 Yesterday while driving a lady on NPR (National Public Radio) used the word ‘convivence’ and as a Spanish speaker I immediately understood the meaning… in Spanish, ‘convivencia’ is the ability to live together, to live in the same place.
This made me think about the origin of this word, where did it come from… The word ‘convivencia’ was coined in the 8th century after the Moslem’s conquered Hispania, (Cordova, Andalusia, Spain), and allowed the Christians and Jews to practice their religion. Convivencia comes from a Latin word convivere, con- ("together") + vivere ("to live"). Wow, a time where all people lived together in an age of tolerance, in an age of relative peace and despite the different ideologies or interests. What a great word! So what happened with connivence? Religion is a particular system of faith to worship God. However, humans are capable of translating that method to greed and hate; humans are capable to create divisions, to build walls using as an excuse the distinct manner that people were taught to pray and to show respect to God. Avarice, the greed for wealth, for material gain, for power is what destroyed mutual tolerance. ___ Convivence is tolerance, coexistence, understanding and most importantly respect. We may not necessarily agree on everything but we respect each other’s differences and therefore we co-exist. Religion is in the heart; religion is how you live your life everyday.
1 Comment
6/5/2019 08:57:27 am
Actually, whatever that makes you feel comfortable about your faith should be followed. There are thousands of people who tried to get away from God and their religion. But at the end of the day, they will always choose to go back to where their hearts belong, and that is on the side of God. At the same time, we people should learn to accept the fact that we may differ on some beliefs but that shouldn't mean we should degrade them. Leave a Reply. |
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