I’ve been writing a book-manuscript on the topic of interreligious companionship only to realize that’s not what I’m writing about at all. How bizarre is that? Such relief to receive the awareness, such grief to realize my need for establishment-affirmation never wanes. The staid curricular notions of a seminary and the backward, risk-averse publishing market distracted once again. Argh.
The tentative title was Just Beginning: Interreligious Companionship Amidst Difference. Obviously something the world needs, in the view of many. A scholarly-accessible book outlining the approach into which I’ve bumbled amidst several life-giving companionships that could be described just like that. Clearly in line with vocation, interest, passion and more. Except none of these companionships formed because they were interreligious. Each one has its own draw, its own synergy, its own manner of expression. Not one was to learn a religious tradition or to be interreligious.
This nub of an idea, this enlivening reality that shapes contributions in the world, companionship, forms not because two (or more) someones are of different traditions or ‘different’ in other ways, per se. This something or Something or Someone made available within companionship…this Life…breathes into both or all when doing whatever it is they do: sitting at table, sharing a sacred space, exploring some concern, playing at some activity, serving in some capacity, etc. Companionship is about Life Across Borders, not the names of the countries or even the borders. Companionship is about being part of Something or Someone larger than yourself, invitational of spiritual enlivening and growth, interesting challenges, larger Humanity. In theist senses, I finally realized all this was about God, not interreligious companionship. That doesn’t help the portion of Humanity decidedly non-theist, so it’s not only about God. It’s also about not-God.
Of course, that idea needs to be narrowed down if we are to get any worthwhile prose at all. J
The other nudge from which the awareness arose was honest student feedback: in numerous contexts all across the United States, there’s no felt-need for any critical reflection on interreligious dialogue or encounter. Many folks in our country today live in strictly homogenous contexts, at least with respect to religious traditions. Despite the Pluralism Project’s research and the felt-needs in urban settings, many human beings of legitimate dignity see no need for any of this work. “My context?” a student observed openly, “There’s no need for methods of interreligious encounter. We don’t even have a Catholic Church in town, let alone a synagogue, mosque, or temple. Most of my congregation never leave the county, let alone the state or country.” Here’s where the publishing market has a point. If there’s no felt-need, then there’s no connection, no teaching/learning opportunity, no sales of books.
So how does one create the hunger for what the world (as a whole) needs in contexts in which no need is felt, let alone imagined? Especially in contexts where defensiveness has built up in polarizing, fear-driven media against what the world needs (as a whole)?
Maybe I sit with a new title to listen for an answer: Life Across Borders. Has a ring of “Without Borders,” like the humanitarian organization “Doctors Without Borders.” This one requires borders, though, in light of the overt shaping of habits of mind, expectations of community, fears of innovation that occurs inside them.
Meanwhile, the invitation remains to relinquish, again and again, the desire for affirmation by institutions desperately hungry for the new life offered here, even as they…we…are yet unwilling to open doors or windows to that which we seek most. Perhaps all we need in the end are the companions who make the journey so worthwhile. L'chaim. Salud. Cheers. Blessed be, this (and every) holy season.
