We can do four things to embrace the full richness of our diversity: bridge the tragic gap between life as it is and life we wish it were, and reach across difference (not superficial difference but differences in cherished beliefs); make the shift from the hypocrisy of conformity to the integrity of authenticity; move from denial and intolerance to integration and acceptance; and work toward transformation through the crucible of honest dialogue.
There is a cost to maturity and engaging in the work of
transformation takes courage. It is not an easy choice to live authentically and honestly when the pressure to go along to get along is strong. Many want communal transformation
without the personal reckoning and conversion necessary to bring it about. We cannot transform personally and evolve as a community if we insist
on being right rather than being human.
Beneath the obvious challenges of cultural, generational and experiential diversity, the critical challenges facing community are crises related to identity, integrity, and relevancy. The
whole paradigm of religious life, and religion itself as a system of thought, is in flux. The organizational system that supports religious life
as we have known it is broken and cannot, or should not, be restored to what it once was. Transformation is not inevitable, but the alternatives are dire: irrelevance, disintegration and dissolution.
Dunn, Ted, Graced Crossroads: Pathways to Deep Change & Transformation, CSS Publications, 2020, pp. 90-96
