Jane Redmont's When In Doubt, Sing explores ways to pray - contemplative prayer, bodily prayer, the prayers of saints like Teresa of Avila and more. Redmont, who is Catholic, approaches prayer from a fresh perspective for me (a Protestant). One of the questions from this week's Friday Five added another layer to this conversation, asking:
"What religion/faith besides yours captures your curiosity and why?"
My answer is that I have discovered prayers and practices from Buddhism that make sense and enrich my own Christian perspective. Thich Nhat Hahn is a Vietnamese Buddhist monk who writes about the intersection in some of his books. He speaks well to how we are all related and connected, and responsible for, each other. Judaism, too, reminds me that of the spiritual ancestry that Christians and Jews share.
But Redmont and others remind me that even within Christianity, there is a richness from sharing practices. of prayer and worshiping together.
"Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household." ~ Ephesians 2:19
Last weekend, I had an opportunity to talk with others about what it means for our denomination, the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA), to be in full communion with other denominations. The ELCA is in full communion with six other denominations: the United Church of Christ, the Presbyterian Church (USA), the Reformed Church in America, the Episcopal Church of the USA, the Moravian Church, and the United Methodist Church.
While debate in our culture and society is divisive and polarizing, these relationships illustrate that it is possible to unite, recognizing common characteristics between us:
• a common confessing of the Christian faith;
• a mutual recognition of Baptism and a sharing of the Lord's Supper, allowing for joint worship and an exchangeability of members;
• a mutual recognition and availability of ordained ministers to the service of all members of churches in full communion, subject to the disciplinary regulations of other churches;
• a common commitment to evangelism, witness, and service;
• a means of common decision making on critical common issues of faith and life;
• a mutual lifting of any condemnations that exist between churches.
One participant in the ecumenical dialogue suggested that rather than mourning the differences in our denominations and traditions, perhaps God celebrates the diversity of the Church and the many and varied expressions of worship and proclamation that it brings to God's people in the world. What do you think?
