Monday Meditation: Connecting Across Our Differences
Here is a notable presentation to offer some beginning-of-the-week motivation and meditation:
At the close of the 2021 Society of Adventist Communicators Convention, Pastor Joanne Cortes presented “Connecting Across Our Differences.”
“Pastor Joanne’s keynote explores why it is time we get comfortable with what makes us uncomfortable and begin to discover the beauty found within our differences,” the presentation description says. “Connecting with people from different religions, culture, and background does not make you less Adventist, it actually makes you more Christlike as you are living life like Jesus wants you to.”
Cortes is the DC campus pastor for the Beltsville Seventh-day Adventist Church in Beltsville, Maryland. At the beginning of her keynote, Cortes explains that she grew up in a bicultural home with Australian and Hispanic parents and was made to feel “different” when attending church.
“How do we connect across our differences?” she asks. “By putting people first. Valuing people over biases and prejudices. Valuing people over traditions. Valuing people over comfort.”
You can watch the full presentation below, or by clicking here.
Alex Aamodt is managing digital editor for Spectrum.
Image credit: screenshot from NAD Adventist on Vimeo
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