My Early Upbringing.

I was raised first in a Lutheran church. I remember being welcomed at age four or so into the children’s choir. I loved to sing, so I had a good first feeling about church. When I was in third grade my parents joined Westminster Presbyterian Church in Wilmington. I was very active in the youth group there. I remember listening to sermons very critically. From an early age I had a curiosity and an affinity for non-Christians. I asked my Sunday school teacher whether God would condemn Buddhists simply because they had never heard about Jesus. He said that he knew little about Buddhism, but he encouraged me to do research in the public library. I was pleased with that response because I considered it honest, and respectful of my sincere will to learn. I have always cherished that open minded attitude in the church which raised me. And I am so grateful that upon my request the presbytery commissioned me as an Interfaith Peacemaker, because I have always, since childhood, had an interfaith soul.

A Crucible Experience and Spiritual Awakening

In 1970 I served as a military adviser to the South Vietnamese Navy, patrolling rivers and canals in the Mekong Delta. From time to time I did the infantry thing, walking ashore in enemy territory. I was scared of being captured or dying. And I felt terrible about setting ambushes. That felt like murder. One day in April when my adviser buddies were upriver getting supplies, I was back at base monitoring the radio. My fundamentalist cousin had sent me some paperbacks, one of which was authored by Catherine Marshall. She wrote, “Just talk to Jesus like he is sitting next to you. No fancy prayer is necessary. Just speak your need. What have you got to lose?” So, I did. I said, “Jesus, are you for real?  If you’re for real and are listening, I need some help here. I’m scared, and I’m sick and tired of what I’m doing.” I didn’t hear anything. I didn’t see anything. But in a matter of seconds I had the most profound sense of peace and joy.  It’s hard to describe, this meeting with the Spirit of Jesus. I wrote home that if I lived, I was going to drop philosophy and study religion. I wanted to teach religion. That’s as much as I knew at the time. It was a momentous first step in a long journey.  

Recognizing That the Family of God is Very, Very Wide.

I have come to understand Jesus as someone who shows the way, and as someone who is in communion with God all the time. I am not, but I try to follow in the way of living that he exemplified. Especially I try to be compassionate, and to forgive others and myself.

I see the Spirit of Jesus in other Christians, and also in others who are not Christian, and even sometimes in atheists. My experience of Jesus is very precious to me, and I of course would want others to experience the same peace and joy that I have felt. But I discover more and more that this experience of the divine, this oceanic awareness, is not confined to the Christian fold. So, when I recognize it in spiritual cousins, I say amen and join with them in aspiring to a holy life.