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The privilege of having considered, examined and thoughtful convictions may be our only real possession.

When people worldwide are asked to reconsider religious traditions they've grown up with, it's difficult. There can be a lot of pain simply thinking about it. There may be too many good memories associated with what they've known for years.

Years ago, I spoke with a young woman sitting on the porch of the YMCA in Madras, India (now Chennai), where I'd stopped for the night. At the time I was actively pursuing so-called "Eastern" concepts and struck up a conversation.

She was sad, she said, because she'd become a Christian and found herself culturally cut off from family and friends. Worse, she could not join the fantastic, colorful religious festivals she'd grown up with. She'd loved the fun, food, fellowship and good times. Now her connection with the culture was gone. She was lonely.

She looked down sadly at her folded hands. Lonely was not what she'd wanted. Somewhere she'd made a spiritual choice that had cost her some comfort and context in life.

I saw the regret from a religious choice and the consequences played out in a daily struggle. That seemed harder than courageously dying for a principle at one time. I made the note and continued my journey.

When we ask people to consider change, we are soberly asking them to endure pain. So my question is "can anyone authoritatively ask for that kind of change in others if they won't risk it themselves?"

I don't follow mystical thought today but I often think about what I heard, saw and read during those years. It's not possible that "all roads" lead to the same place because the philosophies don't come close to agreeing what and where that "same place" is. The woman in Madras had left that tradition and it cost her something she may not have counted on.

My own risk came a couple years later after embracing faith in a family of atheists and cut out of the will after finally choosing Christianity. This was in America. I remembered that woman in Madras 12,000 miles away and refused to be sad about it. No one ever said having an open mind would be easy.

So while it may be risky to discuss the possibility of change, not doing so leads to the temptation of relegating religion to the back-burner of relational discussion. It's "too volatile," "too many hard feelings." "Let's all just live in our religious traditions and be quiet about it." "We know we're right and they're wrong, so why bother?" Here's a secret; if you're really right, it will stand up to the challenges. If you're wrong, you want to get away from it as soon as possible. Please set aside a lot of time for another look.

Some won't consider change, so they won't ask others to risk it. The world is poorer for it. Others are afraid of the personal risks involved in the discussion.

But many people worldwide have discussed change. They've found it takes more courage to change than to run with traditions and did it anyway. Shouldn't we all be prepared to do the same? It will make us stronger, not weaker.

Challenging personal convictions occasionally gives them authority. It's where freedom truly hides. It's where errors can be acknowledged. While few wish to appear arrogant and claim to have all truth, few acknowledge they could be mistaken in some of what they believe.

But how else will truth, the dominant thought of religion, eventually surface? Sometimes truth comes from the strangest places, like an unexpected wind suddenly blowing in from far away.

After risking and working through the potential discomfort of examination, it's easier to be gentle, friendly and firm helping others think through their own ideas. Everyone needs challenges, but few want strident, contentious and argumentative ones. Everyone has to figure out on their own how to do that.

For those everywhere who believe in God, may we accept the idea that we are allowed to change for the sake of a truth calling us? For those who do not believe in a God, will you allow yourself to absorb information that may change your position?

Let's talk.