On A Meaningful Life

 

I had intended to blog on the joys of working with some terrific people as well as some of the challenges of starting a church from scratch.  For it is indeed a joy … as well as a challenge!  But life has intervened.

 

Over just the past few weeks I’ve learned that I have a friend battling leukemia (and these days leukemia can indeed be battled and beaten), a friend no longer in a position to battle brain cancer, a friend who has Alzheimer’s, and a friend who has increasing heart difficulties (this on top of friends who for some time have been battling illness).  Some of these friends I’ve known for almost fifty years.  And it has hit me hard.

 

I am reminded just how powerless I am.  I am also reminded of just how tenuous our hold on life is.  How short life is.  More significantly, I am reminded of how important friends are.  And how incredibly blessed I have been in my friends.

 

I know I’ve spoken, I don’t know many times, of the decision we make, usually very early in our lives, about whether our life is to be about “me” or about “us.”  What all of these wonderful, very ill people have in common is that their lives, all of them, have been about “us.” 

 

I am reminded of a line from “Man of La Mancha.”  In the play, Cervantes speaks of holding dying men in his arms.  They ask one word.  “Why?”  Cervantes, in the play, says, “I think they were asking not why they were dying, but why they had lived.”

 

That is the question each of us will face, at some point in our lives.  I am grateful that my friends know why they have lived (and, I hope will continue to live!).  Each possesses a giving soul.  Each, time and again, has reached out to the world and asked, “How can I help?”  None of them is rich.  Yet all of them have wealth beyond measure.  Each has given so much to the world.  Each has given so much to me. 

 

As I contemplate a church, a new church, I hope we can creature a supportive, nourishing community of such people.  We come together without regard to race or gender or age or spiritual path.  We come together, if you will, as “A League of Compassionate Humanity.”  We who not only believe in Interfaith, but who are willing to take up the demanding task of living Interfaith.

 

Someone recently asked me where I learned to be who I am.  I was a bit flustered.  But the truth of it is that I have learned from my friends.  And I have been extraordinarily blessed by the compassionate, dedicated people who have chosen to befriend me.

 

May a caring Spirit watch over us all, and today, most particularly, over those who are struggling with illness – whose giving souls remind all of us that if our lives are to have meaning, we must reach out to the world in love. 

 

Amen.

 

A Change of Name, Not Direction

 

I had wonderfully productive and truly energizing meeting Sunday night with a small group of committed people about our new church.  We are all committed to establishing our new Interfaith church.  And we are all deeply committed to the foundational statements to be found elsewhere on this site.  But out of our discussions came a decision to change our name … just slightly!

 

In short, we decided that calling ourselves “First Interfaith” was a bit arrogant.  It also spoke to the kind of hierarchy that we wish to avoid.

 

And it reminded me of something a friend told me months ago.  For some reason it didn’t register then, but it did last night.  That “First Whatever” tied us to the past.

 

So what SHOULD we call our new church.  I was surprised and pleased that the consensus was, Living Interfaith Church.

 

That seemed to capture what we were truly about.  That it is in LIVING our Interfaith that we truly contribute to healing our world. 

Becoming A Church

 

It’s been a good couple of weeks.  Last week I had lunch with a retired Presbyterian minister who was very supportive of Interfaith as a faith.  Of course, it’s not his faith, but I wasn’t proselytizing.  This week I had lunch with a young Rabbi, who seemed intrigued by Interfaith as a faith.  Of course, it’s not her faith, but again, it was good simply to be able to speak with her about it.  Dialogue.

 

I also had lunch with a woman who has spent a good portion of her life as a religious educator.  I explained my grand design for an Interfaith education.  I also quickly explained that I had no idea whatever how to achieve that grand design.  It was a positive experience for me, as I think she too sees the potential for growth and for healing in such an Interfaith approach.  Indeed, I think she will be a great help in making the “grand design” possible.  When it’s further along the line, the First Interfaith educational program for our children, youth and adults, will be posted either on this website, or on First Interfaith’s website once it’s up.  But it was and is exciting and, I’ll admit it, rewarding to know that an educator thinks that the “grand design” is not only doable, but potentially a real breakthrough in how we teach our kids.  Stay tuned!

 

Another happy day was Thursday.  On that day we officially submitted First Interfaith Church’s Articles of Incorporation as a non-profit to the State of Washington.  Barring any glitches, by next Friday’s post First Interfaith will in all likelihood be “official.”

 

I’ve also had some very positive responses from the new “First Interfaith” page on this website.  People are not only interested, but are wanting to be a part of this adventure in healing.

 

And my call to anyone who seeks to help make the church a reality, one thing we can all do right now is invite people to explore this website, and particularly to explore the “First Interfaith” page.  I’m certainly working hard.  So are others.  We could use some help.  Starting a new church is a community venture.

 

Meanwhile, it keeps being reinforced for me how important and needed Interfaith is – how fractured and divided humanity continues to be.  There truly seems to be no end of ways that we as humans can divide ourselves. 

 

I return to what I truly believe is the defining truth of our time.  We can no longer afford the “us and them” mentality that has divided us for so long.  I watch as reforming our health care becomes an “us and them” where an entire political party seems to believe that since “they” want to reform health care, “we” must oppose reform.  They think of the political points to be made if “Obama’s” plan to reform our broken health care system dies; but I’d rather think of the millions without insurance and that thousands who die every year because of it.  But really, this is just a symptom of a larger divide.

