Newsletter
BUILDING INTERFAITH RELATIONSHIPS
Part 1
5.11.10
It is time to move past tolerance to friendship! In the coming weeks I will be presenting a series on “Building Interfaith Relationships.” We will first take a look into our own heart and mind to discover our own feelings about people from different faith traditions. Then we will explore how we can connect and build relationships with people of different faiths to create a world of peace, kindness, and understanding.
Do you remember the old saying, “Birds of a Feather, Flock Together?” The implication of this statement is we feel comfortable with the people we know who share our same beliefs, values including religion.
Does that imply we cannot be comfortable with those of other faiths, races and cultures? No, not at all.
I would like to share the following story.
After one of the 2008 Interfaith Summer Nights Event sponsored by the Poway Interfaith Team and hosted at the Community Church of Poway, I was standing in the parking lot talking with my friends. We were laughing, telling jokes and stories as well as happily reflecting on how well the evening went and how excellent the speakers’ presentations were. I mentally stepped back and thought how wonderful that moment was. Here I was with people whom I really feel are my friends and whom I did not know three years before. In fact if serendipitous events had not brought us together, we would not be there at that moment. So I concluded the timing was Divinely Ordained. We were like “birds of a feather,” and yet we were Baha’i, New Thought, Muslim, Sikh, Unification and Christian people just enjoying the company of one another’s. We had worked together, dinned together and now we were laughing together. Isn’t that what we do with our friends?
For those of you who have not joined an interfaith group, been involved or worked with people of other faiths and cultures. I have a question for you; Do you want to more deeply explore interfaith connections?
If you are just beginning to think about this, there is a Divine push already moving you forward to expand this possibility. I would like you to take a paper and pen and write down these questions, then answer them as truthfully as you can. Scripture says, “As above, so below.” This means what is in our hearts and mind will outpour in our material world. So we need to confront some of our personal opinions, biases and prejudices.
- On a sheet of paper list the faith group(s) that bother, irritate and/or anger you the most. Why? What experiences have you had that triggers these emotions? Was it a particular experience or possibly words handed down to you from your parents, other adults or peers.
- Write down as many good things as you can about this faith group or groups.
Find facts and stories that reflect the true nature of people from that faith. The Golden Rule appears in the Holy Books of every faith tradition. In order to connect and build better relationships with people of other faiths we really need to take a broom and sweep out old tapes, old myths, old lies and definitions which seem to permeate all faith traditions. Read more about the faiths and or take a world religion class to educate yourself about any religion that pushes your button.
- Confront the idea that your faith is the only way to go.
I love the story about God as a Gardener tending His garden. He lovingly cares for all his flowers, tall and short, fragrant or not, colorful or drab, large and small. No one is favored, all are tendered to and nurtured the way they need to be nurtured and the treatment is different for each flower and the Love is equal. Aren’t we the garden?
No one is born with bias or prejudice. These emotions are learned behaviors. Put children of different races, colors and religions together and they will find a way to make friends, play, create games, have fun and learn in the process.
Next Part:
I will share how God led Steve and me to our first interfaith encounter. Learn what happened next?
Any questions, please
contact us at: info@allfaithcenter.org
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From Rev. Abigail: "SPOTLIGHTS”
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Back from Australia,
Local Authors Create Interfaith Bridge to Peace
In a world in which we see war, hatred and violence filling the pages of our daily newspapers, it is calming to learn about people who are engaged in attempting to bring some peace and awareness to the communities around us. Rev. Abigail and Rev. Dr. Stephen Albert of the Poway-based All Faith Center, who are also the authors of The Interfaith Manual and The Interfaith Workbook, have just returned from The Parliament of World Religions conference held in Melbourne, Australia. This seven day conference attracted approximately 9,000 participants from over 80 countries and 220 religious traditions. The Parliament is held every five years in different locations and the participants work with others and within their own traditions to craft faithful responses to global poverty and global warming, environmental care and degradation, education of the young and social challenges, voluntary and forced migration, artistic expression and spirituality, and the value of sports and other topics. Revs. Abigail and Steve were there representing their faith, New Thought, and also their love, which is Interfaith.
Rev. Abigail said, “The magnitude of the conference was almost overwhelming and the people we met came for one beautiful purpose, to create friendships and to help establish peace between themselves and others.” The Alberts who are two of the founders of the Poway Interfaith Team, were very active at the Parliament. Rev. Abigail spoke on a panel and helped coordinate many of the New Thought activities. Rev. Steve helped design the New Thought booth in the exposition hall and, for weeks prior to leaving for the conference, taught a series of Interfaith classes online to New Thought youth and ministers going to the conference. “I have never felt so close to the possibilities of world peace as I had at this conference. We hear the horror stories of people at war and how they fear people from different faiths or cultures. This conference was like a microcosm of what the world can be like; imagine 10,000 people, all dressed differently, all speaking different languages, all getting along and anxious to dialogue with people who are different than they. We quickly learned, fear is in our mind and we are all so similar inside. This is what our All Faith Saturday gatherings in Poway are about!”
The Albert’s new books have caught the interest of people from around the world and were very well received at the Parliament. The Interfaith Manual is a hefty 380-page book which compares 12 faiths by topic. “You look up Forgiveness or Love or Mysticism and it gives you paragraphs on what each of the 12 faiths believe about those subjects. Clergy and educators from all 12 faiths edited the book before it was published to insure its accuracy,” said Rev. Steve. “We are really excited about how well The Interfaith Workbook was received. The workbook is the first book in the world through which anyone can teach Interfaith. Non-clergy from interfaith groups, seminaries, churches, synagogues, temples, mosques, teen organizations, senior centers and local dialogue groups of all types can easily lead interfaith classes and help create peace in the world; there are 40 prepared lessons. We will also be approaching local school systems to see who wants to be the first to offer interfaith classes to their students. We are really excited! Delegates from Iran, India, Australia, Rwanda and some places we can not pronounce correctly told us how they plan to use the books in their community.”
“The most important part of the manual and workbook,” the Alberts say, “comes from the discussions which the material evokes.” The Alberts have also provided CDs of many of their PowerPoint Lessons so groups can use them to add interest to the easy-to-follow Interfaith Workbook. Abigail and Stephen say, “We wanted to make it very easy for anyone to learn about the many similarities of the various faiths and to be able to respect the few differences and understand why they exist. We NEVER want anyone to abandon their own religion but, rather, to love and respect it even more deeply than ever before. When you do, you are then able to understand how someone else may feel that their faith is just as important to them as yours is to you.” The Interfaith Manual and The Interfaith Workbook can be purchased by credit card through PayPal on their website www.allfaithcenter.org or by cash or check at any All Faith Saturday meeting. For more information call: Revs. Abigail or Stephen Albert at: 858-487-8885 or email them at: allfaithcenter@san.rr.com .
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