Open

“By dialogue, we let God be present in our midst,

for as we open ourselves to one another,

we open ourselves to God.”

– Pope John Paul II    

Last, Wednesday I attended the 2nd Annual  Interfaith  Dinner, which was titled: “Green Faith: Environment and the Contribution of Religions”. As a lover of nature and a lover of Religions I was quite intrigued by the concept of this event.  I didn’t know what to expect going to this event. Who was going to be there? How we’re the siting arrangements will be? How were the discussions going to pan out? Luckily a sister who invited me ti the event was there with me. When we arrived,  there was about 120 plus people from different ages, different ethnicities and different religious backgrounds. There were four speakers: The Roman Catholic Auxiliary Bishop of Montreal, a professor from the Islamic religion, a professor from the Hindu religion, and a professor from the Judaic religion. All spoke about how each of their communities are being called to meditate on nature and on the land that we are all living in. That creation is not to be dominated but to be appreciated.

As I listened to all the speakers and exchanged  thoughts and  experiences with the people at my table. I was reminded by a quite by Pope John Paul II “By dialogue, we let God be present in our midst, for as we open ourselves to one another, we open ourselves to God.” I then realized what this quote meant and I couldn’t believe that I was actually living that quote at that very moment. How could I deny the presence of God amongst these people, amongst my brothers and sisters. “As we open ourselves to one another, we open ourselves to God”, it is not an easy task to open our hearts and to share how intimate our love is with our Lord, but at the same time to listen and to acknowledge how others are able to experience this same love of God, but in a different way…a way unlike ours but still real. I thought to myself, this is beautiful, this is truly beautiful! Beauty!  What better way to sustain the creation that God bestowed upon us then to be united in acknowledging that this is not my home but OUR HOME.

The Auxiliary Bishop of Montreal said, ” We need to cultivate PEACE to preserve NATURE“. If we are in war, we then become divided, then our so will be our land, and creation will deteriorate. But it is through PEACE that we are able to listen to each other and recognized the value of this COMMON LAND we stand on.

At the end of the night, I was already feeling overwhelmed and couldn’t stop smiling, a gentleman siting at my table who is part of the Islamic religion, approached my friend and I and said, “There’s something in the air that I’m feeling…a feeling that I can’t explain. Something that is filling this room.” This gentleman, my friend, and I looked at each other and just smiled because all three of us knew WHO this “something” was.

Amen.