"Sunlight looks slightly different on this wall than it does on that wall..."
Our next Theology on Tap gathering is this coming Sunday, May 10th at 7:00 in the upper room at Ceoltas on 2nd Street.
We'll be discussing this article from the Christian Century.
I'm also offering a poem by the great Persian poet, Rumi (1207-1273), which I believe to be of the same theme:
Move beyond any attachment to
names.
Every war and every conflict between
human beings
has happened because of some
disagreement about names.
It’s such an unnecessary foolishness,
because just beyond the arguing
there’s a long table of companionship,
set and waiting for us to sit down.
What is praised is one, so the praise is
one too,
many jugs being poured into a huge
basin.
All religions, all this singing, one song.
The differences are just illusion and
vanity.
Sunlight looks slightly different on this
wall than it does on that wall.
and a lot different on this other one,
but it is still one light.
We have borrowed these clothes,
these time-and-space personalities,
from a light,
and when we praise,
we pour them back in.
Here are some questions to ponder:
- I was recently discussing childhood behavior (esp. on the playground) with my senior high youth. They were saying that they were even meaner to each other when they were young. They thought the name calling was really bad in middle school. Why is that? How do our children learn to denigrate and belittle others? What purpose does the name calling serve?
- What were you taught as a child about Christianities role in relation to other religions as a child?
- What do you believe now?
- How much interaction do you have with persons of other faiths or traditions? What have you learned from those interactions?
- What do you think of the Rumi poem? What is he trying to say? Do you agree with him?
- How have people of faith hurt others outside their community?
- What are some of the gifts that people of faith have to offer?