A funny story tells about a
rabbi and a priest that met at the town picnic and began their usual
“kibitzing.”
“This baked ham is just
delicious,” the priest teased the rabbi. “You really should try some. I know
it’s against your religion, but I can’t understand why such a wonderful thing
should be forbidden. You just don’t know what you’re missing. You haven’t lived
until you’ve tried Mrs. Kennedy’s baked ham. Tell me, when are you going to
break down and try a little ham?”
The rabbi looked at the
priest, smiled and said, “At your wedding.”
It's clear that much of the
conflict between people of differing religious beliefs, particularly
deeply-held religious beliefs, stems from the assertion that “we” are right and
“they” are wrong. Our beliefs, our history, our practices are true, theirs are
false. But can one group have a monopoly on truth?
Truth is light, wherever it
is found. It is the sun in the noonday sky, shining on all universally. It
cannot be bottled and sold or dispensed in secret tomes and ceremonies. It
cannot be stolen, hidden or possessed by one group over another. Truth, like
the sun, is viewed in different ways and known by different names. It is seen
differently from different angles, but it shines in all directions.
“We can easily forgive a
child who is afraid of the dark,” said Plato. “The real tragedy of life is when
men are afraid of the light.” Afraid of truth. And afraid of one another.
I await the day that all
people, all religions, walk in the light. And as they walk, they listen and
understand. And in their understanding, they laugh.
When the day comes that
they laugh, they'll know how to walk together in light.
-– Steve Goodier (Life Support System)
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