 

Divide and conquer.  It’s as old as, well, the hills!  But we’ve divided ourselves, and we’ve allowed our better selves to be conquered by the spirit of “me, me, me!”

 

As a minister, and as a human being, I believe there is no “them.”  There is only “us.”  If we are ever to heal we must realize there is only “us.”  Christianity is a part of “us.”  Islam is a part of “us.”  Humanism is a part of “us.”  Judaism is a part of “us.”  And so forth.  Never were the words of Benjamin Franklin more poetically apt.  “We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately.” 

 

Let us hang together.  Let us realize that a terrorist is a terrorist when it be a he or she, a Muslim or Atheist, Christian or Jew, left wing nut or right wing nut.  And let us realize that those of us who would heal must come together with those who would heal, man or woman, Muslim or Atheist, Christian or Jew.  Our problems are too great.  The stakes are simply too high.  Either humanity hangs together, or assuredly it will hang separately.

 

Interfaith isn’t “the answer.”  But it is a path that can help us to heal.  It is a path that can allow us to hang together.  We need that path.  We need it very much.

 

 

And Miles To Go

 

It’s been a busy week: meeting with folks as we begin to move First Interfaith Church forward from the dream that it is now to the reality we hope it to be by next September, and also drafting a query letter to some agents regarding the book on Interfaith I just finished writing.  And now, today, discovering just how much paperwork stands between the idea of First Interfaith Church and making things happen – paperwork that needs to be filed with the State of Washington as well as the federal government.  So a short blog entry tonight. 

 

The new page on this site for First Interfaith Church has only been up a week.  But already there have been some very positive responses to it.  I’m very grateful.  Particularly as I look at how much work lies ahead.  It is good, satisfying and energizing  to realize just how many people are already reacting so enthusiastically to the idea of First Interfaith and what it stands for. 

 

Sometimes, as I ponder the immense amount of sheer paperwork ahead, a part of me wonders what in the world was I thinking of?  But I know.  Living Interfaith is not necessary the easiest thing in the world to do.  But I do very much believe it is what is needed.

 

We can heal.  We must heal.  We will heal. 

 

All help gratefully accepted!  J

 

 

 

Creating a New Church 101

 

I have had two meetings now with a small but wonderfully dedicated group of people.  Our goal is to establish the First Interfaith Church of Snohomish County.  We hope to have a web page by early next year.  But in the meantime you can see a little of our work on this web page.  Just click the tab First Interfaith Church at the upper left hand corner of the navigation bar.

 

Two questions generally leap to mind when discussing First Interfaith Church, or so it seems from a number of people I’ve talked to.  The first question is what is a First Interfaith Church?  The second question is why?  Good questions.

 

WHAT is an Interfaith Church?  The first thing to note is that it is Interfaith, not interfaith.  Interfaith is faith.  Interfaith is a spiritual path.  Interfaith tells us that each of us encounters the sacred differently. 

 

Some of us encounter the sacred very differently: thus we have paths like Judaism, Christianity, Hinduism and Islam, all of which believe in God (even though they may well disagree as to the nature of God); and we also have paths like Buddhism and Humanism, which do not believe in God.

 

Some of us encounter the sacred just somewhat differently: thus we have denominations among the paths, as, for example, Orthodox, Conservative and Reform Judaism.  Sunni, Shi’a and Sufi Islam.  And so forth.

 

But the point is, the faith-path that is Interfaith, teaches us while we encounter the sacred differently, all of our paths, all of them, Theist and Humanist, Christian and Muslim, teach us that we are to act in this world with compassion and love.  Thus Interfaith, teaches us that it is not the path we have chosen to walk, but rather how we walk that path, that truly determines who we are.  If our encounter with the sacred has led us to act with love and compassion in the world, then Interfaith teaches us that it is a righteous path.

 

WHY an Interfaith Church?  Well, it’s been four thousand years since the Hindu religion began.  It has been three thousand years since Moses, twenty-five hundred since the Buddha and Confucius, two thousand years since Jesus, fifteen hundred years since Muhammad, at least two hundred years since Humanism began, and I could go on.  If love and compassion are the answer and all of our paths call us to it, why is there still hunger?  Why are there still wars?  Why is there still hate?    

 

In part, what happened is the search for “Who is right?”  Is there a God or isn’t there?  Who is right?  Was Jesus the only begotten son of God or not?  Who is right?  Was Muhammad the last prophet or not?  Who is right?  Interfaith teaches us that what counts is how we act in the world.  Interfaith teaches us that since each of us encounters the sacred differently, each of us has the right to be respected in that encounter.  And again, the question is not how have we encountered the sacred, but what did we DO about it?

 

An Interfaith Church is a place for people who have encountered the sacred in a diversity of ways, and who, having encountered the sacred, wish to act in the world with compassion and love.  An Interfaith Church is a place for people to learn from each other, a place to respect and to celebrate our differing spiritual paths, a place to support each other, and nurture each other, as we all struggle to make the world truly one of compassion, love, and justice.

 

Christianity acting alone, hasn’t been able to bring us together.  Neither has Islam.  Neither has Judaism or Buddhism or the Baha’i faith, nor Humanism, nor any other.  Perhaps it is time to stop gathering behind walls of “right belief” and come together, and truly change the world.  This is the call of the Interfaith Church.