Last night I attended an Interfaith Thanksgiving Service. Among the faiths represented was Buddhism, Bahai, Jewish, and Christian. It was a service filled with the spirit of love and unity regardless of the perceived differences these faiths have.
The service began with the calling of the spirits through Taiko drumming and moved into song, dance, and spoken liturgy, each of with praised the sacredness of that which unifies us - the hope that we can all live together as one, regardless of our beliefs.
As our family recalled the service on the way home it was noted that the name, or names, of each faith's "God" was never mentioned. The sacred one, the creator, the one who unifies us, and a couple more names were used instead. With that in mind I want to re-write the opening paragraph of our passage for today.
Rejoice always; again I say, rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to everyone. Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known. And the peace which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds.I'm not suggesting we take God out of our faith. What I am suggesting is we stop thinking our belief is the only one. The afore re-written passage could have come from any of the different faith's scriptures, because within those words are how humanity should live our lives, regardless of who or what we put that faith in.
Last night I spent about an hour in a room, surrounded by people of different faith traditions, and not once did I feel separated from the God I believe in, the people around me, or myself. Last night I was witness to a glimmer of what a world of unity in love could be like.
Hope still lives on.
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