Passing the Mic: West Michigan Hindu Temple's Fred Stella answers, "What is the purpose of your life?"

Rishi Singh, Sikh practitioner and interfaith outreach officer for the Sikh Society of West Michigan, previously asked Grand Rapids faith communities:

• "What is the purpose of your life? How can you live a spiritual life – how can you attain that which you’re sent here for – if you can’t answer that fundamental question, which is 'what is the purpose of your life?'"

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Fred Stella, Hindu practitioner and Pracharak (outreach minister) for the West Michigan Hindu Temple, responds, and passes a question on to the city's Christian community:

• "I would like to ask someone from the Christian community about how they are able to balance the religious dictate that was given to them in the Bible – to spread the message of the gospel to all peoples and to try to recruit people to the gospel – … with their interfaith activity?"

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Passing the Mic is a project of Grand Rapids Community Media Center (CMC) that promotes online, community-wide discussion of local issues and topics using the spoken word.

Residents are invited to share one to three-minute audio responses to locally-focused questions from fellow neighbors, with questions geared toward all Grand Rapidians or specific communities within the city. Keeping the discussion going, speakers are encouraged to end their responses with their own question related to a local issue or topic -- passing along the opportunity to amplify community voices.

Opinions expressed through Passing the Mic are those of the speakers and do not reflect the editorial voice of The Rapidian or CMC. Posted responses are subject to The Rapidian's Terms of Use, which include adherence to inclusiveness, civility, ethical reporting, proper credit, local emphasis, and open identity (no anonymous posting).