Clearing Up an Interfaith Misunderstanding

People often misunderstand what interfaith interaction is about. I would like to tell you about a recent anonymous interfaith interaction that I had which illustrates this point.

About a week ago I had a breakfast meeting with some colleagues at a restaurant near where I live.

After breakfast, when I walked up to my truck, I found that someone had inserted a card in my driver's side window that had the word "coexist" on it. The word was made up of symbols, much like the one above. The other side of the card was filled with words that were in a type size so small that it made the writing almost unreadable.

I have the bumper sticker pictured above on the back of my pickup truck. I thought the person that left the card in my window was a friend who wanted to show that he or she agreed with the sentiment of the bumper sticker.

And in all honesty, I did not read the tiny words on the back of the card.

When I left the restaurant I stopped by the home of my partner Fran.

I showed her the card and started talking to her about something else. But she stopped me in mid-sentence and asked me if I had actually read the backside of the card. I shook my head. She told me that the card had not been left by a friend and supporter, but actually by someone who challenged the notion of interfaith co-existence.

But the person who wrote the text on the card misunderstood, I think, the goal of coexistence. The card implied that those in favor of coexistence wanted to blend all religions into just one. The text went on to say that there was only one way to heaven, and that was through Jesus Christ. I have two issues with this. I suspect those who produced the card feared that those in favor of coexistence are in favor of getting Christians to another religion. We're not. Let me take a moment to explain what coexistence means to me.

First, interfaith work that aims at peaceful coexistence, is to me, NOT about creating one religion. It instead focuses on celebrating what makes each religion distinct and actually unique. Of course it also celebrates what religions have in common, but I find that the different ideas about spirituality and religious practice that I discover in Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism, the Baha'i faith and other religions enrich my experience. Still, I have no intention of converting to another religion, nor would I encourage anyone else to convert.

And finally, let me say something that may be surprising. I have no problem with the fact that some Christians believe that the only way to God and Heaven is through Jesus, anymore than I would challenge some Jews or Hindus or Muslims who may feel the same way. It is simply important that we learn to coexist in the sense of learning to live peacefully together side by side, recognizing our differences. And even for the most ardent fundamentalist (in any religion) I would say that you can hold that belief and still learn things from encounters with other religions that will improve your spiritual practices. There will be more about this later.

Let's not take ourselves (and our sins) too seriously

At the New Year celebration of Rosh Hashanah our Jewish friends spend time reflecting on the past year, considering their sins great and small, and trying to find peace in their lives. This is often a very serious process. But sometimes we need to lighten up when we think about our misdeeds.

My friend Judi found the following on the internet and shared it with me and other friends last weekend. I think it is worth a look. Do you find any of your own sins (and breads) on the list?

On the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah, there is a ceremony called Tashlich. Jews traditionally go to the ocean or a stream or river to pray and throw bread crumbs into the water. Symbolically, the fish devour their sins.

Occasionally, people ask what kind of bread crumbs should be thrown. Here are suggestions for breads which may be most appropriate for specific sins and misbehaviors:

For ordinary sins White Bread
For erotic sins French Bread
For particularly dark sins Pumpernickel
For complex sins Multi-Grain
For twisted sins Pretzels
For tasteless sins Rice Cakes
For sins of indecision Waffles
For sins committed in haste Matzoh
For sins of chutzpah Fresh Bread
For substance abuse Stoned Wheat
For use of heavy drugs Poppy Seed
For petty larceny Stollen
For committing auto theft Caraway
For timidity/cowardice Milk Toast
For ill-temperedness Sourdough
For silliness, eccentricity Nut Bread
For not giving full value Shortbread
For jingoism, chauvinism Yankee Doodles
For excessive irony Rye Bread
For unnecessary chances Hero Bread
For telling bad jokes/puns Corn Bread
For war-mongering Kaiser Rolls
For dressing immodestly Tarts
For causing injury to others Tortes
For lechery and promiscuity Hot Buns
For promiscuity with gentiles Hot Cross Buns
For racist attitudes Crackers
For sophisticated racism Ritz Crackers
For being holier than thou Bagels
For abrasiveness Grits
For dropping in without notice Popovers
For over-eating Stuffing
For impetuosity Quick Bread
For indecent photography Cheesecake
For raising your voice too often Challah
For pride and egotism Puff Pastry
For sycophancy, ass-kissing Brownies
For being overly smothering Angel Food Cake
For laziness Any long loaf
For trashing the environment Dumplings

Let's stop using words as weapons of mass destruction.

Sticks and stones may break our bones, but words can and do hurt us.

So, let's stop using words as weapons of mass destruction.

On October 2, (International Day of Non-Violence) IPP and a number of local groups will call upon people to stop over the noon hour and reflect on the way we use our voices and our words to hurt other people. We will ask everyone to take a vow of non-violence that includes refraining from the violent use of language. (See description at the end of this document).

