33/40

The revised mission statement
reads:

empowering people to find and be
with to (the) God
(of their
understanding).

The change:

The phrase
sing praises was replaced with be
with.

Why? The change was made because
being with God — howsoever you might
understand that notion — is more inclusive and less
pressure-filled.

Similarly, my dear friend Richard
— a fellow at The Claremont Institute — has
organized those who practice religion into three
categories:

1. Crazies.
2. Heretics.
3. The
   Chosen.

The Crazies are more
extreme, observant, or devout than you. The
Heretics are more liberal than you. The
Chosen are those who practice like you.

Richard is more “traditionally” observant
than I am. He does his Shabbat practice on Friday
night and Saturday. I do the bulk of mine on
Tuesday. As part of his Sabbath observance, he often
goes to synagogue and prays in Hebrew. As part of my
Sabbath observance, I create stained glass art.

In his eyes, am I a Heretic? Yes.

From my perspective, is he one of the
Crazies? Yes.

But, broadening the
focus we use to view the world around us changes a
lot.

As long as we look at the intent — to
connect to (the) God
(of understanding) at it makes
sense to us — we see each other as The
Chosen. Richard and I both understand that it is
the intent of the practice that is most
important.

When you choose to look at intent
— not at how or what others call their practice —
you might find a commonality that you wouldn’t
otherwise see.

Look to see if people are
kind, seeking justice, loving mercy, doing good,
etc. The lines dividing “you” from “them” will blur,
and you’ll find that most people actually are your
co-religionist, just like you, The Chosen.

And, if you care to, click here to see the comments on
Street
Prophets
where the
article went up last week.