We need to enter into the experience of others in order to have compassion for our fellow human beings, says the Anglican Dean of Auckland, Richard Randerson. The gay-friendly Assistant Bishop of Auckland has been a moderate voice in a turbulent year for the church worldwide, which has seen doom-mongers forecasting a split over the consecration of openly gay bishop Gene Robinson in the United States. “We need to listen to each other's stories: Maori and Pakeha, Asian and European, men and women, rich and poor, old and young, East and West, gay and straight, Muslim, Christian, Buddhist and Jew,” says Randerson in today's NZ Herald. “When we meet strangers and hear their stories, they become family to us. We cannot fight them any more. “In Jesus, divine qualities took on human flesh. 'If that is true,' writes Joan Chichester, 'then all flesh is holy, all people are valuable, all human beings are a spark of the divine.' Christmas is the love of God in our midst."
Credit: GayNZ.com News Staff
First published: Sunday, 14th December 2003 - 12:00pm