I am honored of having been invited to become an acting member of "The workshop of Religions" in Berlin. This wonderful, almost time-honored institution was founded a few decades ago to move interreligious dialogue from the institutional to the biographical. Each individual member represents in this sense just himself/herself - coming from one faith tradition. Or thought tradition. Diversity is key. Authenticity is key. We talk as we are - not as we think we should be. At this point 25 people, mostly teachers and community leaders, each from a different faith tradition, or tradition of thought, I should say, because also humanism and atheism are represented. This workshop calls for sincerity, respect, openness, listening - unconditional love. Or, as someone remarked: The commitment to accept difference and individuality without flinching. So yesterday the topic was "A pivot point in my life". We were asked to bring a text/song from our individual tradition and speak about what it meant to us and how it relates to one biographical moment. We heard five distinct stories - from a humanist working for the Berlin Workshop of Cultures in Berlin - who had spent years in Tibet, from a Japanese Roman-catholic, writing a Ph.D. about interreligious activities in Berlin speaking about the book "Silence" by Shusako Endo, from a Southern German teacher of religion who was raised a Christian, had moved away from Christianity only to return a few years ago, from a Lutheran minister who is on the board of a Memorial Center commemorating the victims of National Socialism speaking about what the cruxifixion means to him. And from a Christian Scientist. Me. I related an experience of reconciliation and healing which had grown in me with the help of John's beautiful letter in the New Testament. (You can find the whole experience here). While I spoke my little pocket Bible which I carry with me since I am fourteen, was handed around. In the fourth chapter John writes: "Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God." (7), and to make a really long story of hurt and healing short, I could see how Love is the law in the universe. How Love is more than a moral obligation: Love is the substance and standard in Love's creation. I also spoke about how Mary Baker Eddy is teaching me to see the Bible in a practical light, the light of companionship. The textbook is a Bible commentary, in my view, it bows deeply in front of its timeless truths and makes them accessible today. And I linked my little presentation to the outstanding movie "Suffragette" which I had seen the day before, sharing my love for the advancement of women's right. And acknowledging the big part Christian Science played and is playing in moving women's issues forward like few other churches or religions on the planet. Because Christian Science goes to the bottom of these issues and come to the front with fundamental spiritual rights for everyone. Because the key to those rights is not in man, but in the hands of God. The sweet interchange of ideas driven by questions from the group, included my own family history, healing and prayer, the empowerment of women through Christian Science and Mary Baker Eddy herself. Now, every single one of the presentations was spiritual, authentic, honest. It was a joy to listen, a rare 1 1/2 hours were every word that was said was truly meant, came from the heart - and gosh is this powerful! It was divine Love, directing the script. Links and connections could be seen at every corner. For example, when one of the participants shared from her own biography how she felt in great need of guidance and comfort. At a time which saw her leaving the house at 7 am in the Winter cold for a long commute to an unloved workplace. But then Bobby McFerrin came to her rescue with his version of the 23rd Psalm. She said how meaningful it was to discover God as a Mother, how she had left the church of her upbringing because of the concept of God as a man and how this didn't resonate with her sense of spiritual matters. The words of the 23rd Psalm speak about love, support, care, warmth - and mothering. In Bobby McFerrin's version Mother love is caring for us as only a Mother can. It was the first time ever that she was presented in her life with the idea of God as Mother, and she memorized this song and the melody, singing it every morning on her way to work - and knowing from that moment on, that all would be well. And it was: How grateful I am to have been presented right from the start the concept of Father-Mother God. And evidently how special this still is on the globe. You would have liked to see the faces when I shared with the group Mary Baker Eddy's version of the 23rd Psalm, written about 120 years before Bobby McFerrin. I am presenting it to you - it can be found on page 578 of Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures. My own copy of Science and Health, with my markers and post-its for my current reading project is now on loan with a Sikh friend from the group, I hope I am getting it back next month. Psalm XXIII |
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September 2024
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