Give Me Thine Hand
July 2017
As a child, I concurrently attended a C of E 'Sunday School' whilst also being educated at an All Girls' Methodist School and therefore I was well educated in both the traditional Anglican teachings whilst also learning about the Wesleys' reasons for departing from Anglicanism during the emergence of the various denominations of non-conformist Christianity in the Eighteenth Century.
One of John Wesley's sermons of 1755 is forefront in my mind as being, what I consider to be, something of an Eighteenth Century 'Interfaith' or certainly an 'Inter-denominational' sermon as John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, questions: 'Although a difference in opinions or modes of worship may prevent an entire external union, yet need it prevent our union in affection? Though we cannot think alike, may we not love alike? May we not be of one heart, though we are not of one opinion? Without all doubt, we may. Herein all the children of God may unite, notwithstanding these smaller differences. These remaining as they are, they may forward one another in love and good works.' Without quoting the entire sermon, John Wesley concludes by saying, beautifully, 'If thine heart is as my heart, if thou lovest God and all mankind, I ask no more: give me thine hand.'
What an inspiring gesture of loving friendship - to forego differences of opinion, small or large, in favour of the hand of friendship, affection and love - 'we do not need to think alike, to love alike'. As an Interfaith Minister (www.interfaithfoundation.org), it strikes me as perhaps the ultimate gesture of 'Interfaith' as my mind now imagines people of all denominations, cultures and faith throughout the World extending their hand in friendship above all the many differences that can divide Humanity.
'Loving one's neighbour as oneself' is of course one of Christianity's central tenets, which many of us will be very familiar with and which is interestingly found in both the Old and New Testaments; in both Deuteronomy and Leviticus as well as the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke and therefore revered by both Christian and Jewish Traditions as reflecting common core spiritual values. 'Loving friendship' as an Interfaith theme can also be found in the Buddhist concept of Maitri which is actively cultivated as a virtue in the Buddhist 'Loving-Kindness' meditation of Metta Bhavana which specifically focuses on developing Loving-Kindness towards all beings by inwardly developing a beautiful heart-mind of compassion for all beings, whilst reciting the beautiful yet simple ancient prayer: May all beings be well, may all beings be happy, may all beings be free from suffering.
Interestingly, Sufi-Muslims also have a beautiful concept of God specifically as 'Friend', 'Friendship' or 'Beloved' and perhaps one of Hafiz's Sufi poems, (beautifully translated by Daniel Ladinsky), best expresses Humanity's need for us all as individuals, to try to remember as much as we can to extend the hand of friendship when we find ourselves stuck in a quagmire of differences:
'A Great Need' - by Hafiz
Out
Of a great need
We are all holding hands
And climbing.
Not loving is a letting go.
Listen,
The terrain around here
Is
Far too
Dangerous
For
That!
‘Give me thine hand…’
– Rev. Jenny Miller
Jenny Miller, "Interfaith Matters - 'Give me thine hand' ", Frensham Parish Magazine, (July, 2017)