Posted By David on June 22, 2009

Have you ever noticed that where a person grows up determines their tolerance for heat or cold? What one person considers a balmy day is another’s scorching afternoon, or chilly morn.

Be it air-conditioned consistency, Arctic breezes, or tropical humidity, our bodies develop an expectation and a comfort level for whatever environment we call home.

That’s not weakness; it’s adaptation.  The human species is pretty darn good at molding itself to a planet that has an amazingly diverse range of climates.

Yet underlying our diversity is a common universal physiology. And where we are most comfortable is often simply a matter of degree.

So too our great diversity of faiths, developed and evolved to fit the environments in which they’re practiced.

And underlying them, the common universal physiology of the Golden Rule.

We know what happens to species that are too specialized, with too narrow a tolerance for changes in their environment, too rigid a set of requirements for food or shelter or some other necessity of life – they become extinct.

To attempt to force everyone into a single, narrow spiritual mode is just as deadly.

Humanity is physically stronger for the diversity of climates that we’ve adapted to.

And we are spiritually stronger for the diversity of faiths in which we find the Divine.

It’s simply a matter of degree.

Categories: Mutuality
Tags: diversity, faith, faiths, Golden Rule, tolerance