complex identities and opinions helps rust those chains that have been put between our people as a result of politics. I truly believe that getting to know one another, a la the King and I, is the key to peace. If our generation learns to be friends first, confronting those touchy issues will be a tad easier, methinks.
There will no longer be an “us” and a “them,” rather a “we”- we as humans, who all desire the same from life. We will be united against what the world is throwing our way, and we will learn to live peacefully once more.
It happened for such a long part of history, so why can’t we replicate that? This time, I surely hope that history repeats itself.
Thank you so much for sharing this experience.
