Can we love each other enough?

This fall, I am serving on an Emmaus team in the prayer chapel. When you work together with a team such as this one, with over twenty members, you come to understand that while we all believe in Jesus Christ, we don't all believe the same way.  I know their faith is genuine, and that they are close to God, and yet I also know that their faith differs from mine, in some aspects.

There is a letter on my desk this morning from the WV Council of Churches.  The tag line at the bottom reads, "Anchored in Faith, Together on the Voyage."  In know that the denominations that make up the Council of Churches do not all share the same faith or the same outlook, and yet they come together for this purpose.

I see so much dissension in the church today - arguments over a multitude off issues, homosexuality being only one of them, but one which has great power to divide us.  I hope that we can be anchored in faith, together on the journey. When I say that, I don't mean that we should water down our faith.  Truthfully, I believe that Christ calls us to inclusion, not exclusion, and it's important to me to be faithful to that.  But at the same time, I am called to love even those who disagree with me.  Can we love each other and strive for different outcomes?  Can we love each other enough to have open hearts to the faith of someone else?  Can we love each other to respect the idea that what someone else believes may have more validity to whom God is that what we believe?  Can we love each other enough to hear God speak through the person with whom we disagree?  Can we love each other enough to change our minds?