Steve took a class from the Charter for Compassion called Our Shared Humanity in January 2021. The class author and teacher is Gudjon Bergmann, and there were about 20 people in the class. The course asked regular questions to which we responded. We could comment on each others’ thoughts. I think that this class has a lot of potential in business and government, where people of differing backgrounds and beliefs can appreciate each other more.
Here’s a description of the class. It introduced some inspirational people and also spoke to polarization, divisiveness, and the impacts of technology.
As a follow on to the class, Gudjon nominated me to be a panelist for using Experifaith, his method of dialog as part of the UN World Harmony Interfaith Week. There was a 90-minute zoom meeting with 8 people ranging from Austria to Seattle, Washington, and people spoke from the heart about their beliefs and practices. Everyone was exceptionally open-minded and communicative. We had many faiths represented, Christian, Jew, Muslim, Buddhist. At the end of the meeting, I thought I’d like to have dinner with everyone in attendance.
It is said one of the best ways to connect with people is to share pain or a deeply personal experience. It is like strumming a guitar string in yourself that resonates with the guitar string in another person.