[Wyatt Flicker]

One way to improve our relationship with Christians from other traditions is shelving our tendency to obsess over theological differences. Often, we fixate on the creedal differences we have with other traditions, and allow that fixation to color our perceptions of others. We must remember that everything good truly is from God, even if we don’t recognize it. Another is not only to understand alternative practices, but to adopt them ourselves to better understand other faiths. One can have an academic understanding of Orthodox icon veneration, but until you’ve kissed the feet of an icon at the front of an Orthodox church, you only understand the practice in an intellectual way. Trying on other traditions’ practices allows us to see them through their eyes. Finally, asking questions is always helpful. Those in smaller traditions seem especially willing to talk about the faith many of them have stewarded for millennia. Approaching each other with an open heart and an open mind will help bring the global church closer.