Back in July, while UK rivers surged and flooded, I was involved in an outward bound weekend for a group of local Christian and Muslim teenage guys. The theme was "What does it mean to be a man of God?". During the weekend, we went mountain biking in the mud (hence the photo!), did fencing (now there's a model for Christian-Muslim get togethers: do some fencing!), assault courses and canoeing. In between times, some genuine and surprising relationships were forged, commitments made to one another and lots of laughter had! Don't tell anyone, but during one of the evenings, we even played a game that involved throwing around a plastic cartoon bomb that would "explode" if not passed on quickly. The point is, we need to start with the basics of what we have in common and that, funnily enough, is not any doctrinal belief, but our humanity: the teenage guys' need for excitement, humour, poking at establishment and preconceptions. And then we get down to some of the beliefs we share; and then we begin to discover some of the significant beliefs we differ on.....The thing us, taken this way, you end up being obliged to be friends through the difference because you have engaged with the fullness of the other person.
This sort of dialogue is a rare occurrence and it's been my privilege to work with a Scripture Union colleague "Smeeee" and join in stuff he's been putting into practice for over ten years now. Check his site out here and have a look at the stories and guidelines to dialogue. It's small scale but substantial and authentic and it's what is needed mirrored right across our world....and not just for young people!
Alan Alda was being interviewed on Radio 4 last night and he was talking about the need for people to listen to each other. Listening, he said, "requires us to be changed by what we hear". If you're in a conversation with someone else and all you're doing is waiting for them to stop speaking so you can regugitate a list of things you want to say to the other, it's not listening. That is just a pause. Back in July, we listened to each other and I think we were all changed.....When we was the last time you really listened to a Muslim/Christian?
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