"Each tradition uses its own core teachings in an effort to understand the others. Each has its own fundamental truths and lived practices. Our challenge is to discover the ways in which we differ and learn to value the differences. Only then can we join with Krister Stendahl, Lutheran Bishop Emeritus, who, in a lovely essay on religious pluralism, asserts that if we truly live our Christian calling we will experience 'more than tolerance, more than reluctant recognition of the actual pluralism that surrounds us relentlessly.' He goes on to say the Christian calling allows him to sing his song to Jesus 'with abandon . . . without speaking negatively about others.'

"The loving abandon that Stendahl enjoins cannot be achieved in ignorance. It can be accomplished only by study, perseverance, and grace. In fact, study, perseverance, and a willingness to allow for grace must be applied not only to learning about other traditions, but also to the discipline of learning about our own. I am convinced that in order for us to discover how we might live together in this new age, we will have to become acquainted with the foundations of each tradition, and from there, begin to establish relationships hallmarked by respect and honesty with those whose faith is not our own. We will also have to dig more deeply into our own religious heritage in order to find the wealth it offers. By modeling this sort of inquiry and relationship in this book, I believe I fulfill the gospel call to be the salt of the earth, preserving the very best of the human spirit out of love for one another and for God.

"Because I am Christian, I embark on this journey with Jesus as my model. He, though fully divine, became human for my sake, and for the sake of all humankind. It seems only fitting that I should strive to understand the beliefs of others with the same compassionate love that fueled his life, death, and resurrection. Some may say that my only obligation to other non-Christian believers is to preach the good news of God in Christ Jesus. They may also believe that participating in interfaith dialogue and relationship, by the very nature of the task, causes me to disobey the gospel mandate to go into the world and make disciples of all people. I understand the position, and for much of my life subscribed to it. But today, as a middle-aged woman, with grown children and aging parents, another line from the Christian gospels compels me. Today, I reflect more deeply on the new commandment Jesus gave, to love one another as he has loved us. In order to be obedient to that commandment, I understand myself to be required to participate in conversations in which I am not afforded the last word or the luxury of full agreement, compliance, or conversion. This love requires that I involve myself in the lives of others, even when my most basic human instinct is to run, to hide, and to avoid the unfamiliar. The love that Jesus commands of me requires that I, as he has done before me, kindle and engender deep relationships with those others: the outcast, the unfamiliar, the different, and the very ones that we presume constitute the greatest threat to our institutional and cultural norms."