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Shortform is dedicated to quick, interesting reads. If you are looking for some tiny nuggets of knowledge, easy entertainment, maybe a laugh or two😂. Shortform is designed for consuming content when short on time, energy, or waiting for a bus that’s always infuriatingly late.

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SPIRITUALITY | RELIGION | SPIRIT

Eclectics Enjoy a Spiritual Potluck

Some believe interfaith dialogue easily slips into syncretism; I say that’s a good thing

1 min readDec 11, 2024

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A line of people move from pot to pot holding and loading up their plates.
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Pastors — say, “God talks to everyone.” Not, “This is the only truth.”

I studied a lot of religions while earning an M.Div. — enough to perceive they’re all rough approximations — napkin sketches, or darts thrown at the wall.

Some claim to be hand-delivered missives from deity itself, but that’s just marketing.

Like a good potluck, each tradition brings something to the table that would be missing otherwise.

None are a complete and balanced meal.

On my plate, I’ve got Zen Buddhism for dispassionate calm, Christian mysticism for compassion and agape love, Hinduism for Brahma, Paganism for the glorious conclave of divinities, and Islamic Sufism for devotion.

There’s Judaism for proverbs and the psalms, Taoism for the reality’s source code, and Transcendentalism’s faith in our personal perception. Animist religions so I remember we’re part of the world, and pantheism so I know it’s divine.

Wicca brings the power of ritual.

The Shortform
The Shortform

Published in The Shortform

Shortform is dedicated to quick, interesting reads. If you are looking for some tiny nuggets of knowledge, easy entertainment, maybe a laugh or two😂. Shortform is designed for consuming content when short on time, energy, or waiting for a bus that’s always infuriatingly late.

Holly Pettit
Holly Pettit

Written by Holly Pettit

M.Div. in world religions & contemplative practice. Writes on Paganism, Christian mysticism, Buddhism, humor/satire, history & politics. Former Army linguist.

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