Trust by David Johnston

Author:David Johnston
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: McClelland & Stewart
Published: 2018-10-08T16:00:00+00:00

12

Know there is more than one right way

Pluralism enables people to remain united, encourages them to work together, and engenders trust.

A favourite activity of mine while I served as president of the University of Waterloo was to join the 150 or so in-residence students of Conrad Grebel University College for dinner. Affiliated with the University of Waterloo, Conrad Grebel University College is a faith-based liberal arts college founded by the Mennonite church. Once or twice a year, I would go to the residence dining hall, say a few words to the students, and answer some questions from them. Then we would sit down and eat our meals together. I really enjoyed these evenings. The students always welcomed me warmly and asked insightful questions. And there is nothing more invigorating than keeping company with young people.

One evening, a student came up to me after we had finished eating and asked whether she could ask me a difficult question. Sure, I said. She started by telling me that she was a new student at the college and was having a hard time. She said that she had arrived at the college with a fairly clear understanding of herself and her world, but that she was becoming confused about her identity and the kind of life she should lead as a result of all the new ideas to which she was being exposed. I asked her to give me an example. She replied that her faith as a Mennonite had led her to believe in a literal interpretation of the Bible, and what she was learning in her classroom discussions and through the books she was reading was eroding that faith. She went on to say that she was excited about the knowledge she was gaining but worried about losing what had been her rock for nearly all of her short life. She asked me what I thought she should do.

I responded by telling her that I was a lay reader in the Anglican Church and that my faith was important to me, too. I went on to say that what she was going through was healthy. It may not always feel that way, but it is natural for a young person who has chosen to leave her community and come to university to be exposed to a range of ideas and ways of thinking that challenge some of her cherished beliefs. I suggested that it was a good thing for her to test her beliefs and values.

Yet I also advised her not to discard quickly or completely the values that make her the person she is. The kind of self-inquiry she was experiencing was not an either-or situation or zero-sum game. She did not need to toss aside all she had come to know and replace it with something different. I told her that if you live long enough and stay curious you will find you will go through many similar bouts of examination and searching about yourself, the world around you, and how you fit into it all.

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