0:00:05.253,0:00:07.231
Paradigm shift.

0:00:07.579,0:00:09.266
(Laughter)

0:00:09.536,0:00:11.314
Friends, let's begin in the tradition

0:00:11.314,0:00:13.952
of the Vietnamese Buddhist monk[br]Thich Nhat Hanh.

0:00:13.952,0:00:17.457
Can I invite you to uncross[br]anything you're sitting with crossed.

0:00:17.457,0:00:21.717
Now, a reference to a religious tradition[br]just creates some openness.

0:00:21.717,0:00:27.253
And let's begin together in his tradition[br]of receiving three good breaths

0:00:27.253,0:00:30.188
to remind ourselves[br]of the preciousness of this moment

0:00:30.188,0:00:36.231
and to just absorb some of the amazingness[br]we have already received today.

0:00:49.897,0:00:52.047
I want to extend a special shout out

0:00:52.047,0:00:56.147
to the people who are joining us[br]through the miracle of technology

0:00:56.147,0:00:58.079
in remote locations.

0:00:58.079,0:01:00.663
I got to thinking that[br]at the State Theatre over there,

0:01:00.663,0:01:05.103
they're getting, you know,[br]soda and popcorn and Jujubes,

0:01:05.103,0:01:06.221
(Laughter)

0:01:06.221,0:01:09.161
and over here, you've just got Jew.

0:01:09.161,0:01:11.462
(Laughter)

0:01:16.345,0:01:19.655
But it is through[br]the miracle of technology

0:01:20.023,0:01:23.695
that once insurmountable distances

0:01:23.695,0:01:27.761
have created an opportunity[br]for a shared experience,

0:01:27.761,0:01:30.477
a wonderful metaphor for the idea

0:01:30.797,0:01:36.659
that across what once were[br]insurmountable distances and differences,

0:01:36.659,0:01:40.964
we are able to come[br]into a spirit of oneness.

0:01:41.344,0:01:42.400
A few weeks ago,

0:01:42.400,0:01:44.537
I had the privilege of being with a group

0:01:44.537,0:01:50.044
of 40 or so Protestant ministers[br]and deeply committed lay people

0:01:50.044,0:01:53.567
from across several[br]Protestant denominations.

0:01:53.567,0:01:56.727
We had Baptists and Disciples of Christ

0:01:56.727,0:01:57.844
and Lutherans

0:01:57.844,0:02:00.175
and several brands of Methodist -

0:02:00.175,0:02:02.177
I didn't know that that existed.

0:02:02.177,0:02:05.731
And they came together[br]across these denominations

0:02:05.731,0:02:07.827
in a Catholic retreat center

0:02:07.827,0:02:12.643
to spend at least part of their day[br]learning with a Jewish rabbi.

0:02:12.991,0:02:17.620
And I realized that the game[br]has already begun to change.

0:02:18.560,0:02:20.045
Sometime during that week,

0:02:20.045,0:02:23.208
we took a moment[br]to unroll the Torah scroll,

0:02:23.208,0:02:26.479
the sacred stories of the Jewish people,

0:02:26.479,0:02:30.059
and when I stood[br]in the Catholic retreat center,

0:02:30.059,0:02:32.259
looking down the roll of the scroll

0:02:32.259,0:02:37.125
at these beloved friends[br]from across Protestant denominations,

0:02:37.125,0:02:41.041
I realized that the game[br]has really changed.

0:02:41.541,0:02:43.608
And that each and every one[br]of those people,

0:02:43.608,0:02:46.824
having come into this shared experience,

0:02:46.824,0:02:49.774
will then go back out into the world

0:02:49.774,0:02:51.624
and light a little bit of that light

0:02:51.624,0:02:55.174
for the people in[br]their home communities as well.

0:02:55.174,0:02:58.824
This was a real game changer.

0:02:59.694,0:03:05.738
Friends, no scientists tell us[br]that in the course of any given moment,

0:03:05.738,0:03:07.675
in the course of any sentence,

0:03:07.675,0:03:13.307
we are literally showered[br]with 11 million pieces of data.