If you can't join us on October 2, I urge you to join me in taking time to confront the verbal violence in our own lives. Take an hour at noon to do this. If you can't reflect on this at noon, choose another time. But do take the time. It's very important.

The need for such reflection and such a vow is becoming clearer every day as our public discussions about important issues becomes more and more heated, filled with vitriol, hate speech and sadly even racism. This must stop on all sides. Whether hateful, violent speech is used against President Obama or former President George W. Bush, we urgently need to declare a ceasefire, and return our discussions to ideas rather than hatred.

The same is true in our personal lives. Many people who espouse non-violence and would never think of shooting or stabbing someone, let alone bombing them, won't hestitate to drop "the F bomb" in shouting matches with others, inclding people who are supposed to be our loved ones.

The Urgent Need for Verbal Non-Violence
Will be the Focus of an Oct 2 Noon-time Observance of
International Day of Non-Violence

On Friday, October 2, 2009 (Mahatma Gandhi's birthday), Interfaith Paths to Peace in cooperation with a number of other local organizations will host a special noontime observance of International Day of Non-violence. This special ceremony will be held from 12:10 p.m. until 1 p.m. in Bishops Hall at Christ Church Episcopal Cathedral at 425 South Second Street in Louisville.

The observance will consist of a lighting of candles and a silent reflection on the urgent need for each of us to disarm ourselves from the violent and hurtful language we often use in dealing with each other, especially in light of recent news about hate language and personally abusive words being used in the public arena. Those present for the observance will be invited to take an annually renewable vow of non-violence that includes a pledge to disarm from the use of violent language in dealing with others. The event will conclude with a special Tibetan Chant for Non-Violence vocalized by the Venerable Geshe Sangay Gyatso, Louisville's resident Tibetan monk.

Co-sponsors for the event include the United Nations Association of Louisville, St. William and St. Agnes Catholic Churches, Christ Church Episcopal Cathedral, Louisville's Drepung Gomang (Tibetan Buddhist) Institute, the Peace and Justice Division of the Episcopal Diocese of Kentucky, Iranians for Peace, Our1Planet, and the Louisville Chapter of the Fellowship of Reconciliation..

Event organizer Terry Taylor, Executive Director of Louisville-based Interfaith Paths to Peace, says, "At a time when civility has seemingly disappeared from our public discourse on important issues, the need for a declaration of a verbal "cease fire" is imperative. And I can think of no better time to focus on that urgent need than Gandhi's birthday, the day that is observed around the world as the International Day of Non-Violence."

About the International Day of Non-Violence.

The International Day of Non-Violence is marked on 2 October, the birthday of Mahatma Gandhi, leader of the Indian independence movement and pioneer of the philosophy and strategy of non-violence.

According to General Assembly resolution A/RES/61/271 of 15 June 2007, which established the commemoration, the International Day is an occasion to "disseminate the message of non-violence, including through education and public awareness." The resolution reaffirms "the universal relevance of the principle of non-violence" and the desire "to secure a culture of peace, tolerance, understanding and non-violence."

Introducing the resolution in the General Assembly on behalf of 140 co-sponsors, India’s Minister of State for External Affairs, Mr. Anand Sharma, said that the wide and diverse sponsorship of the resolution was a reflection of the universal respect for Mahatma Gandhi and of the enduring relevance of his philosophy. Quoting the late leader’s own words, he said: "Non-violence is the greatest force at the disposal of mankind. It is mightier than the mightiest weapon of destruction devised by the ingenuity of man."

Embracing the Sacred Messiness of Life

The table in my dining room is a mess. No matter how I try to clean it up and keep it that way, it's always covered with books, bills, receipts, flyers, newspapers and more.

I've always had an urgent desire to be more neat in my life. That urge goes at least as far back in my life as my days in college in the late 1960s and early 70s. Aesthetically, I've embraced in my heart the goal of making my space what I would call Japanese stark. Rooms that are devoid of clutter. Space that is neat, pristine, without distractions.

Well. it ain't gonna happen. I'm nearly 60, and try as I might to be neater, I think I need to just stop and accept the fact that I am always going to be messy. And that's not necessarily bad. Although that's a difficult idea for me to accept.
When I was a child my stepmother derided me for a whole range of things (inluding being fat and stupid), but one of the things she harrangued me mostabout was being messy. I was made to feel that my state of being was bad. My stepmother left my life when I was 15. But, as a therapist once pointed out to me, when my stepmother stopped abusing me verbally, I picked up right where she left off. My internal voice frequently chides me for being messy.

I'm beginning to see, though, that although messiness may create some problems for me from time to time, it's not a moral issue.

In fact, as Rabbi Irwin Kula points out, not only is life itself messy, but there is a sacredness to life's messiness. Those of us who are messy need to stop fighting messiness and embrace it.

Next Thursday Rabbi Irwin and I will make a presentation on this and related topics at the Jewish Community Center in Manhattan. Rabbi will base his presentation on his book, Yearnings: embracing the Sacred Messiness of Life; I will be talking about my new book, A Spirituality for Brokenness and how we can find tools to help us mend our sense of being shattered by life. To learn more about Rabbi Irwin and his book, visit http://yearnings.irwinkula.com/thebook.htm . To learn moe about my book, A Spirituality for Brokenness, please visit: http://helpforbrokenness.com .

