Finding Inspiration in Unlikely Places

This Week's Quotation:

“Everything is at its peak of perfection. This is especially true of the art of making one’s way in the world.”

—Balthasar Gracian

Finding Inspiration in Unlikely Places

 

Rev. Berry Behr, Interfaith Minister

Writing in the 1600s, Balthasar Gracian was a Spanish Jesuit whose words ring true to this day. He went on to talk about how much more effort was required during his era to “make a single wise person,”, or to deal with a whole people, than in earlier times. I feel like that a lot, four centuries later!

Along with the rest of the interfaith team, I have been working on a series of workshops called Interfaith Wisdom for a group of retired people who remain vibrant, curious, and actively interested in their own growth and development. We spent a session talking about what interfaith is and why it matters today. Another day, we discussed the myths, texts, and origin stories of different traditions around the world.

We’ve been on field trips too. We visited the oldest Christian place of worship in South Africa and the oldest mosque. We learned about how both places evolved out of a vision that in some ways was bigger than the people who brought it. Unusually, the oldest mosque was built in 1794 on land donated for that purpose by a woman, Saartjie de Kaap, who inherited the land from her father, a former slave named Coridon van Ceylon. Today, the title deeds are still in Saartjie’s name and carefully administered by a trusted team.

It must have seemed impossible to many people of that era that a former slave—and a woman—would have the vision and the courage to do something so completely out of the ordinary.  There are so many stories like this one—stories of courage and imagination well beyond the obvious. Stories of people who transformed their lives into an art form.

Perhaps that is the inspiration that awaits us in encounters with difference. Not that life suddenly becomes easy, but that we discover traces of a larger pattern woven through it all. A story, a place, a conversation, a chance encounter. A thread we can follow.

When life feels heavy and I wonder if I am on the right path, these are the stories I remember. I am exactly where God has placed me. I am more than the sum of my parts, and I am deeply grateful for the wisdom that different faiths have shared with me.

About Open Windows

We, the authors of this blog, dedicate it to the transparent exploration of the world's sacred scripture and enlightened spiritual thought. We believe that the original inspiration of all faiths comes from a common source, named and revered in a myriad of ways. With that understanding, the innumerable symbols, beliefs, and practices of faith cease to divide. They become open windows to a common reality that inspires and unifies us. We find deeper insight and nourishment in our own faith and from the expression of faith from others.

We hope these weekly quotations and meditations speak to your heart and soul.