ABSTRACT:

Prejudice, Conflict, Consolations, Confidence

Amid widespread havoc-wreaking conflicts around the globe, frequent prejudice-dissolving encounters at Magdala over the last ten years console us. We look confidently to the future, after sixty years on this path of positive engagement with the array of different others we interact with in our world. Our genuine bondedness can help us overcome our divisiveness. Here we begin our treatment of a therapy for prejudice. The September article will showcase how surprisingly and powerfully bonded we are.

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So Deeply Divided, Yet So Deeply Bonded

The great blessings of the culture of encounter  

When we read or hear current news from every continent, we might feel very discouraged at all the conflicts on Planet Earth.  But, we should remember that we are we are deeply bonded & on a great track for decades. Wonderful new initiatives are also emerging between secular people and religious leaders. Some more thoughts follow about this hope-filled scenario.  

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What do you do when you see the elephant in the room?

Yes, it’s Prejudice. Prejudice is at the root of divisiveness. We judge others and then we behave according to these negative judgments. Divisiveness is an enduring innate human flaw. However, the bigger problem might be that we don’t face it head on!

Recognize its consequences. Deal with its causes. The Romans advanced by the motto: Divide and conquer! We are unlikely to work well with people whom we disdain or hold in less esteem than they merit, given that they are created in God’s Likeness. Even if they don’t believe in God, they will wonder why we respect them so profoundly.

Start raising your children and siblings today to be part of the solution.

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Prejudice in your neighborhood also?

“In our small town, our families go back generations”, a villager told me recently. “We families know each other, especially from what our own families told us about the neighboring families. We nod courteously, but in fact we rarely talk profoundly to each other about anything. So, we don’t know each other by what we could discover in each personal encounter. Our knowledge is from the impressions we form about each other from hearsay.”  

This is pure prejudice = Pre-Judgement. Prejudice could also be an exaggerated positive take. It gets corrected when I meet the person and find them to be a tad less impressive than I imagined.

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Culture of encounter overcomes prejudice

The villager told me that, a long way from home, he got to know a fellow villager while working together, serving the same people. They were the only ones from their village and gradually spent a few moments with each other incrementally.  Now they were really getting to know and appreciate each other. This benefitted their effectiveness in serving the people in their very different but overlapping responsibilities at work.  

The problem or challenge is how do you find scenarios which allow for and facilitate truly new encounters that can really yank you out of the old-view perspective on folks whom you thought you had surely known well? It’s much easier when we are actually interested in having such encounters in the first place. Those who seek will find.  

What a blessing to find some stimuli that help us encounter others, even before we realized we needed to start looking for that in the first place!!! Magdala is that kind of stimulating place.

Once, an Archbishop commented to me about the young volunteer who was an ardent believer and very articulate explaining Magdala to the visitors: “have you considered inviting him to go to the seminary?” I replied that he is actually a Free-Church member uninterested in the Catholic Church but thrilled to work here with folks in love with Jesus and totally dedicated to serving people by sharing the Magdala stories. But they had truly encountered each other in their shared faith in Jesus.

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Intra-Christian Prejudices  

How much prejudice was in Christ’s heart?  

How much prejudice in Jesus’ disciples’ hearts?  

I cover my eyes. Everyone seems engaged but keeps silent.  

These two questions surprised me as I blurted them out for the first time in the presence of three smaller groups who coincided for a presentation in the Encounter Chapel of Duc in Altum. Dutch Reformed Christians from the Netherlands sat between a group of Latter-Day Saints and a group of Baptists, both from the USA. It was a blessed moment as we all realized it is as painful as it is true. It is interesting how much we discover each other as we walk together on pilgrimage in Jesus’ footsteps. Prejudice can decline. Mutual respect and appreciation grow. Even friendships replace mutual discomfort and antagonism. This is not the fruit of mere realization. Grace is at work.

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60 Years solidly on this path

We will soon celebrate the 60th anniversaries of the Vatican II documents which set our meanwhile 1.3 billion Catholics on the path of encounter, dialogue and teamwork with our fellow Christians (Unitas Redintegratio, 1964) and with people of other faiths (Nostra Aetate, 1965). Further documents of the same 1960’s council opened doors and avenues for similar rapprochement to those of agnostic and atheistic persuasions. The fact that we continue to travel together building current society, bequeaths healthy legacies which strengthen everyone to persevere in reconciling our broken world.  

At Magdala we meet different kinds of Christians and many folks from other convictions. This respectful encounter leads to conversation and discovery of each person or group. Prejudice must not fatally define our relationships. We can always find common ground!

Our daily experiences at Magdala’s crossroads invigorate us all to forge ahead and neither yield to the limitations of prejudice nor the temptations of discouragement and despair! Duc in Altum! Go out into the deep! Commit to reconciling society where you are placed by Providence at this time of your life! Particularly, help the upcoming generations to build our future together.  Next month we hope to discuss concrete cases of how we are vigorously bonded.

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Get to know...

‍Meir Salmon, Evening Manager, Magdala

“Kindness brings a lot of rewards. No need to antagonize people, it only causes resentment”.

In the Bible, Salmon, a name meaning complete or whole, is the father of Boaz who married Ruth and became the great grandfather of King David. Boaz’ mother was Rahab, of Jericho fame. So, Salmon appears in Mathew’s Genealogy of Jesus and also in Luke’s as Salma. Meir in Hebrew means “he illuminates / shines”.

Our Meir Salmon was born in Morocco and became fluent in Arabic. His parents moved to Israel when he was ten. Meir worked as a textile engineer in Israel after graduating from Shenkr College, Ramat Gan in 1983 and a few years in the USA. He switched to hospitality management, for which he earned a degree from the Dvir School. Since then, he has accumulated three decades of service as Housekeeping and Food & Beverage Managers, including thirteen years as Hotel Manager on Cruise Ships worldwide.  

On the Royal Caribbean Cruise, a portfolio of 5000 guests and 2500 employees kept Meir on his toes. He loved the seas, the freedom, the water, interacting with people but it was very hard on the family. He would spend two months yearly with his wife and two children. He thoroughly enjoys managing many employees and meeting lots of people all the time.  

Meir’s advice from his intense but beautiful life: ‍

Be patient

Be positive

Be kind to people

Kindness brings a lot of rewards

No need to antagonize people, it only causes resentment  

After seven decades of life experience, the last ten as a widower, Meir loves his three baby grandchildren and enjoys Magdala’s nice atmosphere and good team spirit. Don’t be surprised if you hear him conversing with our guests in French, Spanish and Russian!

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