0:03:13.307,0:03:15.224
And at best, on a good day,

0:03:15.224,0:03:19.423
we are able to pay attention[br]to about seven of them.

0:03:19.423,0:03:22.138
So the question arose in human evolution:

0:03:22.138,0:03:27.362
How do we take this shower[br]of information, this shower of data,

0:03:27.362,0:03:32.239
and turn it into something[br]that is manageable, that is handleable?

0:03:33.089,0:03:37.089
Because from the most ancient times[br]in human consciousness,

0:03:37.089,0:03:39.888
we have been asking the question

0:03:39.888,0:03:42.784
who are we?

0:03:43.324,0:03:45.170
These ancient cave paintings,

0:03:45.170,0:03:49.575
some of them dating from 40,000 years ago,

0:03:49.575,0:03:53.907
already asking the question who are we?

0:03:53.907,0:03:59.184
And who are we in relation[br]to the natural world around us?

0:03:59.604,0:04:05.578
How do we learn to not only survive[br]but thrive in the world?

0:04:06.368,0:04:11.086
Evolutionarily, this problem[br]of how to take all of that information,

0:04:11.086,0:04:12.568
all of that data,

0:04:12.568,0:04:15.595
and make it - in the words[br]of Timothy Wilson -

0:04:15.595,0:04:19.436
"persuasive, useful and transmissable,"

0:04:19.436,0:04:23.518
that problem was faced[br]and a solution was found.

0:04:23.518,0:04:26.715
And the solution was storytelling.

0:04:27.245,0:04:32.168
The storytellers of all cultures[br]are the keepers of the wisdom

0:04:32.168,0:04:35.067
that is passed from[br]one generation to the next,

0:04:35.067,0:04:37.857
and it didn't stop[br]with asking the questions

0:04:37.857,0:04:41.481
about this world and day-to-day existence.

0:04:41.481,0:04:42.684
Storytellers,

0:04:42.684,0:04:44.538
even in the most ancient times,

0:04:44.538,0:04:46.646
were beginning to ask the question

0:04:46.646,0:04:50.485
who are we in relation to the cosmos -

0:04:50.485,0:04:53.611
to the things that are much bigger than us

0:04:53.611,0:04:57.051
and what we can see[br]and experience in the world?

0:04:57.051,0:04:59.881
I'm reminded of a wonderful comedy routine

0:04:59.881,0:05:03.908
when Carl Reiner and Mel Brooks[br]were at a dinner party

0:05:03.908,0:05:07.553
and Mel Brooks was playing[br]the 2000-year-old man.

0:05:07.553,0:05:09.486
Carl Reiner was interviewing him

0:05:09.486,0:05:12.217
and asked him about[br]a number of different subjects,

0:05:12.217,0:05:15.417
and finally the conversation[br]turned to religion.

0:05:15.417,0:05:16.540
And Carl Reiner said,

0:05:16.540,0:05:19.182
"Well, did you have[br]a, you know, a supreme being?"

0:05:19.182,0:05:21.740
And Mel Brooks said,[br]in his beautiful Yiddish accent,

0:05:21.740,0:05:22.983
"A supreme being?

0:05:22.983,0:05:25.283
Of course we had a supreme being,

0:05:25.283,0:05:28.747
and his name was Phil."

0:05:28.747,0:05:30.166
(Laughter)

0:05:30.567,0:05:31.567
Carl Reiner said,

0:05:31.567,0:05:32.732
"Wow. That's amazing."

0:05:32.732,0:05:33.798
And Mel Brooks said,

0:05:33.798,0:05:35.316
"Oh yes. Phil was incredible.

0:05:35.316,0:05:38.710
You could go to Phil for anything -[br]for food, water, shelter -

0:05:38.710,0:05:40.400
whatever you needed."

0:05:40.400,0:05:41.434
Carl Reiner said,

0:05:41.434,0:05:43.982
"Well, whatever became of Phil?"

0:05:43.982,0:05:45.533
"Well," says Mel Brooks,

0:05:45.533,0:05:48.871
"one day, Phil was walking[br]through the valley

0:05:48.871,0:05:51.915
and a thunderstorm rolled in

0:05:52.400,0:05:54.949
and he was struck by lightning.

