Go and Do Likewise

Go and Do Likewise: Following Jesus into our Common Humanity

By Terry B. Kyllo

Executive Director, Paths to Understanding

Formats: Print, eBook, and Audio Book

Available: Wherever books are sold

Schedule a conversation with the author for your congregation or organization: together@pathstounderstanding.org

Description:

We don’t have to live divided!

We are living in a time of profound social divisions in the United States. Many of us feel deeply concerned and long for a better future for our families and our communities.  What can we do that will make a difference?

Trust grows when we know each other, do good for each other, and honor each other in public. Our Wisdom Traditions remind us of these truths. Neighbors of different cultures, faith traditions, and life circumstances can come together in simple yet powerful encounters.

Christians are often held back by the idea that relating to people of other traditions is not faithful to Jesus. Through his work to counter the bias and bigotry of our time, Rev. Terry Kyllo has been on a journey out of the culture of supremacy into the experience of our common humanity.  He writes:

“I was born into White Christian Supremacy. But I was not born for it. You weren’t either. The Creator has more beautiful ways for us to live and is restoring what was taken from us. Jesus invites his followers to take the long, painful, joyous, and healing journey of daily baptism to find our identity among all the Creator’s children, all made in God’s image.”

Go on your own journey out of division and follow Jesus into our common humanity with Go and Do Likewise.

Quotes by Readers

• I never realized that one Creator means we are a part of one human family, even though we’re different. – Fran
• I like that we use the tradition to change how we understand it. – Linda
• This book gave me a clearer understanding of the motivation and means behind the dehumanizing and divisive forces that now plague our nation and world. And how we can enact respect for one another through working together across the in-group/out group boundaries that divide us. – Robert
• I always wondered if it was okay to respect other traditions. Now I see that Jesus did. – Susan
• The book sure changed me…whew!…completely. – Mary

Reviews

Terry’s wonderful book is written about a topic I have been focused on for all of my teaching career. Coming from an ordained Lutheran pastor gives his interpretation of religious pluralism more currency than is impossible in a university classroom setting. I can hardly wait for its publication so I can add it to my own library. But more importantly, his interpretation of religious pluralism needs to be part of the religious education curriculum of local church communities.

Paul O. Ingram, Professor Emeritus, Pacific Lutheran University

In this time of heightened white Christian nationalism and distrust in religious institutions, Terry Kyllo’s Go and Do Likewise helps lead us toward a life-giving and authentic way of mutuality. In these pages you will find engaging and accessible guidance for modeling Jesus and honoring all wisdom traditions. This book is a profound gift for faith communities and individuals who wish to live out their true calling to “go and do likewise.” 

Rev. Dr. Jana Schofield, Christ the Servant Lutheran Church, Bellingham, 

This book helps us to better understand the beauty of Christianity and explains how it has been misused to rationalize hatred and dehumanization of others. Rev. Kyllo teaches us to use our wisdom traditions to honor one another and to help create meaningful relationships with others. It is a powerful message.

Rabbi Allison Flash

This remarkable book is filled with wisdom and hope. The author beautifully models the precious truth that to love Jesus is to make a commitment to tame the ego and open the heart, to celebrate God’s diversity on earth and to be of humble service to all of Creation.

Imam Jamal Rahman, author of Spiritual Gems of Islam

Terry Kyllo’s new book Go and Do Likewise: Following Jesus into our Common Humanity examines how Christianity can get off course and back on course by investigating deeply the sources of the Abrahamic tradition. Fear tends to divert the core teaching of Jesus and other wisdom traditions around the world into insular in-groups who often protect themselves by vilifying and dehumanizing others. We all know deep down that love diminishes the artificial barriers between ourselves and others, where we can more easily work for the common good of all beings on this vibrant planet. This book works to restate and recover the many ways that the Abrahamic tradition, and more specifically the Christian tradition, is called to relate and partner with diverse traditions and peoples. Rev. Kyllo is not interested in labels like “conservative” or “liberal.” He is very interested in a humble and honest investigation of the Bible by better understanding the cultural, historical, and linguistic context in which the verses were written. This book strives to have a faithful-and-open-to-revision understanding of Jesus’ ministry and how it applies today. It is my joy to highly recommend this book to any person of faith who is willing to actively work for more harmony and understanding in our troubled world.

Rev. Genjo Marinello, Abbot. Seattle Zen Temple

Dai Bai Zan Cho Bo Zen Ji

Rev. Kyllo’s book “Go and Do Likewise” is a must-read for all those who wish to reverse the recent uptick in racial and religious bigotry which have led to physical and emotional assaults on the most vulnerable in our society. The only thing that enables evil to thrive is when good people are silent.  Read this book and give it as a holiday or birthday gift. We all will be safer if you do.

Rabbi James Mirel

Seattle WA

As we pursue justice in this balkanized world, we desperately need coconspirators to create a more just and humane world. In this work Terry Kyllo points us in the direction of collaboration rooted in the teaching and life of Jesus. As we engage faithful community building behaviors this work is an important contribution to building the infrastructure of trust necessary to form healthy coalitions.

Rt. Rev. Edward Donalson III, DMin , Provost Fellow for Ecumenical Relations, School of Theology and Ministry, Seattle University

Author Bio

The Rev. Terry Kyllo is the executive director Paths to Understanding: Bridging Bias and Building Unity. Terry works to counter Islamophobia, Antisemitism, Christian supremacy, and other forms of dehumanization. He believes we can recognize and honor one another’s humanity. A graduate of the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, he began his pastoral career in 1991 and has served in partnership between Episcopalians and Lutherans since 2004. Terry was the recipient of the Faith Action Network Interfaith Leadership Award in 2016, the Interfaith Leadership Award from the Muslim Association of Puget Sound in 2017, and the Sultan and Saint Peace award in 2017, and the Called to Lead award in 2018 by the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago. You can learn more about his work at www.pathstounderstanding.org.

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