Interfaith

My imbedded theology (imbedded = what I learned as a child or what mama and them taught me) was that anyone who did not believe as I believed, a “Baptist” Christian, needed to be converted. My introduction to Interfaith dialogue came with an invitation from my friend, Dr. John Parks. He was gathering a group of folks from various faith groups so we could discuss our faiths with the goal of mutual understanding, not conversion. In the mid-1980’s I joined. We met in someone’s home without drinks, snacks, etc. We met each month for one and one-half hours. We arrived and left on time without a lot of private conversations. We would choose a topic for each month such as Holy Scriptures, sin, redemption, life after death, etc. We were Christian, (Roman Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant) as well as Muslim, Buddhist, Hindus, Bahai, Confucian, Jainism, etc. We met for several years. My world expanded from these Interfaith conversations. I learned to love and care about these persons. Several of them became dear friends. Hanging in the Counseling Center is a poster, “Signs of Inner Peace” that was gifted to me by Brother Don, a Buddhist monk, from our group. Most importantly I learned to love and respect them as well as their faith, religious beliefs, culture, language, Holy Books, etc. and they loved and respected me and my faith.