0:05:54.949,0:05:57.566
And in that moment, we knew

0:05:57.566,0:06:00.946
there was something bigger than Phil."

0:06:00.946,0:06:02.412
(Laughter)

0:06:04.314,0:06:08.847
Now, friends, a lot of what[br]is paradigm shifting in my business,

0:06:08.847,0:06:11.118
or my vocation,

0:06:11.468,0:06:16.437
is the idea that there is something[br]a lot bigger than Phil.

0:06:17.074,0:06:21.485
At the heart and center of all religious[br]and spiritual experiences,

0:06:21.485,0:06:25.993
the longing that each of us has[br]at the center of our being

0:06:25.993,0:06:30.899
to touch into that basic goodness[br]that is our true nature,

0:06:31.830,0:06:35.996
to touch into that little bit[br]of the infinite

0:06:35.996,0:06:38.449
that lives at the center of our being.

0:06:38.449,0:06:39.464
For the moment,

0:06:39.464,0:06:43.514
let's use the Hebrew letter "aleph"[br]as an abbreviation of this.

0:06:43.514,0:06:45.998
It's the first letter[br]of the Hebrew alphabet,

0:06:45.998,0:06:47.780
and so it is the number one.

0:06:47.780,0:06:51.580
It stands for "one-ness."

0:06:51.580,0:06:55.483
And it also is important[br]because it makes the sound ...

0:06:58.237,0:06:59.539
Not "ah."

0:06:59.539,0:07:01.622
It makes the sound ...

0:07:03.706,0:07:05.980
It is the sound of silence.

0:07:05.980,0:07:07.655
(Laughter)

0:07:09.045,0:07:11.862
Because silence is really the only thing

0:07:11.862,0:07:16.379
that is large enough[br]to contain the infinite that we seek,

0:07:16.379,0:07:17.912
that longing that we seek.

0:07:17.912,0:07:21.229
And so we find ways[br]of coming into this oneness,

0:07:21.229,0:07:26.861
and it might be prayer or meditation[br]or sacred times or sacred places,

0:07:26.861,0:07:28.294
and over time,

0:07:28.294,0:07:33.528
we start to want to transmit[br]these ways into that oneness -

0:07:33.528,0:07:35.578
to our community, to our children -

0:07:35.578,0:07:41.461
and so we create a little membrane[br]around our ways into oneness.

0:07:42.211,0:07:43.477
But over time,

0:07:43.477,0:07:48.293
that permeable membrane[br]that at one time allowed in what was new

0:07:48.293,0:07:50.890
and allowed us to release

0:07:50.890,0:07:54.768
what no longer served[br]this coming into oneness,

0:07:54.768,0:07:59.218
that membrane can become[br]a very solid wall.

0:08:00.378,0:08:02.010
And perhaps worst of all,

0:08:02.010,0:08:05.561
you get people like me,[br]who are keepers of the way,

0:08:05.561,0:08:08.310
and our job is to protect the institutions

0:08:08.310,0:08:10.026
and to protect the denominations

0:08:10.026,0:08:13.743
and to protect our ways[br]of coming into that one,

0:08:13.743,0:08:18.493
and our institutions get so busy[br]running around the outside of the circle

0:08:18.493,0:08:22.227
that we forget that the purpose[br]of the endeavor

0:08:22.227,0:08:26.281
is to help one another[br]come into that basic goodness

0:08:26.281,0:08:29.183
that is at the center of our being.

0:08:29.893,0:08:32.293
And when people come to visit,

0:08:32.293,0:08:33.654
sadly,

0:08:33.654,0:08:37.395
they step through our doors,[br]often, in religious institutions,

0:08:37.395,0:08:39.800
and that oneness at the center

0:08:39.800,0:08:44.514
has shrunk to be so small[br]as to be almost invisible.

0:08:45.892,0:08:51.208
Sadder still, we build walls[br]between our way into the one

0:08:51.208,0:08:53.591
and your way into the one,

0:08:53.591,0:08:54.594
and we say,

0:08:54.594,0:08:58.178
"Keep your ways into the one[br]out of our ways into the one

0:08:58.178,0:09:01.491
because our way is the way."

