Understanding Others

Given I start school in a couple of weeks, I thought I'd share an experience I'm going to be a part of this year. A few weeks ago I received an email, sent to all UW-Madison undergrads from the Lubar Institute for the Study of the Abrahamic Religions. The Lubar Institute invited students to apply to participate in their 9th annual Undergraduate Forum which will bring together roughly 30 students (about 10 Christians, 10 Jews, and 10 Muslims) to discuss the following topics for 2 hours each month over the course of the school year:
1. Notions of God in the Abrahamic Traditions
2. Worship and Practice
3. Cultural Stereotypes of Jews, Christians, Muslims
4. Why Should There be Dialogue among Religions?
5. Homosexuality in the Abrahamic Religions
6. Experiencing Religion and Religious Dialogue Abroad
7. Faith and Orthodoxy: Liberal Views vs. Conservative and Fundamentalist Views

This link explains the goals of the Lubar Institute's Forum: http://vimeo.com/52875748

Through a discussion of each of these topics, the goal is to identify an intersection between different Abrahamic faiths. I was intrigued when I read through the email and decided to submit an application. Here is the personal statement I wrote:

I am a Christian. One who is not content. I am tired of my Christian identity being glued to a honeycomb. This  honeycomb appears sweet, but as you look closer you find compartments. And within each of these compartments is a judgment from another Christian or a  Jewish friend or a person a thousand miles away. There are many judgments like:

She’s a Christian and therefore she must not accept my sexuality. She views the words in her Bible as an incontestable guide. I’m sure she believes all non-Christians are going to hell. I doubt she many friends of other faiths. I bet she wishes everyone were Christian.

I am a Christian who is not content, but I am a Christian who is grateful. In an experience like the Lubar Undergraduate Forum I have the opportunity to say:

Hey, I’m a Christian. I like to worship through writing. Gay is ok and my Bible is a bound tapestry of principles, ancient Middle Eastern culture, adventure, deceit, reconciliation, letters and ideas. Through Church and religion classes in college, I’ve learned more about my faith and Christianity and realized that sometimes, these words don’t mean the same thing. I’ve also come to admire questioning. I say, let’s stop causing violence over the answer to who are God’s chosen people, because regardless of the answer, our God desires peace.

I’m a Christian who also wants to be a doctor. I want to be there for a person who is feeling vulnerable, for that person who can’t see what is going on inside of them and who is looking if not for a cure, at the very least for comfort. I do not pray enough. When I do, it’s often in my most defenseless moments. I pray to God for his coziness and reassurance. And I feel better. Other people pray. Christians, Jews, Muslims and Baha’is pray. And they visit their doctor when they’re feeling unwell. If I can learn about the beliefs  they carry close to their hearts, I can provide healing and encouragement when medications fail. I can build their trust by extending the cultural competency they need from me and empower them to celebrate social and spiritual wellness through their spiritual practices.

I am and always have been a Christian. One who writes down her beliefs. Now I’m ready to speak on them. More importantly though, am I ready to listen to the ideas, dreams and fears of others.  I too possess an amber honey that runs syrupy thick with false conclusions about others. Events on the news, from our history and in pop culture have certainly tainted my perceptions of the real identities of people of faiths not like my own. But I yearn to break this chain of wrongful judgment through an authentic understanding of the Abrahamic religions. 

I pray that through collaborative enthusiasm, we each can crumble this honeycomb, letting its honey seep un-tasted into the earth. The Lubar Undergraduate Forum is the perfect medium to express thoughts, cultivate questions, and elicit a positive change in the world through our relationships with each other. I am thankful the opportunity to apply to this program and in gratitude to you for reading my thoughts on faith.

I wanted to share my personal statement with you because, 1) I feel strongly about what I wrote and 2) I believe our church is already a leader at embracing the different Abrahamic religions. This is what I feel most proud about when I say I go to the First Congregational Church of Ripon. We certainly do not all meet eye to eye on issues of current events, other religions and even Christianity, but we have respect for each other and a unique desire to learn.

We demonstrate our longing to learn about people different from ourselves through field trips to a Bahai temple in Chicago, panels at Ripon College, speakers over coffee hour, book clubs, clergy picnics, community vacation Bible school, monthly dinners, partnerships with individuals in Africa and many, more ways. I like that our church represents a vision that acknowledges that we do not have all the answers and that the beliefs of others are as valuable as our own.

There are of course many demographics our church has yet to reach out too and we have a lot of learning to do in the future. But, I am thankful to worship with members that receive new experiences with love. If God made humans in his likeness, we must be worshiping him when we are in relationship with each other.

A couple of days ago I found out I was picked to participate in the religion forum. I will share my experiences in the coming months!

-Andrea