Precisely. When we get into arguing that I’m right and you’re wrong, we may be defending our religious beliefs, but we lose touch with our spiritual center. And it is in that center that we may find much more in common than our theological differences would ever suggest. It is in that center, I believe, that we find God, however he may manifest himself to us. I am, now, much more in touch with that point than I was when I began my research for this book. And I see that we can’t enter the global culture of the 21st Century, each clinging feverishly to our own little piece of the elephant (explained later).

My Own Intolerance Uncovered
All human beings have particular biases--beliefs that we hold to be true, whether we are aware of them or not. One question I asked, rather awkwardly, of the first few people interviewed [for my book, Spiritual Maturity: The Whole Elephant] was, “Who would this work be incomplete without my interviewing?” One referred me to a Franciscan nun in Las Vegas, and my good friend, Dave Rowe, a conservative Baptist worship leader and seminary graduate, asked, “Do you have a Muslim?” Immediately, given that the year was 1996, thinking only of our country’s long-standing enmity with Saddam Hussein, in which we have painted him as an evil despot, I said, “No. I wouldn’t even know how to find one.” Dave shared his experiences with the Islamic religion, calmed my fears, and we jointly looked up a number in the telephone book under “Mosques.” I reached a man there a few days later, who referred me to yet another--a prayer leader, as it turned out.

I was nervous heading for the mosque to meet him. It was the only time I was concerned about what was appropriate to wear. I chose an ankle-length, long-sleeved, grey wool dress. As I pulled into the parking lot, I saw a man waiting. “We’ll have to go to my house,” he said after coming over to my car. “Please. My wife has [a] medical appointment. You can follow me.” Oddly enough, I felt relieved to be going to his home rather than to his place of worship. When we arrived, I saw that his oldest daughter and his wife were in traditional Muslim dress.

What surprised me was the calm with which he managed his family, the quiet and respectful air in that small apartment, and the gentleness coupled with enthusiasm with which he shared his religious faith. “Oh, my goodness,” I thought. “Are we all the same?” Certainly our beliefs [at that time, I was much more religiously conservative] are different: though in Islam, they accept Jesus Christ as a prophet preceding Muhammad. But the biblical values are present in the religion and to a high degree in this man's example. I left, Qur’an in hand, with little doubt why I was called to write this book

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