Synchronicity

From dictionary.com - Coincidence of events that seem to be meaningfully related. And this past week has been filled with synchronicity.

On Thursday, what began as we returned from our Rita exile, continued with a meeting of the newly formed Southeast Texas Interfaith Organization for Disaster Recovery. For me, that one little/big word - Interfaith - makes it all worthwhile. We've got a ways to go. Interfaith is mostly interdenominational at the moment (and at that, it doesn't include all of the denominations), but even that's an accomplishment. We're working together to help homeowners who fall between the cracks of insurance and other assistance programs get their homes repaired and livable again. Guess you could say it's one good thing which has come out of Her Horribleness.

On Friday, I left before the crack of dawn for a meeting of the General Assembly Committee on Representation Executive Committee, which I moderate. The Committee came into existence at reunion to ensure that the leadership of the PCUSA would include a diversity of men and women, clergy and lay, and racial-ethnic representation. The work of the committee has expanded to include representation of various age groups and those with disabilities. There is much good happening, and yet, we've such a long way to go. Systemic change takes time, and I sometimes get impatient. I guess if the worship hour continues to be the most segregated hour of the week (shame on us! Why do we continue to build walls instead of bridges?!), it's no wonder we haven't quite accomplished that task in the leadership of the church. At least we are maintaining an awareness of the need to be inclusive and are taking steps to address the issue.

On Saturday, after the meeting, two of us decided to head into Atlanta and see a play. In terms of location, we decided visit the local Shakespeare Theater. Guess what was playing: The Merchant of Venice! Issues of racism, prejudice, religious hatred - not in a good light, to say the least. Unfortunately, there are people who would take Shakespeare's words and use them as justification for their own biases. I found myself of two minds in enjoying the play. The love story and the machinations in bringing it to fruition were hiliarious. The underlying hatred between Christian and Jew were just plain uncomfortable. Admittedly, revenge is an emotion which can take over a person regardless of their religion. Shakespeare had his reasons in his particular context, but we should not continue to carry that particular hatred into our context.

On Sunday, the topic for our Faith Sharing group was how people of faith should respect each other, learn more about each other, accept that we actually have much in common in spite of our differences. We talked about what's the same in Christianity, Judaism, and Islam ... and acknowledged that we need to learn more. A good start! Hope we're able to keep this topic up and running!

And today - well, let's see: Ron Franscell has been banished from a conservative blog for not denouncing a liberal blog. And 'Seventh Heaven' was about racism. Anyone else detecting a theme here? Just how do we diverse individuals manage to maintain connection in a culture which at the moment seems to insist on compartmentalization? "If you don't completely agree with my take on reality, then you are someone to be despised and blocked from my view."

Hmmmmmmmmmm.....I wonder. We've learned to compartmentalize so much in our work/personal lives that perhaps that's what leads so many to wall off those who are different. Did we somewhere along the way forget what it means to be community? Or maybe there's just an idealist within me who thinks that we ever really knew. *sigh* Do you think we'll ever learn? One can only hope and pray.