Nick Fawcett (devotional and reflective writer)

Interfaith dialogue is always controversial and fraught with difficulty. On the one hand, we want to be true to our own tradition; on the other, we seek to be respectful of those of other religions and open to the insights they have to communicate. Some insist that admitting there can be any truth outside of our own is tantamount to heresy. I’ve never been able to accept that. As Christians we put our trust in Christ, but we recognise that our understanding of him and of what he is done is partial, incomplete, seen through a glass darkly. Here is a prayer I’ve written this week as part of a new book that I’m working on, titled Honest Prayers for Honest People. It recognises that God speaks in different ways through different faiths, and that none of us has a monopoly on truth. 

Their faith was different to mine:
not just a question of nuance –
another denomination or Christian tradition –
but another religion entirely:
Buddhist,
Muslim,
Jew,
Hindu …
Yet their words rang true,
powerful,
profound,
prophetic.
There was real wisdom in them,
genuine perception,
their teaching speaking to our human condition,
addressing our need
and pointing beyond to the divine,
the ultimate,
the source and ground of all our being.
I could not simply dismiss their insights, Lord,
as some suggest we should do.
For to me they pointed to you,
to a reality greater than themselves.
My path is different to theirs,
my journey via a different road,
for I’ve found in you the way, the truth, and the life –
the one who answers my deepest needs,
who responds to my innermost searching –
but is that the only way,
the only truth,
the only life?
I can’t insist on that,
for I believe you are higher than our highest thoughts,
refusing to be bound by the shackles of creed and doctrine we seek to put upon you,
reaching out in love to everyone.
Open my heart to all the ways
and all the people
through which you would speak,
and whichever way you choose,
help me to hear.
Amen.