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I will start this blog by sharing excerpts from a paper I wrote for my master’s degree in pastoral studies. It was a meaningful, faith-distilling paper for me, and I hope it will be meaningful for you.
This spring I heard Eboo Patel, Founder and President of Interfaith Youth Core, speak at the University of Wisconsin-Madison on the topic of religious pluralism. He spoke about those qualities necessary for engaging in interfaith leadership. One of his key points was that, as an interfaith leader, it is important to voice the values from your own religious tradition.
This notion of voicing the values from your tradition struck a chord with me. First, it indicated to me that it was important not only to be aware of the values from my tradition, but to understand them in the heart of who I am. The values of our faith tradition must resonate deep within our beings. Patel said that as we study and encounter other religions, it is just as important that we continue to learn more about our own religion. Second, given the knowledge and understanding of these values in our own religious tradition, we must voice them, especially when undertaking a leadership role. We must be willing to express these deepest values in our communities and world.
All of this made me ask the question, “What are the values from my Christian faith tradition that are most important to me? What do I need to give voice to in my own life and community?” After spending close to three years immersed in religious studies, I hadn’t had the opportunity to step back and fully explore my own religious beliefs. Thankfully, I have a far better understanding and appreciation for Christian doctrine and practice, but I want to spend time delving into my own beliefs. It can be easier to spout off doctrine as we know it from our tradition than to go within ourselves and find out exactly what we believe.

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