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In this week's newsletter we feature What Do Our
Neighbors Believe? Our neighbors may have very different
religious beliefs than we do. Wouldn't it help us understand
them better if we knew what they believed? Also, a
Thought-A-Day Calendar, how difficult relationships can
surprisingly transform us and a Reflection for Your Journey.
| Reflections for Your Journey |
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OUR NEIGHBORS
The neighbors we encounter these days do not always hold the
same religious beliefs as we do.
This is a fact of contemporary life, exemplified by the
diversities of places of worship we see as we travel:
synagogues, churches and mosques.
Those with religious sensitivity realize that in today's
culture it is important, on many levels, to understand what our
neighbors believe.
The book that follows seeks to provide easy access to
beliefs of three major world religions: Judaism, Christianity,
and Islam.
by Donald K. McKim
from the Publisher's Note to
What Do Our Neighbors Believe?
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| A Thought-A-Day Calendar for the Season |
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From June until November (the season of Pentecost),
explorefaith is offering "A Thought-A-Day Calendar,"
acknowledging the divine that infuses the every day.
A peek at July's "Thoughts":
SEEING
July 7: It is only with the heart that one can see
rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.
--Antoine de St. Exupér
HEARING
July 15: More than anything else, Lord, I want to hear
you say, "you are not alone. I am with you always, even to the
end of time."
--John Kirvan
TASTING
July 18: If you sip the sea but once, you will know
the taste of all of the oceans of the world.
--Zen saying
SMELLING
July 23: Let my prayer arise, O Lord,
like incense before you.
--Psalm 141:2
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| Transforming, in a God-like Way |
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The film Chocolat tells the story of a gypsy woman and
her daughter as they relocate to a very traditional and religious
village in the French countryside. A hard, cold wind brings the
pair to town (donned in bright red, hooded capes).
They arrive in the middle of Lent and open a chocolaterie--
shocking for certain, but not as shocking as their refusal to go
to church.
Unexpectedly, their presence begins to transform the
relationships and ideas of the village in a very God-like way.
Whenever I see this film I think of the Holy Spirit, personified
in the love of a mother and a daughter (who wear red, come
with the wind and defy expectations).
Amazing, isn't it, how relationships can be so transforming?
We all have stories of people who show up in our lives, in a
haphazard way, even irritating at first, only to stretch us and
change us completely. ...
by Bonnie Malone
from "Come Holy Spirit"
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