The Words of the Huish Family
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The Words of the Huish Family |
It's been a while since I last blogged – apologies for the virtual silence! A few weeks ago I received a new mission, as pastor of the Bromley community. I may blog more about that later, but for now I'd like to share about some exciting experiences I've been blessed with over the last few days:
On Tuesday evening I attended for the very first time an event hosted by the Council of Christians and Jews (CCJ). Hosted in a Reform Jewish synagogue in Bromley, around 30 people from various Christian and Jewish backgrounds attended the event during which the story of Ruth was summarized and commented on by one of the lay members of the Jewish community.
I found the exposition and subsequent discussion to be fascinating, particularly as I applied my perspective of Divine Principle to consider whether or not Boaz was restoring the initial mistake of Judah by not hesitating to fulfill his responsibility as guardian-redeemer of Ruth. Ruth's status as a Jewish convert (originally she was a Moabite) echoed Tamar's change of lineage (Tamar was a Canaanite) not just by marriage but by change of heart and loyalty to Adonia, God. Whereas Tamar had to risk her life for God, for Ruth it was enough purely to say, "Your God is my God". An interesting commentary from the Jews present was that historically there were few obstacles preventing people converting go Judaism, whereas in the last century of so orthodox Jews have imposed strict conditions almost prohibiting conversion, something the Reform community rejected.
Lasting no more than an hour in total, the event was long enough to stimulate my intellect and yet short enough to allow for discussion and making friends afterwards. I even found myself being invited to join the committee!
The next day, I attended an open day at Heythrop College in order to investigate the Pastoral Theology MA they offer. My Catholic ancestors must have felt very comfortable, since I felt right at home in the college which has Catholic roots. I felt free to share with many of the other prospective post-graduate students and with the staff, discussing issues related to the post-graduate courses.
One of the speakers introducing the college to the gathered audience was a retired lady who had spent the last few years studying one MA course after another. I vaguely recognized her, although I couldn't remember why. Just as I was about to leave the college and return home, this lady approached me and confessed that she also recognized me, but similarly couldn't remember why. After a few seconds of contemplation, we realized that we had met the night before at the CCJ event! We developed a strong rapport and discussed many interesting theological ideas before heading home.
While sleeping during the night between these two days, I dreamt about many of my friends from other faith communities whom I had met during my interfaith activities a few years ago. I feel that after a period of absence from the interfaith field, God is somehow calling me back to this activity I enjoy. During a leaders' meeting today, the Swiss national leader planted the idea in my head that interfaith must go hand-in-hand with campaigning for human rights. With this inspiration, and with the shadow of God's hand guiding everything from not far away, I feel that some exciting opportunities are just around the corner.