Christian Scientists from many parts of the world came together in Melbourne Tuesday night, in support of their presence at the PWR 2009 (Parliament of the World’s Religions).

One of the themes of the meeting was an honest self-examination as to why Christian Scientists so often find themselves isolated from mainstream conversation. It became clear that effective conversation is based on a two-way channel. We wondered aloud why there is a tendency among Christian Scientists, who are usually well informed about their own religion, are generally not so familiar with the religions of others.

Although none of the reasons are especially good ones, a couple of them included 1) that we have everything we need to experience our relationship with God, and 2) that the time spent in dialogue with others either slows down the spiritual journey or confuses us with unnecessary knowledge.

An adjustment of our motives gives us a powerful incentive to pick up the dialogue and commit to learning from others. Presbyterian Frederick Buechner once said, “The place where God calls you is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.” That idea is certainly applicable for all faith traditions, and it illustrates the reason why discourse with others does not retard our spiritual journey.

The Christian Scientists who came to the meeting on Tuesday were among those especially eager to break out of the isolation and to engage in the rich opportunity to learn from others and to work together to address the heart-aches of the world.