Seeing the Divine Presence in Others

“To what extent will we see our present interconnectedness as a threat or a challenge; as the work of man or as a call from God to a greater humanity, as well as to a greater self-restraint. I believe that we are being summoned by God to see in the human other a trace of the divine Other. The test – so lamentably failed by the great powers of the twentieth century – is to see the Divine Presence in the face of a stranger; to heed the cry of those who are disempowered in this age of unprecedented powers; who are hungry and poor and ignorant and uneducated, whose human potential is being denied the chance to be expressed. That is the faith of Abraham and Sarah, from whom the great faiths, Judaism, Christianity and Islam, trace their spiritual or actual ancestry. That is the faith of one who, though he called himself but dust and ashes, asked of God Himself, ‘Shall the Judge of all the earth not do justice?’ We are not gods, but we are summoned by God – to do His work of love and justice and compassion and peace.”

The Dignity of Difference, p. 178