0:09:01.491,0:09:04.714
This is when triumphalism -

0:09:05.440,0:09:07.937
"our way is the way,"

0:09:08.407,0:09:12.724
"it would just be better[br]if you thought like we think" -

0:09:13.174,0:09:18.709
we build walls between our ways[br]into the infinite oneness.

0:09:19.359,0:09:22.457
And when people approach us[br]who are spiritual seekers,

0:09:22.457,0:09:26.186
they often come and they see the walls

0:09:26.186,0:09:30.885
and forget the center[br]that is at the heart of the endeavor.

0:09:30.885,0:09:34.178
But there have always been people[br]who were game changers.

0:09:34.178,0:09:37.356
There have always been people[br]who saw beyond the walls.

0:09:37.356,0:09:42.614
A Protestant wife and a Catholic husband[br]who could not be buried together

0:09:43.822,0:09:47.237
chose to have their graves built[br]next to the wall

0:09:47.237,0:09:51.973
and asked that their children[br]put above that their hands joined

0:09:51.973,0:09:55.664
because they remembered and they knew

0:09:56.314,0:10:01.154
that, yes, there is a wall[br]that divides Protestant and Catholic,

0:10:01.494,0:10:07.246
but it is the love[br]and the goodness and the oneness

0:10:07.246,0:10:11.218
that is the real message of their lives.

0:10:11.218,0:10:15.354
There has always been game changers[br]who saw beyond the walls.

0:10:15.354,0:10:18.412
And one of the things[br]that's really interesting right now

0:10:18.412,0:10:20.879
in the evolving history of religion

0:10:20.879,0:10:24.834
is this group called the "SBNR"s,

0:10:24.834,0:10:28.054
the "spiritual but not religious."

0:10:28.054,0:10:30.101
(Laughter)

0:10:30.468,0:10:31.936
Does this describe you?

0:10:31.936,0:10:34.103
What? Is this funny because it's you?

0:10:34.103,0:10:36.569
(Laughter)

0:10:36.569,0:10:39.785
And these are the people who are demanding

0:10:39.785,0:10:42.969
that the people who work[br]in the vocation of religion

0:10:42.969,0:10:44.853
change the game.

0:10:45.203,0:10:50.486
Because they are longing[br]to enter into that infinite oneness,

0:10:50.486,0:10:52.861
that basic goodness,

0:10:53.601,0:10:56.785
but on Friday morning[br]and Saturday morning and Sunday morning,

0:10:56.785,0:11:01.091
you will not find them sitting[br]in mosque and temple and church.

0:11:01.661,0:11:05.633
You will find them sitting[br]on the beaches of Lake Michigan

0:11:05.633,0:11:07.867
or walking in the woods

0:11:07.867,0:11:11.018
or listening to beautiful music

0:11:11.018,0:11:16.500
or sitting quietly with friends[br]and having holy conversation.

0:11:16.500,0:11:19.716
And these people are game changers.

0:11:19.716,0:11:25.233
The paradigm-shifting,[br]game-changing moment that we are in

0:11:25.233,0:11:28.866
is called deep ecumenism:

0:11:29.166,0:11:32.883
the ability that we can honor[br]our own tradition

0:11:33.389,0:11:39.952
while also being comfortably inspired[br]by the truths of many traditions.

0:11:40.766,0:11:46.059
And this game changing[br]is the sacred technology

0:11:46.649,0:11:50.181
that will change every single one[br]of our institutions.

0:11:50.181,0:11:51.548
Now, I have to admit to you,

0:11:51.548,0:11:53.850
I have always been drawn to this.

0:11:54.280,0:11:57.798
Even as a young child,[br]I really felt the need to stretch

0:11:57.798,0:12:01.582
although I was raised[br]in a very committed Jewish home.

0:12:01.582,0:12:03.548
But with the help of my family,

0:12:03.548,0:12:06.848
I was taught to stretch and grow.

0:12:06.848,0:12:09.148
(Laughter)

0:12:11.521,0:12:16.518
Oh, Catherine, you thought[br]your picture was amazing ...

