Faith Amalgam

Recently I was asked to lead worship at a local Christian church, something I do on occasion.  Whenever I am asked I feel obligated to say “yes.” I gave up being a pleaser many years ago; my life subsequently got a lot more interesting when I started doing only things I felt really called to do. Leading worship is, however, not one of those things. In fact I have always felt out of place in such a role…Me? In a robe? You might be wondering, then, why I would say “yes.”

As an Interfaith Minister, I truly believe that the only singular path to God is the one each soul chooses to take in this lifetime. I find beauty and merit in all faiths at their core and have lived my life with a Faith Amalgam, borrowing from the wisdom of the Lakota, the Sufis, the Buddhists, Christians, Jews, Taoists and more.

Studying a wide range of traditions has worked for me, enriched my life, opened my mind and fostered in me a tolerance for even the fundamentalists. Because I see the Path of Faith as a labyrinth, the circuitous path that leads always to the same center no matter where you begin.

When I am asked to share a message in a Christian church, it feels like a great challenge, not the size of it, the degree of worth. It seems to me the world has never needed the Interfaith message more than now -when it seems the left hand has no tolerance for the right and would rather cut it off than oblige a compromise. So, I say “yes” in the hopes of bringing to a community of faith, the primary Inter-faith directive: Love. In fact, isn’t it the primary directive of any religion in its concentrated state?

So, the senior pastor of said Christian church got wind that an Interfaith minister had been invited to preach the following Sunday in her staid and called to interrogate me. “Now, where is it you were ordained?” and “What exactly does your seminary teach?” etc. I told her that we believe that God is Love and there are many paths to love; we practice tolerance and diversity of all faiths as long as they are non-violent. We promote peace, community and respect. She responded, “I’m sorry, but that’s not the direction I am taking this church.” She went on to tell me how progressive and tolerant she really was, but just could not have that kind of message when her main goal was to build her church.

I felt the fear come through in her voice, I felt the wall that separates the “us” and “them.” And, I felt the judgment rise in me, a moment of sadness for the lost opportunity – for myself and her church community, and I felt a jab of hurt, I had never been rejected before, this was a blow to my ministerial ego. Then my own words circled back on me like a boomerang, “…tolerance…peace ... respect.” 

It was, for sure a “practice what you preach” moment. It also reminded me to keep following my path not the path anyone else thinks I should take. In doing what we love, believe in and are drawn to, we fulfill our destiny and give to the world the very specific gifts that have been planted in us to give. Isn’t that what any of us can hope to accomplish?

Howard Thurman, theologian, writes, “Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive and go do it. Because what the world needs are people who have come alive.”

Breath

Sometimes we get flooded with thoughts, feelings, or sensations.
We get overwhelmed. Sometimes we are confused, undecided, uncentered and we have lost our clarity and sense of well being.
We feel that life is out of control. That we are out of control.
Sometimes life throws us surprises we feel that we are not prepared for. We are stressed and need to love ourselves back to balance and
Equanimity.

Our breath is a wonderful way back to our experience of
Peace and comfort inside our own skin.
Focusing on our breath listening to it, feeling it move through our bodies, allowing ourselves to relax into our own natural rhythm brings
Us home to our centered self. Attention on the breath allows us to witness our thoughts, feelings and sensations; as we slow ourselves down we have space to collect ourselves, our most evolved self is able to come forth and we can embrace ourselves, each other and our experience. Flooding leads to survival mode, defensive behavior
(fight or flight) and breathing with awareness leads to openness
And a return to love.

Rev. Supriya Hermenze

Is it the End of the World?

So much lately, in world news, has been excellent fuel for those in the global community who believe the end times are near. Disasters of every kind, natural and economic, killing, death, and greed make the headlines, and those who are moved to help can barely keep up with the tragedies. In my own neck of the woods, a woman, who had a FEMA trailer as a result of losing her home in early June in a extreme torrnado, had that same trailer destroyed last week in a freak microburst. People shake their heads and say, "what is the world coming to?" And more seriously, some people, in some places, are scared.

I came across this piece written by Martin Luther King in a response to the Norway tragedy.

I am convinced that love is the most durable power in the world. It is not an expression of impractical idealism, but of practical realism. Far from being the pious injunction of a Utopian dreamer, love is an absolute necessity for the survival of our civilization. To return hate for hate does nothing but intensify the existence of evil in the universe. Someone must have sense enough and religion enough to cut off the chain of hate and evil, and this can only be done through love. ~MLK

I don't think I can add to this, certainly not with any more eloquence, power or truth, save to say, I think we ought not merely to Love, but to FOCUS on love, not simply do GOOD, but LOOK for the good. As a culture we are obsessed with disaster, and we must actively free ourselves from this addiction by retraining our minds to see the Love around us, talk about it, build it up, add to it, the same way we can generate excitement and energy around the dismal news.

Love is a "practical realism." It is a real tool we can use, not some sentimental Hallmark card. It is a force and a power. We ought to train ourselves to know it, use it, and grow it. Rather than being helpless in the face of it's opposite, we can become professional Lovers. We can learn about it, notice it, and swiftly use it, in every situation, every day. If hateful acts begin with a seed of hate to which a person puts lots of time, energy and attention, so do acts of Love. And there are more Lovers among us than haters, so let's begin to take seriously our work keeping in mind: love never fails.  --Rev. Sam Wilde