The New Frontier
The New Frontier, what is it? CHANGE! Parting ways with dogma, intolerance, ignorance,
arrogance and non-acceptance. That is a lot to part ways with isn’t it? It is indeed! We need to look at what we are working towards, which for me personally here in this organization is Interfaith Ministry. Within this realm, every single thing I mentioned is a roadblock to achieving that goal, with more that are becoming apparent to me as I continue writing this.
Interfaith Ministry is a New Frontier in many ways, and an old road less traveled in others.
Some will say that “we have been doing this for years” or “What’s so NEW about Interfaith Ministry?” Well it isn’t new in a way, yet, very new in many more. With the Political landscape constantly changing, and Governmental policies changing in many Countries Worldwide, there is an ever growing number of people evacuating their respective Countries for many reasons. Oppression, war, and yes Religion and Spiritual reasons. When the Exodus is for Religious and/or Spiritual reasons a great many times the region where the exodus ends up is in a majority of opposites. Culture probably taking the forefront of opposites encountered in this exodus. However, Religion and/or Spiritual belief and practice is in many cases the second largest opposite. Those on the receiving end of the exodus feel the CHANGE every bit as much as those making it.
I am the center of MY Universe. That is a fact we all must share in, and that is something that is real and tangible. It is! Face it! We all are concerned with our own self-preservation our own wellbeing, our own survival. It’s hard-wired into our minds and souls, even when we marry and raise a family. Even though we go into a protective mode for our loved ones we must be because if we don’t how are we going to care for them right? That goes for our spiritual wellbeing as well. This is where the New Frontier comes in. The CHANGE as it were. For those who make the Exodus it’s like the first day in a new school in mid-year when you walk into the classroom and all the other kids turn and watch you come in and suddenly you feel quite alone. Now look at it from the classroom point of view, a new kid in class that they have to teach the ropes. For both sides it is a New Frontier. They have to learn from each other just like Interfaith Ministry. In the end it all boils down to acceptance. The new kid is accepted or rejected as to their virtues, and the same goes for the class full of kids, both as a whole and individually. This is the foundation of Interfaith Ministry, Acceptance!
I have had several discussions with several individuals who claim themselves to be of Multi-Faith belief. Some of those claim that it makes them better suited for Interfaith Ministry. So, I observed conversations they were involved in along with those I was involved in and saw some things that caught my eye. Most of the folks I spoke with said that their belief centers on the “Good” parts or beliefs of different religions, such as; Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism etc.. And their belief is mainly wrapped up into “ Love, Compassion, and Happiness.. That’s great, except that those different beliefs have a very different ground floor as well as every consecutive floor. Yes they have a good deal of very similar beliefs; they also have a vast amount of defined differences. In the Interfaith Ministry we must account for those differences because that is where the actual interfaith work exists. In Interfaith Ministry we can’t just take the “ Good” in all Religions and Spiritual belief and discard the “ Not so Good” because it doesn’t seem to fit. That is where I think that there may be some confusion of the difference between Interfaith and Multi-Faith. From others that I have spoken with and some articles I have read, Multi-faith belief would seem to fall under the blanket term Paganism or Polytheistic, which really isn’t Interfaith.
I spoke in short on another Blog I was asked to write about what I call the 5 R’s of Interfaith Ministry which I would like to elaborate a little bit about here. I’ll start with RESPECT; I’ll start this back at the “ I “ am the center of my Universe. We all believe or don’t believe what WE as individuals want to believe or disbelieve. As Interfaith Ministers we MUST understand and accept this fundamental truth. Therefore, we must lead the pack in the acceptance that every single person has the right without interference or coercion to do so. As Interfaith Ministers we MUST strive to learn how our own personal beliefs can interact with those of different beliefs. We must also Respect the differences that may hinder said interactions and work within those differences to reinforce the similarities, which will allow a productive and constructive Interrelationships.
RECONCILIATION; Interfaith Ministers must realize that no two people are alike in their beliefs, and that how we interrelate with those even of the same faith may yield very different results. We MUST reconcile within ourselves that we are not in our position to convert anyone to any set belief system, but to not only learn from each other. We need to focus our energies on that which we are similar and accept that which makes us different.
RENOVATE; Those walls that separate us because of our differences need to be torn down because they hinder the creation of avenues for constructive interrelationships which allow us to build upon our similarities. Old dogmas, superstitions and suspicions must be reviewed from the past and altered or removed altogether to fit into the society in which we live in today. Those atrocities and bindings of hatred must be healed.
RECORD; History is something we must remember is that which has happened. Exploration of new ways of interacting with each other MUST be recorded, especially those avenues that prove constructive progress towards peace. These records will be proof that it can be done, and that this New Frontier is possible.
REFUSE; As Interfaith Ministers we MUST refuse to let those old prejudices such as Race, creed, dogma, gender, sexual orientation and personal judgements to deter us from the unity that is Interfaith Ministry. This is one of the toughest for achieving our goal because of the past prejudices that have had such a strangle hold on our society for so long. We MUST look past these prejudices due to the realization that they had their time but their time is up…..
I have heard some claims from Ministers who claim to be True Interfaith Ministers, and to that I say this, in my opinion there is no such thing as a True Interfaith Minister. Interfaith ministry is a truth in which Interfaith Ministers seek. We that wish to seek this truth are vessels in which this Ministry travels through this New Frontier. The stronger the crew is that pilots this vessel the stronger the engines are that power it.
TAZ
