Saturday 10 October 2009

More blogging from Crete - by a Presbyterian based at a Roman Catholic University

My friend Aimee Moiso is also blogging from Crete - find out more here.
Aimee has written movingly about her own ecumenical journey and evolving understanding of unity in posts like this one from which the following:

In junior high, I remember arguing naively with a Lutheran friend over politics, and I had a vague understanding that her church had something to do with the side she took. In high school, there were Christians with whom I disagreed about the Gulf War and Oregon ballot measures about homosexuality. I had a Greek Orthodox friend down the street who celebrated Easter on a different day than I did, but I didn’t really know why.
...

while traveling in Europe with other students and attending Mass at the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris, I remember a stark moment of indecision – as Protestants should we receive Eucharist or not? Some of us went forward, others didn’t. I have never forgotten that moment of uncertainty – am I welcome here? – though, oddly, I have forgotten how I responded to it.

Church division is historical, doctrinal, theological, social, cultural, racial. It’s about tradition and power and preference and conviction and interpretation and change and revelation. But what's undeniable is that division is always personal. It slices you from me, and it it separates us and them.

As well as offering her own insights, Aimee is also giving a good summary of the plenary discussions which helps you get a better idea of some of what is going on here in Crete.

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