0:12:17.865,0:12:20.040
My brothers were trying[br]to help me be taller -

0:12:20.040,0:12:21.050
(Laughter)

0:12:21.050,0:12:22.841
what was actually going on here,

0:12:22.841,0:12:24.528
God bless them.

0:12:24.938,0:12:26.596
But even at a very early age,

0:12:26.596,0:12:31.597
I felt drawn to exploring[br]and stepping into new places.

0:12:31.597,0:12:34.348
A number of years[br]after this photo was taken,

0:12:34.348,0:12:38.463
I had been dropped off at the mall[br]for my hangout time,

0:12:38.463,0:12:42.730
and there I ran into[br]a group of Hare Krishnas.

0:12:42.730,0:12:47.679
And I was fascinated with their ecstasy.

0:12:47.679,0:12:52.763
I was fascinated with their joy,[br]with their song and their dance,

0:12:52.763,0:12:54.330
and one of them came over

0:12:54.330,0:12:59.107
and gifted me with a copy[br]of the "Bhagavad-Gītā As It Is,"

0:12:59.107,0:13:01.929
and I tried and I tried to read the text,

0:13:01.929,0:13:05.739
but I simply could not[br]penetrate it at that time.

0:13:05.739,0:13:09.047
Luckily for me, there were pictures.

0:13:09.047,0:13:10.296
(Laughter)

0:13:10.296,0:13:14.428
One of the pictures that appeared[br]in that version of the Bhagavad Gita

0:13:14.428,0:13:18.913
is an illustration[br]of the 5th chapter, the 18th sloka,

0:13:18.913,0:13:24.728
which says that the wise person[br]looks into the heart of all beings

0:13:24.728,0:13:31.239
and there sees the same oneness[br]at the center of all beings.

0:13:31.877,0:13:35.011
And this picture changed my life,

0:13:35.011,0:13:38.778
and it changed how I saw everything.

0:13:40.284,0:13:42.610
One of the ways that this has manifest -

0:13:42.610,0:13:45.077
and I am very, very blessed

0:13:45.077,0:13:51.211
to be the co-clergy of a wonderful[br]20-year-old experiment.

0:13:51.320,0:13:55.045
As many of you know, every other week[br]for the last nine and a half years,

0:13:55.045,0:13:58.711
I have flown to Chicago[br]to work Friday night in a synagogue -

0:13:58.711,0:14:03.378
Friday night and Saturday in a synagogue[br]that welcomes interfaith families,

0:14:03.378,0:14:07.394
and on Sunday morning, I work[br]at Old St. Patrick's Catholic Church,

0:14:07.394,0:14:08.861
just in case.

0:14:08.861,0:14:10.210
(Laughter)

0:14:15.509,0:14:17.991
My father, of blessed memory, used to say,

0:14:17.991,0:14:20.760
"You never know who's[br]going to turn out to be right."

0:14:20.760,0:14:22.559
(Laughter)

0:14:23.995,0:14:27.875
At Old St. Patrick's Catholic Church

0:14:27.875,0:14:32.810
is a wonderful experiment called[br]the Chicago Interfaith Family School,

0:14:32.917,0:14:35.653
and we are perhaps 80 or 90 families

0:14:35.653,0:14:39.127
with one parent Jewish,[br]one parent Catholic,

0:14:39.127,0:14:42.345
raising the kids in both religions,

0:14:42.935,0:14:46.727
and I am honored to be[br]the co-clergy of this school,

0:14:46.727,0:14:50.000
and I'd like you to meet[br]some of my students.

0:14:59.991,0:15:04.057
(Video) Boy 1: Being Catholic[br]and Jewish isn't that hard actually,

0:15:04.057,0:15:07.437
especially when you're in Family School

0:15:07.437,0:15:10.766
and you see some of the other people[br]that are both Catholic and Jewish.

0:15:10.766,0:15:12.563
It doesn't seem like a challenge:

0:15:13.408,0:15:15.376
it seems like a blessing.

