In a recent Instagram post, Elder Cook shares, "I believe that it is important for us to consider the commonalities we have with other faiths."
Using his own experience of raising his family in San Francisco, California, Elder Cook shared how he noticed similarities between his beliefs and the beliefs of the friends of his children and how similarities can reach across religious divides.
"We observed that our children’s Jewish friends had similar commitments to their families," he shares, adding, "We share many values with other faiths, such as the importance of education, a focus on humanitarian work, and the importance of caring for our bodies."
Elder Cook's wife, Sister Mary Cook, exhibited this willingness to learn of commonalities with other religions in the picture accompanying Elder Cook's post. Dressed in a headscarf and abaya, Sister Cook is with Elder Cook at the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque Center, the largest mosque in the United Arab Emirates, during their visit to the Middle East.
"We are all God’s children," Elder Cook says in the post. "He weeps with us as we suffer and rejoices as we do what is right in His sight."
Though not all of God's children share the same beliefs, our divine identities will never change, neither will God's love for us no matter what religion we may belong to.
"In my mind, I can imagine the tears shed as a result of the Shoah or Holocaust. He is a God of empathy who does not have a hand in what causes the suffering. He is the Great Consoler," Elder Cook shares.
View this post on Instagram While Mary and I visited the Middle East last month, we had the chance to tour various mosques and churches of other religions. I also spoke at the semi-annual Jewish-Latter-day Saint Dialogue in Jerusalem. I believe that it is important for us to consider the commonalities we have with other faiths. . For example, a similarity between The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the Jewish faith is a fundamental focus on family. When Mary and I raised our family in San Francisco, our children developed many friendships with Jewish children. We observed that our children’s Jewish friends had similar commitments to their families. We share many values with other faiths, such as the importance of education, a focus on humanitarian work, and the importance of caring for our bodies. . We are all God’s children. He weeps with us as we suffer and rejoices as we do what is right in His sight. In my mind, I can imagine the tears shed as a result of the Shoah or Holocaust. He is a God of empathy who does not have a hand in what causes the suffering. He is the Great Consoler. A post shared by Quentin L. Cook (@quentinlcook) on Jul 16, 2019 at 12:18pm PDT
Lead image from Elder Cook's Facebook page
