Working With One Another
It’s no secret that the current political climate is enraging people on both sides of spectrum and everywhere in-between. Sure, I have very strong opinions of my own, however, I feel like we are letting our arguments get in the way of the greatest commandment which Jesus quotes in Luke 10:27 followed by the parable of the good Samaritan in which he defines our neighbor as a stranger in need.
During the past week I have been a part of two interfaith leader gatherings. Each month I get the pleasure of having lunch and meeting with all of the religious leaders at ASU. The thing I love best about our meetings is that we don’t focus on what divide us. Instead we focus on projects and initiatives we can work on together. Our common goal has been to promote religious life on campus because we truly believe that our community is better when students are spiritually stimulated. Perhaps most exciting though is a project that will launch this fall. We have partnered with a group called Open Table and ASU in an interfaith effort to help someone who is currently homeless or in poverty. Our goal is to provide students from our faith communities who will serve as resources together to provide resources, training, and support that will not only help someone out of poverty but will allow them to keep themselves out of poverty.
This morning I attended a breakfast hosted by “For Our City,” a group made up of religious leaders in Tempe. The agenda was simple: to share ways with each other in which our congregations are serving the community. We heard about interfaith rotating homeless shelters and meal programs. We also heard about how Tempe faith communities are working together to spread awareness and offer training for Tempe’s emergency preparedness program.
Both of these meetings served as a reminder to stop listening to the nastiness of the political and religious debate that so often blinds us to seeing one another as resources and most importantly, human beings created in God’s image.
If so many diverse religious leaders can come together to help others at ASU and in Tempe then maybe there is hope that all of us can put our arguments aside and truly seek to love all of our neighbors.
