A few friends have asked me recently about my terminology when talking to others.

I sound very Christian a lot of the time, other times I could an animist amongst Aboriginal kinfolk, even a Buddhist monk in disguise. This is, I explain to them, one of the many skills of the modern Interfaith Minister.

When talking with my friends on Study Circle, we often use the term PIF (pattern imposing force) to indicate that thing which created the universe, we use GOD in the same manner, but God to mean a specific deistic entity. Christians use words like God, heaven and sin – so do I when I talk with them. When I talk to a Hindu, I may be discussing Brahman, Vishnu, Shiva or Kali-ma whilst the Children of Islam talk of Paradise and Allah and the Wiccan speak of Gaia and Mother Earth. These are all my beliefs, so I do not find it hard to slip between dialects, they are, after all, each looking at the same source, that which created the universe and mankind along with it…

We are one, divided by our languages and our deistic beliefs. The Christians refer to this in their story about the tower of Babel. Maybe we can one day speak the same language again? I think it is time.

Though I speak only English (Australian), I speak many languages and I seek to help others hear in many languages. Our cultural and religious identities have been a barrier long enough.

As Nelson Mandela said, speak to people in their own language and you will reach their hearts. This is one way to draw closer to peace.