A MULTI-FAITH LIVING ROOM? –

What good would spiritual mental health support be if it were only given to people of one faith? How unfair it would be if people needing support were to be excluded from the Living Room experience. Excluded from the knowledge of the unconditional love Jesus has for us.

Both in my own experience and in what I see in others’ lives, this love is healing. Yes, as I’ve written in a previous posting, knowing that you’re deeply loved will help overcome pain. It’s possible to feel love more than we feel the pain. It will help us cope.

Jesus’ love is unconditional. It extends to all kinds of people—those from different cultures, languages, and religions. The poor, the rich, physically and mentally disabled. Believers and nonbelievers.

I’ve been thinking much about how Living Room should serve more than Christians alone. And yet, although I would like to see such a multi-faith approach, I still believe that Jesus Christ’s unconditional love for all should remain the foundation of what Living Room stands for. I think this could work because Jesus figures big in most world religions.

Quoting from The Secret Message of Jesus, a book by Brian McLaren:

It’s significant to note that all Muslims regard Jesus as a great prophet, that many Hindus are willing to consider Jesus as a legitimate manifestation of the divine, that many Buddhists see Jesus as one of humanity’s most enlightened people. And that Jesus himself was a Jew.

marja