Loving Beyond Difference

What if Earth was a giant puzzle, and you and I, along with all the other people and different parts of life, were the pieces that make up the whole beautiful, chaotic, unfathomable design of Creation?

I grew up attending a local Methodist Church and went to school at a Catholic Convent. I had a sense of the separation between these two worlds: I loved the Catholic choruses we sang each morning at assembly; the words still echo in my heart. I loved my Methodist context too—holiday camps, children's choir, and a certain sense of righteous community. That ended when a youth leader insisted only Christians could attain heaven—sorry to all the Muslims, Buddhists, Baha'is, Hindus, and Jews. It was a claim that set me wondering and wandering. What kind of a God would do that to His own Creation? Who is this God anyway? And… where do humans find true belonging beyond difference? I left the church.

There were times I glimpsed sanctuary and envied those who had found their place. It felt as if I belonged nowhere until, through my interfaith studies, I discovered I belonged everywhere. Where I am right now is where I must serve. I also learned that how people treat others is the mark of their religious and spiritual truth far more than the label of their belief system.

During the first week of January, we marked 7 Days of Rest, a global, online, deep dive into thinking together about the essence we want to bring into the year ahead. The 2024 theme was Reweaving Wholeness, which made me think of our individual contributions to the greater good. As we share heart-to-heart, we recognise that each piece of the puzzle has a place and a purpose exactly where we are, here, now. Separation destroys the emerging picture; unity helps to complete it. May the essence you bring to your part of now offer safety and care for yourself and all those around you. May we all love beyond difference.