Of the many things that make Hillsdale Hillsdale, one of the most obvious is our deeply religious campus culture. From heated lunch table debates to 2 a.m. dorm room theology, faith permeates our everyday life. But the very forces that encourage faith to be a natural part of student life can also make Christianity feel stale.
Over time, even on an exceptionally devoted campus — maybe because it’s an exceptionally devoted campus — our theological debates become banal, the transcendent becomes cliche, and our religion quickly loses its wonder. After enough arguments about Martin Luther and indulgences, the idea of hearing what other Christians have to say might make your eyes roll — at a certain point, haven’t we heard it all?
Yet our faith bears unending fruit, and even on a campus as small and sometimes divided as ours, there is always a way to make more out of our shared religion. One way to do this, and to revitalize our Christian perspective altogether, is to join other students’ religious groups for prayer — especially groups that fall outside of our own denominations or traditions.
This could be done in small ways, such as joining your dorm’s nondenominational Bible studies, praying with the Lutheran Society for Evening Prayer, attending the Anglican-inspired Evensong in Christ Chapel, or going to a Catholic Society Convivium. Although at first some may see Hillsdale’s diversity of traditions as a barrier to communion, by choosing to pray with others, it can instead become a way to deepen wonder and appreciation of the faith. We can find something critical to our lives as Christians and simply as human beings: perspective.
No matter our Christian background, we are not above others, and we can always grow in our understanding of each other. Through my time at Hillsdale, I’ve found that putting down the sword to instead join others through song, prayer, and fellowship has helped me better understand where they’re coming from. Most importantly, a newfound perspective can help us grow in charity toward people whom we might otherwise just see as “different.”
Being open to unfamiliar traditions or practices that fall outside our comfort zone can also enrich our own spiritual lives. A Protestant may find the solemnity and ritual of Eastern Orthodox vespers to be fruitful, while a traditional Catholic may benefit from experiencing a more emotional connection to God through modern forms of praise and worship. Prayer and sacred music, especially, can work powerfully to open our minds between faith communities. Whether we’re singing “Amazing Grace” or the Doxology, standing shoulder to shoulder with others to praise God through song can help us even momentarily forget about our theological differences. We may even begin to realize we all have much more in common than not.
While this doesn’t necessarily mean we need to recite the Hail Mary with Catholics or celebrate Reformation Day with Protestants, taking opportunities to pray with others allows us to rise above our entrenchments and increase our Christian perspective.
Hillsdale’s diversity of Christian convictions is an integral part of campus life, and it won’t be going away anytime soon. But by giving ecumenicalism a chance with other Christian denominations, we can open ourselves to other new and wonderful perspectives that our campus still has to offer.
Elijah Guevara is a sophomore studying the liberal arts.
