Our seminar leader at Ghost Ranch was Philip Newell a Church of Scotland minister and a prolific writer on the subject of Celtic Christianity. Despite his accent he was born and grew up in Canada. We chatted over lunch one day and I discovered that his family spent several years in Oshawa. Small world.
Newell is a thoughtful and poetic writer and it was a pleasure to discover that his demeanour matches his words in print. He travels all over North America and Britain as a teacher but he has the ability to be authentically present to those he is with. This must be a challenge as he moves from venue to venue meeting so many different people.
What did I appreciate most about Philip? He is committed to interfaith dialogue and works with a Jewish rabbi and native leaders during his visits to Ghost Ranch and Casa del Sol. Yet he is very much a Christian. When working with one native leader Newell asked if the Christian emphasis in what was being offered made him uncomfortable. He was assured that this was important, that Philip needed to "bring his own treasure." As someone who has a deep conviction that Christ is my treasure, I appreciated this insight. There are times when I am frustrated with the "one faith fits all" approach to interfaith dialogue which marks liberal denominations such as our own. Yet if we accept our oneness as people of the creator then we can develop the freedom to be different in our expression.
Philip also told us the story of a rabbi who was challenged by a Christian with Jesus' words in the gospel of John, "I am the way, the truth, and the life." What did the rabbi think of this, the Christian wanted to know. The rabbi responded that he couldn't agree more, which puzzled his challenger.
The rabbi then explained that he saw Jesus as embodying God's love, and that love is the way, the truth, and the life. I like the promise of a relationship with Christ that is less about lines in the sand and more about embodying love.
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