0:15:16.076,0:15:17.901
[20 years & Growing The Family School]

0:15:17.901,0:15:19.636
Father Tom Hurley: The Family School

0:15:19.636,0:15:22.534
really has, I think, unveiled[br]something absolutely beautiful

0:15:22.534,0:15:25.313
in terms of how families can do this.

0:15:25.313,0:15:27.204
It's not picking one over another.

0:15:27.204,0:15:31.037
It's saying this is the gift[br]that we give to each other

0:15:31.037,0:15:33.672
and it is the gift[br]that we give to our children.

0:15:33.672,0:15:40.087
Chava Bahle: How do you answer[br]somebody who says, "You can't be both"?

0:15:40.087,0:15:42.452
Girl 1: Well, I say, "Yeah, I can."

0:15:42.452,0:15:44.172
(Laughter)

0:15:48.312,0:15:52.736
Girl 2: Family School has helped teach me[br]which parts I like of a religion

0:15:52.736,0:15:54.688
and which parts I want to be in.

0:15:54.688,0:15:58.048
Girl 3: It's been really nice[br]knowing about both religions

0:15:58.048,0:16:00.818
and kind of get to know[br]about the history of both

0:16:00.818,0:16:03.557
and how they're different, alike.

0:16:03.557,0:16:04.754
CB: I think that any time

0:16:04.754,0:16:09.070
people step into and choose[br]their own faith lens,

0:16:09.070,0:16:13.054
it's much stronger than if[br]it's just merely imposed on them.

0:16:13.054,0:16:15.558
Boy 2: Family School -[br]it makes you curious to learn,

0:16:15.558,0:16:19.471
not just about your religion[br]but about who you are.

0:16:19.471,0:16:22.188
Boy 3: It's a way to find out[br]who you really are,

0:16:22.188,0:16:25.237
not just like what your parents are.

0:16:25.237,0:16:28.503
You can learn what to be for yourself.

0:16:28.503,0:16:31.747
TH: I think it's giving[br]the child and the family together

0:16:31.747,0:16:33.703
a place to take this journey,

0:16:33.703,0:16:35.671
a place where it's okay to ask

0:16:35.671,0:16:37.819
and that all the answers are given.

0:16:37.819,0:16:41.676
Girl 1: I can now, like, question things[br]and [inaudible] things about my religion,

0:16:41.676,0:16:44.135
which is something[br]a lot of people can't do.

0:16:44.135,0:16:46.105
And I've always felt really safe here

0:16:46.105,0:16:50.070
in having people just like me[br]to grow up with.

0:16:50.070,0:16:52.555
TH: God created it;[br]God calls us into this mystery.

0:16:52.555,0:16:56.420
And I think all of us enter[br]the mystery of God through various ways,

0:16:56.420,0:16:59.753
and it's not to say that one way is right[br]and one way is wrong:

0:16:59.753,0:17:01.604
every way is right.

0:17:04.134,0:17:07.402
Every way that we celebrate[br]through our religious tradition

0:17:07.402,0:17:10.169
is a way of mystery of God.

0:17:10.169,0:17:12.534
I believe that's what God desires.

0:17:12.534,0:17:14.336
That brings God to life.

0:17:14.336,0:17:15.384
Girl 2: Family School

0:17:15.384,0:17:17.702
brings people together[br]from different opinions

0:17:17.702,0:17:19.217
and lets you share them.

0:17:19.217,0:17:22.458
Woman 1: I think that acceptance[br]is a huge part of Family School.

0:17:22.458,0:17:24.968
Girl 3: So many other people grow by -

0:17:24.968,0:17:28.668
have such discrimination[br]against other religions

0:17:29.018,0:17:30.695
because they only believe in theirs

0:17:30.695,0:17:34.739
and they really don't understand[br]what it's like to be different religions

0:17:34.739,0:17:36.352
and they don't accept it.

0:17:36.352,0:17:38.702
And it's just so nice[br]coming here to Family School

0:17:38.702,0:17:41.551
and having those beliefs from the start.

0:17:41.901,0:17:47.452
Woman 2: After 25 years of marriage[br]and 20 years of the Family School,

0:17:47.452,0:17:50.616
I actually see myself[br]as both Catholic and Jewish.

