Lending an Ear...to Everyone

Two ordinary events occurred in my life over the past two days, and I think there’s an extraordinary connection between them.

On Friday, I was reading posts on an e-mail list of advertising creatives (it’s associated with www.commercial-archive.com) when I discovered that one of our regulars is a Gnostic priest. Knowing absolutely nothing about Gnosticism, I asked him about it, and he referred me to some posts on his blog, like egina.blogspot.com/2004/12/gnosticism-101.html. I was delighted to discover how much our faiths share: the ineffability and the immediacy of God, the need to seek God out, the importance of Jesus, etc.

Then, on Saturday, I ran into a young woman from our old (Reformed) church in the local supermarket. Her faith could be described as evangelical Christian, and it always touches me, because she experiences God so intimately and so enthusiastically. We discussed the new pastor, his passion for Bible and spiritual studies, her praying for (and receiving) direction on a new job opportunity, etc.

Now here’s the connection: If you were to put all their beliefs side by side with all of mine, we certainly wouldn’t agree on everything. On some things, we might disagree vehemently. But I find that, when I listen, it gives my own faith an opportunity to expand. There might be something in Jordan’s Gnosticism, or Beth’s evangelicalism, that sheds light on a mystery, gives me a new perspective on an old issue, or simply reveals another detail about how God works.

That means that we do ourselves an injustice when we refuse to listen. Of course, refusing to listen is our stock in trade as Americans these days. Somehow that forces us to focus narrowly on the issues that separate us—and ignore the far broader common ground that we share.

God’s way too big for any of us to understand. We need all the help we can get: from people on every side of every creed. That requires some intense listening. I hope, as this blog develops, that it becomes a place where that kind of listening can happen.