Between now and December 25th, there are going to be a million tiny interfaith interactions when holiday greetings are exchanged. For my part, I like any greeting of good cheer and may one day get the nerve up to start wishing more people "Happy Solstice." Read more
That’s the phrase I’ve just inlaid on a stepping stone. I’m making them for Christmas; with different phrases that will be relevant to the person I’m giving them too. This one in particular seems fitting for the season, much less everyday life. As I reflect on this past year of this particular friend, I am reminded of all the different paths I’ve crossed while doing Compassionate Interfaith work with him. I have witnessed so many breakfasts listening to an individual... Read more
My childhood memories from the winter holidays are a mix of Chanukah and Christmas. Join me as I walk down memory lane for a moment and let me know in the comments what your favorite memories are from the Winter holidays! Read more
I attended Winston-Salem’s annual Interfaith Thanksgiving Service the Sunday before Thanksgiving this year. Normally it occurs on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, but apparently the consensus felt that were it to happen on a Sunday, more parishioners would be present, as most would not be traveling for the holiday. It seemed the idea was a good one, as about 250 of Winston-Salem’s finest turned out for the occasion. Last year was my first time going to such an event. I remember... Read more
I wrote some time back about how it is imperative for me to be courteous to those who come to my door. This is part of my upbringing as well as a moral obligation stemming from my religious convictions. By and large, I see proselytization efforts as futile and mostly harmless, but the practice has certain assumptions at its core that can lead to behaviors and attitudes that can be quite harmful to those of us in the minority. Read more
Years ago, when I was in a Cooperation Circle of the United Religions Initiative, there was an interfaith-y poster of how religions across the spectrum of spirituality had their own version of The Golden Rule–Do Unto Others As You Would Have Done Unto You. There were very similar mottos from lots of different creeds but my spiritual tradition doesn’t have a thing like that, not really. We harken back to the ancient laws of hospitality and that could sort of... Read more
The More Beautiful World Our Hearts Know is Possible by Charles Eisenstein is more than a simple collection of words and pages; it's a disruptive phenomenon. Reading it acts as a mirror forcing us to see our selves in a new light and reevaluate choices we've made and why we've made them. Read more
It’s that time of year to give thanks. Thanks for all that has brought one to this point, thanks for all the places one can from here. I have a lot of thanks to give. I think back to January, 2008. I’d been back from Africa for just over a month, and was seriously spazzing on the inverse culture-shock I was having due to having acclimated to the African climate, and even though I grew up here in North Carolina,... Read more
What is sacred space? Is it not all of this planet that we call home? Read more
The military as an example of daily interfaith relations? Never having been a soldier, it had not occurred to me, but that’s one of the things I heard at a remarkable meeting this week at the U.S. Armed Forces Chaplains School and Center, here in Columbia, S.C., at Fort Jackson. The Chaplains School was hosting the annual meeting of Interfaith Partners of S.C., and “host” would be an understatement for the outstanding experience they provided. Read more
Wild Garden
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