0:17:50.616,0:17:51.828
Man: And I do too.

0:17:51.828,0:17:54.276
TH: People who are[br]various traditions fall in love,

0:17:54.276,0:17:58.789
and I think that the Family School[br]is really a great, great testimony

0:17:58.789,0:18:00.769
of how, you know, we can say,

0:18:00.769,0:18:02.649
"Hey, we can be a gift to each other."

0:18:02.649,0:18:05.762
It doesn't mean we have to check[br]somebody's tradition at the door,

0:18:05.762,0:18:09.176
but it means we can continue to live[br]in the mysteries of our traditions.

0:18:09.176,0:18:11.039
CB: And so, for all of you as a group,

0:18:11.039,0:18:13.506
I bless you to remember that it is vital

0:18:13.506,0:18:17.892
that you trust your own experience[br]of your inner world.

0:18:19.033,0:18:21.581
There will be many times[br]and forces and people

0:18:21.581,0:18:24.966
who try to talk you[br]out of knowing what you know,

0:18:24.966,0:18:29.749
and I bless you to trust[br]the experience of your inner world.

0:18:31.664,0:18:34.864
Boy 4: My view is ever changing,

0:18:34.864,0:18:37.485
and I don't think[br]it's going to stop changing.

0:18:37.485,0:18:41.847
I think that there will be days[br]when I lean more towards Judaism

0:18:41.847,0:18:45.014
and there will be days[br]when I lean more towards Catholicism.

0:18:45.014,0:18:48.254
I think that's the beauty of being both -

0:18:48.254,0:18:50.379
is that, you know, you can believe both.

0:18:50.379,0:18:52.406
You can believe what you want.

0:18:57.546,0:19:00.292
[www.the-family-school.org]

0:19:07.338,0:19:09.071
(Applause)

0:19:16.547,0:19:19.397
Every year I cry[br]through the entire graduation,

0:19:19.397,0:19:21.152
as you can see,

0:19:21.152,0:19:25.212
because this work is one[br]of the great prides of my life.

0:19:25.212,0:19:27.912
The idea that we are raising[br]a generation of people

0:19:27.912,0:19:31.253
who are able to think in both/and

0:19:31.543,0:19:34.784
and not just the paradigm of either/or

0:19:34.784,0:19:36.518
is a game changer.

0:19:37.028,0:19:38.447
But, beloveds, as you know,

0:19:38.447,0:19:41.078
game changing doesn't just happen[br]in the big cities:

0:19:41.078,0:19:44.210
it's happening right here[br]in our own community.

0:19:44.210,0:19:46.817
There is a group of game changers

0:19:47.039,0:19:51.043
at the Unitarian Universalist[br]Congregation of Grand Traverse

0:19:51.043,0:19:54.743
who, for the first time[br]in the history of their denomination,

0:19:54.743,0:20:01.209
have hired someone of a different religion[br]to be their spiritual leader.

0:20:01.209,0:20:03.692
Now, I admit it didn't hurt[br]my chances at all

0:20:03.692,0:20:05.607
that one of the requirements of the job

0:20:05.607,0:20:08.992
was that my hair color[br]had to match the pulpit cover.

0:20:08.992,0:20:10.843
(Laughter)

0:20:13.158,0:20:14.943
But one of the things that is true

0:20:14.943,0:20:18.798
of all of the game changers[br]that you will hear today

0:20:18.798,0:20:24.099
is that game changers are the people[br]who are seeking the common heart.

0:20:24.509,0:20:29.591
And ultimately, in the area[br]of religion and spirituality,

0:20:29.591,0:20:35.101
game changers are the people who look[br]at the brick walls that separate us

0:20:36.061,0:20:40.511
and who realize that with just[br]a little bit of rearrangement,

0:20:40.511,0:20:46.370
those brick walls can be rearranged[br]into stepping stones

0:20:47.000,0:20:50.225
that remind us of the greatest truth,

0:20:50.225,0:20:54.525
and that is that there is no them anymore.

0:20:54.685,0:20:57.810
There is only us.

0:20:58.860,0:20:59.959
Thank you.

0:20:59.959,0:21:01.218
(Applause)