A Common "Goal"

I was speaking with an old friend today. We got around to talking about faith and I really liked what he had to say. Bear in mind that we are different in so many ways:

1. He's a man,  I'm a woman
2. He's tall, I'm vertically challenged (okay, short)
3. He was raised Catholic, I was born of the Jewish faith
4. He knows how to play hockey, I only know how to play hooky

Anyway, you get my point. We're different. But what he had to say made so much sense and logically erased the faith/religion barrier.  His analogy comes from the game of hockey. It's simple and, the way he said it, quite eloquent (for a hockey jock, that is).

"We all love the game of hockey, we're just playing on different teams."

"We all love the game of hockey, we're just playing on different teams."

When he said this, he was referring to himself being Catholic and me being Jewish but having faith in the same God. In his analogy hockey is symbolic of the deity and the different colored jerseys (teams) the various religions. He rambled off Catholicism, Judaism, Baha'i and a couple of others.

The message is clear: It doesn't matter which team we're playing for because we all have the love of the game.

Translation: It doesn't matter whether we pray in a temple or meditate in a tepee because we all have love for God.

So, if we're all praying to the same pure light and energy source, why can't we all just get along?

"The only way to make sure people you agree with can speak is to support the rights of people you don't agree with."      — Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama