Different Beliefs, Shared Humanity

Today, we are living in a time like no other. 

This phrase alone is something that we can all resonate with–-and yet… It quietly means something different for all of us. 

But why?

Because we are all living in our own versions of reality. 

Our beliefs, our consumption—the blueprint for all that we hold inside of us.

There are tragedies happening all around us. But they are not the same tragedies for us all. 

Is it possible that collectively we could construct less tragedy and suffering?

Maybe. 

Is it more important that individually, we can somehow hold the light for others along the way?

Recently, I had a conversation that lingered with me long after it ended. It was deeply personal in a way I didn’t expect, and for a moment, it left me unsettled.

With some distance, I understood that it wasn’t grief or disagreement that had unsettled me.

The truth is, that I hear a lot of tragic things every day in my practice as a nurse practitioner. This conversation was just a very normal conversation, given—what would to most—what would seem extremely tragic. 

To this individual, the belief was so grounded that there couldn’t be any room for sorrow or moping about the situation. It didn’t feel like I was holding space for them. 

It was like being an observer of someone’s inner world. 

But I was invited in at one point of the conversation. 

They said… “I know you’re not a believer, but I would really appreciate it if you could send some prayers my way.”

I probably had about a hundred thoughts in my head at that moment. 

I responded with that I had a strong belief in many things, and I especially have belief in You. And that I would absolutely be sending positive energy and prayers their way for this journey. 

So, after my long pause, here is the reflection…

We didn’t believe the same things, we had a mutual respect for each other's beliefs, and I was able to offer them love at their level of belief. 

Because what harm is it to believe in something which offers us community, joy, peace, understanding, kindness… despite our inner world being different—our realities shaped by different experiences, traumas, biases, and purpose. 

For a moment the phrase, “I know you’re not a believer,” quietly broke me. 

It is still challenging for me to articulate the feeling. 

What stayed with me was the realization of how sacred it is to be invited into someone else’s inner world—to be trusted with the way they make meaning in the face of suffering.

To comfort someone in their spiritual language is not a loss of your own—it is an act of love. 

I am not here to tell anyone to avoid their own truths. 

What I am actually here to say is that it is possible to live your truth and still hold the light for others. 

In a world that asks us to choose sides, I am choosing to choose people.

“I wish it need not have happened in my time,” said Frodo.

—The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien

Gandalf’s response reframes suffering not as something we are meant to escape, but as something we are meant to meet with intention. 

We may not choose our times—but we do choose the kind of people we will be within them.