Dialogue and Alliance: 23rd Francophone Scriptural Sharing in Paris, France

“Dialogue and Alliance” organized its monthly interfaith meeting on the topic: “Cultivating Curiosity”.

There were 17 people gathered in Paris, 6 in the North of France, 4 in Bienne (Switzerland), and 58 connections by Zoom (coming from 18 countries: Algeria, Austria, Belgium, Benin, Congo, Ivory Coast, Spain, United States of America, Ethiopia, France, Haiti, Mali, Malta, Mauritius, Northern Macedonia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Switzerland and Togo).

The moderator was Mrs. Brigitte WADA, President of the Women’s Federation for World Peace in France.

The first reading brought a Christian perspective. It was Luke 2.43-52 which tells an episode of Jesus’ life, at the age of 12, in the Temple. To comment on this passage, we invited Mrs. Solène COLOMBEL. She is an author, and teacher, and is in regular contact with young people in a school.

The second reading brought a Buddhist perspective. It was a text explaining the seven factors of Awakening according to the Mahasatipatthanasutta. It was commented on by Mrs. Nuria Ringetsu ROCA, a teacher at the Zen Dojo of Paris which was created by the Japanese Master Taisen DESHIMARU.

We had a short cultural break with “Les Enfantastiques”, a project launched in 2004 by Mr. Nô and consisting in creating songs with the pupils and teachers of elementary schools. Their song, “TOUT GOÛTER”, reminded us that curiosity concerns all fields, including the culinary field.

The last reading brought a Unificationist look, it was a passage from the Presentation of the Divine Principle, p. 5. which was commented by Dr. Laurent LADOUCE, a researcher for the Universal Peace Federation and director of the website www,culture-et-paix,org.