Here's a description of the program we will be presenting in New York next week and in Louisville next month.

The Practice of Imperfection: Brokenness and the Sacred Messiness of Life

Featuring Rabbi Irwin Kula, President of CLAL and
Terry Taylor, Interfaith Paths to Peace

7 p.m. Thursday, September 10, 2009
Jewish Community Center in Manhattan
334 Amsterdam Avenue
New York, NY 10023
(646) 505-4444

Join Rabbi Irwin Kula, author of the award-winning book, Yearnings: Embracing the Sacred Messiness of Life, and Terry Taylor, author of the recently published book, A Spirituality for Brokenness: Discovering Your Deepest Self in Difficult Times, for a conversation about love, life and meaning in these challenging and fast-changing times as we approach the Jewish high holiday season.



About CLAL

The National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership:
Brings Jewish wisdom to the American spiritual landscape and makes it a resource for all Builds bridges across communities to encourage pluralism and openness.

Promotes dynamic, inclusive Jewish communities in which all voices are heard.

Nurtures volunteer, professional and rabbinic leaders and helps people to re-imagine Jewish life.

Enhances Jewish participation in American civic and spiritual life.

Founded in 1974, Clal-The National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership is a think tank, leadership training institute, and resource center. Bringing Jewish insights to a wide American audience, Clal makes Jewish wisdom an accessible public resource. A leader in religious pluralism, Clal builds bridges across communities to encourage diversity and openness. Linking Jewish texts and tradition with innovative scholarship, Clal promotes Jewish participation in American civic and spiritual life, reinvigorating communities and enhancing leadership development.

Clal's diverse faculty, with its reputation for excellence, provides cutting-edge teaching, lectures, programs, and consulting nationwide. Working with scholars, professionals, volunteer and religious leaders, Clal has earned a reputation for compelling programs that explore religious and American identity. Joining with experts from diverse fields, Clal offers new perspectives on contemporary issues, reaching influential leaders, thinkers, and practitioners. Clal's publications and resources offer thought-provoking ideas, tools, and techniques that enrich people, communities, and institutions. In all of Clal's work, it strives to build vibrant Jewish life that is engaged in the intellectual and ethical challenges of the world.

President hosts Ramadan dinner for Muslims, Jews and People from other religions

I ran across a story recently as I was reading my e-mails. Its message of inclusiveness is very moving. As we approach the Jewish high Holy Days in the next few weeks, I hope to see similar outreach across religious lines. My fondest hope is that this inclusiveness is not simply a political gesture (I don't think it is) but will set an example that will be followed by future Presidents no matter what political party they represent.

And why don't we follow the President's example whatever our own religious affiliation? Let's invite Muslims to our homes for dinner to break their daily fast; let's ask if we can join our Jewish friends for Yom Kippur or Roshashona. And maybe we should check in with our Baha'i, Buddhist and Hindu friends to see how we can share their religious celebrations, too.

Here's the story. It's from an e-mail blast by Brit Tzedek v'Shalom, a Jewish peace group.

Last Tuesday night, President Obama hosted a Ramadan break the fast dinner, complete with greens from the White House garden. Seated alongside ambassadors from Arab and Muslim countries, members of Congress, and ordinary citizens representing the wide diversity of American Muslim life were some unlikely guests: Rabbi David Saperstein of the Reform Movement, Rabbi Nathan Diament of the Orthodox Union, and Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren.

President Obama’s guest list – perhaps a little uncomfortable for all – illustrates his push for mutual understanding and peace-making, literally an invitation for those in conflict to break bread together.

Which brings us to Gaza, where the affects of an Israeli-imposed economic blockade and last winter’s hostilities have led water and electricity shortages, severely limited access to adequate health care and unemployment consistently over 40%. Ongoing tensions between Hamas, Israel, the Palestinian Authority, Egypt, and the U.S. make the situation difficult to resolve, and ultimately, the civilian population of Gaza pays the price.

While sweeping, long-term change is still only a distant goal, the Obama administration has made significant efforts to improve the daily lives of Gazans. It matters that a sitting U.S. President has publicly acknowledged the suffering of the Palestinian people – suffering that also threatens Israel’s long-term security.

And it matters that quiet U.S. pressure has led to an easing of the blockade and expansion of the kinds of items Israel will allow into the Strip.

But these small changes aren’t enough. Deep mistrust and complications of even the simplest issues pose real obstacles to progress. The U.S. has been pushing to allow concrete into Gaza, for instance, to facilitate the repair and rebuilding of thousands of buildings, but Israeli officials fear that Hamas will seize the cement to rebuild its badly damaged military infrastructure.

Here's a link to Brit Tzedek v'Shalom's web site for more information about the group:

www.btvshalom.org